What if the Roman Empire conquered the Forgotten Realms?

[Eltab]

Maybe if the Romans arrive near Mulhorand and face off against Pharaoh Cleopatra...
I think Thay would just wipe out any nearby legions with magic "artillery".

It does depend where the first Romans arrive - there are plenty of areas in FR that are disorganized / unorganized that could be swept up piecemeal. If the legions are seen as restoring order and providing safety, they will get farther than if they are marauding interlopers. They could for instance barge into the Tethyr civil wars and set up a king. (See also Grand History of the Realms, the sidebar page written by a farm family watching the Shoon - Cormyr War armies pass through.)

Something that might help the scenario:
Imperial Rome was a steady-state society. They could not get up the resources or ambition to conquer Scotland and Ireland thereby removing 'pirate' raids from the Atlantic coasts of Gaul and Hispania. The effort saved would have amply paid back the effort made, over time. I don't see that Empire being able to grab whole new province-sized areas. There is also Caesar Augustus, "Oh give me back my legions!" after the disaster of Teutoburger Wald. The Empire bled itself white trying to hold on to everything, conquests were increasingly beyond Rome's resources.
HOWEVER, the Roman Republic that had just out-lasted everything Carthage could throw at them (Hannibal), defeated the greatest power in the Western Mediterranean, and sown salt on the fields to prevent a relapse - those Romans might make a go of it and be able to see success within their grasp.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

A couple of thoughts:

By the second century AD, pretty much every conceivable deity from Europe and the Near East would have been represented in the legions. The imperial cult, various mystery cults, various dying-and-rising deities, and so on.

Set - who is known in the FR - would have been immediately recognizable, and by interpretatio romana he was the equivalent of Typhon. Typhon's cult would likely flourish. Silvanus, Ogma, Selune/Selene would need no translation.

Other deities would also be construed in terms of already known deities; the Romans wouldn't need to "bring" their own deities at all - they would simply reskin the cults they encountered as worshippers of deities with which they were already familiar. Because that's what they did. You would get syncretized deities like Mars Tempus and Jupiter Talos .

 

[Laurefindel]

The link to real-earth Roman empire defies suspension of disbelief for me, as willing as I am, but the basic premise of a Roman (or Roman-like) army invading an alternate Faerun is promising.

There would need to be a ****load of them, and they would need tactics/engineering/magical aid to defeat dragons, summoned elementals, and the numerous spellcasters and/or adventurers that can single-handedly vanquish an army. Alternatively (or in addition), they could be backed-up by the roman pantheon.

If that roman army is not reliant on magic, a magic-negating cataclysmic event such as the Time of Troubles or Spellplague, which you can retro-fit to your liking, would give them a significant advantage as you noted. Constant reinforcements from another plane would also help.

Like other posters, I think that 10-15 years is too short of a timeframe for the Romans to conquer and consolidate their holds on faerun. Even after generations of emperors/dictators/caesars, the invasion would still be ongoing. If you feel like going there, a diminished armor AC/increased shield bonus as in Adventure in Middle Earth as a campaign-specific houserule could reinforce the perceived effectiveness of the Roman legions.

I'm curious however, would these Romans be used as villains, protagonists or neutral agents in this setting?

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Not necessarily because they work better, but they are better organized as they are members of the same family, so there are family bonds that tie them together, that said each of them have their own agendas, and those agendas will pull them apart as time goes on, but at the beginning they are unified. The Romans don't exactly have a lot of myths about their gods, which are basically Romanized versions of the Greek gods. These Roman gods and goddesses wake up upon the entry of a certain number or Romans and others through the gate.


I have some ideas on where to put the gate.

