(Firstly, I did nick the title from my old Eu2 Byzantine AAR. I like it)
Chapter One
It was in the December of 1337 that we officially mark the Roman Empire having reached its weakest point. The anti-zenith, we shall say. For years of incompetent, greedy Emperors, military defeats, and a strengthening nobility had left the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, with a level of strength that simply could not see it survive any longer. Perhaps, at this point, it was capable matching the Ottoman Turks man-for-man, or even the Croatians, or Bulgars. But while any one of the enemies of Rome might have been fended off indefinitely, the tide of destruction that poured in from all sides certainly could not have been.
The present Emperor, Andronikos Palaiologos, was not a man of great intellect. Nor, it must be noted, were his advisors of the genius we see in later centuries. It is curious, then, that the grand revival second only to the conquests of the old Roman Empire was begun with him. He was, by all accounts, hardly kingly in stature or face, and he could scarce read.
He was loathed by many of his subjects, and his skill at diplomacy was little more than a farce. Why, then, was he able to orchestrate such a revival?
This question is best answered by the study of the men of the time themselves. Andronikos had a friend in the Prince of Thessalonika, and their friendship, one day, found itself tested. For, in this Empire, there were but two Principalities sworn to the Emperor. The first, Thessalonike, made up more than two-thirds of the Empire's land, and over half of its men. Should it have ever chosen to rebel, there is no doubting the fact that the Basileus's already-unsteady reign would've collapsed there and then.
But the Prince was a friend, and so he remained. Nevertheless, Andronikos, in his customary manner, insulted his courage one day, and the Prince took it upon himself to remind his Emperor just why he served - it was not out of fear for the Emperor's formidable army, that was for certain.
In a rage, Andronikos told his friend that he should fear his army, for he was a general fine enough to slaughter the men of Thessalonike with but a tenth of his force.
There, then, were the fatal words that were to rebuild an Empire.
"Prove it."
Chapter One
It was in the December of 1337 that we officially mark the Roman Empire having reached its weakest point. The anti-zenith, we shall say. For years of incompetent, greedy Emperors, military defeats, and a strengthening nobility had left the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, with a level of strength that simply could not see it survive any longer. Perhaps, at this point, it was capable matching the Ottoman Turks man-for-man, or even the Croatians, or Bulgars. But while any one of the enemies of Rome might have been fended off indefinitely, the tide of destruction that poured in from all sides certainly could not have been.
The present Emperor, Andronikos Palaiologos, was not a man of great intellect. Nor, it must be noted, were his advisors of the genius we see in later centuries. It is curious, then, that the grand revival second only to the conquests of the old Roman Empire was begun with him. He was, by all accounts, hardly kingly in stature or face, and he could scarce read.
He was loathed by many of his subjects, and his skill at diplomacy was little more than a farce. Why, then, was he able to orchestrate such a revival?
This question is best answered by the study of the men of the time themselves. Andronikos had a friend in the Prince of Thessalonika, and their friendship, one day, found itself tested. For, in this Empire, there were but two Principalities sworn to the Emperor. The first, Thessalonike, made up more than two-thirds of the Empire's land, and over half of its men. Should it have ever chosen to rebel, there is no doubting the fact that the Basileus's already-unsteady reign would've collapsed there and then.
But the Prince was a friend, and so he remained. Nevertheless, Andronikos, in his customary manner, insulted his courage one day, and the Prince took it upon himself to remind his Emperor just why he served - it was not out of fear for the Emperor's formidable army, that was for certain.
In a rage, Andronikos told his friend that he should fear his army, for he was a general fine enough to slaughter the men of Thessalonike with but a tenth of his force.
There, then, were the fatal words that were to rebuild an Empire.
"Prove it."
