"..I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.."
- Creed of Constantinople, 381 AD
Hello, this is the author speaking, welcome to Trisagion! I'm here to explore a world dominated not by the European sphere but rather a more polycentric world where the Middle East and Asia play a much stronger cultural, political and religious role. It is united under a form of Christianity whose irl counterpart would be the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Church of the East. A very different form of Christianity than the stereotypes and experiences of people both in the east and west.
So if you were expecting Pastor Bob of the Independent Fundamentalist KJV-Only Baptist Church to grab out a gun and start shooting aliens everywhere, this isn't the fanfic or more appropriately, crackfic. I won't spoil too much of the changes but Protestants and Modern American Christianity as we know it would never have existed. If you have beef with American Christianity or Protestants or Catholics, don't extend it to us bearded Orthobros and ignore them for a moment while you read the fanfic.
Without further ado, let us open up the timeline. Enjoy!
Chalcedon, Roman Empire, 451 AD
The Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council held by the whole Christian World from the far west of the former province of Hispania to the far east of the sassanid capital of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. This council marked a triumph of Orthodoxy but in another world also a bitter schism that remains to be healed.
It is in this council that Christology, the nature of Christ, is settled once and for all in a formula declared to be universally binding. All who reject are heretics, the council declared. In another world, this introduced the division of Christianity into the Imperial Church which would later divide into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, and into the Oriental Orthodox Church also known as the Miaphysites, those who believe in the composite, dual nature of Christ.
In the Modern World, dialogues have been made that discovered that the so-called Miaphysites do not truly err or differ from the faith declared in the Council of Chalcedon. A little too late, 1500 years of division, especially one that begin in persecutions does not heal overnight or even over the four decades that has passed since the dialogues. But this is another world and the being known as Marutha did not exist to mediate.
The common and official records on the one known as Marutha consisted of his own writings, an incomplete encyclopedia written until this day called the Anthropologion. In its first pages, one can find the testimony of Marutha's Origins.
"On the first moon of the year before Chalcedon,
I, Marutha, awoke in the company of mountains.
I scrambled to find where I am, fearing that I was lost.
Little did I know, I have been stranded beyond all mortal reach.
Not just in my whereabouts, but my eyes reveal to me that I was a man no more.
For what man had six arms that ended in blades? Eyes that changed in color? or an armor of strange bone that enveloped me like a shell?
Man thought me a demon or an evil spirit that had come to bring upon calamity.
The Heathens called me Dahāg and ran away after a mere glance.
It was not till another full moon that man would finally welcome me and not flee in terror.
Monks, of the Catholic faith, discovered me in the arid wilderness.
They thought me a demon as well and attempted to rebuke me in the name of Isho Mishiha, and I marvelled.
I made the sign of the cross, according to the Armenian and the Assyrian customs, and prostrated.
The venerable ascetics were amazed and I soon dwelt in their monastery in the kingdom of the Persians.
I spoke not their tongue but an alien tongue and so drawings in the sand or the rocks became the state of affairs for another two moons.
That is, until I discovered that through touch, I could read the current thoughts and comprehend them for myself.
I quickly learned Aramaic, Middle Persian and Koine Greek from the monks.
From that, I soon sought Baptism to ensure my confirmation to the Catholic Faith.
Lord have Mercy."
Anthropologion, Vol I, Chapter 1
From there, Marutha would make for himself a name in the Persian church and soon news of a convert claiming himself to formerly be a man but now a creature of unknown origin had spread to the Roman Empire. The new shook the church, a man who appeared as if he was a soldier of the grave, with six arms and eyes that changed like the color of the sky had not only been baptized but now dwells in the Monastery of Nisibis, enlarging it with his strength to carve rooms and chambers into the mountain.
Travelling monks from the Roman-Sassanid border returned with tales of the peculiar convert. From his creation of shelters carved into the mountains for the homeless to creation of more channels of irrigation from the nearby Mygdonius river. Tales of his deeds were overwhelmingly positive but the description of his appearance induced a widespread feeling of apprehension.
The authorities of Nisibis were neither warm nor disapproving of this strange new inhabitant of the city. On one hand this strange, six-armed "demon" of bone sheltered their poor, helped irrigate their farms and was under the protection of the Catholic Church that was the faith of the city of Nisibis. On the other hand, this Marutha could be a Roman agent, no, demon sent to undermine the Shanhanshah so that Nisibis would be in Roman hands once more.
A rich trading post in Syria, coveted by the Romans and the Greeks before them for centuries. An endless struggle of taking and re-taking between the Greeks and the Persians. Besides, this strange creature could only be an agent of the Druj sent by Angra Mainyu through the Romans to tip the balance to the side of these nazarene heathens.
Either way, the months that followed established a routine. Travelers would be amazed at this creature, some thinking that it was a fearsome animal of a kind tamed by the monks of Nisibis until said "animal" spoke fluently in middle persian and shocked them. The citizens of Nisibis had gotten used to Marutha and despite his fearsome appearance, the fruits of his labor manifest in the increasingly devout population.
His deeds earn him a great deal of goodwill from both the Church of Persia and the citizens of Nisibis. Correspondents of the Church in Antioch became favorable to him as well due to their proximity and frequent communications though the rest of the Christian World, even those in Persia, remain skeptical. By the turn of the year, the Church of Antioch's school of theology invited him to the city to discuss his peculiarities with its theologians.
