1333(580)-1441(688) (Ætas ab Brian)
From Alternative History
History of Rome-After Ætas ab Brian
| !Past 1302(549)-1333(580) | History of Rome (Aeab): 1333(580)-1441(688) | Terranova (Aeab): 1441(688)-1473(720) |
Next was Numerivs Cilo From Hispania Tarraconensis at 53. He did nothing of consequence, though 20 years into his rule an ADA in Germania Superior developed the first mechanical timepiece, called a cloca, based on the slow unwinding of springs; the face’s upper hemisphere devoted to day hours, and the bottom hemisphere for night hours. This brought up strange realisations within a few years. When before, sundials had always told the time based on the sun’s shadows, giving the hour, the cloca was set at the same speed of the sundial, it was found that throughout the year the length of a day varied. This was a suspicion of many for many years but the clocai were proved to be consistent in their time keeping again and again with many mechanisms set up in experiment. It now turned out that in reality, the sun and seasons were unreliable for giving the day. A significant change to how time was perceived had to be considered. Many thought it would be a needless waste of effort, but the cloca had the advantage over sundials of not requiring a sun, to face north, or even it to be daytime; as well as better than water clocks with needing only a winding key to keep them running, as well as well as being partially portable while still telling the time. It could make time more standardized and many scholars went to Cilo, advising the usefulness of installing them empire wide. Now in his late 70’s, Cilo was weary of the helftily large timepices and found them useless if they were not part of every city and town, and each was kept wound up, and there were mechanators residing in those cities to maintain the cloca’s integrity, and everyone learned how to read one. The ADA would continue work. Cilo died at 81 in 1361(608).
Quintvs Pompeivs from Scicilia was appointed Caesar at 50. In the barbarian parts of the Arabian peninsula, a prophet named Al-Amin formed an influential monotheistic religion. He whipped up massive Arab armies, uniting the majority of the peninsula and converting most of its peoples. His powerful armies however were curbed by Rome in a series of short wars lasting until his death in 1385(632). Although he demanded his successors continue the war against the pagan empire, they fought amongst themselves until both the nation, and their followers died of old age. Fortunately the religion itself was not lost, it expanded rather peacefully (though in a fractured state) around the near east, though Aegyptian, Greek, and Roman gods held sway beyond the region's coast of the Mare Imbrium. The Islam that stayed in the peninsula and reached eastern Africa would mix with Zoroastrianism, previously the most prominent religion. The Islam that entered Parthia would become heavily influenced by Roman gods.
Quintvs Pompeivs was not specifically enthused by the cloca but had the ADAs have their time keeping based upon it if they liked it so much. When this was done, it was also found true that even though the cloca were perfectly keeping time, as they were transported across the empire with the same time, when they arrived at their stations it was found that the local time did not coincide with any of the clocai which travelled east or west a great distance, yet when compared to the sundials and water clocks, they would still keep time, just farther behind in the west and ahead in the east. Later on, the only plausible explanation was that throughout the world time ran at the same rate but from a different starting time. Furthering this, the only explanation was that the sun did not pass over the world at the same angle everywhere. Did this mean the sun was so small and near it shadows were cast differently everywhere? Many scholars would attempt the calculations and perform experiments. The highest flying Alesalitis reported that as one approached the sun, it actually became cooler the higher they flew, and also the sun’ size never changed, using the scholars angles for a near sun and the flat ground, the sun would have to be much closer than would be reasonably possible. It was therefore, 80 years later (not that Pompeivs lived that long) that it was finally accepted in the scientific community that the world was a sphere, no getting around it, Aristotle and Eratosthenes’ theories about the circumference of Terra were proved unmistakably right.
| !Past 1302(549)-1333(580) | History of Rome (Aeab): 1333(580)-1441(688) | Terranova (Aeab): 1441(688)-1473(720) |