Apart from this description, Baldr is known primarily for the story of his death. His death is seen as the first in the chain of events which will ultimately lead to the destruction of the gods at ​

Ragnarök

. Baldr will be reborn in the new world, according to ​

Völuspá

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldr​

​

[h=2]HistoryEdit[/h]

In ancient times, the seafaring human hero Balduran returned from Anchorome with great wealth. Balduran used this wealth to build a wall at the end of the Chionthar river. Balduran later vanished, never to return.^[10][9] After Balduran vanished, local farmers took control of the wall and begin to tax sailors arriving. The sailors overthrew the ruthless farmers and the four eldest took control, calling themselves "dukes."^[10]

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Baldur's_Gate

Here's my idea, what if Balduran was actually Baldr the Viking God. After dying at the beginning of Ragnarok he was reborn in the Forgotten Realms and founded a city called Baldur's Gate. Among the treasure he accumulated in his voyage to Anchorome was a gateway back to his original home, or at least he thought it was. Some adventurers discover the gate in a cave under Baldur's Gate and they open it, and it leads to a Roman Encampment in Germania. The Romans take advantage of this and they pour through, and because of the magical chaos at the time during the Time of Troubles the Roman Gods are created by the power vacuum and the wild magic that exists at the time. The Roman gods at first aren't full fledged gods, they have memories implanted in them, and some of them are contradictory being from Greek or Roman retellings of classical myth, they draw power from the Roman Legions worshipping them, and Mars gets the idea to conquer a sizable empire in this region, so they take the City of Baldur's gate from within. Hekate introduces herself to Commodus, she stabilizes the magic around the city, and a romance ensues between the would be Emperor and the Almost a goddess. Since the Romans are sorely lacking in magic Hekate herself offers her services as a battlemage with the intent of later rising to full goddess status taking over from the death goddess Mystra is her aim. Mars takes over as general of one of the legions, he doesn't want to rule directly, as he wants to achieve godhood himself, but in order to do that he is trying to help Commodus conquer an Empire in Faerun, one problem is Commodus doesn't always listen to him, and there is a kind of tug of war between the two.
​

 

[Thomas Bowman]

The link to real-earth Roman empire defies suspension of disbelief for me, as willing as I am, but the basic premise of a Roman (or Roman-like) army invading an alternate Faerun is promising.

There would need to be a ****load of them, and they would need tactics/engineering/magical aid to defeat dragons, summoned elementals, and the numerous spellcasters and/or adventurers that can single-handedly vanquish an army. Alternatively (or in addition), they could be backed-up by the roman pantheon.

If that roman army is not reliant on magic, a magic-negating cataclysmic event such as the Time of Troubles or Spellplague, which you can retro-fit to your liking, would give them a significant advantage as you noted. Constant reinforcements from another plane would also help.

Like other posters, I think that 10-15 years is too short of a timeframe for the Romans to conquer and consolidate their holds on faerun. Even after generations of emperors/dictators/caesars, the invasion would still be ongoing. If you feel like going there, a diminished armor AC/increased shield bonus as in Adventure in Middle Earth as a campaign-specific houserule could reinforce the perceived effectiveness of the Roman legions.

I'm curious however, would these Romans be used as villains, protagonists or neutral agents in this setting?

I think the Romans could be villains, some of them could be protagonists The whole cohort is led by the Emperor's Son Commodus, when his world gets cut, he become Emperor of the Faerunian Roman Empire, he is sort of a weak leader, he gets manipulated by his advisors a lot, some of whom are the Roman gods themselves in their Avatar form. These gods have combat stats, and are very powerful characters in their own right, but they start out wanting to work within the system and that means through the recognized Roman Emperor Commodus.

Commodus is a bit of an ego trip, he tends to play one god against the other, and the various Roman gods have different ideas of where they want to go with this empire building, as they each one, in their own way, wants to spread Roman influence and increase their numbers of worshippers.

Athena/Minerva doesn't particularly like Commodus very much, she wants to spread Roman influence, and she doesn't agree with Mars' approach of having a conquering army to do this. Hekate is in charge of the Magic, she goes around recruiting native magic users (wizards, witches, sorcerers) and the like promising fortune and power if they throw themselves in with the Roman cause.
Venus/Aphrodite seems uninterested in battle maneuvers, she wants to compete with Sune, and she is attracted to various warriors on both sides of the conflict.

The Romans are not all of one stripe or alignment and they have various slaves they brought with them through the gate, some of whom worship the Norse deities, many would like to be free, as they are German tribesmen and women captured in previous Roman conquests.

