I am actually even more curious about BT's vision of 17th century Constantinopolis 
Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR
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Indeed, it's not like the Italians wouldn't have done the same to Roman cities if they had the chance
I like how you managed to write something about all those cities (and how you managed to keep track of all the sacking
Anatolia is likely to be the Low Countries or New Jersey of this time-line: Incredibly densely populated. Of course, the interesting difference is that the Low Countries and New Jersey are situated on some of the most fertile soils in the world and Anatolia is very rocky and non-fertile. They must import a lot of food, on the same or greater scale than they did in the early (pre-Yarmuk) Empire.
I cant help but think how good an Assassins Creed game would be if it was based in Komnenid Constantinople.
Perhaps the idea needs to be submitted.I cant help but think how good an Assassins Creed game would be if it was based in Komnenid Constantinople.
I am actually very curious onto what the Queen of Cities, like Leviathan07, will be like in the coming centuries...
Anatolia has fertile river valleys in the west. However most of Anatolia is rocky arid elevated plains, as you said. Towns would live from commerce and crafts, while in the countryside most people would be herders. Maybe similar to central Spain? Aristocrats (i.e. landowners) would eventually seek to displace the farmers and introduce more profitable sheep, like what happened in Scotland and Spain in the 16th and later centuries.
I don't think Anatolia would be that densely populated. The Bithynian and Ionian regions, perhaps, since they are close to the sea and thereby well situated for all kinds of commercial purposes. But why would central Anatolia be any different from real history? I.e. sparsely populated, dominated by large estates and herding.
Since the Empire controls the southern shore of the Black Sea and all of the land routes across the Caucasus, by now there is no reason why the trade routes between mediterranean and Persia would go through Anatolia actually. The northern route would go from Tabriz to the Black Sea coast at Trapezunt or the Georgian coast, and then take the sea route to Constantinople and the Mediterranean. The southern route would go from Basrah to Baghdad and then to the Syrian coast, embark on ships and then sail to their destination.
If anything, Central Anatolia should see less commerce than in Ottoman or Seljuk times... not more... and therefore less people, not more.
Actually, I think the Scottish comparison for Anatolia is especially apt; the coastal regions and areas where farming is viable become the analogue of the "lowlands," with a more cosmopolitan outlook, a more sympathetic eye towards the rest of the Empire, and a natural suspicion of the inland regions, while the inland regions are dominated by whatever is left of the great military families established in the late Macedonian-Dukid period, ruling vast tracts of essentially worthless land to be worked by livestock if at all. Back when the region was the military frontier between empires, before the Megas, these families gathered wealth and power (same as our timeline, in the rare instances where they kept their land long enough to do so), but post-Megas, they're stuck in neutral. Might be the source of the Roman equivalent of Highlander regiments, which, honestly, is a bizarre and frightening vision.
I'm sorry, I didn't speak very specifically.
Anatolia was already incredibly densely populated for the time period IOTL. Even after Yarmuk it remained up there with northern Italy as far as urban concentration went. Only after the two M battles (Manzikert and Merkaphelion) and the decline of state power in the area did this demographic trend reverse. Even today Anatolia hosts something like 80 million people.
The inner area will indeed be rather sparsely populated, but the river valleys and coastal enclaves will be incredibly densely populated, and without the massive hinterland population densities usually have elsewhere, they'll be overwhelmingly urban in economy. I imagine Anatolia to become an economic powerhouse on its own, let alone the rest of the empire.
Sorry, I thought you meant all of Anatolia. Which includes a lot of steppe and arid plains relative to the coastal valleys... quite more so than Scotland
But where do you get the impression that Ionia and Bithynia would be on par with Italy in terms of pop density? The peoples' crusade in 1096 mentions the crusaders lacking water on many instances and they barely got to Nicaea, which is in Bithynia and should not be lacking water if the region was that densely populated. They certainly would not be lacking water if they were campaigning in northern Italy in 1096.
Modern Turkey has seen immense investments in agriculture which is why AFAIK they don't import massive quantities of grain. But with medieval technology, central Anatolia would be like the American midwest before modern times - an arid steppe where you can't sustain much agriculture.
Would Anatolia really be that densely populated, in absolute terms? I am not a historian but my impression was that unlike the really wealthy cities like Rome and Constantinopolis, smaller cities could not really afford huge imports of grain from far away places so they never grew much beyond the capacity of local agriculture.
And what is Merkaphelion?