However, the Persian authorities, who still viewed him with suspicion prevented him from leaving. Although his ambiguous nature and inhuman appearance placed his citizenship in question, the current governor of Nisibis regardless found him under his jurisdiction and sent men to bar him from leaving should he dare to disobey. This all under the unspoken accusation of being a roman agent.
Not to push his luck, Marutha complied and even treated the soldiers well with a feast. Although it began with tension, it ended with a few drunk men and an improved, albeit still heavily uneasy relation. A decree officially declaring his citizenship, as a non-human, would come a few moons later and along with it, taxes to pay.
He did not complain but simply did his work in the city, using his abilities that seemed wondrous, miraculous even, to earn himself a fair wage to provide for the poor, the Church and to the tax collector. It will take much time to get used to having a bone armored giant lining up for taxation, even though the city has known him for a year.
Months pass and news of an Ecumenical Council had reached Nisibis alongside an invitation by the Antiochian Priests, Bishops and Theologians for him to join them in the council. For this, the Persians let him pass, a lack of incidents and unrest declaring that at least for now, this stranger is not a plague from Constantinople.
From this point on, the flow of history had changed dramatically.
In October, the Council occurred as it did, with anathemas made and proclaimed. However, remarkable changes occured. First, the presence of Marutha tilted the council's initial opinion to a more favorable view on the miaphysites who quote the saint, Cyril of Alexandria on their belief of a one composite, dual nature. Second, the superhuman fluency of Aramaic both east and western, and Koine Greek possessed by Marutha threw him into the spotlight and prevented the rift borne out of language barriers.
An inhuman layman with a strange form convened with wise men of the faith to determine who that teaches the Apostolic Faith and who that errs, teaching heresy. Through the sessions, a more reconcilliatory formula was made and concessions to both the Antiochene and Alexandrian schools of theology were made. One formula but with alternate formulations allowed, one as expressed by Cyril the Great and one as expressed by the Tome of Leo.
"...One and the same Christ, our Lord, Only-begotten; Acknowledged in and of two natures, neither confused nor comingled, neither divisible nor separable, conjoined not comingled..."
With this, the great division that would spark the Chalcedonian schism has been averted and the formula or its alternatives became accepted by all. The tension between the Antiochian and Alexandrian schools have been weakened and their mutual agreement in that they both confess the same faith merely in different words became the consensus of the council. Dioscorus, the Pope of Alexandria, remained deposed for violations of canon law but he was not persecuted and Eutyches was not declared a heretic any longer.
Though even so, his previous heretical beliefs are still named after him. Occasional surges of conflict in Christology would still occur, culminating in another council to settle these questions. In the meantime, history moves on.
452 AD - Nestorius, former Patriarch of Constantinople, dies but due to the results of the Council, his writings are condemned for being misleading but his own teachings are declared orthodox. Christotokos is informally accepted as another title of the Virgin Mary.
455 AD - Marutha uses his strength and tools create his own farmland and its irrigation. He also moulded his own clay bricks and using his own strength could make concrete powder much more easily. From this he created a walled farm that serves as a bakery for the poor of the city.
Travelers would remark of a strange sight as men in black robes would deliver bread and water to the needy while outside the city, the needy could be found gathering in front of a farm eating a loafs of bread and drinking water from clay pots.
From this, an old Roman observation from the heathen days now found itself in Persia, "[They] support not only their poor, but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us."
459 AD - By now, all the monks of the Nisibis monastery would spend at least some of their time making bread or distributing it to the poor. Some travelers, especially frequent ones to Nisibis, convert out of this display of generosity.
464 AD - A new Bishop of Nisibis is consecrated, the Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon visits and helps serve bread.
470 AD - First signs of christological conflict begin as the Antiochene school has heretical members who decry the term 'Theotokos', refusing to acknowledge its council affirmed legitimacy alongside 'Christotokos'. This results in local councils performing condemnations and tensions brewing in Antioch and Constantinople.
471 AD - A visible lack of aging in both Marutha's appearance and capability has gradually led to wild rumors and theories forming, mainly centered around the fountain of eternal life or an angelic or some accuse: demonic origin.
471 AD - Acacius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople
475 AD - A new generation of monks appear in the monastery of Nisibis. As last rites are administered to the aged monks, Marutha was moved to write his eulogy on each of them and proclaim the Church's teachings on death and the world to come. As one by one the old generation dies, Marutha buries them in carved chambers within the nearby mountains.
In their memory, Marutha carved structures similar to the buddhas of bamyan but of much smaller size. These statues of rock form a line that begins with the foot of the mountain and ends with the entrance to their burial chambers. This new structure helps draw travellers even more into Nisibis, curious of the structures and their almost legendary builder.
This brings economic growth to an already important syrian trading post and a unique reputation, a welcome news to both the Emperor at Constantinople and the Shahanshah at Seleucia-Ctesiphon for different reasons.
476 AD - This is the year when in Marutha's old world, the age of antiquity has ended and the early medieval period began. In the spirit of its passing, Marutha began introducing innocuous technologies into the inhabitants of Nisibis. In a society that fundamentally depends on slavery to function, much to the chagrin of the Apostolic Faith, the only way to liberate the slaves without throwing the entire world into chaos is to supplant slavery in a gradual manner.
Slavery relies on a need for labor, if labor could be conducted more efficiently the need for slaves would be reduced. Secondly, when paired with more Church support for abolition, the two factors would diminish slavery in a near bloodless way. But first, we must lead by example.
