The Byzantine Empire: An Unlikely Reversal

[Lordling]

Now, I've tried to write a few AARs, here and there. So far, they've all failed. Some because I'm lazy, others because of technical problems. Yet the Byzantines, the Byzantines.. well, they seem so damn fun to write. So I'm going to give it a whirl.

- - - - - - - - -
The professor looked up. "Do we all have our copies of the textbook?"

I nodded. "Alexios Caspanias and Emperor Manuel the Second: Bringers of the Revival", it was named. On the book was a picture of a mosaic, depicting Manuel II, supposedly greatest of the Roman Emperors. It was he who had brought about the revival of the Byzantines, a trait that had been increasing ever-since.

There were only eight of us in the class. The Revival Period, the class had been named, expanding on the period of history in which the Roman Empire had revived, and re-expanded. To date, it had lasted two thousand years since the birth of Christ, easily the oldest institution known to man. From the Three Great Wars, to the Jeanafric Wars, the Roman Empire had been involved in every great modern conflict known to man. The Empire was only that it name, now. I was a Serbian citizen of the Empire - I had honorary membership in all Empire states, but only Constantinople itself remained under actual Imperial rule. I thought it was rather sad, actually. The dismembering of the Empire. The most powerful Empire known to man, and it voluntarily dissolves.

Yet even that, although interesting as it would be for future historians to study, was not as interesting as this. In catacombs, deep below the City, ancient diaries had been found. The only records of the time remaining are official - and the story of Manuel single-handedly cutting his way out of a hundred Tartars to lead his army to victory seems slightly far-fetched.

These diaries are the strongest link to that period of time. My father, Chris Komnemos, was part of the archaeological team. As such, he insisted I take this class, not that he really ever needed to. I love history as much as my father does, although I prefer to read, than to get my hands dirty.

"Very well. Turn to page seventeen. There you will find the copies of the diaries, translated from their original form. The translation is still slightly archaic, but I wish for you simply to read, without submerging your mind in the depth of interpretations the textbook offers. I prefer my students to approach this with their own opinion. As such, I would appreciate it if you would read the entire set of diaries before looking for conformation of your views in essays and writings."

Professor Baker nodded. An Englishman, he had come to the Empire to teach, simply because of the vast wealth of archaelogical treasure we had, or so he said. Each class of his takes a trip to the catacombs below the City, as well as visiting the sites of sixteen battles - where we actually participate in yearly re-enactments of those battles with local townspeople and such.

I opened the book, and started to read..

January the 1st, in the Year of Our Lord 1419

It has been a long time since Christ was given his due in the former Empire. A long time since the heathen Turks came screaming through, burning and pillaging all in their wake.

I am Alexios Caspanias, bishop of the Orthodox Church, and personal spiritual advisor to the Emperor, Manuel the Second. He fears the Turk is about to strike. Only Morea, the southern lands in Greece, and Constantinople itself remain under our control. The remainder is under the grasp of the filthy, conniving Turk.

I am convinced that our doom has come nigh. It is a dark hour for a once-glorious Empire, the ruins of the greatest Christian state ever to surmount the world, the Roman Empire. The millennia of enlightenment and peace under the Greek are to end, and a horror, a new Dark Age, will be ushered in, as the Turk loots, kills, and rapes his way from here to the very edge of Europe. Unless he is stopped here, nowhere will be safe from his hands.

I leave these notes as a record of my existence. Should they be found by some educated, Christian man in a future age, let them know that civilization existed before the long dark, before the oppression and heresy of the Turk was brought to dominate over what was once the very bastion of Christ himself.

- Father Alexios Caspanias

(I enclose this map, crude as it is, to display our situation. We are outnumbered at least three-to-one, and the Turks howl for blood, are born and raised on warfare, where we men of culture have not such barbarism in us.)

January the 27th, in the Year of Our Lord 1419

My friend, and my lord, Manuel, has confided in me his plan. In earlier ages, such a plan would be dismissed as foolhardy, for it would bring the Empire to ruin. Yet, as he has astutely stated, there is no more Empire to ruin. If we fail here, there is nothing left to buy the Turk off with. It is his intention to find a banker willing to extend to him a sum of some two hundred thousand gold coins, with which he will hire the sons of nobles from around, to serve as cavalry. Our warships and galleys will prowl the Sea of Mamara, and prevent any crossing by the Turk.

From there, we will sweep down on the Turkish armies like avenging angels from the sky, smashing our way across the plains and hills of Greece, and annihilating the Turks piecemeal. Manuel has asked me to beseech God for the success of our plan. It is a plan of simple genius - we leave the City itself all but undefended, as we have never done before. We invest the fortresses of the north with our troops, and we smash any Turkish armies we come across. It will beggar us, and, despite my complaints, Manuel has sold the stained glass of many church windows to the Papists in the west. I told him what he did bordered on heresy - he told me that it would be better off in the hands of the Papists, who were at least Christians, than in the hands of the Turk, who would smash them into nothing.

Although I cannot fault his logic, I intend to force him to repurchase them, or replace them, if we win this war.

- Father Alexios Caspanias


April the 23rd, in the Year of Our Lord 1419

The Ottoman ambassador arrived today, bearing a scroll. On it, engraved in the foul sigils that comprise their language, and, underneath, in ours, a simple message was written. I caught a single word before Manuel hid it away. The word was 'war'.

It was to be expected. Oh, glorious God, I commit this prayer to paper, so that others in future times may know of how we praised you, and how you should be praised. Lead our men to victory against the Turk, lead them to glory and to Heaven, should they fall in battle. Banish the Turk to the fiery abyss, and grant us the victory we justly deserve.

Manuel has said that he will bring me with him. Yes, I was a general before I was a priest, I know. He says I was a fine one. But I cannot command men once more. I have taken vows, and I will not. He asks, though, can I not simply look in on his strategy, and offer advice? As a friend? Although it violates the spirit the oath I took, I cannot refuse him.

