So, first off, never done an AAR before. Or a megacampaign. Actually intended neither, yet here we are. And if anyone actually known latin, I totally google-translated the title. It's supposted to read "A brief history of the Holy Roman Empire and the great families" for anyone wondering.
So a while back I started a normal game of Imperator: Rome - Invictus, playing Rome, because I'm a basic bitch Romaboo, and I got pretty far . And then I realised I had enabled the timeline extension mod for Invictus and I thought... I have some 7000 hours combined in Paradox-games, yet I've never done a mega-campaign. So I just continued playing. And then I had conquered the world. Well, shit, how much fun is a megacampaign when you are already a beast after game 1? But I got to researching how the converters work, and there is an option to HRE-ify the Roman Empire when you convert to EU4. Alright, but on a scale of 1-10, how much fun is it being the emperor of the world for 1000 years in CK3 then? Well, luckily mods are a thing. And Inheritchance makes it so there is an equal chance I'll end up playing any heir upon death. That ought to keep things interesting.
So, a few more notes on mods used. Of note, aside from Inheritchance, is More Interactive Vassals and More single combats. I'd highly reccomend both. Also travel is enabled for leaving captivity and disbanding armies so if I lead an army to Burma I'm going to walk home afterwards. Speaking of walking I also have Raising take time enabled. This means that it takes roughly 3 years for the Roman Empire in my game to raise it's armies. This disadvantages the AI somewhat as it's not smart enough to raise local levies and will raise the entire thing for every little skirmish, but I figure that whenever the AI is in charge of the empire it's too big to fail, and with More Interactive vassals local lords should rise up to help the emperor out both on the attack and in defense of the realm.
Other things to note is that I have culture conversion rule set to 4 times, and faith to 2 times as long to accoplish. Add to that that the dominant religions all are communal identity meaning that unless you switch to local culture there wont be much converting. Converting culture takes about 30-40 years per county, faith 20 years, or 10 if it is your own culture.
I should also note that I have Letters and Loyalty enabled, which gives a pentalty debuff towards lieges based on distance to capital, so pretty much everyone east of Constantinople have a general -100 towards the emperor. This also applies to local rulers of course, so far-flung holdings will be, in general, much more disloyal.
So, also of note, I don't intend to cover every character, this wont cover every aspect of actual gameplay, maybe not even every century. This will be more like a collection of contemporary propaganda-pieces, written in-universe. I'll even make blatant lies about actual events, although I'll try to make it obvious enough that the reader can read between the lines and suss out what the actual gameplay was. Non-native speaker, so yeah, expect the occasional typo.
The first part will, as the title suggests, be a brief overview of the history of the Holy Roman Empire and the great families, leading up to the glorious reign of Vicarius Lucius of Gandhara, our main character for this first piece.
Oh, yeah, one last note. I use mods for titles, cultures, languages and names, to show them in their own native languages. Finnish is soumalainen, Kipchak is Qipcaq, chinese language is Hanyu, that kind of thing, so bear with me. I'll add an OOC note for anything I feel like it needs to be explained, but feel free to ask if you want clarifications.
On this day, 18th of August, in the Imperial Year 724, ad urbe Condita 1477, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the great Vicarius Lucius of Gandhara and Avanti, Lord of Lahore, Mathura and Dahala, son of Ceasar Secundus, grandson of Glorious Imperator Primus Legetitium, of the line of the venerable and holy dynasty of Oppius, Cubicularius, Arcaria and Magister Officiorum of emperors, Terror of the Steppes, Lord of the Indus, Protector of the Kasamiriya, Maga et Sapientem, Imperial Architect, Bane of the Ujjajini, named Most Loyal of three emperors, Grand Wizard of the eastern Dominions, have ordered the writing of a great chronicle to record the history of the Sacrum Romanum Imperium from the days of the republic of old, and of the great families, and the emperors of which he is descended.
I, Quinta, Maga and Royal chronicler of Gandhara have been given this holy task by instruction of the Vicarius himself. May Hekate strike me dead if I tell a lie.
Many are the learned men who have attempted to summarise the history of the age of the Republic. For this account I will assume the reader to be familiar with the history of the city, how it was founded by Romulus, the boy raised by a wolf, and how the population gloriously ended the rule of tyrants and kings.
For a long time Rome was but one city among many in Italy. This may surprise the modern reader, but in the time of the dominions of the greeks, a people who were native to the modern Vicariate of Graecia, from whom the area takes it's name, Rome rose up. Many were the peoples who were vanquished, whose names are now only spoken by historians, such as the Apulians, Sicelotians, Illyrians, Eturians, Carthagnians, Phrygians, Hebews, the many tribes of the gauls, iberians and germans, and the Macedonians, Alexander's people. All these peoples, who now only remain in the names of places inhabited by our people, for none who now lives speak their languages, were made to serve Rome. Some were intergrated into the republic peacefully, others by the sword.
We made the world Rome, and all it's peoples were made Roman.
The histories always comes back to a few names. Fabius. Claudius. Cornelius. Sempronius. These four most venerable and holy bloodlines made Rome what it is today, and still makes up it's backbone. These dynasties form the nobility of our glorious realm. But one name stand above all others, the name of Oppius. The family rose into prominence with the election of Volero Oppius, in the year -47 by the Imperial calendar, 707 AUC. Elected a second time in -25, his son Servius was then elected in -8. The brother of Servius was Cossus, who was elected in the year 0. That year he, with support of the senate and people of Rome, rewrote the constitution.
[OOC: This actually isn't a lie. The first emperor in I:R was elected consul in year 0, by pure coincidence. I had planned on converting to christianity to have the new dating system in CK3 onwards make sense but never managed it, but for the purposes of this playthrough the dating system is refered to as IC, Imperial Calendar, measuring time from the birth of the empire, although I make the assumption that AUC is also in wide use]
The new constitution enshrined the house of Oppius and it's descendants as Imperator, and noblest of the Romans, ending the corruption that were inherent in the Republic, and allowing the realm to make long-term plans and investments without bowing to the interests of corrupt officials and scared old men.