Google shows up nothing and I never heard the name before.
Sorry, I thought you meant all of Anatolia. Which includes a lot of steppe and arid plains relative to the coastal valleys... quite more so than Scotland
But where do you get the impression that Ionia and Bithynia would be on par with Italy in terms of pop density? The peoples' crusade in 1096 mentions the crusaders lacking water on many instances and they barely got to Nicaea, which is in Bithynia and should not be lacking water if the region was that densely populated. They certainly would not be lacking water if they were campaigning in northern Italy in 1096.
Modern Turkey has seen immense investments in agriculture which is why AFAIK they don't import massive quantities of grain. But with medieval technology, central Anatolia would be like the American midwest before modern times - an arid steppe where you can't sustain much agriculture.
Would Anatolia really be that densely populated, in absolute terms? I am not a historian but my impression was that unlike the really wealthy cities like Rome and Constantinopolis, smaller cities could not really afford huge imports of grain from far away places so they never grew much beyond the capacity of local agriculture.
And what is Merkaphelion?
What I'm saying is that they were that densely populated IOTL. Not to modern standards, but to the limits of their technological base. And they did indeed import quite a bit of grain. There was a population crash after Yarmuk and during the plagues of the era, but Anatolia led the demographic recovery the empire as a whole went through from the 10th to the 13th century. Ever heard the phrase, "The 27 Cities of Asia Minor"?
And Merkaphelion is my very, very bad attempt to spell Myriokephalon without looking it up. It's a convenient marker for the high tide of Komnenoi expansion, although as a demographic marker it's merely OK, considering the expansion only reversed almost 100 years after Myriokephalon, when the Mongols came.
Thats all true, except that Ive never heard that Anatolia imported grain. In fact: As far as I know anatolia was the empires breadbasket, as well as its main source of income. After the fall of egypt, anatolia and the danube valley pretty much fed Constantinople on their own. Also during the entire span of the romans reign there, anatolia remained amongst the most densly populated and wealthiest regions, not just in the empire, but in the world. After all thats why they never really recovered once they lost possesion of it.
And what is Merkaphelion?
Just on case you don't want to look it up... the Battle of Myriokephalon was the battle that insured that the Turkish people would hold on to central Anatolia, which would prove to be fatal for Byzantium when it suffered from civil strife. This allowed the turks to reconquer Anatolia and hold on to it permanently and from there conquer the balkans.
Now that I think about it, Byzantium has had to have some of the worst luck in history...:rofl:
Just to put some oil on the fire, but many densely populated regions in history haven't been able to feed themselves. My native Netherlands is an example of this, as it hasn't been able to sustain itself since the 16e century or so. Mostly because the soil in the densly populated west is badly suited for any kind of grains. Luckily for the Dutch Republic Poland and the Baltics provided ample grain for Dutch merchants to buy cheaply. This meant Dutch agriculture could focus on cashcrops as tobacco, hemp (for ropes) etc and husbanding livestock. Both cashcrops and dairy-products where and are a great source of income.
With Egyptian and Sicilian grain available, perhaps Anatolia could focus on husbanding sheep, setting up a wool and cloth-based economy. I think Anatolia's closeness to massive markets as Constantinople, Italy and Egypt could make it focus on production, providing the cash for importing foodstuffs.
With Egyptian and Sicilian grain available, perhaps Anatolia could focus on husbanding sheep, setting up a wool and cloth-based economy. I think Anatolia's closeness to massive markets as Constantinople, Italy and Egypt could make it focus on production, providing the cash for importing foodstuffs.
Everyone says this but it makes no sense. The Byzantines recovered the western regions of Anatolia (where most of the cities would be) within 30 years following the battle of Manzikert. They never regained the high plateau but that is where the arid steppe is, not the cities. With the western and southern parts of Anatolia in their hands, they had the Komnenid resurgence and played power games with Italy and Sicily. It can't have been that bad.
Besides, it's a stretch saying the Byzantines, a decidedly urban civilization whose elites (priests, eunuchs and sycophants) loved to bash and decimate its landed warrior class (the feudal bad boys who in other places were the backbone of the military), could have held on to the wide open regions for eternity. You have to wonder why every time they had a setback they fell into civil wars and end up gang raped by their enemies...