- Alexios Caspanias


October 26th, in the Year of Our Lord 1419

Joyous news. Ever since the defeat of the Turk in Macedonia and Rumelia, and the destruction of fully a quarter of their fleet in the Battle of the Black Sea, other nations are more willing to approach us. Moldovia, Serbia, and Wallachia - tiny nations all, it is true, but with the same strength we have. Manuel himself spoke to the Kings of these nations - not as an Emperor approaching vassals, as so many Emperors have come before, but as a man beseeching other men to do what is right. He spoke of the Turk, and what they would do once Constantinople fell. Of the rape and the pillage that would come. That there would be no stopping them, and that Moldovia and Wallachia would be next. The three men fell silent, and, as one, stepped forward to greet him as a brother and an ally.

Another thirty thousand men crossed the borders, and annihilated the northern armies of the Turk, driving them back into their castles.

Although there are only fifteen thousand men remaining in our glorious army, we have slew five times as many Turks, as they came at us as infantry, with fewer numbers - each time they came, we slew them, and slaughtered them, until they came no more. However, some twenty thousand were ensonced in the north, and we could not root them out. The aid of the Moldovians and Serbians was invaluable - it allowed us to send men south, to take the Turkish possessions of the Ottomans.



I looked up. "Sir.."

"Yes, Chris Junior?"

I hated being named after my father. More important, I hated the fact that Baker knew my father so well, and called me by the name only my mother called me by. A titter rose from a girl in the back. I ignored it.

"There is no mention of the battles inbetween the declaration of war, and the forging of the Alliance of Kosovo."

Professor Baker looked pained. "Yes, well.. remember, Chris, this book was written in 1419, on paper that was probably quite fragile at the time. For it to survive almost six hundred years as it did is nothing less than a miracle. Although nine-tenths of the journal was saved, some was lost, despite the best efforts of the archaelogists there. Didn't your father tell you about that?"

Probably. I hadn't been listening, though. My father can rave on a bit when he gets to talking about his finds, and this one.. especially. "Yessir, he probably did. But he tends to be.. imprecise when talking about his work. He can get excited."

The professor laughed. "He does, doesn't he? In any case, put down your books. The lesson's almost over, so, here's what I want to do to. Research one battle in the Ottoman-Roman war, and tell me how that battle contributed to the overall Roman victory. It doesn't have to be in-depth, but I want to make sure you're all interested in the subject."

He clapped his hands. "Well, then? Why are you all here? Get to work, now!"

I sighed mentally, and walked off. That girl in the back.. Charity, I think her name was. Pretty sort of girl, with a.. pretty sort of laugh.

 

[likk9922]

Nice start, Lordling!

 

[Lordling]

Nice start, Lordling!

Thanks, Likk!

- - - - -

"The Siege of Constantinople", I said, clearing my throat. Another guy growled in irritation - I guess he'd done the same thing. I held in my hand a printout of the map at the time - tacking it up on the board, I began to speak.

"Essentially, the Siege of Constantinople was a desperate measure undertaken by the Ottoman Sultan when the tides of war began to turn against him. Some twenty thousand Turkish infantry crossed the sea, their fleet having inflicted a great defeat against the Roman one. The Roman cavalry army was ragged, only ten thousand men remaining. Constantinople, if taken, would herald the loss of the war. Despite many defeats inflicted upon the Ottomans by the courageous Manuel, the Ottoman Empire simply had many more resources to draw upon."

I coughed nervously. Everyone was watching me intently. School before.. well, all our history classes had never been anything like this. Sure, it was a tough class, and only a few people took it - but normally people weren't that interested in what had happened hundreds of years ago. Normally there'd be some guy chewing gum, and a girl whispering to her friend about how boring this way. Instead, there was just silence. Attentive, eager silence.

"Constantinople had been stripped bare to provide an army capable of combating the Turks - only five hundred men remained to garrison the city's formidable walls. A citizen levy of another five hundred made the city defensible, yet the army that faced them outnumbered them twenty to one. Although the city had enough supplies to hold out for years, the attacks from the Turkish fleet meant that the city was precariously close to defeat. It was then that the Emperor, Manuel the Second, took to the walls, rallying the men. His finest generals were on their way with all the men they could muster - perhaps it would be enough to defeat the Turks."

I took a breath. A deep one. The short speech we'd been asked to give could not do justice to the Siege - one of the greatest, most epic battles in recorded history, one of the most famous stands, and, I believe, one of the battles of which over a hundred films have been made. I saw the John Palogeous version. I'd been quoting that movie all week, driving my friends mad.

"The city only had to hold for eight days before the army could arrive to relieve them. Yet the odds were so long, the possibility of victory so slim..."

I paused.

"It might well not have existed at all. Turks swarmed the walls in the first day, butchering a full section of the defenders, forced back only by citizens of the City coming to their aid, led, once more, by the Emperor. Bloodied, the Turks came again the next day, and the next, and the next."

"It was on the sixth day that the unthinkable happened.". My pause this time was longer, more dramatic.

"The Turks once more assaulted the walls, and, despite the strength that stood against them, there were simply not enough Romans to push them off, or so it seemed. As he had done before, Manuel led the defenders in a glorious charge, managing to push the Turks off the walls, his tenacity giving his own men strength they would not have found otherwise. However, as he led the charge, an arrow took him in the leg. A mere four hundred of the defenders remained, a testament to the sheer ferocity of the Turkish attackers. And with Manuel fallen, the City, it seemed, would fall as well."

"The next day, Manuel's leg grew worse. The arrow had been poisoned, and his leg had begun to rot from the inside. The rot spread quickly, up into his hip, and doctors assumed they could no longer amputate. They tried nonetheless, and found only foulness up in his body. Despite their best efforts, Manuel died at the end of the eighth day."

I smiled. "Yet hope had come early. Alexios Caspanias, the man who declared he would never be a general, had whipped the army into moving, leaving infantrymen behind, and leading ten thousand cavalry in a grand charge, which annihilated the disorganised Turks, losing a mere thousand of his own. This battle marked the coming of Alexios's hour, once a fine general, he had saved the Empire, and, perhaps through vanity, or overfine faith, he took the throne for himself, bypassing the rightful successors, and, from there, he renewed the campaign against the Turk."