Marutha bought a hundred unskilled slaves, promising all of them freedom in five years and providing them with basic accomodations. The first thing to introduce is the assembly line and to demonstrate its efficacy, Marutha began to sell pots and ceramics for a cheaper price.
478 AD - The extremely cheap ceramics had become known and popular in the city of Nisibis, with many noting how amazing it was that the one hundred slaves worked as if there were four hundred of them. Because of decreased material costs provided by the cheap wares, the city found goods reliant on pottery becoming 5% cheaper.
Though a small drop in cost due to the fact that even the might of four hundred laborers could not easily compete with the rest of the pottery industry, the impact was visible regardless. The ancients had no concept of logistics, the supply chain or the interdependence of industries. As such, the learned men of the city were baffled by the noticeable change.
Cheaper goods like this drew more merchants who could sell at higher prices elsewhere, creating larger profits. It didn't take long for the governor of Nisibis to notice the small increase in tax revenue and seeing the benefits brought upon by this city from the changes, he sought out to discover the secret of this prosperity.
480 AD - Taught by Marutha, the governor and learned men of Nisibis began gradual implementations of the assembly line on wares that require minimal to zero customization. To balance the political effect this is having, Marutha sent a long tome whose contents have been lost to time detailing how to implement the assembly line into pottery and other basic industries.
481 AD - The slaves are freed but most decide to remain in service. Marutha elevated the status of those who remained into an arrangement similar to serfdom:
• Those who remained are required to have at least one son and his family to continue the work here. The rest may decide to leave in later generations.
• The land may be used by those who remained to provide themselves and their families subsistence. Except for land specifically dedicated for certain labors, the rest may be used by the servants for their own endeavors.
• No servant may be bought or sold, even if the land itself were sold, the people who work on it are not sold with it and will be freed.
• Should Marutha not be present, first the monastery and secondly the Church will become the lord of the owned lands until Marutha returns to manage it.
• Legally, they will be treated as free men
This became the foundations of a loyal, generational community of laborers under Marutha's command. He began a second intake of slaves, also providing them the same offer that in five years they may choose to be free or continue to serve in a generational work.
With this, expansions are made and all the authorities of the city were pleased. Church, state, merchants and common men alike held good opinions of their inhuman inhabitant. Of course, with exceptions of heretics, local heathen (zoroastrian) priests whose powers are being diminished by Nisibis' increasing prominence and political enemies of the current governor of Nisibis.
484 AD - The treaty of Nvarsak is made but due to the developments at Nisibis, an edict is declared.
Edict of Nisibis
1. In the regions of Adiabene, Asuristān and Arabistan, freedom of worship for Christians is established and forced conversions to Zoroastrianism are outlawed.
2. In the same regions, apostasy from Zoroastrianism is no longer punished and no incentives to convert are given any longer.
3. The governor of Nisibis is allotted more troops.
After this edict, christian-related tensions in the empire weakened and armenian loyalty increased. The canons of Chalcedon were presented to the now available armenians, and a local council of Nvarsak is declared in the following years to enforce the canons in the Armenian church.
486 AD - Council of Nvarsak occurs.
489 AD - Adoption of assembly lines occur in towns and cities immediately adjacent of both Nisibis and Antioch. An increase in trade power in Byzantine Syria due to this halts Antioch's decline in prestige.
491 AD - Byzantine Emperor Zeno dies of epilepsy and has no sons to succeed him and Anastasius, palace official (silentiarius) and favoured friend of empress Ariadne, is elevated to the throne.
Anastasius' reign goes smoother than in the old timeline, as the miaphysite schism did not occur. Religious turmoil were too localized and weak to present any danger, especially with the church's Antiochene and Alexandrian camps being united. However, a civil war broke out between Anastasius and Longinus, brother of the late emperor.
492 AD - Anastasius wins the succession struggle but sparks another war due to the dismissal of Isaurian generals. This results in the Isaurian War.
497 AD - The Isaurian War ends.
Thanks to the spread and gradual incorporation of the assembly line Syria, Osroene, Mesopotamia has accumulated a total reduction of the price of pottery and related goods by 25% leading to an increase in merchant profits, tax revenue and volume of production. An increase in prosperity stabilizes both the Sassanid and Byzantine empires' west and east frontiers respectively, leading to a more amicable present relationship as both empires turn their eyes to other borders.
498 AD - Emperor Anastasius I begins monetary reforms that started with the abolishment of what's called the Chrysargyron Tax. It was a tax that collected from traders in every sense every four years, which includes everyone from craftsmen to travelling merchants. It was a source of difficulty for many as the payment must be done once every four years all at once.
Entire cities rejoiced once the tax was abolished, most notably the city of Edessa which is midway into adopting the assembly line into their productions. An entire feast was held and the emperor's reputation grew.
This abolishment was also a stroke of luck to the eastern border as reduced taxation increased the competition between laborers who use the assembly lines and those who did not, propagating the technology even further. This came with increased trade volume and production alongside a blessing that the romans didn't expect to receive.
Because of their cheaper and consistent wares, traders would come to Byzantine Syria and Sassanid Mesopotamia to save their costs. This concentrated gold and silver into the region as cheaper wares also mean larger volumes sold. The romans had long been outcompeted in trade with the east, as things like silk could not be produced in the roman empire but the nobles of the empire bought these things.