Thanks but I am familiar with Myriokephalon and its significance. My interpretation however is different: Myriokephalon was the Gettysburg of Byzantium's long decline, it was the high water mark in a struggle where the odds had never been in Byzantium's favor. The army mustered by Manuel (25,000) was barely average compared to what contemporary kings and sultans could muster, and the Seljuks were but one tribe of well organized islamic nomads who lusted for the rich cities of the Christian mediterranean world. There was nothing about luck to the whole affair, Byzantium was in a crappy strategic position, its economy was run by foreigners and their insistence on keeping their religion separate from mainstream Christianity (Latin Catholicism at this point) ruled out any chances of stopping the never ending hostile propaganda in the west. They had "VICTIM" stamped right on their foreheads and if the 4th crusade had not done them in, something else would have not too much later.
Quite different from the splendid empire that General_BT has crafted
Actually I have heard the phrase about the "27 cities" before but never found out what it means or where it comes from. Is it something from the new testament?
Wool and cloth make sense. With urban centres close by they would focus on something certainly. However the Dutch and the 16th century are still 300 years away. As is the technology for huge, grain-carrying cogs, right? The story is still deep in the middle ages. Only wealthy urban centers would at this point have large grain imports and the ability to specialize accordingly. Or are you saying the commercial revolution of the 16th century happened 300 years early?
Wow… a whole lot has been said here, and I know I for one have learned a great deal from reading all of the discussion that’s been generated! I’m saving the update that covers Konstantinopolis itself for a later date, as the city will shortly be undergoing some changes…
I’m going to step around the demographics of the real Anatolia issue for now—because, to be honest, I’m not nearly qualified to weigh in really. I’m making guesstimates myself, and the conversation that’s gone on in here has been immensely useful in helping me come up with city numbers and purposes, something I hope will be reflected in this installment Now, thanks to people’s insightful comments and ideas (and some help from Wikipedia and its articles on historical demographics!), I can give you a somewhat rough rubric on how I came up with numbers and maybe a haphazard guess at the population of the whole empire...
Ancient Rome according to the sources I’ve found (wiki and a buddy of mine who is in graduate school for ancient history), had an urbanization rate of 25% or so… a quarter of the population lived in towns or cities, an extraordinary rate that wasn’t equaled in the West until very recently. I’m going to submit that my Komnenid Empire numbers listed here, since they are for fairly large to large cities (and discount towns less than 10,000, which would be far more numerous than these few cities), would constitute perhaps 5-10% of the population depending on location, numbers far more in line with the medieval world. Densely populated regions might have a higher urbanization rate, lower populated regions might have less than one.
So, let’s run with some rough percentages I’m pulling out of thin air because I can.
Balkans – 5% are in those cities listed. Idea behind this being the Balkans have much more of their population in a rural areas than in a few large cities.
Italy – 10% are in the cities listed. Italy has historically been comparatively urbanized, and the highly urban north is counterbalanced by the less urban south (though in this timeline, the south too has great cities of its own)
Egypt and North Africa – 5% Egypt is densely populated, but that whole stretch of North African coast would likely pull the urbanization number down…
Syria and the Levant – 8% Highly urbanized Syria coupled with less urbanized Levant
Anatolia – 8% Urbanized coast coupled with more remote hinterlands where cities are mostly trading centers along specific trade routes. Countryside in hinterlands dominated by herding, great estates.
Mid East – 5% Numerous large cities, but also numerous villages and towns that would fall under the 10,000 threshold due to recent conquest…
Spain – 8% Urbanized south counterbalanced by urban north.
So, playing with these numbers (again, a bunch of hocus pocus), we arrive at these guesstimates:
Balkans: 2.625 million
Italy: 4.75 million
MidEast: 9.2 million
Egypt and North Africa: 8.2 million (with Egypt having the lion’s share)
Spain: 8.25 million
Anatolia: 7.1 million
Syria and the Levant: 4.5 milion (mostly in Syria)
Konstantinopolis & suburbs: 600,000
Total, Empire proper: 27.775 million
Total, Roman World: 45.225 million.
Slice and dice that as much as you want (or feel free to cut it up, say its wrong, and give your own!), but one thing sticks out to me… the central core doesn’t dominate the periphery (Spain and the limited MidEast the Romans control) population wise. Mesopotamia and the portions of Persia and Arabia the Romans control are almost a third of the “core” Empire’s population. Spain is near that, and much further away. Some sobering statistics for anyone that wants to be a conqueror and unite the whole affair…
…but enough playing around with the numbers! Onto the cities!