Mine had been the last speech. Professor Baker looked over his glasses in a way that you would imagine only a professor could, and smiled. "A little emotional, but a fine speech, Chris. Now, I would like you to look at this."

Another piece of paper was taken up at the board, and we all leant over our desks in curiosity. It was the beginning of the campaign in the south.

"With the death of the Emperor, the Turks were convinced that the Roman Empire would collapse if it attempted to continue the war. A priest taking the throne was unheard of, and it sent shockwaves through the Empire that took decades to recover from. Thus, they refused all offers of peace, despite their loss, and waited for the Emperor to offer them a peace with no gains to either side."

Professor Brown took a breath. The girl.. Charity, tilted her head to one side, and laughed softly, before speaking. "Professor.. why did Alexios continue his campaign against the Turks? Surely he could've foreseen the revolutions that were to follow? From what I've read, he wasn't stupid."

"Well.. Charity, no-one is sure. But Alexios always held the Turks as demons and devils, and he was a man of immense faith. In my opinion, he saw a revolution as less damaging than allowing the Ottomans to continue to expand. Other people hold that he was just gambling, trying to get what he could out of the war before he was forced to exit. I don't really know."

She smiled. "Oh, I see."

He cleared his throat, and continued. "The sieges in the south took little time, luckily for Alexios, and, by 1425, he had attained nigh-complete control over the Ottoman Empire. However, a revolution, in which over eight thousand Akritai formed into bands, and pillaged the countryside, forced him to strip his garrisons in the south, and quell the rebellion. A false Emperor, styling himself Manuel the Third, had set up in the City, however, with Alexios's return, the men revolted against him, and only the sons of noblemen remained. In this rebellion, which is integral to the way the Empire has turned out, Alexios purged nearly three-fifths of the nobility who had dared to revolt against him, and disinherited the rest. The land was redistributed to soldiers who had fought in his wars."

He smiled. "My name is Alex - or Alexios, if you prefer. My mother was enamoured with the man's legend, and named me after that Emperor. My father wanted me to be called Jack, but my mother won out, in the end."

He chuckled.

"In fact, as a bit of a personal anecdote - my distant ancestor gained lands from a disinherited nobleman. Sunshine Manor, as it's called nowadays, we own. An entire village was unearthed on my property, in fact, just a few months ago. Although that sort of thing is fairly common, and it's marked as a very low-priority archaeological dig, I figured we'd be able to spend our fourth week this semester out at the Manor, doing some digging. I'm meant to be lecturing on archaeology for you lot, but if you wanted to come and get some hands-on learning..?"

His last few words were obscured by a chorus of yeses and whoops of delight.

"Provided, of course, that you can hand in the essay due in week five in week three. You'll be missing out on other classes, and I don't want you to have to waste time doing that essay when you could be catching up on other important work."

Man, Professor Baker was great! The guy had a reputation for making his classes really interesting, it was one of the reasons I'd taken it. Digs, speeches.. since the school had instituted performance-based pay for higher-level students, he was the best-paid teacher in the school.

Baker coughed again. "Still. In 1425, Emperor Alexios forced the Ottomans to give up the region of Smyrna to the Roman Empire. Although the unrest running riot prevented him holding out for more, the aims of the Roman Empire had been accomplished. They had enough land to prevent the Ottomans crossing into their northern territories with ease - no invasion could ever be as two-pronged again, and they had prevented the destruction of the Roman Empire."

"Now, living conditions in the City at this time were very.."

His voice trailed off in his mind, as I re-imagined the epic battle. Manuel, hacking his way through Turk after Turk, leading his men to the kind of victory that was only ever seen in movies, and finally dying to something as ignoble as an arrow in the thigh. Then again, Manuel had been voted the Greatest Byzantine Ever, and Alexios was second to him. If it wasn't for him.. I might well be living under Turkish rule now.

 

[likk9922]

Nice update. You give it a feel of reality.

 

[Emperor_krk]

Just caught up on this. I like it, and as likk9922 said, it does look quite real, y'know?
Have you reworked the monarchs completely, adding Alexios? Is there going to be a new dynasty for the Romans?
I'll follow this AAR. Because I like it, and especially because it's Byzantine .

 

[Lordling]

ARRRGHHHH! I had a beautifully HUGE post typed up, and my browser decided to bite the dust. And I lost it. All. So, yeah. I'm angryified.

- - - - - - - - - - -

December the 25th, in the Year of Our Lord 1426

I went to see Manuel today, after we scattered the Turk. He was delirious - and repeatedly insisted that I become Emperor after him. I refused many times, and, as I left, he screamed at me. "If you will not take up these reins, there can be no other who will!".

Perhaps, in his dying state, he is becoming prophetic. It worries me greatly.

December the 26th, in the Year of Our Lord 1426

Manuel is dead. Preparations are being made to crown his nephew, by the same name. Yet my suspicion was piqued as a doctor fled the room hiding something under his shirt. I strode after him, pinned him down, and demanded that he give it to me. After a struggle, I took a vial from him. He has been put in the Church prison, and I have taken the vial to a good apothecary.

December the 27th, in the Year of Our Lord 1426

The vial contained a virulent brew of hemlock and nightshade. And the will that conformed Manuel the Third as Emperor was written a mere two days ago, and dated as such - I cannot contain my suspicion. Manuel the Third is not yet Emperor, and, if he had slain his uncle to take the throne.. well, it is obvious enough that he must be in the employ of the Turk. And such a one cannot be allowed to take the throne.

The rest was known well. Manuel the Third was chased out of the City by Alexios, and Alexios was named Imperial Regent, title which lasted only until his suspicions that Manuel the Third was responsible were conformed. Then, he proclaimed himself Emperor, and continued the war against the Turk.

