ANCIENT EGYPT SURVIVES UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY

An Alternate History Timeline

by Robert Perkins

PART THREE--300 BC TO 100 BC

298-290 BC--Third Samnite War.  The Samnites abrogate their treaty with Rome and once again declare war.  They are joined by the Etruscans, Gauls, and Umbrians. The allies are decisively defeated at the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BC, and never recover.  By 290 BC, the Romans have forced all of the allies to make alliances with Rome. 

289 BC--Agathocles of Syracuse dies. Pre-war division of Sicily resumes. 3rd Sicilian War ends.

287 BC: Last secession of the plebeians in Rome. As a result, the Lex Hortensia makes plebiscites binding in Rome. 

281-272 BC: Tarentine Wars.  Rome has been pressuring the Greek city of Tarentum in Southern Italy, and in 281, Tarentum pleas for assistance from King Pyrrhus of Epirus.  Pyrrhus  is a relative of Alexander the Great, and wishes to engage in some adventure comparable to that of his famous relative. He agrees to the Tarentine offer, and in 280 arrives in south Italy with 35,000 men and 20 elephants. The Romans promptly lead an army against him and are heavily defeated at Heraclea. Though victorious Pyrrhus loses 4,000 men, and when congratulated for his victory, he comments bitterly that "another such victory will ruin me" (hence the expression "Pyrrhic victory").  After this victory, the south Italian Greeks (Italiotes), Lucanians and Samnites go over to Pyrrhus. He marches on Rome, perhaps expecting to cow them into submission. He finds, however,  that even if some of the outlying Italian peoples are willing to desert the Romans, they can rely on the hardcore support of the Latins and various other communities. In the absence of large-scale defections, Pyrrhus can achieve nothing and withdraws to the south.  In 279 he again wins a costly victory against the Romans, losing another 3500 men. At this point he offers to make peace if the Romans agreed to guarantee the independence of the Italiotes and the Samnites. Rome rejects the offer.  In the meanwhile the Carthaginians are close to conquering the Greek communities of Sicily, and Pyrrhus crosses over to Sicily in 278 to aid the Greeks there. Pyrrhus defeats the Carthaginians and forces them off the island, leaving Lilybaeum as their only remaining stronghold.  After throwing back the Carthaginians, he returnes to Italy in late 276. In 275 two Roman armies guard against his attack to the north. His surprise attack on one army fails and he withdraws to Tarentum to avoid being encircled. At this point he goes back to Greece with most of his army, leaving the Italiotes to their fate.  The Greek cities, without military support from Pyrrhus, are subdued by Rome and forced to sign treaties of alliance.   Rome is now in effective control of all of Italy. 

275 BC--Pharaoh Necho VII dies without heirs.   The throne passes to a nephew of the queen, who takes the throne as Pharaoh Seti III.  Beginning of the 28th Dynasty.  

270-266 BC: Rome at war with Umbrians and Etruscans.  Rome is victorious.

264-241 BC--First Punic War.  Rome and Carthage support opposite sides in a war between the Greek cities of Sicily, leading Rome to invade the island.  Carthage declares war on Rome, and a vicious struggle lasting over 20 years is the result. Rome is victorious, largely because of it's invention of the corvus...which allows Roman marines to board enemy ships and capture them.  Carthage's naval power is broken, and it's armies are forced to surrender through lack of re-supply. In a humiliating treaty, Carthage is forced to surrender all of it's territories in Sicily and Sardinia to Rome.  

250 BC--Pharaoh Seti III dies, and is succeeded by Rameses XV.

245 BC--Pharaoh Rameses XV dies, and is succeeded by Necho VIII.  Necho has watched the developments in the First Punic War with concern. Carthage is a major trading partner of Egypt, and militarily, the Carthaginian and Egyptian fleets have, in cooperation (but not formal alliance), dominated the Mediterranean.  Pharaoh Necho  recognizes the threat posed by the upstart republic of Rome. He has especially noted the Roman invention which gave them naval supremacy over the Carthaginians...the corvus. In response he has large complements of marines and archers added to the crews of his warships. He also has chest-high railings installed around the decks of his ships (to prevent the corvus from being dropped directly onto the deck, where it's iron spike can fasten the ships together). When war comes, as Necho knows it will, Egypt's ships will be ready.

245-238 BC--Parthia, a region of northeastern Iran inhabited by the Parni tribe, which up until now has been under the rule of the Seleucids, revolts and establishes it's independence.  King Tiridates I assumes the throne. 

241-237 BC--Civil War in Carthage.  Hamilcar Barca, a brilliant general and statesman, emerges as virtual dictator in Carthage. 

236 BC onward--Carthage invades and conquers most of the Iberian Peninsula.  Hamilcar Barca does this to provide Carthage with an empire to compensate it for the one lost in the first Punic War, as well as to gain a base from which to eventually launch a war of revenge against Rome. 

235 BC--Hamilcar Barca of Carthage secretly approaches Egypt, seeking a formal military alliance against Rome. Pharaoh Necho VIII accepts.

228 BC--Hamilcar Barca dies in battle in Hispania,  and is succeeded by his son, Hannibal Barca.  Hannibal continues his father's policies in Hispania and vis-a-vis Rome.  Egypt renews it's alliance with Hannibal.