CITIES OF ANATOLIA
If any place can be described as the heart of the Komnenid Empire, it is Roman Anatolia. The birthplace of the Komnenid line is also the bastion of Orthodoxy in the Empire. While Anatolia does not boast any truly enormous cities, it possesses quiet a few rather large cities, and many many smaller cities, making her perhaps the most populous region of the Empire, as well as the greatest source of tax income. The Emperor’s personal desmense covers only a small portion of the region (Rhodes, Lykia, Amisos and Sinope), meaning the region is also the heartland for many rich and powerful dynatoi, most of whom either bear the Komnenid name (or by intermarriage, Komnenid blood).
While most of the population is along the coast, those in the hinterlands have scrambled to find ways to prosper—the chief among these is by focusing on the land trade routes that connect the herders of Anatolia to the vast market for wool that is Konstantinopolis. The Angelids of Kaiseria, a region that otherwise would be an economically desolate place, are among these.
.1. TREBIZOND.
Population (1240): 70,000
Capital of the Metropolitanate of Trebizond. This rich Pontic port was among the first cities in Roman history to be officially granted to the Church, who rules the theme in the Emperor’s name and with the assistance of an imperial kephalos. The See of Trebizond is thus perhaps the second most important in the Konstantinopolis Patriarchate after that of Thessalonike—previous holders Nikolaios Gabras, Gennadios Pilos and Ignatios Komnenos all eventually rose to the Patriarchal throne themselves.
Trebizond’s immense size—the largest city amongst the many in Anatolia, is mostly due to her port being the terminus of a vast trade route, the chief means of goods leaving Mesopotamia and Persia to be loaded and shipped to anywhere in the Black Sea, or the Empire in general. As a consequence, a-all of this growth has taken place since the rise of Thomas II, and 2-the growth has been haphazard at best. The city’s ecclesiastical rulers have little knowledge nor care on home the city’s trade and commerce grows. Indeed, from their hilltop monasteries outside of the city walls, one could say they look on the urban center below as a locus of sin and vice to be avoided. As a result, Trebizond looks the part of a chaotic city—massive, gaudy new villas dot the hillsides around, while crowded, poorly designed streets and slums fill the busy streets below. Periodic outbreaks of disease are known in the city, due to the massive and growing influx of people that meager local sanitary conditions cannot handle.
.2. IKONION.
Population (1240): 45,000
Birthplace of St. Thecla, and a location of some of St. Paul’s sermons, Ikonion has long held an important place in the Christian psyche. The city’s history before the Komnenids was one of repeated growth and destruction, as Arab and Roman armies crisscrossed the region, razing the city at least twice. Since the Komnenid ascension, however, the city has seen an unprecedented era of piece—save for the Third Seljuk War, no foreign army has occupied her walls.
Ikonion is the capital of the theme of the same name, and owes its impressive size mostly due to this fact. Ruled by Georgios Angelos, the theme of Ikonion is the largest in Anatolia, stretching from the Dardanelles to the borders of Antalya. Wealthy and immensely prosperous, its riches have catapulted the Angelids from provincial obscurity into the center of Imperial politics. The Angelids of Ikonion have used their status lavishly on their capital city, turning it into a ‘miniature Konstantinopolis’ of sorts—the Basilica of St. Thecla looms over the impressive Angelid palaces, coffers fat from taxes and trade routes through their vast domains.
.3. NIKAEA.
Population (1240): 40,000
Nikaea is most well known for the famous Council of Nicaea, which provides the basic definition for the Romans of what is, and what is not, Christian Orthodoxy. In addition to being an ancient see of the Church, the city is a large and profitable commercial area as well. Both she and her sister city Nikomedia have prospered under the rather lax rule of the Laskarids, Princes of Nikaea Theme—the Laskarids quietly have stayed out of most of the civil strife of the past few decades, keeping themselves, and their people, safe. Most of this city’s wealth comes from her close proximity to Konstantinopolis—for many traders, it’s a last chance to buy supplies, guards and other necessities before braving the rich and wild storm that is the City of Men’s Desire.
.4. NIKOMEDIA.
Population (1240): 30,000
Sister city to Nikaea, Nikomedia also has a storied past—centuries before, it served as Diocletian’s imperial capital. Today, it is the second city of the rich and powerful theme of Nikaea. The Komnenid era has been kind to the city—left desolate by earthquakes and reduced in size, the Komnenid emperors, then later the Laskarids, rebuilt the city’s walls and cleared out the harbor, restoring the city’s prosperity.
