Four days until Copper Centurion is released into the wilds of the ebook world! May better be prepared! By the way, I’ll be reblogging a post from Alternate History Weekly Update here soon as I have an article about how to include steampunk accurately and correctly into your alternate history novel.

Within the world of Brass Legionnaire and Copper Centurion, there are many critically important events that have led to the events in these stories. Here is but four of them for your temptation (and enjoyment!)

1. The failed assassination attempt on Julius Caesar – Filled with a sense of duty to his friend, rather than to the Republic, Brutus identifies the conspirators, who are jailed and later executed by Julius Caesar for crimes against the Empire. The conspirators’ families are blacklisted and prevented from ever applying or holding military or civilian power in the empire again.
2. The battle of Teutoburg forest – Legatus Commanding Officer Gaius Sentius Saturninus maintains command of the Germania invasion force after General Varus falls from his horse in a freak accident, shattering his thighbone and preventing him from leading the invasion. The legatus, familiar with German tricks, ambushes and destroys the combined forces of the germania tribes in a four day running battle, using mechaniphants and skimmers to identify and crush pockets of resistance. General Arminius is killed when a mechaniphant tramples his command element.
3. Subjugation of Hibernia – after the successful elimination of the northern hill tribes in Britannia, Rome looks westward towards the last free territory in western Europe. After a quick invasion, which quickly routes the locale levies of the tribal lords, Rome forcibly moves thousands of displaced central and southern Europeans to the new, relatively empty territory. Several bloody uprisings erupt, forcing Rome to deploy multiple legions to quell the territory.
4. Emperor Diocletian’s acceptance of Christianity as a separate, but not state-funded, religion. Rather than submitting to Christianity, Diocletian chose to sidetrack them, allow the worship of their solitary god but placing an additional (and heavy) tax burden upon them. The creation of a standard pantheonic ‘bible’ in response to the christian bible, allowed the followers of the old gods to combat the rapid expansion of this new religion. But with religious rights protected (and taxed), the Empire has managed to avoid any out-and-out religious wars… so far.