What if in 116 AD there was a certain Roman-Gaelic man that declared war on Rome for the indpendence of the Greek Empire? Well in this alternate history, that's the Point of Divergence.
Before Greek Independence
The Ambitious Young Governor of Britannia
The year is 113 AD. In Britannia, the governor is a 27-year-old Roman-Gaelic man named Antonius Pentus Rescio, Antony Rescio for short. Rescio is ambitious, he wants more. So, in his mind, Rescio tries to think of a tactic to try to get more. Eventually, a few months later, he knows exactly what he needs to do. He has to gather a big force in order to try to make an Empire. But what Empire? Rescio then thinks harder. Then he comes to a conclusion: reclaim the Greek Empire in honor of his Greek ancestors. So, he decides to make his brother Hephistus the regent of the region of Britannia in order to grab enough soldiers to declare independence. But first, Rescio sails to Rome to talk with Emperor Trajan to see if he'll give the Greek Empire to Rescio diplomatically.
The Recruitment of Nobles
Once he got to Rome, he asked the Emperor if he could have the Greek Empire in honor of his Greek ancestors. Trajan rejected him arrogantly: in a way that made Rescio extremely infuriated after he was asked to go away. In fact, he was so angry he punched a guard, which instantly made him get in trouble and thrown in prison for 7 weeks. After being released and warned, he went all over the Roman empire to recruit more and more soldiers. After about 2 years, he grabs about 20,000 recruits and a few other generals along the way too. Rescio still knows that the Roman Empire is way stronger, so, he recruits a few more soldiers and also some naval units too.
The Final Touch
After recruiting almost 80,000 soldiers, 10 generals, and 1,000 ships by the spring of 116, Antony Rescio now knows he has enough men to at least try to fight Rome. But, he did one more thing before war: he got some equipment for the generals. He bought the most high-class material and armor for every general, including him. So now, he was ready to declare war for Greek independence.
The Greco-Roman War of Independence
The Battle of Sarvicus
So finally, on May 16, 116, Antony Rescio sent out a small book to Rome basically saying they want independence, even if they had to declare war. And they did. So almost instantly after war was declared, Antony Rescio and another general, Octavian Poduntus's used their strategy to go all the way to the borders and wait for some random Roman legion to pass by, and charge on them. What ended up happening is that a really big Roman legion was able to chase them all the way down to the mountainous Alps borders of OTL's Italy and managed to start the first major battle of the war near a small fort named Sarvicus. So, since they were cornered 3 to 1, both of Rescio's and Poduntus's troops instantly charged the Roman legion, and was immediately crushed in a matter of minutes. But then, once it seemed it would be in early Roman victory, reinforcements came and made the battle almost even. But after a few tactical charges and reinforcements, the Romans won and scared all of Rescio's and Podontus's remaining troops back to Athens.