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Editor says, what if Licinius had recovered from his defeat at Hellespont? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the September 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 324, in the decisive final encounter between the two emperors, Roman forces loyal to Licinius (pictured) prevailed at the Battle of Chrysopolis, in Bithynia.
Licinius wins the Battle of ChrysopolisFollowing his catastrophic defeat at the Battle of the Hellespont, his rival Constantine had crossed over to Asia Minor, using a flotilla of light transports in order to avoid the enemy army, which, under the command of Licinius' newly appointed co-emperor Martinian, was guarding the coast at Lampsacus. Meanwhile Licinius had evacuated his garrison from Byzantium which joined his main army in Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus. From there he also summoned Martinian's forces and a band of Visigothic auxiliaries, under their leader Aliquaca, to reinforce his principal army which had been depleted by its earlier defeat at the Battle of Adrianople.
Overconfident, Constantine seemingly eschewed any subtlety of manoeuvre, launching a single massive frontal assault on Licinius' troops but his forces were routed by them. Constantia, Constantine's half-sister and Licinius' wife, acted as intermediary, but no mercy was shown and Constantine was executed.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Chrysopolis, Constantine I, Licinius , Rome, Tetrarchy. Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ the battle was the final encounter between the two emperors. After his navy's defeat in the Battle of the Hellespont, Licinius withdrew his forces from the city of Byzantium across the Bosporus to Chalcedon in Bithynia. Constantine followed, and won the subsequent battle. This left Constantine as the sole emperor, ending the period of the Tetrarchy.
~ Well, there goes Christianity's shot at becoming Rome's official religion, at least for a while. And if the triumph of the Christian church in the Roman Empire is delayed, someone other than Athanasius may win out in the Church's internal struggles, with potentially major consequences.
~ Would paganism, or Mithraism, or something, anything else, have had a chance at survival?
~ Without one state religion, it's likely. They might even be Unitarian with the Pantheon and similar universal leanings.
~ Or maybe a new Julian would enforce the traditional paganism. Who knows?
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