As gold and silver were the currency, a net outflow of gold and silver occured due to this. Though the wealth of rome itself remained unchanged, the currency that measures its wealth is flowing out and that would hamper trade and exchange, damaging the Roman economy.
With the mass production of cheaper goods, this outflow is slowing down and shows promise of reversing. This results in less of a revenue loss than expected by the Emperor but to make up for it, the income from certain estates were put into a separate fund.
In Sassanid Persia, a civil war occurs as the exiled prince Kavadh I returns with a force of 30,000 White Huns. In the original timeline, Kavadh I successfully reclaimed his throne within the same year. However, the economic boom occuring in the western border allowed the usurper of Kavadh's throne to delay his brother's re-enthronement until the next year.
499 AD - The Earthquake of Nicopolis occured. At midnight, a severe earthquake shook Mesopotamia and Eastern Anatolia, damaging many cities in the area but completely annihilating the city of Nicopolis. Only very few had survived the collapse of Nicopolis, most notably its bishop and his two attendants who were sleeping in the church at the time.
502 AD - Byzantine-Sassanid tensions go high as Emperor Anastasius I refuses to pay a share of the cost with defending the Caucasian Gates, through which nomadic tribes would descend from the Caucasus for raids into Sassanid Persia and Byzantium. This results in both sides using Arabian client states to launch border raids on one another.
This proves unwise once the effects of the weakening of syrian trade due to the raids begin to affect the Imperial Treasury's and the tax revenues enough, the Emperor decided to simply pay his share. The raids end and the trade recovers.
Mazdakism begins.
505 AD - White Huns pass through the Caucasus and invade the Sassanid Empire.
507 AD - Assembly lines have been adopted as far as Constantinople, Alexandria and Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Production of cheap wares and cheaper unskilled labor costs have resulted in the increased value of gold and silver. Defensive constructions occured noticeably faster than usual due to this, allowing more border cities near the Caucasus to be fortified.
508 AD - Seeing the 32 years since the introduction of the technology have successfully propagated it to the major cities and capitals in the region and planted seeds of a proto-industrialization, Marutha began to write two treatises one to be unleashed after the other.
First, Of Praise and Condemnation of Augustine of Hippo
Second, On the Unpragmatic and Immoral Practice of Slavery
The first contained homilies and writings of eastern church fathers specifically to refute the Augustinian understanding of divine grace, predestination and original sin to prevent the anticipated theological drift. It would be released in parts that became gradually more aggressive to augustinian thought in order to drive latin thought away more naturally.
After all, to boil a frog, one must be careful to slowly turn up the heat lest the frog jump out. On the other hand, this book also extols his pro-abolition beliefs and expands upon it to present him as a devoted, pious saint but not a reliable theologian. Marutha would go on to spend 2 years to write it and send dozens of copies each to all the metropolitan and patriarchal sees in the entire christian world.
As parchments are expensive and tomes even more so, Marutha would send them only once two years to allow the public thought to form. By now, the Church had become used to him and both states have a good relationship with him. By popular acclaim he is considered the the Alien Sage, who appears like an evil spirit but whose acts are like that of a saint and so with this reputation, he finds it easier to influence the development of mankind.
509 AD - Arianism suffers a major blow in France once Clovis I becomes the first Catholic king of the Franks.
510 AD - The first volume of 'Of Praise and Condemnation of Augustine of Hippo' is disseminated. While the eastern churches are immediately favorable, the western church treats it with a degree of skepticism due to both cultural differences and unfamiliarity with Marutha.
512 AD - The second volume is released, sparking low level discussions and debates among the western clergy and turning the attentions and concerns of eastern clergy to the latin west. This becomes a point of discussion in the following Council of Orleans.
513 AD - The Council of Orleans was mainly convoked by Clovis I to tie the Catholic Episcopate to the crown, establishing the Merovingian Dynasty. However, revisions of augustinian theology were also discussed and the consensus resulted in his influence being reduced on one hand but raised in another. The emphasis on his abolitionist views resulted in the council declaring that the western church officially disapproves of slavery but no anathemas or excommunications have been made yet.
514 AD - Pope Symmachus dies and is replaced by Pope Hormisdas. With the third volume released, sermons questioning the theology of Augustine of Hippo began to appear.
516 AD - The last volume is released and Marutha begins spreading another invention. After fourty years since the beginning of assembly lines, an economic boom of the major Mediterranean and Middle Eastern powers is occuring. Cheaper wares are turning West Persia and Eastern Rome into a greater trading hub than before.
With the recent emphasis on augustinian abolition combined with cheaper labor, abolition of the chrysargyron tax and greater output, slavery enters a regional decline. Less people are sold into slavery due to debts, less slaves are necessary for labor and assembly lines allow unskilled labor to become useful, allowing former slaves who had little knowledge of their own to work and make a living. Of course, it's unrealistic to expect slavery to just die but the start of a cultural and economic change is setting it into decline.
Over time, less slaves will be seen and by the power of cultural norms, it will eventually be seen as barbarian practice. Especially when the Church will be there to ensure its extinction.
Marutha's invention this time is block printing, to accelerate copying manuscripts, textile making and decorations. But of course, easier record keeping will simply lead the way to paper and the printing press, and that comes with opportunity for new heresies to spread. To prepare for that, Marutha sends letters to the bishops in Anatolia, Greece, Africa, Syria, Armenia and Mesopotamia, to create a manuscript to be known as the Heptapanarion.
