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ANDREW THOMPSON

Grade 11

Hypothesizing an Alternate History of the Roman Empire

Have you ever thought about how history might have been different if the Roman dictator Julius Caesar hadn’t been assassinated? Eleventh grader Andrew Thompson has. In fact, he has spent the entire year thinking about this question as part of his Junior Thesis, a requirement for every eleventh grader.

An avid Latin student since sixth grade, Andrew knew he wanted to focus his thesis on Ancient Rome. In high school, his study of Latin has moved beyond only language to a study of Roman history.

“My Latin class has been as much a history class as it is a language class. We study the Roman Empire by translating important works,” says Andrew.

“So many things happened in Rome that have affected world history. I wanted to ask a big ‘What if’ question,” he says.

In order to pursue this hypothetical idea in a scholarly way, Andrew has been building upon his knowledge of actual Roman history at the time of Caesar, Mark Antony, Augustus and beyond. He has researched the period through books and articles, and considered the military status, leadership, and resources of different regions. He is also considering the political stability of populations and the rates of technological development. For much of his research, he has gone straight to the primary sources of that time.

“Luckily for me, there were a lot of people at the time documenting Caesar’s actions day by day,” he says. “There are actual notes of what he was planning to do just four days before he was assassinated.”

In this series, we highlight students as they are deeply engaged in the process of learning and taking responsibility for their own learning— extending their knowledge and skills and constructing real-world applications.

Caesar had planned to conquer the territory of Dacia (now Romania) and then go on to invade Parthia (now Armenia), which was also a superpower at the time, similar to Rome, explains Andrew.

“The question I’m asking is what might have happened if Caesar had actually gone through with his invasion plans. How does that change the layout of what we now consider modern Europe?”

Andrew will anwer this question in the form of an approximately 20-page paper accompanied with a detailed timeline. As part of the Junior Thesis program, he will have to present and defend his work to a committee comprised of select faculty members.

Alongside his advisor and Latin teacher Jay Reynolds, Andrew is actively discussing potential scenarios.

“He points me in different directions and his vast knowledge is so useful,” says

Andrew. “I trust him so much with this project.”

Andrew is also factoring in the personality and psychology of Caesar and the key stakeholders of the period into this thesis.

“Caesar was a dictator and he loved power and held it close. Would Caesar have continued to rule in the same way? And Augustus, would he have been a different type of ruler had he grown up in a context of mass power?”

In addition to a solid grasp of history and personalities, Andrew said that his Junior Thesis requires imagination and the ability to tell a story. His love of a good yarn is inspired by his love of everything Marvel. The idea for this thesis actually came from a Marvel series called “What If . . . ?” that explores alternate narratives for Marvel characters. “I wanted to do the same thing, but with history,” says Andrew who could not be more excited about combining his love of Ancient Rome and storytelling together. “This is the perfect spot for me.”