In 1430, Emperor Alexios ordered the invasion of Teke, hoping that the Karaman would not come to their aid. However, the Karaman did, but nonetheless were annihilated. Alexios was a brilliant general, the likes of which had never been seen, and reduced the allied Muslim armies to dust within the timeframe of mere weeks. In 1431, he annexed Teke, adding it to the Empire.

In early 1432, Alexios had armies besieging all of Karaman, and, mid-1432, he took it all, forcing Karaman to bend the knee to the Roman Empire, and cede two-thirds of their lands. The Empire had grown greatly, but more was yet to come.

The exhausted Ottomans, having just finished their war with Wallachia, were in no condition to fight another. Alexios took advantage of this, and sent his armies into Ottomite Greece, and seized all the fortresses there within half a year.

By January, 1434, he owned all of Ottomite Greece. The Ottomans sent men to combat him, and, at one stage, outnumbered him two-to-one, but his brilliant tactical expertise allowed him to dismember their army as though they had but a tenth of his men. Ottomite Turkey fell soon as well, and, with the Sultan in his hands, Alexios had the Sultan brought before him, in chains, and delivered an ultimatum. Either the Sultan would cede all his lands but Anatolia, which the Turks would be permitted to keep, and swear an oath never to strike another blow against the Roman Empire, or he would be flogged to death on the spot.

The humiliated Sultan chose the first offer, and, after signing the treaty, Alexios had him suffer fifty lashes, saying that it was for "impudences that must be punished, especially when suffered by such an august and grand institution as the Roman Empire."

The common folk loved Alexios after that, for, beforehand, Turks had marched through their lands like it was their right, and the Emperors had been able to do little to stop them, but after that, the Turks had seen their armies reduced to dust, and even their Sultan, once highest of the high, was whipped in the throne room of the Roman Emperor like a misbehaving dog.

The audacity of Alexios won him the hearts of the City, and the people he conquered, but the remaining nobles hated him ever-the-more, for the Turkish Sultan had many Roman titles, and he had dared- he had dared to humiliate and take the land from one of the highest of the high. What fate would they suffer if Alexios sought to humiliate them as well? The Akritai, and the cavalry of the Empire, who were still mostly noblemen, were distanced from the Emperor, though the infantry was more loyal than ever.

Despite his many conquests, though, the Empire was poor. It had suffered two bankruptcies in three years, inflation was hitting the poorer folk harder than even, and there were few, if any moneylenders who would extend the Empire credit.

I typed frantically - the essay needed to be completed in two weeks, admittedly, but I wanted a draught copy ready.. just in case.

 

[Lordling]

The shovel was heavy in my hands. The temperature had taken a sudden spike the very day we'd left to Professor Baker's manor, and the excavation site was in the sun, with no shade around but the small lunch-tent we'd set up nearby.

It wasn't a high-priority site. Heck, it wasn't even a low-priority site. Villages like this could be found all throughout Greece, and, with the Roman policy of protecting its ruins having extended from the sixteen century onwards, thousands, if not tens of thousand of identical villages remained in good shape, and were far easier to look at. This, of course, was why we were allowed to excavate. It was a fairly simple procedure. We dug with shovels until we found something, at which point we divided the area up into sectors, and levelled it out with trowels - using brushes to delicately wipe away any dirt or sand atop an artefact.

I'd been on digs from an early age. My dad, as I've written, was an archaeologist, and since.. well, since he's had to take more care of me, he's often brought me along. So I learnt this sort of stuff when I was six or seven. It's exciting, being out here, on a dig of your own. I can see why my dad does it. Sure, the chances are you're just going to find a few old pots, maybe a rusted kitchen knife or two, and the occasional coin, but there's always the chance that you'll find something.

Something like a tomb. The habit of the Romans to bury their life-stories with them never really existed, but the eight diaries found of various Emperors within their tombs means half the entire world believes we do. Personally, I believe those Emperors just wanted to safeguard those secrets to the last - unable to burn something they poured their soul into their entire life, they just made sure no-one else would find it.

Or even a book, or a journal by some priest.. those things are discoveries. Where physical evidence can be subjectively looked at, and can be interpreted a hundred different ways, and may require experts to verify, a written record is like.. well, artefacts, I guess, are like sand with gold-dust in them. You need to sift through the sand to get the golden knowledge. A fully intact record, though, is like finding a golden nugget.

I wiped the sweat from my face, and smiled at everyone else, having lunch under the tent. My shovel gives off a 'chink!' as I plunge it down, perhaps too roughly, one last time.

Excitedly, I turn and wave. I've found something. Everyone else just looks at me, and continues sipping the juice, not willing to come out into the hot sun to look at what I've found. I grab my trowel, and dig around it. After a few minutes, it's taking shape.

It's just... just the top of another ruined wall. Dejectedly, I throw down my trowel, and start to walk away. My father suddenly appears in my head, and adopts a stern tone, beginning a lecture about misuse of one's tools. I sigh, turn around, and pick up my trowel and shovel, and put them in the bucket nearby. At least that way they won't get lost.

Charity, Manuel, Alex, James, Magnus, and Erica - none of them particularly Roman names, bar Manuel and Alex, are all standing around, eating biscuits, drinking juice, and laughing a joke that Professor Baker's just told.

I haven't gotten to know them that well. Then again, I don't have any good friends, and never really tried to make any. A brief pang of jealous anger swells up in me, and I try and dismiss it. I don't need friends, not really. There are hundreds of people in history more worthy of my comradeship, and I'd rather spend time with them.

But.. I walk over to the table, and pick up a juice.

Magnus grins. "Hey, Chris."

"What?", I ask warily. All I've ever seen from Magnus is the fact that he talks in class and tells jokes. This will probably be another one.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you found anything.", he says, his tone ever-so-slightly-mocking.

"Just another wall. Nothing important."

His grin grows wider, but then Professor Baker looks at him, over his sunglasses.

Magnus shakes his head, and his grin fades. "Oh, ok."

I pick up a glass of juice, and drain it in one gulp.

"Hey!".