.5. KAISERIEA.
Population (1240): 25,000
Kaiseria was once a rich and powerful city and central to commerce across all of Anatolia—in the 3rd century A.D. it reportedly had some 400,000 inhabitants before the old city was sacked and destroyed by the Persian King Shapur. The new Kaiseria emerged as an eastern fortress, a role it served well in from the days of Konstantinos through most of the reign of the Megas. Only with the immense conquests of the Second Seljuk War (and the Roman frontier moving far to the east) did the city begin to reassert her old commercial role as queen of the eastern Anatolian trade routes, becoming capital of the theme of Kaiseria, home of Simon Angelos, yet another member of the up and coming Angelid family.
.6. SMYRNA.
Population (1240): 25,000
Capital of the theme of Samos—a misnomer, as the theme technically does not rule the island (which belongs to the theme of the Aegean). Nonetheless, Smyra remains an important port, the terminus for most trade in the rich and populous western sections of Anatolia.
.7. SINOPE.
Population (1240): 20,000
Sinope has long been a holding of the Komnenid family—an uncle of the Megas, Manuel Komnenos, ruled this area in the 11th century before his ill-fated rebellion. The city was the site of Manuel’s last organized stand against the forces of the Emperor—a battle that saw much of the city plundered and razed. Since that fateful summer in 1092, Sinope and its environs have been a direct part of the imperial demense, ruled by a tribunos in the Emperor’s name. The city has recovered well—its natural harbor makes it a prime trading port, as well as an excellent naval base.
.8. AMORION.
Population (1240): 20,000
Amorion is yet another ancient city receiving new life under the Komnenids. At one time, after Konstantinopolis Amorion was the chief city of the Empire until its sack by the Arabs during the 8th century. Today, the city is a growing part of the powerful Ikonion theme, sitting on a major road that connects Ikonion itself with Konstantinopolis.
.9. RHODES.
Population (1240): 20,000
Rhodes the city is merely the largest point of population on one of the most important (and richest) islands in the Empire. Rhodes itself is home to a vast naval base housing the Egean Stolos, and is also a waypoint and home for numerous merchants from across the entirety of the Empire. The entire island is part of the imperial desmense, administered by a Kephalos.
.10. ANCYRA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Capital of the theme of Kappadokia, ancestral homeland of House Komnenos. Ancyra’s size mostly comes from it’s status as the traditional halfway point for traders from Kaiseria (and likely areas further east) heading towards Komstantinopolis.
.11. CHRYSOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Chrysopolis has now become the playground of the rich and famous of Konstantinopolis—a safe place where villas and riches are removed from the mob, yet the Emperor and the splendour of the court are only a short ride by boat from the Queen of Cities. Almost all of the princes maintain some kind of villa here, creating a class of super-rich who live removed by wall and fence from the underpoor who act as their servants and keepers during their stay.
.12. COLONEIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Coloneia is one of the chief cities of the theme of Coloneia, ruled by the Prince of Edessa-Coloneia, Adrianos Komnenos. Coloneia theme by far is the poorer of his two holdings, receiving little attention. The city is slightly off the traditional trade route across Anatolia, and serves mostly as a regional market and gathering point for goods headed to Trebizond for shipment overseas.
.13. THEODOSOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Theodosiopolis is the second city in the Metropolitanate of Trebizond, and is an important waypoint on the trade routes from Mesopotamia heade d to that port city.
.14. ATTALEIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Attaleia is the capital of the theme of Antalya, and serves as a major trading point for the southern Anatolian coast.
.15. TARSOS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Once home of the apostle Paul, Tarsos is an ancient city that now serves as the capital of Cilicia. The initial rapid spread of the Turks westward in the 1060s and 1070s drove many Christian Armenians away from their homelands—these refugees settled in Cilicia, initially as an allied kingdom of the Roman Empire, before being subsumed as a theme during the early parts of the reign of the Megas. The Princes of Armenia still descend from Prince Ruben, the leader of this exodus.
.16. HERAKLEIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Pontic port in northeastern Nikaea theme.
.17. SIS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Despite being smaller than Tarsos, Sis serves as the capital of Armenian Cilicia.
.18. AMISOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Amisos was once part of the theme Armeniacon, held by Prince Manuel Komnenos. After Manuel’s revolt against the rule of his nephew Emperor Demetrios Megas, the city was annexed to direct imperial rule, where it has remained since under a tribunos.