It is an expanded version of Epiphanius of Salamis' Panarion, a book listing almost 70 heresies and each of their refutations by the apostolic faith. This manuscript would instead contain existing heresies and also predicted heresies. In other words, the bishops who were invited were invited to invent heresies and refute them.
Each refutation will also not come merely from one authority but rather seven refutations would be given for each real or hypothetical heresy. One refutation from each of these cultures and languages: Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Persian, Assyrian and Latin. Once it is completed, the Heptapanarion will be submitted to the Pope of Rome for review and the last set of refutations.
Block printing begins as faster decoration and textile creation.
518 AD - Emperor Anastasius I dies, Emperor Justin begins the Justinian Dynasty.
520 AD - Heptapanarion is complete and a copy made from block prints is sent to Rome for papal input.
521 AD - On the Unpragmatic and Immoral Practice of Slavery is published and circulated.
522 AD - the Heptapanarion is approved by the Roman Pope and is circulated. Especially in Persia and Syria, it is endorsed as a book every Bishop and Ascetic must possess in order to not be led astray.
527 AD - Antioch and Byzantine Syria has regains their old prominence with their growth in trade showing no signs of stopping.
Emperor Justin dies, Justinian I takes over. Thanks to the rule of Justin and the economic growth that came with it, Justinian I has twice the reserves of gold in the Imperial Treasury than he would originally have. He begins to plan retaking the western half of the empire.
531 AD - Kavad I dies from assassination and Khosrow I takes over, immediately being challenged by his siblings. To prevent Roman intervention in the succession struggle and capitalizing on the conquest of the West, Khosrow I begins with signing a peace treaty known as the Eternal Peace to maintain the status quo between the two superpowers.
532 AD - Due to the efficient but unpopular ministers selected by the Emperor Justinian I, partisan riots known as the Nika Riots occured that forced him to remove ministers and then attempted to depose the Emperor himself and replace him with a senator who was a nephew of the late emperor Anastasius.
Almost overthrown, the Emperor ordered the brutal subjugation of the rioters resulting in as many as thirty thousand dead and many buildings destroyed. But the forces who opposed the Emperor had a backup plan as soldiers began to attack Persian fortress cities in order to bring Rome into the Persian succession struggle and break the Eternal Peace.
Skirmishes broke out by the rebel army against the Persians who thought the Romans had broken the treaty. The timely intervention of Marutha prevented the fall of one of the Fortress Cities and de-escalated the conflict as once Emperor Justinian discovered the border attacks, he commanded Belisarius to lead forces and crush the rebels. As no cities were sacked and the pillaging did not damage much, the Persian Emperor did not demand compensation but simply overlooked the incident.
Marutha's peacekeeping actions and aid to the Romans were viewed favorably.
533 AD - Conquest of the Vandals begin. Belisarius sails with 103 Dromons, escorting 600 transports containing 18,000 men alongside barbarian troops.
534 AD - An african prefecture centered in Carthage is formed. Thanks to a larger number of troops and ships that could be sent, the moors were more pacified and though the region remained unstable for some time, the prefecture would remain securely under Justinian's grip.
535 AD - Instabilities in Ostrogothic Italy allowed the Romans to seize the opportunity and reconquer Italy.
536 AD - Rome is retaken and an attempt to retake it by the Ostrogoths are repelled.
538 AD - The Sassanid succession struggle ends and the plague of Justinian arrives in Syria and Egypt.
540 AD - Italy is fully retaken. The Bubonic plague has reached even Constantinople and its casualties are mounting. Noticing the plague and realizing what it is, Marutha sends a letter to all the learned men he knew to search for wounds on them daily and apply copper or bronze dust on them if any.
Furthermore, for any regularly touched surface to be made of copper or bronze such as pots, plates and cups. Marutha himself convinced the governor of Nisibis to do so and helped the city.
542 AD - The Plague of Justinian devastated the world, but for West Persia and half of the Byzantine Empire, the plague was effectively stumped. The copper instructions were sufficient to spare many. When comparing the casualties between those who used copper and those who did not, the difference was striking.
Demand for copper rose and the medicinal use of copper increased dramatically.
545 AD - Many doctors and healers who survived the plague following the instructions began to take a flight to Nisibis to learn from Marutha who had given them the instructions they needed to save most if not all of their family members.
Seeing these people come to learn from him, Marutha decides it is time to teach them biology and medicine. Skipping many theories of disease and biology altogether, he planned to teach them for an entire decade six topics of highschool-level modern biology with some chemistry and a year to apply their own understandings. All this compiled in a six chapter tome known as the Zoologion.
• Origin and Transformation of Life
Refutes the contemporary spontaneous generation and replaces it with Abiogenesis. A quote from Augustine of Hippo's 'Literal Meaning of Genesis' is commented to demonstrate Abiogenesis as a part of the book of Genesis as a better alternative to the contemporary spontaneous generation.
Post-Darwinian evolution was taught as an extension to the ideas of Anaximander, Aristotle and Emphedocles, using Greek Philosophy to convey the idea much better. This chapter also included DNA, but called the biologos.
The broad idea of the biologos and its mechanisms are taught but the chemistry and its specifics are ignored. The traditional definition of species is introduced.