It's Charity. She storms over. "That was my juice, Chris!"

I apologise, but she's not at all concerned. "Why did you drink my juice, damnit? It's not as if you're the only one who's thirsty!"

Again, it's the professor who comes to my rescue. "Charity.. now, now. I know you're not enjoying the trip. But it doesn't mean you have to take it out on poor Chris."

She pouts. I thought she was pretty, a few weeks ago. Now she just looks ridiculous. I can't stand overreaction. I pour another glass of juice, and, as Charity looks expectantly at me, I gulp that one down as well. Her look of outrage is so palpable, it's funny.

I can't help it. I snort in laughter, and painfully, embarrassingly painfully, juice squirts out of my nose.

Magnus erupts into laughter as well. "Holy shit, Charity! Look what you did, you crazy hag! You gotta calm down, girl!"

She whirls at him, and begins a tirade which he quells, simply by raising his eyebrows at her - one after the other. No more than a few seconds of this, and she's laughing as well. Maybe people aren't so bad.

Professor Brown looks disapprovingly over the group of us, and, after a moment, chuckles. "Well, at least you're all having a good time.", he says.

He waits for us to calm down, and then opens up his bag, and pulls out a map. The Empire, circa 1451. It's grown expotentially since the last bit of it we studied. The professor's notes are scribbled on the map, and lines and dots seem to mark where borders have changed.

[Note: My internet is once more being temperamental about uploading things. Hopefully there'll be a map edited into here sometime tomorrow.]

"This, you see, marks the end of the first phase of expansion. Emperor Alexios was forced by the state of the Empire at this time to make peace with the Hungarians, Moldovia and the Mamluks, returning provinces that he'd won a scarce few years ago. This is actually a former Roman village in Moldovia, and it was here that Alexios Caspanias commanded his last battle..."

That got our attention.

"No, no.". Professor Baker smiled. "Don't worry about it. Go and dig now. We'll look at history this afternoon, once we go inside."

 

[Mettermrck]

Ah, I love a good Byzantine AAR. Are you, by any chance, using AGCEEP and it's fantasy Byzantine events?

 

[likk9922]

Great couple of updates. You've really done well on the battlefield so far.

Your main character is very entertaining, too. Does this Charity happen to be based on a real person?

 

[Lordling]

A wee note. A lot of my success was due to Manuel II (A 5 Shock, 2 Fire, 2 Maneuver general), and Alexios Caspanias (A 4/4/4/2 general). And, on another note, does anyone know whether the event "Heretics Convert" is reliant on your monarch's stats? Because I've had over 10 of them at this point, and Alexios is a good administrator. (Five green dots).

- - - - -

That night, we retired to the manor. It was a big old gloomy place - and the dust was amazing. Professor Baker obviously couldn't afford staff, let alone cleaners. But we all had our own bedrooms (Over eighteen in the one house!), and there were three working bathrooms. The floor did creak alarmingly, but there was water and power, which was enough.

We were all to go to the ballroom at eight-o-clock - not for a dance, of course, but another history lesson. We weren't shirking school just because we were allowed to go on a dig. In fact, I'd had to bring my textbooks for all my other subjects with me, and had looked up all the work I'd need.

"We're going to rush through this period of history. Although it's a major period of expansion, the Empire managed to avoid entanglements with powers that were equal to it, and so remained fairly powerful. After the retirement of Alexios Caspanias in 1457, considering that he had been forty-nine in 1419, was something he had put off for awhile, but he stepped down at eighty-seven, leaving the throne to his closest confident and friend."

"In 1462, the Roman Empire once again owned Turkey and Greece, making it the dominant military power in the region. However, due to a third bankruptcy, and several wars, the army was depleted, and the economy was poorly. It was only nine exceptional years from now to 1490 that allowed the economy to recover somewhat, and for the inflation rate to go down by two-thirds."


"For eight years, the new Emperor concentrated on the consilidation of his power in Turkey, destroying the remaining minor states, despite explicit agreements not to so having been signed on the giving up of those state's lands. The Empire's reputation was in tatters, and that is from where the English historian's name of "Byzantine" was given to our Empire. The new Emperor was treacherous, and whilst Alexios's motives had primarily been religious supremacy, and the destruction of the "Turk", the new Emperor was nowhere near as gifted at the military management of the realm, and so preyed on his smaller foes one at a time. By 1470, however, five new provinces had been won in Asia, consolidating the Empire's hold in Turkey, and winning them domination of the Black Sea."

"In 1473, the Venetian War was started, as Venice decided to prey on Imperial shipping, and the Empire was unable to maintain a stranglehold on shipping in the Mediterranean. The Empire's naval power was dwindling, as armies were built up, and focused on, and galleys were used in place of warships and transports to bring troops from place to place. However, it still sufficed to launch invasions of Crete and Ionia, and, as Venice had only one minor ally, Roman troops marched through Veneto within a year. Divested of all her power, Venice was forced to give up all her possessions bar the city and the surrounding territories, and the Roman Empire triumphed once more. Hatred for Rome, and her seemingly incessant imperialism could be found from every quarter, apart from her perennial allies, Nubia, and, were it not for fear of the Roman army, the Empire surely would have been beset by enemies. Had one found the strength to declare war, the rest would have followed suit. But, as it was, by 1476, Venice's power was but a memory."

"It was only four years later that the Decade-Long War started, as the Papal States, frightened by the Orthodox power growing in the region, and the many conversions in the Roman Empire to that faith, declared war. However, despite their wealth of allies, they were no match for the Empire. They were defeated in short order, and, were it not for the growing voice of dissent at home, the conquest would have been complete. But the voice of dissent was silenced by the voice of exultation - after almost a thousand years, Rome was once more ensonced in her birthplace, Italy."

 

[Emperor_krk]

That's one hell of a quick recovery!
Congratulations on it. Of course, these nice generals must have come in handy , but managing to win wars with ease while being a triple bankrupt is something not anyone could achieve.

