Praetoria Timeline – not adding up for me

[JanessaVR]

I'm working on a background story for a Praetorian character and have been re-reading all of the lore and mission pages related to Praetoria on ParagonWiki.  This has been invaluable, but the timeline (not explicitly spelled out), is not adding up for me.

My best guess, looking at Tyrant's bio page (and cross-referencing actual history pages on Wikipedia), was:

1953:  President MacArthur orders the use of nukes in Korea
1959:  Cole returns from his self-imposed exile
1960:  Cole elected president
1961:  Cole addresses United Nations
1962:  Cole has his epic battle with Hami, seemingly defeating it
1963:  Praetoria founded

BUT...

It then says that the start of the Praetoria-meets-Primal-Earth story is 25 years after that, which is officially 2010 as per the CoH Canon Timeline.  Going by that, Praetoria would have been founded in 1985.

Anyone have any suggestions/clarifications?

Thank You

[The Fifth Horseman]

Or perhaps Praetorian and Primal Earths are not on the same exact point in their timelines, time flows at slightly different rates in them, or finally the means of transport do not send you to the other universe at the same point in timeline as your original one.

[JanessaVR]

Ok, some expanded analysis, referencing the official bio for Tyrant:


Born into poverty in the poorest district of Shroud City, Marcus Cole was destined for a greatness that would reach beyond his humble origins.
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NOTES:  Perhaps this is an alternate version of NYC.  (I recall the Silver Age Sentinels RPG using "Empire City" as the name for NYC in its universe.)


In the aftermath of the Great War, Cole discovered a source of power that would change him and the world forever: the Well of Furies. Infused with the power of the gods, Cole was the first of many super-powered individuals seen in the world. War itself changed with the ascendance of the super-powered, and supers become the new heroes of war. Supers fought on both sides of every conflict. With his strength and invulnerability, Cole was unstoppable for a time.
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NOTES:  WWI lasted from July, 1914 to November, 1918.  This would put Cole's empowerment probably somewhere around 1920.


The invention and use of atomic weapons changed the course of history. The deployment of supers in war had already escalated conflicts to a point where conventional weapons were becoming worthless. No amount of bullets could stop Cole, no fighter plane could outrun him, and no armor plating could resist him. But on the ground in the Korea War, it looked like even Cole couldn't stop the Reds and their supers from overrunning the Americans. General MacArthur had one option left to him: "Nuke 'em!"  Many things changed that day when MacArthur ordered the nuclear attack. A Communist reprisal destroyed the city of Los Angeles, but America won the war-at great cost. Millions were dead, and the American nuclear bomb blast killed thousands of American troops and dozens of its supers. Worst of all (some said), Cole was missing.  Intelligence indicated that the explosion completely atomized Cole. But Cole had simply let the world think that, for he was disgusted with what he had seen firsthand, by the power now wielded by petty, common men. He turned his back on those he'd championed and sacrificed so much for and wandered the Earth, looking for new purpose.
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NOTES:  The Korean War lasted from June, 1950 to July, 1953.


Years passed, and one day, Cole emerged from the Austrialian outback to the outskirts of civilization. The headline of a Time magazine caught his eye: "The End Is Nigh: Will MacArthur Nuke Shroud City?" Cole raced back to his home, but it was too late. The power of the atom had destroyed Shroud City and countless citizens in a nuclear fireball.  Furious and confused, Cole confronted (now) President MacArthur and demanded an explanation. MacArthur, shocked by the revelation that Cole was not dead, explained. A new global threat loomed over the world, a threat no super-powered being could defeat and no weapon could stop, except for the bomb. This threat was the Devouring Earth, dubbed so because the consumption of humankind was its agenda.  Cole's return gave humankind its first glimmer of hope in years. If Cole had survived the atomic blast in Korea, then surely he was more powerful than the Devouring Earth creatures. Cole set his sights on this new enemy, an enemy that had driven humanity to the verge of self-annihilation at the hands of its own nuclear weapons. Cole was the only other solution.  The entire world was at war with the Devouring Earth. The Devouring Earth launched a surprise attack on Washington, DC, and NORAD. The attack destroyed the capital, killing President MacArthur, the vice president, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cole publicly vowed to avenge this attack, to discover what hateful intelligence had laid them low. It was now apparent that the creatures of the Devouring Earth were cunning, and Cole meant to destroy every one of them. He had no idea that this brief speech to America's people would get him elected as the next president by a staggering 98% majority.
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NOTES:  General Douglas MacArthur lived January, 1880 to April, 1964 (84 years old).  If he took office in the wake of the Korean War, that would almost certainly mean that he was substituting historically for General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was elected President in 1952 and then again in 1956.  Given that Cole was his successor, presumably in the 1960 election (John F. Kennedy was elected this year IRL), this puts Cole's return at probably 1959.