• Of Substances
Atomism is revived but with early notions of quantum physics. First of all, the atom is treated as a fundamental unit but it is treated less of indivisible bits and more of blobs of energy. Atoms can combine to make different, larger atoms or divide to make smaller ones. Atoms can bind together to form molecules.
Atomic and molecular attraction is used to explain why some things are soft while others are hard. Mathematics is not included here, only concept.
• Human Anatomy
The human body is explained in detail, referring to the previous chapters to explain the human body's functions.
• Cells, Diseases and Microbes
An exposition on cells and microbes, how diseases are simply animal attacks on a much smaller scale and how the bodies of visible animals are made of many cells with different types and functions.
• Immune System
An exposition on the human immune cells and how they function, heavily using analogies to explain how diseases are defeated, how wounds are closed and the many ways the immune cells defend the body. However, it also gives cases where the immune system can be deceived to attack its own body and ways to reduce cases like that.
• Mutation and Cancers
An exposition on how the biologos can be altered over time randomly, which at times may be harmless, in others beneficial but mostly harmful. The cells destroy themselves if the biologos is corrupted but sometimes they do not and become a parasite known as cancer. Peto's paradox is also discussed and the chapter explains that the only way to survive cancer is to maintain the immune system, mentioning that everyone has cancerous cells but cancer only occurs if the cancerous cells are left too long.
553 AD - The Second Council of Constantinople. Theotokos and Christotokos are defended, Nestorianism and Origenism is condemned. It is here where the Christological formula held at Chalcedon was further refined, resolving all the remaining tensions between the Antiochian and Alexandrian schools of theology.
555 AD - The Justinian Conquests end and the Mediterranean is almost entirely under Eastern Roman control.
The students of Marutha have finished their decade long lesson and begin a medical revolution. With greater medical and biological knowledge, healers and doctors of the age become far more effective. A systematic study of contemporary medicine was made and entire schools of traditional medicine are starting to undergo changes.
563 AD - Under Emperor Justinian's order, silkworm eggs were successfully smuggled into Byzantium and a native silk industry forms. Once the industry matures, the outcompetition caused by eastern goods will not only be nullified but reversed.
565 AD - Emperor Justinian I dies, replaced by his nephew Justin II. Justinian I's reign was marked with a reconquest of almost all of the mediterranean coast, with the entirety Ostrogothic Italy under Roman control. Reconquests and assaults by the lombards or the remaining Ostrogoths have failed completely, allowing the Eastern Roman Empire to permanently hold these territories. This is thanks to the plague disproportionately affecting the "barbarians" as Marutha's instructions weakened the plague against the Eastern Romans and the Persians in its earlier days.
This successful reconquest led to the empire's heightened position in the world stage and a potential to restore the old Rome. Justinian's reign also marked cultural and religious changes. The pious Emperor and his Empress Theodora were very close allies to the Church. In fact, both of them worked to create the duality, not separation, not co-mingling, between Church and State.
The Church exists solely to manage the affairs of God while the Roman State exists to manage the affairs of men. The two are linked yet fundamentally different sides. Much like the dualism of mind and body, so is the double headed imperial eagle of the Eastern Roman state.
With the state enabling the Church to perform its function through laws, cultural changes were brought about as well primarily spearheaded by Empress Theodora who died four years later than when she would have originally died, due to cancer. Empress Theodora campaigned much for the rights of the common woman, as she herself was once a common woman and even a prostitute following in her sister Comita's footsteps.
Theodora frequently used her own funds to buy girls sold into prostitution, freeing them and providing for their future. She also created and funded a monastery called Metanoia, specifically to rehabilitate those girls who have been set free from prostitution. With abolition sentiments present and the Church's own condemnation of prostitution, Emperor Justinian was able to release a set of laws that gradually abolished the institution of prostitution by making it unprofitable under heavy taxation.
Another notable law was outlawing the exposure of unwanted infants, which also demanded that if a child was unwanted, the child should simply be anonymously given to the Church to be raised. This would lead to the Church possessing another strong support base from those children it raised. Other laws included the increased rights of women in divorce and property ownership, death penalty for rape, gave mothers some guardianship rights over her children and forbade killing adulterers. Dowries would also be returned should a woman become a widow.
By popular acclaim, the couple were canonized as saints of the Church. They were both buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which became an even more popular site of pilgrimage particularly for ex-prostitutes and the unwanted. As Justin II takes over, the vision of a restored Rome comes into view. Unlike the empty treasury of the original Justin II, he inherited an empire stronger than it was before.
568 AD - An attempt at retaking Byzantine Italy by the Ostrogoths failed. Due to the plague not being as lethal to the Byzantines from their medical measures, the attack was easily repelled and Justinian's conquests remained permanent after his death.
570 AD - In retaliation as a casus beili, Justin II pushed north to defeat and conquer the recently formed Lombards and the remnants of the Ostrogoths.
576 AD - Paper is introduced, combined with block printing, this results in a precursor to the printing press. Nisibis opens up the first western paper mill and the invention was first used by the local church and the monastery to showcase its use.
578 AD - The Byzantine Empire now borders the Frankish kingdoms as only the Visigoths remain of the gothic states.
579 AD - Khosrow I dies, his christian son Anoshazad ascends to the throne. With the First Christian Shahanshah, Christianity successfully creates footholds in Khorasan and the rest of Eastern Persia, gaining easier access to central Asia than ever before and being ahead of its rivals like Manicheaism and Zoroastrianism.