Aren't you afraid though, that the pace of your conquests is too fast? Hopefully Hungary & co don't attack the Empire too quickly...

 

[Lordling]

Emperor_krk: Ease doesn't really define it. My strategy thus far has been luring my enemy out onto the plains, and annihilating them with massive cavalry groups. With the extra shock my generals have, it's given me the edge. And, to be honest.. luck has played a massive part in it. I've had more Exceptional Years (nine!) in three decades then I've ever had in two centuries before. And I've only ever seen the Religious Conversion message once or twice per game. I've never really played the Byzantines before (so maybe it's a random event that's jacked up for them or something, I have no idea how these things work), or maybe Lady Luck just favors me at the moment - but even including all of my luck, my re-expansion has left my empire constantly trembling.

The major advantage in playing the Byzantines is that you're Orthodox, and that you have cores on everything. Well, not everything - but at this point in the game, so much that it doesn't make a difference. Having cores gives you a free CB, and having different religion (and there are very few Orthodox states near where you start) removes the -1 stab hit for religion. So I've been able to declare war willy-nilly without a problem.

Unfortunately, although I've tried to annex provinces only in defensive wars (And trust me, half my wars are defensive), my BB has skyrocketed. At this point, I've got no hope of making it manageable - my only chance is to make myself so powerful that the BB wars simply won't materialize. And, of course, even though I've had very few stab hits, negative events have been fairly common as well, so my stab is sitting around -1. And the size of my empire doesn't make it easy to regain. Either I lose in the tech race, or in the stab competition. Although I have the short-term advantange, I'm getting the feeling that Austria will get LT 9 before I hit 6 or 7. And then all hell is gonna break loose. Because then the BB wars start in earnest, and my troops won't have either their awesome generals (who have already died), nor any sort of tech advantage.

At this point, my conquests have been more out of self-preservation than anything. Either I become too large to threaten, or I lose Greece. And if I lose Greece, the Muslim states to the south will have no compunctions in overrunning Turkey.

Oh, and yes. There is a new dynasty for the Byzantines. In fact, it won't really be a dynasty, as such. Manuel II was the last person to inherit his throne from a close blood relative who did the same. There will be Byzantine treachery abounding when it comes to the succession!

likk9922: In a way. The drink incident written about was a slightly modified version of something that happened to me - although it was about a guy, and I accidentally ate his muffin, thinking it was mine. He went off his nut, to put it quite calmly. I ended up running for my life, and he was chasing after me. This all over a.. well, I can't even remember what type of muffin it was! Strangely enough, we're now really good friends. Oh, and Charity's name was based off a poor girl I met once. Named Chastity.

Mettermrck: No, I decided to go with a vanilla game. I'm fairly good at vanilla - I know when things are going to happen, and how to exploit them, whereas AGCEEP always tends to throw events in my face which then demolish my plans around me. Sure, the second one's more realistic, but.. I love conquerin' stuff.



To everyone, this AAR continues only because of your patronage! I decided to start a Byzantine AAR, and, lo and behold, people are interested in it! Incidentally, no-one's going to complain if I begin focusing on the internal workings of the Empire a little more, are they? Now we're past the "immediate struggle for survival stage", there's a lot of interesting internal things I'd like to write about.

 

[likk9922]

To everyone, this AAR continues only because of your patronage! I decided to start a Byzantine AAR, and, lo and behold, people are interested in it! Incidentally, no-one's going to complain if I begin focusing on the internal workings of the Empire a little more, are they? Now we're past the "immediate struggle for survival stage", there's a lot of interesting internal things I'd like to write about.

Do it. The authAAr always knows best when it comes to the story. Personally, I have no problem with a break in the action.

 

[Emperor_krk]

Do it. The authAAr always knows best when it comes to the story. Personally, I have no problem with a break in the action.

I second that. No country has had only conquests in its history (well, except for the Mongols maybe...).

 

[Lordling]

Demetrios Caspanias, Emperor of the Roman Empire. King of Jerusalem, Grandmaster of the Knights of Saint John, Lord of Cyprus, Lord Protector of the Empire, Grand Marshal of the Legions, and Consul of the Senate, although the last was merely a formality - for the Senate had been dissolved some years ago, knelt, accepting the crown from the Patriarch.

The crown was his. His great-uncle had been Emperor, before the last Emperor, and now he was ruler. He was a talented man. He knew it. The Empire would grow under his rule - not externally, as it had done before. For the age of expansion had passed. To the south, Moslem nations gathered in alliances, grand in their scope, dedicated to the ruining of the Empire that had taken so much of their land. To the north and west, a frightened Pope and his Papist Kings and Queens came together in alliance, to prevent one greedy old man being pulled down from his Papal throne.

Hungary, Austria, Poland and Lithuania stood together, in one of the mightiest alliances that history had contrived to bring together. Though the Roman Empire was vast, and the power it possessed mighty, it was unstable, like a frightened, half-mad horse. Try to rein it in too quickly, or to command it directly, and you would be thrown from its back, never to get back on. It had to be tamed, calmed.

Catholics and Muslims who lived within the Empire's borders were equally discriminated against. Catholics, who accepted the Pope's authority, were not permitted to hold public office, nor titles of nobility, for fear they would send messages back to their Papist masters. Nor were they allowed to serve above the rank of conscript in the army, not that most Orthodox Christians were, either.

Muslims, on the other hand, were simply not considered Christians. Thus, they were permitted different freedoms - not the right to worship, for one, but they were not disinherited of their lands so freely, and, in the end, both were equally loathed by the Orthodox Christians.

Demetrios had a huge legacy to live up to - as one of the Caspanias line, the people expected conquests - another generation of expansion, in which the Roman Empire would grow to its old size. But he had other plans. The reckless expansion his ancestor had engaged in.. it had built the Empire to a magnificent size, it was true, but it had also gained the Empire more enemies than it could count. Enemies who circled the Empire, waiting for the right time to strike.. no, he would simply improve the Empire. Convert every Muslim to Christianity, and remove the Papists from the Empire. Make sure tax collectors were prominent - and attempt to reduce the crippling inflation.