Cole cut a swath through the Devouring Earth creatures, driving them from city after city, restoring hope and rallying supers behind him. It was bitter, grisly work, but Cole had once again found his calling. In a year's time, Cole and America's Super Corps stopped the Devouring Earth dead in its tracks in America. At the same time, the rest of the world was fighting a losing war. The detonation of dozens of nuclear weapons killed off more of humanity and appeared only to enrage the enemy. Desperate, the world's refugees flooded into America, hoping that Cole could protect them.
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NOTES:  If this took "a year's time," this is now 1961.


Cole addressed what was left of the United Nations Security Council. In that momentous speech, Cole spoke of the Roman Empire, and how in times of greatest peril, Rome would elect one man to lead its people and its armies against its enemy. "Divided," said Cole, "humankind will fall, but united in this conflict, it will triumph." To silence cries of "Dictator!," Cole stated that he could not pursue this leadership role because he needed to be on the front lines. The Security Council exploded into conflict. No one could agree on who should become the consul. The members descended into petty bickering, distracting any of them from the looming threat.  Cole's booming voice silenced the Security Council. At that moment, it became clear to everyone in the assembly that only Cole could truly lead humankind against this, its greatest threat. Cole's appointment was immediately proposed, and he took the office grudgingly. Never one for details, Cole delegated many of his tasks to more capable commanders in the world's combined Super Corps. He dubbed this new fighting force the Praetorian Guard. Cole's mandate to this new force was that it was to cut off the head of whatever was leading the Devouring Earth monsters.  The Praetorian Guard attacked in a massive combined strike against the Devouring Earth, obliterating it. However, it was soon apparent that that the strike had not done the trick, as a giant monster appeared in South America. It began destroying every Praetorian Guard unit that it encountered. The monster leveled entire cities and was moving steadily north across Central America. When it crossed into Mexico, the Mexican government attacked with a small tactical stockpile of nuclear weapons it had purchased from America. The attack had no effect.
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NOTES:  My best guess from the above is that this took about a year, and it's now 1962.


This challenge was what Cole was destined for. Not wishing to see more of his Praetorian Guard killed, he faced off alone against the beast. The battle was brief, and at first, indecisive. Cole's attacks damaged the creature, but the same physiology that had rendered it immune to a half-dozen nuclear weapons was able to deal with Cole's powers. Likewise, Cole was too tough for the flailing tentacles and claws of the monster to do much to him other than swat him around. Desperate to kill the beast, Cole called upon a reserve of energy he had not ever suspected lay within him and unleashed a devastating bolt of power that nearly laid the beast low. Now Cole had its undivided attention.  The creature quickly healed the injury and responded by projecting a tangible beam of psychic energy at Cole, rendering him limp and helpless. A battle of wills ensued, and the world held its collective breath.  Then with a clap of thunder, the energy field around Cole shattered, and the great beast shuddered, lumbered away, and collapsed. Cole had defeated the beast. He had also learned much from it with his brief commingling with its mind.  The effect of the monster's death was immediately apparent to the world. Devouring Earth attacks decreased dramatically. In some places, they halted all together. The war had turned a corner. The people cried out for the creature to be killed, and Cole agreed. However, nothing anyone tried could kill the creature. It seemed to be tied to the Earth itself. The best anyone could do was contain it.
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NOTES:  Still presumably 1962 at this point.


With the Devouring Earth threat ended, the world began to return to its normal state of affairs. The mass exodus around the world, combined with drifting clouds of radioactive fallout, left much of the world uninhabited and ripe for conquering. Nations fought among themselves as they began carving the world up into territories, ignoring previous borders and alliances.  Once again, Cole spoke to the world, but this time he spoke not to its leaders, but to its people. He told humankind that it had come too far, survived too much, grown too close to simply let its leaders throw it all away. Cole had a plan to return the Earth to the way it once was-in fact, to better than how it had been. He had tamed the beast now known as Hamidon, and Hamidon was a creature tied to the Earth itself. Hamidon could be used to heal the Earth of all its ills. The charred ruins, the polluted waters, and even the radiation zones could be cleansed. To do so, though, Cole needed all the people of Earth to trust in him to lead the way to a new brighter future.
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NOTES:  My best guess from the above is that this took about a year, and it's now 1963.  That said, it could be argued that the above events took a few years to play out.