580 AD - Traditional medical schools of thought have finished their transformation to incorporate the Zoologion. Four years after the introduction of paper, treatises on biology, medicine and disease began to be written as these schools of thought compiled their beliefs.
The plagues of old became objects of study and through this medical revolution, measures to prevent or weaken this begin taking place. From requiring copper or bronze in public seats or tables to the minting of copper or bronze coins as the smallest dividen. As copper and bronze possess intrinstic medical value, the metals gradually gained recognition as a form of currency.
589 AD - Third Council of Toledo occurs, Marutha participates as an Eastern observer representing the Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon alongside an Aramean bishop of the Antiochian Patriarchate and a Greek bishop of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In the council, Marutha is mainly there to prevent the fillioque and the Jewish persecutions that will follow. In order to bring all nations into the fold, the Jews must be persuaded to conversion and not eliminated. He would only join in the debate on policy towards the Jews and to prevent any changes in the nicene-constantinople creed.
By his influence, the 2nd, 5th and 14th canons were changed. The 2nd canon no longer contained the fillioque as in the original timeline. The 5th's prohibition only applied on converted Arian bishops, an eastern tradition.
The 14th canon became a policy that will systematically convert the Jews over generations without persecutions that would trigger mass flights. Below is the summation of the 14th canon:
- Daughters of Jewish-Christian marriages are to be baptized.
- Jews with at least one Christian spouse, sibling or child whether as adopted or biological are given rights equal to an orthodox christian citizen and protected by the Church from religious or ethnic persecution.
607 AD - Anoshazad dies of old age. His reign was one marked with internal tension and the beginning of Christianity's major role in persian politics. He married a christian wife, a byzantine princess, who was used to further enforce the Eternal Peace and maintain the status quo between the two empires.
As his wife was a Christian and a foreigner, so were his children, his power was frequently challenged by the Zoroastrian clergy and nobles. Following a trend set out by his father Khosrow I, he made brutal crackdowns and executions to any Zoroastrian clergy or noble who resisted the implementation of his decrees. This led to frequent revolts which were often quickly put down.
Like his father, he patronized Mazdak and his followers to weaken the Zoroastrian clergy and the nobility. Simultaneously, these two sects of the Zoroastrian faith in conflict resulted in the eastern areas of his empire being in perpetual tension. It came with weakening resistance against him and softening up the population for Christianity, but with imposing control being harder.
As he died, he passed the throne to his son Shapur IV to reunite Persia under the faith as half of the realm in the west had become followers of the Nazarene while the east remained embroiled in Zoroastrian sect conflict.
625 AD - Paper had supplanted parchment and papyrus in the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa. All official government records, treatises and lower class writings were all in paper. Thanks to the availability of paper, literacy rates passively grew and by now, even commoners could become scholars.
628 AD - A syriac and persian christian mission arrives in Tang Dynasty China. Emperor Taizong of Tang met with the mission and provided it with official tolerance. Sacred works such as the Biblical Canon, the Horologion, the Heptapanarion and writings of Syriac and Persian fathers were translated and placed in the Imperial Library at the Emperor's request.
With Imperial Protection, the mission in China would begin with a great start.
634 AD - The Arab migrations occur. Driven by climate change in Arabia, hordes of Arab tribes march out of Arabia to raid and occupy territories of both the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires. The Ghassanids and Lakhmids, both Arab Christian tribes and client states of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires were overrun by the sheer numbers. Without islam, the mass migration was disorganized and the tribes fought each other almost as often as they fought the Byzantine and Sassanid borders.
Even with both of them currently in a relatively strong position, the migrations were overwhelmingly huge and so lands were inevitably lost, trade disrupted badly and new borders drawn.
635 AD - The migrations claimed any territory beneath the Euphrates river to the Arab tribes and cities near it experienced frequent raiding. Trade hubs in Syria, Mesopotamia and Babylon suffered heavily, leading to tax revenues dropping and the Imperial treasuries of both empires draining away. In the west, the cities of Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo and Edessa have become border cities, with Palmyra under one of the newly formed Arabian nomad states.
To protect trade and pilgrims, large portions of the armies of both states were kept near the border. Militaries were either expanded or conquest plans cancelled. Enforcement of laws through force became more difficult and so the Emperor's position in both empires faced a setback.
637 AD - Paper became staple use in the new Arab states, leading to the Arabs to begin undergoing both Hellenization and Persianization. This also came with the appearance of the Arab Monotheist movement as many prophets of new religions arose, typically represented by an entire tribe or the union of multiple tribes. A hotpot of syncretism, a new wave of heretical beliefs and more competition for religious sects.
638 AD - As the options of conquest were untenable due to the raids and higher taxation would only worsen the already growing unrest due to trade disruption. The current Emperor is at a loss of what to do, that is until Marutha himself visits the Emperor with an offer.
Since the Syrian trade is disrupted, Marutha offers to help the Emperor construct a Byzantine-era Suez canal. Marutha explains the full benefits and performs calculations to show to not just the Emperor but also to the senate and to the ministers, meeting with them in multiple occasions within the timespan of two months until the authorities at Constantinople agreed to fund the project.
Using fifteen thousand laborers, the project is expected to be complete in 8 years. If the project is unsuccessful, Marutha will pay heavy compensation and so the project is under the co-leadership of Marutha and the minister in charge of construction projects.