Probably the PCs are going to be on the side opposing the Roman occupation of Baldur's Gate I think. What do you think?

 

[Thomas Bowman]

A couple of thoughts:

By the second century AD, pretty much every conceivable deity from Europe and the Near East would have been represented in the legions. The imperial cult, various mystery cults, various dying-and-rising deities, and so on.

Set - who is known in the FR - would have been immediately recognizable, and by interpretatio romana he was the equivalent of Typhon. Typhon's cult would likely flourish. Silvanus, Ogma, Selune/Selene would need no translation.

Other deities would also be construed in terms of already known deities; the Romans wouldn't need to "bring" their own deities at all - they would simply reskin the cults they encountered as worshippers of deities with which they were already familiar. Because that's what they did. You would get syncretized deities like Mars Tempus and Jupiter Talos .

Your right there, the Gods of Rome have their Faerunian Counterparts, perhaps it would be helpful to list them and see which gods share the same portfolios.

 

[Shasarak]

Sorry but this premise reminds me too much of when the Dragonborn invaded the Realms.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

Sorry but this premise reminds me too much of when the Dragonborn invaded the Realms.

Really? Romans are quite human, and it doesn't require disfiguring the entire globe of Toril to introduce them. I'll tell you what got me started on this. Just look at the two pantheons above. The Roman Pantheon consist of the following:
Roman God -------------------------- Faerunian equivalent
Juno the goddess of marriage
Jupiter the God of Rulership (Possibly Ao, but Jupiter takes a more active hand)
Vesta the goddess of home and hearth
Neptune the god of the sea: Umberlee
Pluto the god of the underworld: Kelemvor
Ceres the goddess of agriculture: Chauntea
Vulcan the god of craftsmen and the forge: Gond
Mars the god of war: Tempus
Diana the goddess of the Moon and hunting (Also Hekate): Selune for the Moon, Mielikki for the forests, Mystra for Magic, Sylvanus
Apollo the god of the Sun, Music, Healing, and Prophesy: Milili for song and poetry (No god of the Sun or prophesy)
Minerva goddess of war, crafts, and wisdom: Oghma
Mercury the goddess of trade, thieves, and travel: Mask for thieves, Akadi for movement, Waukeen for trade
Bacchus the god of wine
Venus the goddess of love and beauty: Sune
Notice something? Faerunian deities tend to be more specialized. Also the Romans don't have a god of Murder, There is no Faerunian god of the Sun. In the Roman Pantheon Neptune is a greater deity while Umberlee is a lesser one. Diana and Apollo have large portfolios covering many areas, they are twin brother and sister after all.
Apollo doesn't have much competition if he were to enter the Forgotten Realms, it has no Sun god after all, and no god of Prophesy either. Venus and Sune are rivals. There is not a forgotten realms equivalent for every Roman god, nor is there a Roman equivalent for every Forgotten Realms god. Minerva is more good aligned than Oghma, and she has wisdom while Oghma is just a god of crafts and invention.

One thing I should add is that the Roman Pantheon was an actual pantheon of gods that real people worshipped and believed in, while the Faerunian deities are made up for a role playing game. Another advantage the Roman and Greek gods have is they come with a series of stories and myths, the Forgotten Realms gods just have portfolios, and a few novels in the present time. The Roman and Greek gods are also more familiar to most people as well. You talk about Mercury and most people know who he is and what he does, that is an advantage in a role playing game.

 

[Sadras]

Apollo the god of the Sun, Music, Healing, and Prophesy: Milili for song and poetry (No god of the Sun or prophesy)...(snip)...There is no Faerunian god of the Sun ...(snip)...Apollo doesn't have much competition if he were to enter the Forgotten Realms, it has no Sun god after all, and no god of Prophesy either.

Amaunator and Lathander Morninglord the Dawnbringer wish to say hello.

 

[Thomas Bowman]

They have aspects to the Sun. They have broken up the Sun's portfolio into the effects of sunlight, I'm pretty sure the Romans would not have thought to do this.