It worked. People demanded that their leaders follow Cole, whether the leaders liked it or not. Some leaders or governments joined voluntarily, while others resisted and were crushed by their own citizens. The nations of the world dissolved. In a ceremony where Cole renounced his title of consul to the people of the world, the people instead gave him an even greater title: emperor.
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NOTES:  If this was reasonably quick, it's still 1963.  If not, this phase might also have take a few years to play out.


Over the next twenty-five years, Emperor Cole did as he promised. The advancements accomplished without the threat of war and annihilation were wondrous. The devastated population of the world was replaced in a matter of years by a race of loyal robots designed by Dr. Raymond Keyes that would become the backbone of a global workforce. This robotic force, the Clockwork, was always ready to work, always on time, and always precise. The Clockwork earned Dr. Raymond Keyes the Nobel Prize and a position in Emperor Cole's advisory council of Praetors.  Twenty-five years after being crowned emperor of Earth, Cole has ensured that the nuclear wastelands of the world are now lush forests and farmland, cities are modernized, and the oceans are cleansed of their pollutants. The people of the world are clothed, fed, and educated, while a workforce of diligent robotic personnel allows humans to pursue more joy and happiness and have less drudgery in their lives. Emperor Cole has truly created a Utopia on Earth. Ever vigilant over his subjects, Emperor Cole and his Praetors protect the people from all outward threats, including Cole's newest enemy, the breeding ground of villainy known as Primal Earth.
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NOTES:  If this was "twenty-five years" after 1963, the date for the start of the Praetoria storyline would be 1988.  With some wiggle room for world nations squabbling above, this could be 1990 to 1995.


However, as I said, in the CoH Canon Timeline, the Praetoria storyline starts in 2010, at least 15 years later.  A possible counter-argument is that the Primal Earth calendar does not line up with the Praetorian Earth calendar, but there's canon storyline evidence that it does.  Some of the computer files your characters come across during the course of their early missions reveal 2010 dates, which line them up quite neatly with the Primary Earth calendar.

So...I am left with one inevitable conclusion.  The Devs screwed up.  Someone slapped together the above timeline, but just couldn't do some basic math with the years and they don't add up.  So, for the character background story I'm writing, I'm going to have to make some fanon tweaks to the historical events as listed to get them to line up to 2010 for the start of Praetorian storyline proper.  I hate doing that, as I prefer working my characters into the existing canon lore whenever possible, but I don't really see an alternative here as the official timeline just does not add up.

[mrultimate]

Nice work Janessa.

[JanessaVR]

Nice work Janessa.

I'm a Programmer / Developer DBA.  Attention to minutiae is what I do.  :)

[The Fifth Horseman]

Your calculations hinge on  Praetorian Earth keeping the same timeline of events as Primal Earth . We already know it doesn't, and it's anyone's guess as to how far back the differences go.

[JanessaVR]

Your calculations hinge on Praetorian Earth keeping the same timeline of events as Primal Earth.  We already know it doesn't, and it's anyone's guess as to how far back the differences go.

I won't disagree, but without them having provided us more detail, the most it's possible to do is to match it up to real world history when they mention actual historical events and people.  I have done my best with what they gave me to work with.

[JanessaVR]

Ok, here's my best fanon corrected timeline for Praetorian Earth:


Canon Timeline (best guess):

• 1920:  Cole drinks from the Well of Furies and is empowered
• 1953:  General MacArthur orders the use of nukes in Korea, Cole fakes his death and goes into self-imposed exile
• 1958:  Hamidon attacks, but Cole is still wandering around the Australian Outback
• 1959:  Cole returns from his self-imposed exile, as now-President MacArthur reluctantly nukes Shroud City to try to stop an out-of-control infestation of the Devouring Earth there
• 1960:  Washington, DC destroyed by the Devouring Earth, President MacArthur is killed in the attack, Cole is elected president and the Hamidon Wars begin in earnest
• 1961:  Cole addresses the United Nations, the city of Praetoria is founded as a refuge from the Devouring Earth, and the Praetorian Guard is formed
• 1962:  Cole has his epic battle with Hami, seemingly defeating it
• 1963:  Cole declared Emperor, and the empire of Praetoria is founded
• 1988:  The start of the canon Praetoria storyline