For 3 centuries the roman legions marched ever outwards, until they finally came to the Indus, the end of the world as they knew it. Even mighty Alexander had not ventured beyond it, into the fabled lands of Bharat. But the lord of that land, the Emperor of Taklamakan, saw the glory of Rome. Some say that a wise man, a prophet, told him that he must submit. Others, more cynical people say that the Tamil kings knew they would not be able to overcome the legions, and that their subject peoples were ready to rebel. For Bharat was a wartorn land for many centuries. Depopulated from constant wars and rebellions, and raids from the Tibetans to their north pushing ever soutwards, the emperor submitted to the might of the Imperator.
[Again, actually not a lie. I peacefully subjugated all of india in IR, in one fell swoop. Offered them to pay tribute, a couple of years later they asked to be made a client state. Integrating them took almost 200 years, but I managed to shorten it by a couple of decades by directly occuping any states that rebelled.]
After the submission of the lord of the Tamils, all other peoples submitted, paid tribute, and were over the centuries slowly integrated into the empire. The High king of Prydain bent his knee. The Lord and Emperor of all Tibet opened up the gates to his cities and strongholds in the mountains and declared the Imperator his lord and master. Even the Budinians, savage tribesmen of the north, ancestors of our modern slavic peoples, who had subjugated the expanses of the steppes came to the Imperator in supplication and formally subordinated himself to the ruler of the world.
Only one people would continue to resist until the end. The savage and noble Beddawaye, their kingdom known as Kush. They too were made subjects after a series of brutal wars in the early 4th century.
Rome stood ascendant. Many trials had passed for our great people. Not only wars, but plagues. The migrations of the Franks left a permanent mark in the Vicariate of Boiheinum, where they say that if you go out into the villages close to the mountains you can sometimes to this day hear the people speak the germanic language, a testament to the masses of savage warriors who ravaged that era in the late imperial period. In the vicariate of Bactriana, in the provinces of Badakshan and Pamir the huns are still the larger part of the population, and even the nobility of that land speak their language before latin, due to those vile savages ravaging the area for many years.
A pox be on Bactriana and all it's people. They barely pass for Roman. I have heard it said they are more hun than anything else. They claim descent from the house of Oppius, through the line of Ceasar Primus the Defiler, son of Imperator Manius II, dead since two centuries, but I have read more than one account claiming this is false and their entire nobility actually being descended from the savage hordes. Kabul is a stain upon the empire and ought to be razed to the ground.
12 Emperors were to follow Cossus during the age of the Imperium. As an historical curiosity of note I might mention that the emperors Spurius III, Decimus and Spurius IV were reported to have practiced a religion known as christianity, known to have been practiced mainly in the eastern provinces during the 3rd and 4th centuries. Reports have christian missionaries being active as late as 411 in Bactriana, under the reign of Vicarius Spurius II, although the pontifex maximus of their faith was crucified by emperor Arruns in 393. The fact that the faith survived in Bactriana for so long lends further credence to reports that the people there are inherently disloyal to the empire. Records of the Udaphanda, a most loyal house, claim that as they watch the western border to the mountains of the accursed land they often see great fires and hear chanting in an unknown language. Could the huns still be secretly worshipping the jewish christ? I have no proof, I'm just asking questions.
Imperator Arruns ascended to the imperial throne in the year 374, and would rule until 450.
Known as a most pious and just man, but harsh to the enemies of the empire he instituted a series of radical reforms in 393 that today make up the foundations of our Holy Empire. He disbanded the legions, and instead ordered each provincial govenor to see to the raising of militias, and maintain the expense of standing men at arms for the protection of the realm. No longer would the armies of the Roman Empire be commanded from Rome alone, but every governor would maintain his own force. To pay for this the emperor granted them their provinces as demesne, and ordered them to find capable men to hold land under them, and build castles, and raise armies. This is the foundation our modern empire is built upon of course, the Vicatrius answers to the emperor, but commands the Duxii and the Preators, in a divine hierarchy from the lowest peasant to the Imperator himself, who answers only to the Gods.
He also formalized the roman religion, instituting mandatory pilgrimages to Rome for all faithful, and instituted a formal head of the faith, the Pontifex Maximus, who would serve as the emperors personal advisor in matters of faith.
Imperator Arruns would live until the age of 108, and be followed by his grandson, Imperator Spurius V. During the reign of these two blessed emperors the Empire would continue to grow in power and in glory.
But trouble would come to the empire with the ascension of Imperator Manius II, known as "the Strange". The great-grandson of Spurius V, the son and grandson of the line of the Vicariate of Sogdiana, where Spurius had sent his oldest son to rule, he was only a boy of 7. Within a year the more treacherous of the Vicariuses of the realm conspired to put the granddaughter of Arruns through the line of the Vicarius of Lower Nubia, one Decima, on the throne. Believing a woman to be easy to control no doubt the installed the vile woman as "Imperatrix".
Upon the death of the false empress,
many say she drank herself to death and it would take the imperial stewards a half-century to fully restock the imperial winecellars of Rome to their former glory,
her young son,
it is unknown of he was the son of her husband or a goat she had copulated with, but it is recorded he was of Bactrian descent and spoke hunnic, so either could be true really,
Edeco,
seriously... Have you ever heard of a Roman called "Edeco"? I have heard he kept camels in a room next to the imperial bedchamber. Reminded him of his home in Bactriana, a curse upon all of that land,
"took the throne". It is a shame upon all Romans that the buttocks of a Bactrian have ever sat upon that seat, but it is historical fact.
Manius, still holding his lands in Spoleta had grown into a man. At 14 he had gathered enough support to start his uprising, laying siege to Rome while his supporters fought off the Bactrian loyalists elsewhere, and reclaimed his throne just after his 16:th birthday.
He would go on to rule the empire for 55 years, until his death in 550.
Manius, too, would end up a great reformer. Ever paranoid it is said, he decreed that the vassals of the empire would choose the emperor, forever onwards from that day. He also formally renamed the imperium and changed it's banners from the old republican ones that had been used up until this point.
Manius also constantly had to fight against a great rebellion, fermented by the Vicarius of Bactria, the vile Gaia Claudius, who made herself the enemy of the empire at every turn, and openely proclaimed her and her house's emnity with the Oppius dynasty. She was finally deposed, and put into exile, in 545.