.19. ANGORA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Angora is a part of the theme of Kappadokia, a waypoint city in the long east-west central trade route through the heart of Anatolia.
.20. NIKOSIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Kyprii, Nikosia has long served as the fortified headquarters of Roman presence on the island.
.21. ADRAMMYTION.
Population (1240): 10,000
Part of the theme of Samos, Adrammytion is a growing port in the northern section of the theme, often serving as the ‘second city’ of this small but important region in the Empire.
.22. DORYLAION.
Population (1240): 10,000
Just inside the theme of Nikaea, Dorylaion has become an important city along the traditional trade route that winds from eastern Anatolia towards Konstantinopolis.
.23. KYZIKOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once this city was the ‘Fortress of the Marmara,’ serving as an advance fleet base to guard against Arab raids towards the capital during the 8th and 9th centuries. Today those vast barracks and quays no longer exist—the city has assumed a quieter role as a regional trade center, and home of a nascent monastic movement known as the Chartists.
.24. ANI.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ani was once the capital of an independent Armenian kingdom in the days before the Megas, but with the rise of the Seljuk Turks and the mass flight of the Armenian people, the city fell into ruin. The present Ani was built during the reign of Basil III as a frontier position against the Turk—against the Emperor’s will, if legend is true. Despite the frontier moving much further away, the city’s military bearing still stands—Ani remains strategically positioned in the heights of Great Armenia, and could serve as a formidable fortress in the right hands.
.25. VAN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Like Ani, Van was once an important city in the ancient Armenian kingdom that was lost when it collapsed before the might of the Seljuk attack. The city has found new life as the home of the autocephalous Patriarch of the Armenian Church, now an appendage to the greater Patriarch of Konstantinopolis. The city is now a city of pilgrims, many travelling further to the East to the nascent shrines in Samarra and Mazadaram from places such as Trebizond and Konstantinopolis.
.26. SAMOSATA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Metropolitanate of Mesopotamia, the second ecclesiastical theme established within the Byzantine Empire. From the days of the Megas to Thomas I, Samosata was a border fortress, most of its economy and trade was focused towards supporting the military. When the frontier shifted in the early 13th century to Mesopotamia, the city’s economy declined rapidly. Only just recently has it begun to recover as a waypoint on the great trading routes between Mesopotamia and Persia and Konstantinopolis/the Pontic coast.
27. EPHESOS
Population (1240): 10,000
Once one of the premier Greek cities on the Anatolian coast, today Ephesos is a city that is slowly dying. Her harbor is slowly silting up, and in response much of the ship traffic that once filled her warehouses now opts for nearby Smyrna as a safer alternative. While the city’s storied history means she will always attract visitors interested in the ancient, her days as a significant population center appeared numbered.
28. LAODEKEIA
Population (1240): 10,000
One of the three “sister cities” of Western Ikonion theme, the others being Sardis and Chonai. Laodekeia has emerged as a leading center for Jewish thought in the Roman Empire—Jews since before Christ have lived in the region, and western Ikonion has emerged as a bastion of sorts for Jewish identity in the midst of this most Christian Empire. Roman policy towards the Jews is rather muted—like Muslims, in return for a special tax they are often left alone.
29. SARDIS
Population (1240): 10,000
A city with ancient roots stretching back to the Lydians, Sardis now is little more than a regionally important center—chief city of western Ikonion theme and home of the Prince’s brother Matthias Angelos.
30. SELEUCIA
Population (1240): 10,000
Part of the theme of Antalya, and a growing port on the southern Anatolian coast.
31. CHONAI
Population (1240): 10,000
In more ancient times, Chonai was known as Colosse (the Colosse of Colossians). Today, the city is one of a cluster in Western Anatolia that includes ancient Sardis and Laodicea. All three are parts of the vast and powerful theme of Ikonion.
32. SERVOCHORIA
Population (1240): 10,000
Servochoria has an interested, chequered past. The city was founded in the mid-7th century as a military outpost against Abbasid incursions, and purposefully populated by Serbs from the western parts of the Empire. These Serbs had a dubious military record at best—at the battle of Sebastopolis, they handed defeat to the Empire by deserting the imperial army due to poor treatment. However, Servochorai is still inhabited by their descendants. A bastardized form of Serbian serves as the local patois, even though after centuries of assimilation the locals consider themselves Greek through and through.