Fanon Timeline (best attempt at correction):

• 1920:  Cole drinks from the Well of Furies and is empowered
• 1953:  General MacArthur orders the use of nukes in Korea, Cole fakes his death and goes into self-imposed exile
• 1978:  Hamidon attacks, but Cole is still wandering around the Australian Outback
• 1979:  Cole returns from his long, self-imposed exile, as President Carter reluctantly nukes Shroud City to try to stop an out-of-control infestation of the Devouring Earth there
• 1980:  Washington, DC destroyed by the Devouring Earth, President Carter is killed in the attack, Cole is elected president and the Hamidon Wars begin in earnest
• 1981:  Cole addresses the United Nations, the city of Praetoria is founded as a refuge from the Devouring Earth, and the Praetorian Guard is formed
• 1983:  Cole has his epic battle with Hami, seemingly defeating it
• 1985:  Cole declared Emperor, and the empire of Praetoria is founded
• 2010:  The start of the canon Praetoria storyline

[Tacitala]

*Big glompy hug* I'm glad I'm not the only one confused by this.

Agreed- the Praetoria timeline is all shades of messed up.  [As to why we're looking Phaetan has been trying to work out how to do CoH using the Godlike/Wild Talents rules system.  A proposed game setting would be the "Gilded Age" of Praetoria: Cole hasn't gone full dictator (yet), the Praetors are in place but they haven't really jumped the shark in to the crazy (yet), the Syndicate is just coalescing but the Resistance hasn't pulled together (yet), etc.]

So we've had to do head cannon work as well.  I don't think it's fully "the Devs messed up" as "the Devs were going for story and didn't check their work".  Case in point: try to map Antimatter's history to Positron's, I dare you.  Because officially Antimatter was working on his reactors before Praetoria was founded (which would be before Positron was born according to the official Primal Timeline).  Our only workable solution was to go with Antimatter being the counterpoint of Positron's grandfather (who could have had the same name as him).

NOTES: Perhaps this is an alternate version of NYC.

We went with the equivalent of Paragon City, which means it has been destroyed and Praetoria is geographically someplace else in the US.

WWI lasted from July, 1914 to November, 1918.  This would put Cole's empowerment probably somewhere around 1920.

We went with the same date as Statesman's, so July 4th (or 10th), 1930. 

The Korean War lasted from June, 1950 to July, 1953.

And would have been much nastier on Praetorian Earth.  Our explanation is that there is just something about the dimension that leads to people to have very poor impulse control.

Given that Cole was his successor, presumably in the 1960 election (John F. Kennedy was elected this year IRL), this puts Cole's return at probably 1959.

That's the date we went with, if nothing else to parallel the hope and whatnot JFK brought to the US.

NOTES: If this was "twenty-five years" after 1963, the date for the start of the Praetoria storyline would be 1988.  With some wiggle room for world nations squabbling above, this could be 1990 to 1995.

What we had in ours is that the Hamidon Wars roughly overlapped with the Vietnam War.  I didn't write down our math unfortunately but we had Praetoria founded in 1968.  Part of it was that Cole couldn't have been elected to a third term (by the Constitution... which he still was more or less following at the time) plus it lines up fairly well with the Tet Offensive (which was a massive turning point politically for the Vietnam War). This is where the timeline really nosedives though :(.  Basically at this point we threw the numbers of how many years had passed as stated by the game out the window.  With a Praetoria founded then, 25 years later would be 1996- still way off from what the game says.

By the by- As in Imperial City, there is a People's Park in the US (Berkeley, California) that had a very nasty conflict in 1969.  Not a full timeline overlap for us, but still an interesting fact.

[Zombie Hustler]

Considering how much I love Praetoria, I'm surprised it never occurred to me to try and do a timeline like this myself. Good job on this, although it's too bad it seems to not reconcile at all.

Maybe someone in Ouroboros was screwing things up in Praetoria long before Primal Earth ever made first contact.

Or, given we're talking time travel, it could have happened long afterwards.