Manius' son, Tiberius II, would follow him, a worthy emperor ruling over a period of great peace and prosperity. He, in turn, was succeeded by his grandson, the great and venerable Proculus II, the Honourable.
But trouble once again came to the empire with the ascent of Proculus, for his brother proclaimed his own Empire, ruled from Parthia, claiming that his birthright as the second son entitled him.
Manius, or Imperator Manius II of Imperium Novum as he styled himself, was the prefered candidate of certain zealous elements of the roman state religion, and the Pontifex Maximus of the official state religion proclaimed that he would move his priesthood to Parthia and support this new empire. [OOC: Real talk. The title of The Hellenic priesthood was a vassal of the Emperor after I granted them Ancona, the local count rebelled and kicked them out but they stayed as my vassal since religious heads of faith can continue to exist landless. The reason they actually went to the second son was that they weren't a de jure vassal since they have no de jure land] In response Proculus officially adopted the Cult of Mithras as the new state religion of the empire. A great rift had been sparked.
Manius empire, however, would fall apart without any assistance within 5 years, and left with nothing but his land in Parthia Proculus could simply march in, in 583, just 9 years after the rift, to hardly any resistance and reclaim Parthia as a rightful part of the Empire.
In the north the now independent, having broken free from the rule of Manius, Rus-Romanus of Novgorod proclaimed their own Imperium Novum. [OOC: Yes, I as head of the dynasty renamed them from the Oppius-Pskov to Romanov. Too good an oppertunity to pass.]
Proculus would also have his revenge upon the Hellenic High priesthood for choosing his brother over him, but the less is said of that episode of our otherwise glorious Roman history the better.
Proculus, though, would cause yet another crisis. For he had 3 sons, the middle one he favoured the most. In what many call the greatest scandal in the history of the Roman Empire, Proculus would grant his firstborn, called Proculus, the Vicariate of Syria, seen by many traditionalist as an endorsment, as many emperors of old had served as governors of Syria before ascending to the emperorship. Instead he officially disinherited Proculus before he even had reached Baalbek, and named Primus, his favourite, the heir to the empire.
Most of the lords refused to recognise this and withdrew their support from the emperor. Proculus may have been rash, but he was a great diplomat and would have won back their support, or replaced them with more loyal men. But fate would intervene and Proculus would die, killed by a great boar while hunting.
To imagine, a great emperor, killed by a pig, losing his empire to someone who is not his son. I feel like this is referenced in some great work of antioquity, but can't place it.
In any case, Primus WOULD be Imperator. He had been chosen by his father. His uncle, now Titus III, would only rule for 2 years before Primus had organised a force sufficent to challenge him. In a bloodless coup, Titus gave in, and returned to his home in Albania [OOC: Not the Albania you are thinking of, the Albania in the Caucasus]. The two would reconcile and Primus even named Titus as his Co-Emperor [OOC: An actual thing in "More court positions"-mod], and Titus would, until his death, be one of the staunchest supporters of Imperator Primus.
Primus would go on an rule the empire for 66 years, and be known as one of the most feared Imperators in the histories. Known as Primus "The lawful" he never once in his life broke the sacred laws that binds us. But his harshment in the pursuit of the law went beyond what many would call excessive. He decreed that any man found to have been unfaithful to his wife would be castrated, and any woman blinded, and that any of noble blood he would PERSONALLY see that they were punished. Uncofirmed chronicles from the imperial palace of that time claimed he kept a room with, well, "the remains", where he used them to perform magic rituals. As a Maga myself though, I know of no rituals requiring such "ingredients", so this might just be idle peasant rumours, and we shall never know the truth of it.
Another great tale of Primus sense of justice is when he was unjustly attacked by the Cumanians. As a punishment for their insolence he took the boy-king's mother as his concubine, a noble woman called Ketevan. He dressed her up and proclaimed that none might ever refer to her by name again, or his armies would kill every man in Cumania. Instead she would be known as "The painted whore of Rome" forever thereafter. He even had a painting of the peace-conference made and hung in his throneroom.
"They make it a desert and call it peace" - Artist unknown, Rome, ca 620
Primus' greatest challenge would manifest itself in the year 622 however, with the coming of the Prophet Muhammed.
Proclaiming a new religion, based on the almost-forgotten lore of the christian religion, the Prophet raised an army and marched on Mecca, proclaiming it a holy war, and Mecca a holy city.
Would THIS be the first time the Roman Empire would know true defeat?
[OOC: Just included because it's funny]
The Emperors personal champion was choosen to lead the defense against this new threat. Drusus Aemilius being one of the finest military minds of his generation.
[OOC: Thos of you who know your early muslim history know who this guy is...]
Supported by allies from Syria, Caanan, Media, Egypt, and as far away as Bharat Drusus would defeat the muslim forces in the pivotal battle for Mecca, although Drusus would pay the ultimate price. Drusus would later become proclaimed a saint of the Hellenic faith, and had a temple-complex devoted to his cult in Rome.
The imperial soldiers seized Muhammed's personal battle-standard though, which would become a venerated relic in the cult of St. Drusus.
[OOC: I have a couple of screenshots I wont show off, out of respect for the rules on inflammatory and offensive images. No worries, Muhammed vanished without a trace, but just don't ask what happened to Ali and Abu Bakr, alright?]
With that this new foe had been put down. It is said that some of Muhammed's followers, perhaps even the prophet himself, escaped the final siege of Medina, and that they fled beyond the borders of the known world, in the seas beyond Burma. [OOC: There are muslims in indonesia in EU4, so some of them must have gotten away and preached over there. And yeah, I immidiatly declared a new war, took back Medina, and ten years later islam was as dead as christianity].
A great tournament was held in the Temple of Mars [Ostia] to celebrate.
Many years later, on his death-bed, a mere month before his death, Primus would proclaim the Hekatean schism. All roman emperors since Arruns are known to have practiced magic, but Primus decreed in his final proclamation that the Cult of Hekate should be the official state-religion of the Roman Empire from that day forward, paying special reverence to all who practice witchcraft.