His goals were lofty ones, but, as he would see, the Empire was forced by circumstance to conquer. Conquer or lose, that was the way of things..

 

[likk9922]

Hungary, Austria, Poland and Lithuania stood together

This really happened in the game?

But total conversion? That is a truly lofty goal. Does he have the high administrative skills to make that possible?

 

[Emperor_krk]

Too much BB racked up, eh? Hopefully Basileus Demetrios can reinforce the Roman Empire nevertheless...
And yeah, that Poland-Lithuania-Hungary-Austria alliance must be frightening!

 

[Lordling]

Likk9922 and Emperor_krk: Yeah, it frightened me, too. Essentially, Poland DoWed me, and Lithuania copped out. So I WPed Poland, as my exhaustion was giving me too many revolts, and, since Austria and Hungary were already allied, the next thing I know, the greatest alliance possible, ever, is sitting on my border. To say I'm quite worried is one massive understatement. And Persia, the Mamluks, Aden, and Oman are all allied. I could smash the Muslims, but it'd be hard. And if the Persian alliance came up against me, there's no doubt the Unholy Alliance would be coming down from the north in a blink.

Personally, I suspect it has to do with my BB. Normally, I play fairly conservatively, vassal-annex and whatnot, but this game I've been absolutely crazy with my province-taking, and it's come back and kicked me in the shin. Repeatedly.

At this point in time... well, I knew I had to be stopped somewhere. I'm just going to build up my army, play it safe - only do defensive wars, and only cross over the border if one of the unholy alliances is at war with someone else. Hopefully, they'll dissolve soon enough. If I'm forced to go to war with them, I get the uncanny feeling that I'll be ceding a lot of provinces.

And the fact is that Catholic/Muslim/Orthodox is upping my revolt rate. I want to convert either all my Catholic provinces, and then war against the Muslims (with high Muslim tolerance), or do it the other way round. 100% conversion would be ideal, but I doubt it'll happen. But when that damn Luther comes around and sticks yet another faith into the fray, I don't want suddenly to be lumbered with a four-religion Empire. 'cause those never work out well.

 

[Lordling]

No more screenshots, for now. Narrative style time!

- - - - - - - -

Alexios Caspanias the Second. He would be Emperor someday, after his brother. Of course, if his brother ever let him return to the City. He had been sent out to the southernmost reaches of the Empire, to Aleppo, where he commanded a small garrison on the border. His great uncle had been the most famous Emperor of all time, and yet his troops did not think much of him... yet. The borderfort, near a town named Vasinais, was but a few leagues from the territories of the Mamluks, in Syria.

One hundred and fifty men were under his command, in a crumbling old borderfort. It held the road in the area - to bring wagonloads of supplies and men through to Aleppo, to be able to supply an army, the borderfort must be taken. Of course, there is more than one road, but the easiest route by far was along the coast. Inland lay mountains, and the Mamluks were cavalrymen of the desert. The Empire would butcher them in the mountains. On the plains, they stood a chance.

It had been two months since the Papist Alliance had declared war. Though the Empire was the most powerful nation in the world, it could not stand against the next four most powerful. Emperor Demetrios, his father, had taken forty thousand cavalrymen north, to fight off the enemy where he could. Though Austria alone had taken the same amount of men into the fray, and Hungary two-thirds as much - and Polish troops on the border numbered the same, he hoped to defeat the enemy decisively early-on, and force them to a peace. There was no way the Empire could hope for land gain in such a battle. Istria had been deemed unholdable, and, although the resources of the Empire were still vast, it had not been prepared for war. Lavish gifts had been given to Austria, to Hungary, all the more to Poland and Lithuania, taking up valuable monies that could have been spent on more men.

At least he thought so. His namesake had not believed in feeding the wolf to keep it away. His namesake had been the wolf. But, because of all this, he had been sent south. The Mamluks had been raiding across the border, and there were no Imperial troops to forestall them. A scarce three thousand men could be spared for the southern border, where ten times their number in Mamluks were gathering, prepared to strike. Yet the Mamluks would be crushed swiftly once the Papists came to a peace, so he was not overly worried. Provided that the war was ended in the north, the Mamluk thread could be destroyed, once and for all.

Twenty archers in each of the four towers, fifty men at the gate, another twenty-five on the walls. The fort was designed to be held with five hundred, and he had a third of that.

"We will not fall Captain. But if we do, we will make it one to remember."

So, the movie was cliched. The second Alexios Caspanias had not been a romantic - by all reports, he was the opposite. He had been a hard man, a decent general, and a savage in the ways of war. When he had spearheaded the invasion into the Mamluk lands, he had slaughtered almost fifteen thousand civilians, for the crime of holding their city. Jerusalem is no longer a dead city, but it is close.

Horses rushed on the screen, and Alexios roared. "FOR THE EMPIRE!"

He dashed across to the wall, his blade slashing and hacking at Mamlucks climnbing the walls, licking across throats, legs and arms, sending men hurtling to the ground. His men, then confused, rallied behind him.

"Bah.", I said. Alexios's men had been the finest of the finest. A hundred and fifty of the Fifth Legion, who had been tested from Alexandria to Rome itself. Alexios had been the confused one - he had fought, it was true, but every man there had fought harder. But "150" was a famous film, and, as we were doing film studies in Latin.. it was easy enough to kill two birds with one stone.

"Romans! Lay down your swords!"

"Mamluks! COME AND GET THEM!", Alexios roared. I giggled wildly. He had been a terrible thief of words, and had never had any of his own. He'd quoted everyone, from Caesar to Plato, even King Leonidas, of Thermopylae fame. Although we're Romans - we're still Greeks, and Thermopylae is important to us. I honestly doubted that he'd actually said that - he'd said he said that, but, what were the chances?

The scene changed from one of battle and brutality, to the men resting inside the walls.

"How much longer, Captain? Did you get a bird out?"