[Phaetan]

That is actually Taci's fanon, if I may be so bold as to speak for her.  Goodness knows there's enough power, missing people, and mayhem flying about in Praetoria near the end to draw Silos' attention.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Fanon Timeline (best attempt at correction):

• 1920:  Cole drinks from the Well of Furies and is empowered
• 1953:  General MacArthur orders the use of nukes in Korea, Cole fakes his death and goes into self-imposed exile
• 1978:  Hamidon attacks, but Cole is still wandering around the Australian Outback
• 1979:  Cole returns from his long, self-imposed exile, as President Carter reluctantly nukes Shroud City to try to stop an out-of-control infestation of the Devouring Earth there
• 1980:  Washington, DC destroyed by the Devouring Earth, President Carter is killed in the attack, Cole is elected president and the Hamidon Wars begin in earnest
• 1981:  Cole addresses the United Nations, the city of Praetoria is founded as a refuge from the Devouring Earth, and the Praetorian Guard is formed
• 1983:  Cole has his epic battle with Hami, seemingly defeating it
• 1985:  Cole declared Emperor, and the empire of Praetoria is founded
• 2010:  The start of the canon Praetoria storyline

This actually clicks together with the exception of President MacArthur thing.
Now... what if Praetorian MacArthur was born 15-20 years later than in our timeline, or otherwise his death in '64 was prevented? We already know some events were moved in the timeline in other ways.
An alternative would be if General / President MacArthur was not Douglas MacArthur but rather his son (much like the Anti-Matter issue above).

[Zombie Hustler]

In terms of linking up the two timelines, might I bold as to suggest that there may be even more divergencies- going back far, far longer- than just our knowledge of the recent history of Praetoria might suggest?

As a lover of counterfactuals, I think it might be cool to take a step back and interject some other alternative historic events into Praetoria's past that might help account for its current look.

[Zombie Hustler]

As a fr' instance, since this has been percolating in my brain since mentioning it-

Why does Praetoria seemingly have no Prometheus counterpart?

We know from Lore that Prometheus is intended to be one of the Dimensionless, sent millenia ago to help usher humanity's progress with its Well (or something like that). Yet there doesn't seem to be a Prometheus in Praetoria. In fact, the Prometheus we do know doesn't seem to be terribly well disposed towards Praetoria.

So, without Prometheus, we are missing a key element of Greek mythology. Are other aspects of Greek mythology still present, more or less? Was there ever a Zeus, or a Hades? How did the humanity of Praetoria's past come to first interact with its Well, and who were the men and women who tapped its powers and rose to become worshipped as gods?

EDIT: (Of course, this speculation is kind of hampered by the fact that the Well of Humanity seems to be the same Well in both Primal and Praetorian Earth, which begs the question of whether Prometheus made is presence known in both- or rather all of the Earth counterparts- and whether all of those Zeus' punished him the same, etc.

My head is hurting a bit, and I'm not sure I want to continue with this speculation... lol

EDIT2: Okay, new speculation here- perhaps Prometheus' arrival on "primal" Earth and his introduction of the Well or whatever to humanity is actually the singular event that caused Primal Earth to split into all of its various counterparts- Primal, Praetorian, Rikti, Reichsman, etc.?

[Zombie Hustler]

To add to this (and Janessa touches on it upthread), there are the different names of cities for Praetoria and Primal Earths. "Shroud City" for example. Why/where did these names become different?

It reminds me of the Earth-Squadron from the Marvel Universe, where- in the epic Squadron Supreme limited series by Gruenwald- we first learned that there were different names for the cities of that Earth. There wasn't anything really in-depth explored as to the history of it, but it gave a sense that the history of that Earth differed in some substantial ways from that of the 616 (mainstream) Marvel Earth. I believe it may have even been mentioned at some point that Magellan discovered the New World in Earth-Squadron, rather than Columbus. (I think Gruenwald might have stated that somewhere.)

All of these things may not quite fit the mold of what you're trying to do in this timeline- certainly, playing counterfactuals like this can complicate things immensely- but I find it kind of fun.

[downix]

Korean War ended in 1953, MacA elected in 1956. This moves Cole's timeline up 4 years. Now, begin the Primal Earth contact not with Going Rogue, but with "Through the Looking Glass." back in 2004. This moves timelines there back.

Now add in a few years of chaos, and we now have some solutions. Use the nuking of Shroud City around the Cuban Missile Crisis. Epic battle with Hami now fits solidly in the eco-terror outfits of the 1970's, where it belongs.

[Tacitala]

"Shroud City" for example. Why/where did these names become different?

