1495 AD
Mondus Novus 

The Mondus Novus, the New World, was still largely unsettled and infested with strange and dangerous Barbarian tribes. But with little room at home left for expansion, the Romans looked to the lands east across the Mare Adriaticum. 

COMMODUS
"But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame and indignation when they beheld their sovereign enter the lists as a gladiator, and glory in a profession which the laws and manners of the  Romans had branded with the justest note of infamy.  Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy. Amidst the acclamations of a flattering court, he was unable to disguise, from himself, that he had deserved his contempt and hatred of every man of sense and virtue in his empire." 

-- Sir Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Primitive peoples attacked the Roman Settlements, but Veteran Riflemen successfully held off the assault. As Lunacantorium became more cultured, the nearby Barbarian village dispersed.

1655 AD
War Spills Over

As Roman Settlers pushed north, Barbarian resistance became more and more fierce. A coordinated attack by the Russians, Germans and Barbarians brought a new savagery to warfare. Undermanned Roman Elite Frontier Infantry, held the town against wave after wave of enemy attacks, at the famous Battle of Artaxata. 

Sibylline Curse from I, Claudius
by Sir Robert Graves

1764 AD
The Trans-Spina Railway

"Friendly" Iroquois clumsily blocked a Roman Rail. The Romans built a new Rail line around the Iroquois position and fortified Infantry the entire length of the Mountain Pass. Workers and Military could now travel the length of the Spina del Mondus, the Spine of the World. Meanwhile, Caesar sent a small fleet of Battleships (6) to travel across Oceanus Germanicus, through the frigid arctic waters of Russia, and then on to Greek waters. 

1788 AD
Global Stability

The world is at peace. The Spina Del Mondus acts as a natural barrier. But there is trouble brewing.