I've already added over 200 characters, but unfortunately I will not be able to actively work on the mod for while. Now I think its time for a first two development diaries, centered among Macedonian and Amorian dynasties.
№1: Macedonian dynasty.
Basil I's brothers
Symbatios and
Bardas, cousin
Leo the Assyrian and nephew
Basil are now included in the game. Other additions include Basil's mother
Pankalo and his paternal grandfather
Maiakes or Maiktes. These are possibly the Greek renditions of a name Hmayeak, which was extremely popular among the Mamikonians. Because of that, Settipani connects him to this family.
He also supports the theory, according to which Basil was a great-grandson of Leo V. With his interpretations, we can see that Basil's ancestors were noble, but they lost their fortunes after years in Bulgarian captivity. Constantine VII in his Vita Basilii claims that both Maiakes and Leo descended from the Arsacids, and Settipani tries to prove in his recontructions.
Leo V's father was Bardas, patrikios and strategos of Armeniakon who was killed in
battle of Marcellae. His unnamed mother belonged to another branch of Mamikonian family. It started with Vartan, marzpan of Armenia who fled to Byzantium after his failed revolt and decided to stay there. His descendants frequently intermarried with the empire's highest nobility. Vartan's son Artabasdos was a husband of a niece of emperor Maurice, daughter of
Philippikos and Gordia. Their son Bardanes married to a sister of empress Fausta, daughter of
Arsacid Valentinus. Valentinus' mother was Placidia, and through her he descended from the Theodosian dynasty and the Roman gens Anicia, whose members were related to Augustus, Marcus Aurelius and many other famous figures.
Later family members are patrikioi
Nikephoros and Bardanes, emperors Philippikos and Artabasdos,
spatharios Constantine, aforementioned mother of Leo V and general Bardanes Tourkos. The latter's children include Bryennios, the founder of the
eponymous family, Thekla, wife emperor Michael II, and Eirene, wife of
Leo Skleros.
Eudokia, mistress of Michael III and wife of Basil I, belonged to a very old and prestigious family of Martinakioi. Its founder, Martinos, married to Maria, sister of emperor Heraclius. Their daughter Martina later became Heraclius' second wife. Her unnamed brother fathered Andrew, whose son Martinos was apo eparchon (former eparch). Other family members are kandidatos
Theophylaktos,
officer Anastasios, logothetes Inger, patrikioi Constantine and Martinos. Constantine, father of
Theophano Martinakia, was made ruler of Cephalonia in 867 instead of a fictional Konstantios Martinakios. He is said to be a relative of the three emperors; Settipani identifies them as Amorians - Michael II, Theophilos and Michael III. Constantine's mother or grandmother belonged to their dynasty.
Famous chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor is described as a maternal uncle of emperor Constantine VII. Theophanes was the son of Isaakios, father of the Aegean Islands, and brother of
Maria, an addresee of a letter from
Theodore Stoudites. Maria's son was
Photeinos, whose great-granddaughter was empress Zoe Karbonopsina.
№2: Amorian dynasty.
From her father's side, empress Theodora is quite closely related to Basil I. Theodora's mother,
Theoktiste Phlorina, was connected to family of saint
Philaretos of Amnia due to onomastic reasons. Philaretos' son John married to Eirene, daughter of Gregory Monomachos and Anna, who was the sister of Plato of Sakkoudion and the aunt of Theodore Stoudites. Anna's mother Euphemia directly descended from the Roman family of Rufii. Rufius Synesius Hadrianus, who served as a Praefectus Urbi in the waning years of the Western Roman empire, was the nephew of an influential statesman,
Gennadius Avienus. His grandson Hadrianus fled to Constantinople during the Gothic wars. Afterwards, the family was Hellenized, but its still maintained close ties with Italy. Hadrianus' great-grandson was a senator named
Theodore Chilas, whose son was
Plato, father of pope John VII. John's brother Theodore was grandfather of Euphemia.
The Mosele family was yet another branch of the Mamikonians. Its first member was patrikios
Gregory Mousoulakios. His son was
Alexios Mosele, who also bore the title of patrikios. Alexios I's grandsons were
Alexios II and
Theodosios. The latter fathered Eupraxios, strategos of Sicily under Basil I. Alexios II was made Caesar by Theophilos and served as a heir apparent before failing into disgrace. He was married to Theophilos' daughter
Maria and, as Settipani observes, there is no absolutely reason to think that she was an infant at the time. He speculates that she bore him a daughter, but died because of complications due to very early pregnancy. This daughter, called Maria after her mother, is known from one seal, where she called a daughter of Caesar.
In Settipani's stemma, the earliest ancestor of the Doukai is
tourmarches Andronikos, who supported Alexios I Mosele in 793. This might indicate that the two families maintained very good relations. As a result, Maria II was wed to Andronikos' great-grandson. Their son was Andronikos II, famous general and father of usurper Constantine Doukas. Constantine's imperial descent was probably the reason why he tried to claim the throne. In addition, it could explain Constantine's popularity, so immense that
Basil the Copper Hand tried to assume his identity more than a decade later.
Some screenshots:
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