[OOC: The conversion-process from IR to CK3 left me with an rather unfortunate bug that I didn't discover until it was too late. The game will crash if I try to change any religious tenets, so I can only change the laws. Elevating witchcraft from accepted to virtous was pretty much the most interesting change I could make to the basic hellenic religion with those limitations. Fortunatly that bug seems to have dissapeared with the latest update to the converter, but it is too late for this particular game]
As all know, Imperator Primus had 6 sons.
The twins, Primus and Secundus, who both personally fought, and bore the scars, from the battle of Mecca, who stayed with him in Rome until their last days.
Gnaeus the Wolf, ruler of Moesia Superior.
Proculus, known as "The Judge of Men", Samraja of Madhyesa.
Amulius the Just, of Spoleto.
And the one I would omit if historical accuracy was not my sworn proffession, Marcus the Dungeon-Dweller, spawn of the painted whore of Rome, and usurper, twice cursed, black sheep of the house of Primus. I bet he was Bactrian too.
Also there was Aulus, known as "the Young", the runt of the litter.
On the 6th of October, in the year 666, the great Imperator Primus drew his last breath. He was succeeded by his grandson, Primus II, son of Primus who never ruled, known as "The Poet".
Through the line of his second son, Secundus, who had died from his wounds he recieved during the battle of Mecca, Lucius, father of Lucius the Witch of Kamarupanagama, inherited the realm of Gandhara, helt by Primus the Lawful since the trial of the vile criminal Tuchen Magyal, who lost his right to those lands by his deviancy.
Lucius, being the very model of a ruler of the house of Primus integrated the people of Gandhara, the Kanauiji, taught them latin and the rule of roman law, and in return embraced them as his own people, adopting their dress and many of their mannerism.
From his seat in Lahore he ruled his lands fairly. It is a land of many people. The Kanauiji joined with the local roman settlers to form the Gandharan nation, but under his protection are also the Kasamiriya, The Sum-Romanus Tibetans of the western border with Bactriana and the Panjani. Considerable communities of Sugdik, Sum Pa, Sindhi, Sihala and even huns are also found within the Vicariate's borders. [OOC: Converting from IR creates some REAL messy cultural borders. I can't wait to play this in Victoria 3. Soooo many minorities, it will have so many revolutions...]
Lucius first big test came with the great revolt against Primus II. Serving as Magister Militarum for the emperor during the conflict, he also led his troops in the sack of Kabul. It is said all the men of the army had to throw away their boots after that campaign, because when they returned home they all smelled of camel-dung and their wives would not let them into their houses. True story.
The revolt meant to put Marcus the Dungeondweller, Lucius uncle, son of Primus (allegedly) and the Painted Whore of Rome, as emperor of the Romans.
At the time, having been kicked out of his castle in Viterbo by his brother Aulus my lord had graciously accepted hosting Marcus in return for his service.
My lord have never confirmed it, but rumours to this day persists that he meant to have Marcus killed, rather than have thousends of good Romans kill eachother in this petty dispute. Alas, fate intervened.
The Imperator Primus were captured by the Consul of Asia, Camillus, known to be a hashish-addict, and a frequent guest at the local whorehouses, with the boils on his unmentionables to attest to those rumours. No wonder such degenerate men would support an usurper such as the Dungeon-dweller.
The following 9 years are a low-point in the history of the Roman people. My lord, openly and brashly, made plans and gathered support for his own bid for the throne in Rome. Insults were thrown in both directions, knives were sharpened, and the realm held it's breath.
But Lucius is not a rash man. He consulted the Gods, and the stars told him that it was a time to forget old griavances and forget your enemies, and make new friends. And Lord Lucius would never cross the will of the Gods, so a compromise was made.
[OOC: I love the "Divine the stars" mechanic of the hellenics. I totally let it make decisions for me when appropriate]
The Gods are wise. Just after Marcus redemption in the eyes of their chosen vessel on earth they took him to them.
Emperor Sextus was a far more agreeable monarch than Marcus, and under his reign Lucius served in various turns at Magister Officiorium, Arcaria and Cubicularia [OOC: Chancellor, Steward and Spymaster].
It was also during this time the Kasamiriya Samanta Donla came into my lords life. It is known that the two had a love-affair, I shall not deny it even in this official account, for it is known to the entire Empire and my lord holds no shame for it. He does regret misleading his wife, but he will never deny that he, in fact, prefers the comforts of men to that of women. That is also why he have chosen to never re-marry later in life, because the betrayal he forced on the women who bore his children still to this day torments his soul.
In 704 we had yet another new Emperor. For a long time Vicarus Lucius was the heir-presumptive to the Emperors seat, but a combination of his adoption of foreign ways, the highly gossiped about love affair, and that one of his son died as an infant, an inbred freak, has caused enough doubts among the lords that he has never carried the vote despite his prestige, power, and pure political, military and scholarly genius.
As all men, high and low, he has had both his tragedies and his triumphs.
His reign extend now over large parts of northern Bharat.
His last triumph, that I recived a missive about just recently, is the conquest of Mjinjaa. On behalf of the emperor he left Lahore with a force of 16000 men. In the mountains at a place called Dege he found the enemy king and took him prisoner, in one strike adding another kingdom to our glorious Empire.
Artists depiction of the surrender of Qaha Qian of Mjinjaa to Imperatur Tiberius III. Note that it is symbolic and does not represent an actual historical event, as Tiberius never traveled to Mjinjaa to accept the Qaha's surrender in person, it was instead given diretly to Lucius.
All men must die. We all know this. It is said that Lucius is so wise that he knows the day of his death, and that is why he is so brave, for he know he will not die until Jupiter wills it, and when that day comes, there is no point being afraid.
We also know that our lord, Vicarius Lucius, will be remembered for all time as one of the greatest Romans to have ever lived. Not many men get to see their 100th birthday. This chronicle, and the Gandharan nation, will be the legacy of Lucius, son of Secundus, of the house of Gandhara, father of nations, protector of the weak, Elephant-Lord, Master of the Way of Hekate, and eternal enemy of Bactrians and all huns.