223 BC--Pharaoh Necho VIII dies, and is succeeded by Necho IX.

218-215 BC--The Second Punic War.  In 218 BC, Hannibal precipitates the Second Punic War when he attacks the Roman client city of Saguntum. As in OTL, Hannibal leads his army across the Alps and invades Italy. The Egyptians honour their treaty commitments and send an invasion force by sea to Italy. The Egyptian fleet escorting the invasion force is intercepted by that of Rome off Tarentum, and a naval battle occurs. Egyptian archers rain flaming arrows on the opposing Roman warships, setting many of them ablaze, and those which manage to get close enough to drop their corvuses find that they do not work due to the new railings installed on the Egyptian vessels. The Romans suffer a bloody defeat, and the Egyptians are able to land on Italian soil. Over the next three years, as Egypt controls the seas, the combined Egyptian and Carthaginian armies establish control over most of Italy. The Egyptians transport over a siege train in 216 BC, and Rome surrenders the following year. Hannibal wants to raze Rome to the ground, kill all the males and sell the women and children into slavery. However, his Egyptian allies persuade him to be more lenient...Pharaoh Necho has no desire to see Carthage’s only rival in the west eliminated. Rome is stripped of all her overseas territories (which are given to Carthage), and a crushing indemnity is imposed (shared by Egypt and Carthage). Carthage and Egypt are now the two most powerful states in the civilized world.

215-150 BC--Rome rebuilds it's power. In the succeeding decades, of course, Rome nurses it’s hatred of Carthage and Egypt. Hannibal’s successors in Carthage are not vigilant, and Egypt’s eyes are turned eastward as it is again involved in border wars with the Seleucids and Ptolemies. And so, Rome is able to once again rebuild it’s military power, and it casts about for allies.  It will eventually find them, too. 

190 BC--Pharaoh Necho IX "Roman Slayer" dies, and is succeeded by Seti IV.

165 BC--Pharaoh Seti IV dies, and is succeeded by Rameses XVI. 

150 BC--Rome signs treaties with Ptolemy VI of Asia Minor and Antiochus VI of the Seleucid Kingdom.  

149-141 BC--The Third Punic War.  Shortly after concluding their treaty of alliance, Rome, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids declare war on Egypt and  Carthage.  Since Egypt has it’s hands full defending against the combined Ptolemaic and Seleucid armies, it is not able to send much help to Carthage. And unfortunately, Carthage has, at this time, no leader of the caliber of Hamilcar or Hannibal Barca to lead it’s war effort. Roman armies land in Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain, and over the course of five years defeat the Carthaginian forces there. Rome’s fleet defeats the Carthaginian navy off Sicily in 144 BC, and the Romans land an invasion force near Carthage later that year. Carthage is placed under siege, and falls in 143 BC. The Romans are not disposed to be merciful, and they raze Carthage to the ground. The men are killed and the women and children sold into slavery. Carthage ceases to exist.

     Meanwhile, Egypt has managed to hold off the Ptolemies and Seleucids. But it sees the war going ill for it’s ally, and realizes Carthage may not be in the game much longer. So in 144 BC it does two things. Pharaoh Rameses XVI makes an alliance with King Mithridates I of Parthia, bribing him to attack the Seleucids. He also bribes Ptolemy VII, who has just succeeded to the kingship and who was never in favor of the alliance with Rome anyway, to make peace with Egypt in exchange for a large payment in gold and some minor land concessions along their mutual border. The Parthians sweep into Iran, and seize most of it as Egyptian armies press into Mesopotamia. Antiochus, desperate to protect his remaining lands from the Parthians, sues for peace with Egypt in 142 BC. A treaty is quickly signed, and Egypt redeploys to meet the Roman threat.

     But the Romans do not come. Their attention is fully taken up with the problems of integrating their newly conquered territories into their empire, and when in 141 BC Pharaoh Rameses offers peace, Rome accepts. An uneasy quiet settles on the region.  As a result of his success in delivering Egypt from what could have been a fatal crisis, Pharaoh Rameses will go down in history as "Rameses the Crafty."

140 BC to 90 BC--Roman expansion in Europe. It fights wars in Gaul, and against Epirus and Macedon, incorporating these areas into it’s Empire by the year 100 BC. Greece loses it’s independence soon after Rome takes Macedon. 

138 BC--Death of Pharaoh Rameses XVI "The Crafty."  He is succeeded by Psamtik X.

129-126 BC--King Artabanus II of Parthia invades and conquers the weakened Seleucid realm in Mesopotamia, killing King Demetrius II in the process and ending the Seleucid Dynasty. 

124 BC--King Artabanus II of Parthia dies and is succeeded by Mithradates II, who will go down in history as Mithradates "the Great." 

123 BC-100 BC--Wars of Mithradates II "The Great" of Parthia.  Shortly after assuming the throne, Mithridates II  threatens to attack Egypt’s Asian possessions, but (after being bought off by a substantial bribe) decides to attack Armenia and the Ptolemaic kingdom instead. He invades and conquers Armenia in 120 BC, and then begins a series of wars with the Ptolemies. The Ptolemies appeal to Rome for aid, which is given. Roman legions join the Ptolemaic forces against the Parthians, but although they delay the fall of the the Ptolemaic kingdom, they do not prevent it. The Ptolemaic capital of Ephesus finally falls in 100 BC, and with it, the kingdom. It’s last king, Ptolemy X, is taken to Babylon, where he is flayed alive. But Queen Cleopatra Berenice and most of the rest of the Ptolemaic royal family escape to Rome, and this gives Rome an excuse to continue the war with Parthia. The conflict will go on, at various levels of intensity, for the next 300 years. Egypt will sit on the fence throughout the conflict, supporting first one side and then the other (and sometimes both at once!)...it’s Pharaohs reason that as long as Rome and Parthia are at each other’s throats, they won’t have much time or energy to think about attacking Egypt! And the strategy will work well for a long time.

Egyptian clipart on this page is courtesy of

Copyright 2004 by Robert Perkins.  All rights reserved.  Last updated on June 15, 2004.