642 AD - A Chinese Princess and a Chinese noble contributed to the reconstruction of the St Mary's Church in Urmia. Their names are carved into the church. These indicated that the Chinese mission is proceeding well and a bishop is sent in response from Seleucia-Ctesiphon to accelerate the mission.
646 AD - The Pelusian Canal is completed. By now, the trade imbalance between the east and Rome has been resolved and even reversed to some extent. Thanks to cheaper, more reliable wares from the assembly lines and native silk produced in Constantinople, the trade imbalance has been neutered and gold, silver will flow into the empire and no longer out.
Based on Marutha's original calculations and proposed taxation rates, the canal's tariffs itself should pay off its construction in around 8 years once it became popular. The Emperor gave the canal 16 years to fulfill that.
In the meantime, Marutha would begin to move some of his servants from Nisibis to start a new settlement on the opposite side of the canal called Antipelusin. He would also purchase slaves to set them free with the condition that they will inhabit this settlement. He looks for laborers and former merchants.
650 AD - Under Khosrow II, Son of Shapur, the Sassanid Empire officially declares Christianity as its state religion. Half of the Royal Family had by now been converted to Christianity and many nobles, mostly western and southern ones have converted as well. The Zoroastrian clergy had barely escaped Mazdakism and so not much resistance could be done.
Zoroastrianism remains a legal religion but without state patronage, the priesthood begins to show signs of crumbling. Fire temples gradually lost their congregations to nearby East Syriac rite Churches. Xwedodah, an incestuous ritual once glorified by the Zoroastrian populace has now been condemned by the increasingly Christian population.
Inspired by the Pentarchy of Rome, Khosrow II divided the administration of the Persian Church into a Triarchy. The Patriarch of Yerevan to govern the Armenian priesthood and a sign of their autonomy. The Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, continuing its role but its jurisdiction stopping before Eastern Persia. The Patriarch of Merv, to govern the entirety of Khorasan, Eastern Persia and Sogdia.
To cement its canonical status, the Shahanshah declared the Ecumenical Council of Nisibis. The first ecumenical council not convoked by a Roman Emperor but a Persian Emperor instead. As the recent Christianization of Persia brought a good mood to the Church and Marutha's nomination as the one to preside over it, the Roman Emperor supported it and observed it as well.
652 AD - First Council of Nisibis occurs, the division of Patriarchates and prerogatives of Honor are discussed. Canon modifications are done to accomodate the different rites and the fact that now, there is a third type of Christianity beyond Greek and Latin, namely Perso-Syriac. With this, the new prerogatives of honor are decided.
Rome, first among equals. Constantinople, second among equals. Seleucia-Ctesiphon, third among equals. Alexandria, the fourth. Antioch, the fifth. Satisfied with the results, the idea of a Pentarchy transcended the Roman borders and the Imperial Church found itself in a unique situation as now being the faith of not one but two superpowers who each claim rulership over the world itself.
654 AD - After 8 years, the canal has been firmly established as a new sea trade route all the way from India to Persia to the Red Sea and across the Mediterranean. The goods and riches of the East flowed through Rome once more.
The impact of the canal and its two cities is hard to overstate. Though it provides a stable revenue to Rome and ends the trade disruption, the canal itself and the trade route it has created has more impact than merely Rome itself.
The trade route's presence single handedly ended the Aksumite trade isolation that originally would have been brought by the rise of Islam and the loss of Yemen. Aksum now traded with Constantinople more readily and received new traders from Persia and India. The flow of ideas, inventions, cultures and religion expanded to greater heights than before.
Aksum, which was in decline, suddenly found itself springing back from the trade. The Aksumite revival as it is called can be traced to begin here, eight years after the canal's opening as Aksum retook the city of Aden and incorporated it into its resurgent trade.
Beyond Aksum, the St Thomas Christians of India found themselves with much easier contact with the Imperial church in Rome due to the new trade route. Roman merchants went as far as Malabar coast, carrying Greek, Coptic and even Aksumite missionaries. At this point, the missionary efforts in India practically tripled and the Malabar coast quickly became home to a vibrant community of multi-ethnic christian missionaries.
The trade route soon grew to incorporate the port city of Barus in Sumatra, Indonesia. Christianity, in the form of a foreign community, has begun to spread in Indonesia.
679 AD - The City of Antipelusin has grown to become another trading hub and one particularly known for being a meeting ground between Mediterranean Merchants and Aksumite Merchants. Aksumites, Copts, Greeks, Latins, Franks and Goths are the most common ethnicities of traders one would find in the city.
Marutha did not remain idle as the city grew in importance, he built a monastery modelled like the one in Nisibis, a seminary to train missionaries who would travel down the route and a library to house foreign tales in order to analyze and understand these cultures for more effective Christianization. Additionally, he built a passive desalinator
689 AD - Empress Wu Zetian, an ardent buddhist, begins persecutions of non-buddhists in Tang Dynasty China. The Apostolic Church in China at the time of the persecution possessed 4 bishops, with missionaries reinforced from Syria, Persia and more recently, India. The Church fared better due to the reinforcements, growing much more slowly but still growing.
699 AD - Non-buddhist persecution ends and Christianity returns to its previous growth rate in Tang Dynasty China.
This part ends here. I hope you like it, comment me some feedback and some more details or historical accuracies that you think could be added to this timeline. I'm interested in how this new world history would go so I really hope for some input to make the story better than before. Thanks for reading!