So a while back I started a normal game of Imperator: Rome - Invictus, playing Rome, because I'm a basic bitch Romaboo, and I got pretty far . And then I realised I had enabled the timeline extension mod for Invictus and I thought... I have some 7000 hours combined in Paradox-games, yet I've never done a mega-campaign. So I just continued playing. And then I had conquered the world. Well, shit, how much fun is a megacampaign when you are already a beast after game 1? But I got to researching how the converters work, and there is an option to HRE-ify the Roman Empire when you convert to EU4. Alright, but on a scale of 1-10, how much fun is it being the emperor of the world for 1000 years in CK3 then? Well, luckily mods are a thing. And Inheritchance makes it so there is an equal chance I'll end up playing any heir upon death. That ought to keep things interesting.
So, a few more notes on mods used. Of note, aside from Inheritchance, is More Interactive Vassals and More single combats. I'd highly reccomend both. Also travel is enabled for leaving captivity and disbanding armies so if I lead an army to Burma I'm going to walk home afterwards. Speaking of walking I also have Raising take time enabled. This means that it takes roughly 3 years for the Roman Empire in my game to raise it's armies. This disadvantages the AI somewhat as it's not smart enough to raise local levies and will raise the entire thing for every little skirmish, but I figure that whenever the AI is in charge of the empire it's too big to fail, and with More Interactive vassals local lords should rise up to help the emperor out both on the attack and in defense of the realm.
Other things to note is that I have culture conversion rule set to 4 times, and faith to 2 times as long to accoplish. Add to that that the dominant religions all are communal identity meaning that unless you switch to local culture there wont be much converting. Converting culture takes about 30-40 years per county, faith 20 years, or 10 if it is your own culture.
I should also note that I have Letters and Loyalty enabled, which gives a pentalty debuff towards lieges based on distance to capital, so pretty much everyone east of Constantinople have a general -100 towards the emperor. This also applies to local rulers of course, so far-flung holdings will be, in general, much more disloyal.
So, also of note, I don't intend to cover every character, this wont cover every aspect of actual gameplay, maybe not even every century. This will be more like a collection of contemporary propaganda-pieces, written in-universe. I'll even make blatant lies about actual events, although I'll try to make it obvious enough that the reader can read between the lines and suss out what the actual gameplay was. Non-native speaker, so yeah, expect the occasional typo.
The first part will, as the title suggests, be a brief overview of the history of the Holy Roman Empire and the great families, leading up to the glorious reign of Vicarius Lucius of Gandhara, our main character for this first piece.
Oh, yeah, one last note. I use mods for titles, cultures, languages and names, to show them in their own native languages. Finnish is soumalainen, Kipchak is Qipcaq, chinese language is Hanyu, that kind of thing, so bear with me. I'll add an OOC note for anything I feel like it needs to be explained, but feel free to ask if you want clarifications.
Brevis historia Sacri Romani Imperii et familiae magnae
On this day, 18th of August, in the Imperial Year 724, ad urbe Condita 1477, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the great Vicarius Lucius of Gandhara and Avanti, Lord of Lahore, Mathura and Dahala, son of Ceasar Secundus, grandson of Glorious Imperator Primus Legetitium, of the line of the venerable and holy dynasty of Oppius, Cubicularius, Arcaria and Magister Officiorum of emperors, Terror of the Steppes, Lord of the Indus, Protector of the Kasamiriya, Maga et Sapientem, Imperial Architect, Bane of the Ujjajini, named Most Loyal of three emperors, Grand Wizard of the eastern Dominions, have ordered the writing of a great chronicle to record the history of the Sacrum Romanum Imperium from the days of the republic of old, and of the great families, and the emperors of which he is descended.
I, Quinta, Maga and Royal chronicler of Gandhara have been given this holy task by instruction of the Vicarius himself. May Hekate strike me dead if I tell a lie.
On the Age of the Republic
Many are the learned men who have attempted to summarise the history of the age of the Republic. For this account I will assume the reader to be familiar with the history of the city, how it was founded by Romulus, the boy raised by a wolf, and how the population gloriously ended the rule of tyrants and kings.
For a long time Rome was but one city among many in Italy. This may surprise the modern reader, but in the time of the dominions of the greeks, a people who were native to the modern Vicariate of Graecia, from whom the area takes it's name, Rome rose up. Many were the peoples who were vanquished, whose names are now only spoken by historians, such as the Apulians, Sicelotians, Illyrians, Eturians, Carthagnians, Phrygians, Hebews, the many tribes of the gauls, iberians and germans, and the Macedonians, Alexander's people. All these peoples, who now only remain in the names of places inhabited by our people, for none who now lives speak their languages, were made to serve Rome. Some were intergrated into the republic peacefully, others by the sword.
We made the world Rome, and all it's peoples were made Roman.
The histories always comes back to a few names. Fabius. Claudius. Cornelius. Sempronius. These four most venerable and holy bloodlines made Rome what it is today, and still makes up it's backbone. These dynasties form the nobility of our glorious realm. But one name stand above all others, the name of Oppius. The family rose into prominence with the election of Volero Oppius, in the year -47 by the Imperial calendar, 707 AUC. Elected a second time in -25, his son Servius was then elected in -8. The brother of Servius was Cossus, who was elected in the year 0. That year he, with support of the senate and people of Rome, rewrote the constitution.
[OOC: This actually isn't a lie. The first emperor in I:R was elected consul in year 0, by pure coincidence. I had planned on converting to christianity to have the new dating system in CK3 onwards make sense but never managed it, but for the purposes of this playthrough the dating system is refered to as IC, Imperial Calendar, measuring time from the birth of the empire, although I make the assumption that AUC is also in wide use]
The new constitution enshrined the house of Oppius and it's descendants as Imperator, and noblest of the Romans, ending the corruption that were inherent in the Republic, and allowing the realm to make long-term plans and investments without bowing to the interests of corrupt officials and scared old men.
The Age of the Imperium
Stronger than ever, and united in purpose the new imperium struck out. Finishing the conquest of Gaul. Humbling the proud Palestinian Kingdom. Pushing back the Sarmatians to the steppes. Pushing deeper and deeper into german land, several times defeating the mighty barbarian empires of Suebia and Bononia, ending the rule of the Selukids in Mesopotamia. Many were the kings who came to Rome in supplication, swearing alligiance to the Imperator, the ruler of the world.For 3 centuries the roman legions marched ever outwards, until they finally came to the Indus, the end of the world as they knew it. Even mighty Alexander had not ventured beyond it, into the fabled lands of Bharat. But the lord of that land, the Emperor of Taklamakan, saw the glory of Rome. Some say that a wise man, a prophet, told him that he must submit. Others, more cynical people say that the Tamil kings knew they would not be able to overcome the legions, and that their subject peoples were ready to rebel. For Bharat was a wartorn land for many centuries. Depopulated from constant wars and rebellions, and raids from the Tibetans to their north pushing ever soutwards, the emperor submitted to the might of the Imperator.