"Yes, Alexios. There is no aid coming for us. The Emperor is beset by forces beyond his army in the north. I have received a missive saying that almost two hundred thousand men ravage Greece. Although most infantry, they have remained in the mountains, and no cavalryman can beat out the infantry in the mountains. I fear we will be forced to a bitter peace, one which will slay this Empire. Once the Mamluks overcome us here, the Roman Empire will fall."

"The Roman Empire. Captain, the Roman Empire has lasted much worse than this. It has seen hordes of barbarians vast beyond imagining, treachery, and odds many times worse than this. And it has lasted a millenium and a half. Captain.. trust me. We will not fall here. We will see the Empire last another millenium."

The captain simply grunted. "Perhaps, Alexios. But there are ten thousand howling barbarians out there. Ten thousand. And ten thousand more within the week."

Alexios grinned. "Captain, have you not heard the saying that a Roman is worth two hundred barbarians? We outnumber them one-to-fifty, my friend."

"Hah! What will we do when the catapults roll in, Alexios. Lose the bravado for a second, my lord. Do you have a plan?"

"A plan? Why, yes I do, Captain. We defend this place to the last man. Every minute of time we buy is a minute that can be used to fortify more cities and towns. Every minute we buy is a minute for my brother to come to our aid. Even if we only last a week, that week may be what the Empire needs. An army is being raised at the City, an army vast enough to crush these Mamluks."

"You're a brave lad, no doubt. I'll be here at the last, with you."

I turned the TV off. I was a stickler for historical detail. And this movie touched over the detail lightly - oh, so lightly. It was annoying. The archaeological dig had been fun, but I didn't think I wanted to be an archaeologist. Week six of term, and I'd just got my first assignment back.

"14/20. Chris, your talent is exceptional, but your tendency to postulate without proof, and your even greater tendency to wander off on a tangent, rather than stay on-task, meant that this essay, although one of the better essays I have read in my time as a teacher, does not fulfill the question asked properly."

The praise was delicious. I had come last in the class, dead-last, but it didn't bother me. I turned to my computer. Pax Romana - the Last Millenium, was a game I had been taking great delight in recently. It was an online game, in which you took on the role of either a merchant, a noble, or a military commander, in the Roman Empire, or one of her empires.

I was playing in the 1490 server, with all of the people from class. As you could level up, and begin commanding larger units, the game got better. Higher commanders could promote you to one level below them, and the supreme commander could exchange positions with you. Merchants had to try and make money, and could also play an integral part in the game, by buying up army supplies, and shipping them away - we'd taken a merchant offensive against Austria, buying up spears needed for the army, and selling them to Spain. It was at a loss, but the Austrian Supreme General cursed our merchants a lot. The Hapsburg ruler of the country, also played by a human, was responsible for infrastructure development, and declaring war. He'd intended to buy a lot of spearmen, to counteract the masses of Roman cavalry, and, as it was, he had a lot of useless peasants in his border cities, doing nothing.

I was LieutenantChris1467, and I was in charge of raids. Raiding along the Austrian border was a difficult task - and if your character got killed, you got reincarnated with only half your skills.

LieutenantChris1467: Kk ppl, Austrians have got a big unit of crossbows up north. Spy has given us info, and we know that there's about eight hundred of them. We want to get rid of them ASAP, otherwise theyll have a full unit down in Venice, and they'll have enough men to invade Istria.
VirtueChick: Lol. were gonna smash them?"
ValiantKnight12: Hah, this is actually pretty fun, Chris. You're right. Lets take our light cav, and hit them halfwai. We have bout 300 rite?
LieutenantChris1467: Rite. But crossbows are pretty good. But they in Austria, and near Venice, so they probably won't put out scouts. If we can get close enough, they have to switch to melee. One good charge, and half of em are dead. We wade in, lose about 50 cav, and take out the rest. General Beardmonger says that he's gotta get his unit out of Istria, before the main Hungry army hits. Lucky 4 us the Mamluk Emperor has been deadyboned by an assassin, so prolly no invasion from there.

Cavalrymen on the screen wheel off, and begin riding. I set my stance to "Stealth", and "Scout". Travel times are realistic - it takes ages to get anywhere in the game. Distances are about a quarter of what they were really, though, so it's not so bad. Then again, you can have over fifty characters on the one account. An alert pops up on my screen. My pikeman unit is about to enter battle in Rumelia.

I switch over. It's a fairly big army, and the battle goes fairly quickly. I lead my pikemen in, and set up formation in front of the archers. I have three characters here - I get my cavalry char, and begin riding. I figure I'll sneak through the woods, clean out some Lithuanian scouts, and get my fifty men to harass the enemy. Two more units have the same idea, and we swing round, smashing into Lithuanian computer-controlled scouts, and cleaning out a unit of archers at the same time. I take some damage, so I switch over to another cavalryman in my formation, and send my main character to the wounded tent.

TheSuperProfessor (SHOUT): How are you gentlemen? All your base are belong to us.
LieutenantChris1467: Wat?

Pikemen erupt from the trees, and arrows slam into my character. I switch over to more horsemen, giving orders frantically, but it's too late. The cavalry are wiped out quickly.

TheSuperProfessor: Hello, Chris. I can see what you see in this game. It's not really realistic, but it's fun, isn't it?
LieutenantChris1467: Prf Baker?!
TheSuperProfessor: Yes. I got Charity to tell me the name of your accounts. She doesn't play, but she thought it'd be funny to let you beat a poor old geezer. : D
LieutenantChris1467's unit is wiped out! Reverting to last character used!

I laughed. Wow. Small world.

TheSuperProfessor (Whisper): Maybe you should get into some study, rather than playing a game. You might pick up some more marks.

I raised my eyebrows, and ran off to Magnus's dormitory, nearby. I had to tell him this!

 

[Emperor_krk]

This chapter made me grin all the time. 't was great, believe me!
At first, I thought that you misspelled the word "move" for "movie", and only after reading the next few lines I realised, what you have meant - silly me :rofl:.
Great update again, keep it up!