To toss out a different idea: the city was originally named Paragon City but when Cole took the throne he declared that the city's name be retroactively changed (so he wasn't reminded of its destruction if nothing else).  And since his administration is controlling all media sources (including textbooks) people would have grown up only knowing it as Shroud City.  There would only be the eldest of Praetorians who might remember its original name but they probably wouldn't mention the name change.

You'd have to find people like the ranting old guy in the sewers in the early Resistance missions (who told you that the country used to be America when you talked to him) before you would get someone to call it Paragon.

[JanessaVR]

Well, this seems to be a work in progress.  After looking over the feedback here, I'm now up to this:


Fanon Timeline (an evolving revision...):

• 1896:  Marcus Cole born in Shroud City
• 1930:  Cole drinks from the Fountain of Zeus / Well of the Furies and is empowered
• 1953:  General MacArthur orders the use of nukes in Korea, Cole fakes his death and goes into self-imposed exile
• 1961:  The Devouring Earth appear and begin attacking human cities, but Cole is still wandering around the Australian Outback
• 1962:  Cole returns from his long, self-imposed exile, as President Kennedy reluctantly nukes Shroud City to try to stop an out-of-control infestation of the Devouring Earth there
• 1963:  Washington, DC destroyed by the Devouring Earth, President Kennedy is killed in the attack
• 1964:  Cole is elected president and the Hamidon Wars begin in earnest
• 1966:  Cole addresses the United Nations and the Praetorian Guard is formed
• 1968:  The city of Praetoria is founded as a refuge from the Devouring Earth; Cole re-elected president
• 1971:  Cole has his epic battle with Hami, seemingly defeating it
• 1972:  Cole declared Emperor, and the empire of Praetoria is founded; the "pacification" of the rest of the planet into the Empire of Praetoria begins
• 1976:  By this time, the rest of the planet has either been brought into the empire or eaten by the remnants of the Devouring Earth
• 1978:  Construction of First Ward begins
• 1985:  First Ward completed and opened for settlement
• 1987:  First Ward destroyed from beneath by the not-so-defeated-after-all Hamidon
• 2004:  First contact made with Praetorian Earth (Upsilon Beta 9-6, Issue 1)
• 2010:  The start of the Praetoria storyline proper (Going Rogue, Issue 18)
• 2012:  The end of the Praetoria – Cole is defeated and Hamidon eats what remains of it

And some further questions, such as when:

• Were the Clockwork invented by Dr. Raymond Keyes?
• Did the Midnight Squad move their headquarters to Night Ward to escape Cole's forces?
• Was the Midnight Squad betrayed and killed by Percy Winkley?

Can anyone else think of some significant events that should be on the timeline?

[Zombie Hustler]

Can't recall if the events of the Midnight Squad are set down in a time frame or not (will have to review), but I do seem to recall that the particular events of those story arcs seems a little bit skewed (in particular Serene's infiltration of the Black Knights always seemed off, considering the events preceding it in First Ward).

EDIT: There is a reference to Black Swan being a major player in Praetoria "a few years back" during Maria Jenkins' story arc, after which "her power waned" and then a comment on Cole's "stranglehold" on magic. This would presumably be connected to the events behind the Midnight Squad's betrayal and destruction.

Also- didn't Metronome create the Clockwork in Praetoria? (Although the date that Keyes revealed "his" latest creation could certainly be there.)

Speaking of, you could probably try and add in some info on the Syndicate and Wu Yin there. Also I want to say that there might be enough information to put Marauder and the Destroyers in there somehow.

Vagabond's vague references to his pre-Resistance history might be able to be fit somewhere, or at least offer some ideas as to how to flesh out the timeline. (When he served in Italy during the Hamidon wars.)

[Zombie Hustler]

Also (I'm quickly reviewing some of the Praetorian story arcs right now for some ideas, which I'll try and expand on when I have more time), I just recalled a story arc that might be able to shed some more light on Praetoria's history, even if not timeline specific-

Notably, the Night Ward arcs, which is the first reference to some of Praetoria's distant past via the Magician and Lamashtu. These could perhaps be some of Praetoria's most ancient figures (their Olympian Gods, as it were), which might make their timeline different from Primal Earth's (and we might delve into Mesopotamian myth to help us with that. I know that War Witch/Melissa Bianco specifically mentioned Night Ward being inspired by Babylonian mythology in part.)