[Again, actually not a lie. I peacefully subjugated all of india in IR, in one fell swoop. Offered them to pay tribute, a couple of years later they asked to be made a client state. Integrating them took almost 200 years, but I managed to shorten it by a couple of decades by directly occuping any states that rebelled.]
After the submission of the lord of the Tamils, all other peoples submitted, paid tribute, and were over the centuries slowly integrated into the empire. The High king of Prydain bent his knee. The Lord and Emperor of all Tibet opened up the gates to his cities and strongholds in the mountains and declared the Imperator his lord and master. Even the Budinians, savage tribesmen of the north, ancestors of our modern slavic peoples, who had subjugated the expanses of the steppes came to the Imperator in supplication and formally subordinated himself to the ruler of the world.
Only one people would continue to resist until the end. The savage and noble Beddawaye, their kingdom known as Kush. They too were made subjects after a series of brutal wars in the early 4th century.
Rome stood ascendant. Many trials had passed for our great people. Not only wars, but plagues. The migrations of the Franks left a permanent mark in the Vicariate of Boiheinum, where they say that if you go out into the villages close to the mountains you can sometimes to this day hear the people speak the germanic language, a testament to the masses of savage warriors who ravaged that era in the late imperial period. In the vicariate of Bactriana, in the provinces of Badakshan and Pamir the huns are still the larger part of the population, and even the nobility of that land speak their language before latin, due to those vile savages ravaging the area for many years.
A pox be on Bactriana and all it's people. They barely pass for Roman. I have heard it said they are more hun than anything else. They claim descent from the house of Oppius, through the line of Ceasar Primus the Defiler, son of Imperator Manius II, dead since two centuries, but I have read more than one account claiming this is false and their entire nobility actually being descended from the savage hordes. Kabul is a stain upon the empire and ought to be razed to the ground.
12 Emperors were to follow Cossus during the age of the Imperium. As an historical curiosity of note I might mention that the emperors Spurius III, Decimus and Spurius IV were reported to have practiced a religion known as christianity, known to have been practiced mainly in the eastern provinces during the 3rd and 4th centuries. Reports have christian missionaries being active as late as 411 in Bactriana, under the reign of Vicarius Spurius II, although the pontifex maximus of their faith was crucified by emperor Arruns in 393. The fact that the faith survived in Bactriana for so long lends further credence to reports that the people there are inherently disloyal to the empire. Records of the Udaphanda, a most loyal house, claim that as they watch the western border to the mountains of the accursed land they often see great fires and hear chanting in an unknown language. Could the huns still be secretly worshipping the jewish christ? I have no proof, I'm just asking questions.
The age of the Holy Roman Empire
Imperator Arruns ascended to the imperial throne in the year 374, and would rule until 450.
Known as a most pious and just man, but harsh to the enemies of the empire he instituted a series of radical reforms in 393 that today make up the foundations of our Holy Empire. He disbanded the legions, and instead ordered each provincial govenor to see to the raising of militias, and maintain the expense of standing men at arms for the protection of the realm. No longer would the armies of the Roman Empire be commanded from Rome alone, but every governor would maintain his own force. To pay for this the emperor granted them their provinces as demesne, and ordered them to find capable men to hold land under them, and build castles, and raise armies. This is the foundation our modern empire is built upon of course, the Vicatrius answers to the emperor, but commands the Duxii and the Preators, in a divine hierarchy from the lowest peasant to the Imperator himself, who answers only to the Gods.
He also formalized the roman religion, instituting mandatory pilgrimages to Rome for all faithful, and instituted a formal head of the faith, the Pontifex Maximus, who would serve as the emperors personal advisor in matters of faith.
Imperator Arruns would live until the age of 108, and be followed by his grandson, Imperator Spurius V. During the reign of these two blessed emperors the Empire would continue to grow in power and in glory.
But trouble would come to the empire with the ascension of Imperator Manius II, known as "the Strange". The great-grandson of Spurius V, the son and grandson of the line of the Vicariate of Sogdiana, where Spurius had sent his oldest son to rule, he was only a boy of 7. Within a year the more treacherous of the Vicariuses of the realm conspired to put the granddaughter of Arruns through the line of the Vicarius of Lower Nubia, one Decima, on the throne. Believing a woman to be easy to control no doubt the installed the vile woman as "Imperatrix".
Upon the death of the false empress,
many say she drank herself to death and it would take the imperial stewards a half-century to fully restock the imperial winecellars of Rome to their former glory,
her young son,
it is unknown of he was the son of her husband or a goat she had copulated with, but it is recorded he was of Bactrian descent and spoke hunnic, so either could be true really,
Edeco,
seriously... Have you ever heard of a Roman called "Edeco"? I have heard he kept camels in a room next to the imperial bedchamber. Reminded him of his home in Bactriana, a curse upon all of that land,
"took the throne". It is a shame upon all Romans that the buttocks of a Bactrian have ever sat upon that seat, but it is historical fact.
Manius, still holding his lands in Spoleta had grown into a man. At 14 he had gathered enough support to start his uprising, laying siege to Rome while his supporters fought off the Bactrian loyalists elsewhere, and reclaimed his throne just after his 16:th birthday.
He would go on to rule the empire for 55 years, until his death in 550.
Manius, too, would end up a great reformer. Ever paranoid it is said, he decreed that the vassals of the empire would choose the emperor, forever onwards from that day. He also formally renamed the imperium and changed it's banners from the old republican ones that had been used up until this point.
Manius also constantly had to fight against a great rebellion, fermented by the Vicarius of Bactria, the vile Gaia Claudius, who made herself the enemy of the empire at every turn, and openely proclaimed her and her house's emnity with the Oppius dynasty. She was finally deposed, and put into exile, in 545.
