February 12, 676.
There was a journal buried in the soil, Father said it was just an old book that probably has lost most of it's value. I read the first page and I was immediately drawn in:
"...December 4, 476
"To whomever may find this journal, please know that my words are true and the events described hereafter are creating chaos throughout the Empire. I am Tiberius. Son of Marcus Augustus, husband to Aelia and a scribe to the mighty Roman Empire. I live in the city of Rome and I want to create a record of the events that none of us thought would happen, in our life time or our children's. The Empire is collapsing! We have abandoned all hope and the city is being emptied of all its precious items. They are being moved to the city of Constantinople in the eastern part of the Empire. Now I will describe the reasons for the peril that now plagues the good citizens of the Roman Empire…
"...December 4, 476
"To whomever may find this journal, please know that my words are true and the events described hereafter are creating chaos throughout the Empire. I am Tiberius. Son of Marcus Augustus, husband to Aelia and a scribe to the mighty Roman Empire. I live in the city of Rome and I want to create a record of the events that none of us thought would happen, in our life time or our children's. The Empire is collapsing! We have abandoned all hope and the city is being emptied of all its precious items. They are being moved to the city of Constantinople in the eastern part of the Empire. Now I will describe the reasons for the peril that now plagues the good citizens of the Roman Empire…
The empire was strong. For 200 hundred years the citizens enjoyed Pax Romana. We had a good government to lead us, a good military to protect us. We had everything we needed. No one was foolish enough to attack our empire. It had been a miracle, I was told, because the world had never experienced peace for centuries. We created many new inventions that surely will impact generations to come. We developed a system in which you get fresh water delivered into your home, we called it Aqueducts, they used gravity to move the water from one place to another, just like a river. Another invention helped us make stronger buildings and paved sidewalks, it was concrete. | |
As the Roman Empire grew, so did many of our internal problems. What goes up must come down. this was the end of Pax Romana. People were dying everywhere from disease. I’m guessing it’s from the lead that we use to build our pipes. It was also chaos in the political world as well. Senators are killing each other. An emperor steps in and 3 years later is murdered. Without a leader, our paradise will crumbled. And to make matters worse. Savages from Carthage and the northern lands came and killed or captured everything they saw. they called themselves the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals. |
Many of us would venture out, most of us will die. With the heart gone, the cities will eventually fall with it. We have teamed up with family-friends and travel until we reach somewhere safe. Live in the woods, never stay anywhere for too long. Our destination is Constantinople. Everybody must depend on their own Maybe there is still hope out there. Maybe there’ll be hope in Constantinople. Maybe we could start anew. These are possibilities. Before we set out, I decided to bury this journal In hopes that someone would find it. I am Tiberius, Son of Marcus Augustus, Husband to Aelia.