Manius' son, Tiberius II, would follow him, a worthy emperor ruling over a period of great peace and prosperity. He, in turn, was succeeded by his grandson, the great and venerable Proculus II, the Honourable.
But trouble once again came to the empire with the ascent of Proculus, for his brother proclaimed his own Empire, ruled from Parthia, claiming that his birthright as the second son entitled him.
Manius, or Imperator Manius II of Imperium Novum as he styled himself, was the prefered candidate of certain zealous elements of the roman state religion, and the Pontifex Maximus of the official state religion proclaimed that he would move his priesthood to Parthia and support this new empire. [OOC: Real talk. The title of The Hellenic priesthood was a vassal of the Emperor after I granted them Ancona, the local count rebelled and kicked them out but they stayed as my vassal since religious heads of faith can continue to exist landless. The reason they actually went to the second son was that they weren't a de jure vassal since they have no de jure land] In response Proculus officially adopted the Cult of Mithras as the new state religion of the empire. A great rift had been sparked.
Manius empire, however, would fall apart without any assistance within 5 years, and left with nothing but his land in Parthia Proculus could simply march in, in 583, just 9 years after the rift, to hardly any resistance and reclaim Parthia as a rightful part of the Empire.
In the north the now independent, having broken free from the rule of Manius, Rus-Romanus of Novgorod proclaimed their own Imperium Novum. [OOC: Yes, I as head of the dynasty renamed them from the Oppius-Pskov to Romanov. Too good an oppertunity to pass.]
Proculus would also have his revenge upon the Hellenic High priesthood for choosing his brother over him, but the less is said of that episode of our otherwise glorious Roman history the better.
Proculus, though, would cause yet another crisis. For he had 3 sons, the middle one he favoured the most. In what many call the greatest scandal in the history of the Roman Empire, Proculus would grant his firstborn, called Proculus, the Vicariate of Syria, seen by many traditionalist as an endorsment, as many emperors of old had served as governors of Syria before ascending to the emperorship. Instead he officially disinherited Proculus before he even had reached Baalbek, and named Primus, his favourite, the heir to the empire.
Most of the lords refused to recognise this and withdrew their support from the emperor. Proculus may have been rash, but he was a great diplomat and would have won back their support, or replaced them with more loyal men. But fate would intervene and Proculus would die, killed by a great boar while hunting.
To imagine, a great emperor, killed by a pig, losing his empire to someone who is not his son. I feel like this is referenced in some great work of antioquity, but can't place it.
In any case, Primus WOULD be Imperator. He had been chosen by his father. His uncle, now Titus III, would only rule for 2 years before Primus had organised a force sufficent to challenge him. In a bloodless coup, Titus gave in, and returned to his home in Albania [OOC: Not the Albania you are thinking of, the Albania in the Caucasus]. The two would reconcile and Primus even named Titus as his Co-Emperor [OOC: An actual thing in "More court positions"-mod], and Titus would, until his death, be one of the staunchest supporters of Imperator Primus.
Primus would go on an rule the empire for 66 years, and be known as one of the most feared Imperators in the histories. Known as Primus "The lawful" he never once in his life broke the sacred laws that binds us. But his harshment in the pursuit of the law went beyond what many would call excessive. He decreed that any man found to have been unfaithful to his wife would be castrated, and any woman blinded, and that any of noble blood he would PERSONALLY see that they were punished. Uncofirmed chronicles from the imperial palace of that time claimed he kept a room with, well, "the remains", where he used them to perform magic rituals. As a Maga myself though, I know of no rituals requiring such "ingredients", so this might just be idle peasant rumours, and we shall never know the truth of it.
Another great tale of Primus sense of justice is when he was unjustly attacked by the Cumanians. As a punishment for their insolence he took the boy-king's mother as his concubine, a noble woman called Ketevan. He dressed her up and proclaimed that none might ever refer to her by name again, or his armies would kill every man in Cumania. Instead she would be known as "The painted whore of Rome" forever thereafter. He even had a painting of the peace-conference made and hung in his throneroom.
"They make it a desert and call it peace" - Artist unknown, Rome, ca 620
Primus' greatest challenge would manifest itself in the year 622 however, with the coming of the Prophet Muhammed.
Proclaiming a new religion, based on the almost-forgotten lore of the christian religion, the Prophet raised an army and marched on Mecca, proclaiming it a holy war, and Mecca a holy city.
Would THIS be the first time the Roman Empire would know true defeat?
[OOC: Just included because it's funny]
The Emperors personal champion was choosen to lead the defense against this new threat. Drusus Aemilius being one of the finest military minds of his generation.
[OOC: Thos of you who know your early muslim history know who this guy is...]
Supported by allies from Syria, Caanan, Media, Egypt, and as far away as Bharat Drusus would defeat the muslim forces in the pivotal battle for Mecca, although Drusus would pay the ultimate price. Drusus would later become proclaimed a saint of the Hellenic faith, and had a temple-complex devoted to his cult in Rome.
The imperial soldiers seized Muhammed's personal battle-standard though, which would become a venerated relic in the cult of St. Drusus.
[OOC: I have a couple of screenshots I wont show off, out of respect for the rules on inflammatory and offensive images. No worries, Muhammed vanished without a trace, but just don't ask what happened to Ali and Abu Bakr, alright?]
With that this new foe had been put down. It is said that some of Muhammed's followers, perhaps even the prophet himself, escaped the final siege of Medina, and that they fled beyond the borders of the known world, in the seas beyond Burma. [OOC: There are muslims in indonesia in EU4, so some of them must have gotten away and preached over there. And yeah, I immidiatly declared a new war, took back Medina, and ten years later islam was as dead as christianity].
A great tournament was held in the Temple of Mars [Ostia] to celebrate.
Many years later, on his death-bed, a mere month before his death, Primus would proclaim the Hekatean schism. All roman emperors since Arruns are known to have practiced magic, but Primus decreed in his final proclamation that the Cult of Hekate should be the official state-religion of the Roman Empire from that day forward, paying special reverence to all who practice witchcraft.
[OOC: The conversion-process from IR to CK3 left me with an rather unfortunate bug that I didn't discover until it was too late. The game will crash if I try to change any religious tenets, so I can only change the laws. Elevating witchcraft from accepted to virtous was pretty much the most interesting change I could make to the basic hellenic religion with those limitations. Fortunatly that bug seems to have dissapeared with the latest update to the converter, but it is too late for this particular game]
The Glorious rule of the dread Lord Vicarius Lucius the Shrewd of Gandhara during the reigns of Primus II, Marcus II, Sextus III and Tiberius III - Glory be unto their names, the Gods sing their praises
Finally we come to the rule of my own lord, and events to which I have been personally witness.
As all know, Imperator Primus had 6 sons.
The twins, Primus and Secundus, who both personally fought, and bore the scars, from the battle of Mecca, who stayed with him in Rome until their last days.
Gnaeus the Wolf, ruler of Moesia Superior.
Proculus, known as "The Judge of Men", Samraja of Madhyesa.
Amulius the Just, of Spoleto.
And the one I would omit if historical accuracy was not my sworn proffession, Marcus the Dungeon-Dweller, spawn of the painted whore of Rome, and usurper, twice cursed, black sheep of the house of Primus. I bet he was Bactrian too.
Also there was Aulus, known as "the Young", the runt of the litter.
On the 6th of October, in the year 666, the great Imperator Primus drew his last breath. He was succeeded by his grandson, Primus II, son of Primus who never ruled, known as "The Poet".
Through the line of his second son, Secundus, who had died from his wounds he recieved during the battle of Mecca, Lucius, father of Lucius the Witch of Kamarupanagama, inherited the realm of Gandhara, helt by Primus the Lawful since the trial of the vile criminal Tuchen Magyal, who lost his right to those lands by his deviancy.
Lucius, being the very model of a ruler of the house of Primus integrated the people of Gandhara, the Kanauiji, taught them latin and the rule of roman law, and in return embraced them as his own people, adopting their dress and many of their mannerism.
From his seat in Lahore he ruled his lands fairly. It is a land of many people. The Kanauiji joined with the local roman settlers to form the Gandharan nation, but under his protection are also the Kasamiriya, The Sum-Romanus Tibetans of the western border with Bactriana and the Panjani. Considerable communities of Sugdik, Sum Pa, Sindhi, Sihala and even huns are also found within the Vicariate's borders. [OOC: Converting from IR creates some REAL messy cultural borders. I can't wait to play this in Victoria 3. Soooo many minorities, it will have so many revolutions...]
Lucius first big test came with the great revolt against Primus II. Serving as Magister Militarum for the emperor during the conflict, he also led his troops in the sack of Kabul. It is said all the men of the army had to throw away their boots after that campaign, because when they returned home they all smelled of camel-dung and their wives would not let them into their houses. True story.
The revolt meant to put Marcus the Dungeondweller, Lucius uncle, son of Primus (allegedly) and the Painted Whore of Rome, as emperor of the Romans.
At the time, having been kicked out of his castle in Viterbo by his brother Aulus my lord had graciously accepted hosting Marcus in return for his service.
My lord have never confirmed it, but rumours to this day persists that he meant to have Marcus killed, rather than have thousends of good Romans kill eachother in this petty dispute. Alas, fate intervened.
The Imperator Primus were captured by the Consul of Asia, Camillus, known to be a hashish-addict, and a frequent guest at the local whorehouses, with the boils on his unmentionables to attest to those rumours. No wonder such degenerate men would support an usurper such as the Dungeon-dweller.
The following 9 years are a low-point in the history of the Roman people. My lord, openly and brashly, made plans and gathered support for his own bid for the throne in Rome. Insults were thrown in both directions, knives were sharpened, and the realm held it's breath.
But Lucius is not a rash man. He consulted the Gods, and the stars told him that it was a time to forget old griavances and forget your enemies, and make new friends. And Lord Lucius would never cross the will of the Gods, so a compromise was made.
[OOC: I love the "Divine the stars" mechanic of the hellenics. I totally let it make decisions for me when appropriate]
The Gods are wise. Just after Marcus redemption in the eyes of their chosen vessel on earth they took him to them.
Emperor Sextus was a far more agreeable monarch than Marcus, and under his reign Lucius served in various turns at Magister Officiorium, Arcaria and Cubicularia [OOC: Chancellor, Steward and Spymaster].
It was also during this time the Kasamiriya Samanta Donla came into my lords life. It is known that the two had a love-affair, I shall not deny it even in this official account, for it is known to the entire Empire and my lord holds no shame for it. He does regret misleading his wife, but he will never deny that he, in fact, prefers the comforts of men to that of women. That is also why he have chosen to never re-marry later in life, because the betrayal he forced on the women who bore his children still to this day torments his soul.
In 704 we had yet another new Emperor. For a long time Vicarus Lucius was the heir-presumptive to the Emperors seat, but a combination of his adoption of foreign ways, the highly gossiped about love affair, and that one of his son died as an infant, an inbred freak, has caused enough doubts among the lords that he has never carried the vote despite his prestige, power, and pure political, military and scholarly genius.
As all men, high and low, he has had both his tragedies and his triumphs.
His reign extend now over large parts of northern Bharat.
His last triumph, that I recived a missive about just recently, is the conquest of Mjinjaa. On behalf of the emperor he left Lahore with a force of 16000 men. In the mountains at a place called Dege he found the enemy king and took him prisoner, in one strike adding another kingdom to our glorious Empire.
Artists depiction of the surrender of Qaha Qian of Mjinjaa to Imperatur Tiberius III. Note that it is symbolic and does not represent an actual historical event, as Tiberius never traveled to Mjinjaa to accept the Qaha's surrender in person, it was instead given diretly to Lucius.
All men must die. We all know this. It is said that Lucius is so wise that he knows the day of his death, and that is why he is so brave, for he know he will not die until Jupiter wills it, and when that day comes, there is no point being afraid.
We also know that our lord, Vicarius Lucius, will be remembered for all time as one of the greatest Romans to have ever lived. Not many men get to see their 100th birthday. This chronicle, and the Gandharan nation, will be the legacy of Lucius, son of Secundus, of the house of Gandhara, father of nations, protector of the weak, Elephant-Lord, Master of the Way of Hekate, and eternal enemy of Bactrians and all huns.
Attachments
Last edited:
- 2