33. KORYKOS
Population (1240): 10,000
Once an important fleet base, now hosts anti-pirate patrols. Part of the theme of Cilicia.
34. MALAGINA
Population (1240): 10,000
Malagina’s size and purpose are twofold. Situated near the vast plain used since ancient times as a marshalling ground for armies, Malagina is often the location the tagmata of Konstantinopolis as well as the troops of the theme of Nikaea muster to go to war. Those few who aren’t employed in maintaining the marshalling grounds, inspecting stores and in general keeping the grounds prepared for a sudden mobilization are employed in the numerous horse farms scattered about, most of which are personally owned by the Emperor and from whence most of the celebrated Imperial personal chargers have been born. While inside the theme of Nikaea, there is a small loophole in the charter granting the theme to the Laskarids that keeps Malagina and the horsefarms personal property of the Emperor.
CITIES OF SYRIA AND THE LEVANT
Syria and the Levant. Only two centuries before, these areas were warzones, places where armies from the great empires surrounding them fought and died, stripping the land of wealth, people, and prosperity. Now, after two centuries of Komnenid rule, both Syria and the Levant are now core areas of the Komnenid Empire. While Syria’s population has exploded as a result, the Levant has been slower to recover—it is not as rich, and many gains were lost during the Great Flood Tide. If this survey had been done in 1235, the cities of Gaza, Jaffa and Arsuf would have been added to the list as well.
.1. ANTIOCH .
Population (1240): 85,000
Once nearing extinction, Antioch has arisen Phoenix-like from the ashes of the pre-Komnenid Empire. While this city had once been the second city of the ancient Empire with over a half million inhabitants, centuries of warfare and destruction had reduced her to a shadow of her former glory. Even now, despite being one of the largest cities in the empire, her walls still seem too big for her numbers. Home to the Prince of Antioch as well as the Antiochean Patriarchate, the city’s importance cannot be overstated. With the redredging of the Orontes River, Antioch promises to remain the primary outlet for Syrian trade into the wider Mediterranean world.
.2. DAMASCUS.
Population (1240 estimate): 45,000
Like Antioch, Damascus is a shadow of its former glory—but unlike its cousin-city, Damascus is on the decline, not the rise. Once the city was the capital of empires—and even after the Roman takeover, the city remained the capital of the Megas in his days as Prince of Kappadokia, and then an official imperial residence, frontier mustering point for the tagmata, and center of regional trade and commerce. Several factors have come together to slowly undo all of this—first, the rise of Antioch and especially the Principality of Edessa-Coloneia has shifted much trade away from Damascus. Secondly, the movement of the frontier further east took the city’s garrison status, as well as the monies a large body of bored men bring with them, to places such as Baghdad, and later Persia. The bottom hasn’t fallen out of this part of the imperial desmense, but the Kephalos no doubt can only watch and worry as more and more souls trickle out of the city, headed for Antioch, Baghdad, Isfahan, or any other of the burgeoning metropolises of the Empire.
.3. EDESSA.
Population (1240): 40,000
The third city of Syria, Edessa has a long history as a Christian city, and a crossroads on trade routes headed towards the Mediterranean or Anatolia. This local trade status has been mined for wealth to no end by the local branch of the Komnenid dynasty, who have used their status as Princes of Edessa to catapult themselves to the top of Imperial politics. The city is the capital of Edessa-Coloneia, and renowned throughout Syria for its fine baths, beautiful palace, and ornate market plaza.
.4. ALEPPO.
Population (1240): 30,000
If the strategic location of Edessa weren’t enough, the Edessan Komnenids also hold possession of the city of Aleppo. During the time the region was held by the Arabs, Aleppo had far eclipsed neighboring Edessa as a trade center. With the rise of the Komnenids and the Empire’s personal preference for the city with a more Christian history, Edessa has drawn away much of Aleppo’s business. The city still remains quite large and important, and by no means have the Edessan Komnenids neglected it. The Church of St. Stephanos, built in 1204 by Manuel Komnenos of Edessa, is remarkable for its combination of Byzantine architectural design and Arabic mosaics.
.5. JERUSALEM.
Population (1240): 25,000
Jerusalem might be the smallest of the patriarchal sees, but symbolically, the Holy City is by far the most important. The entire city’s economy has shifted around supporting the stream of pilgrims from across the Empire and Europe. The city itself is property of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, but all its surrounding environs are owned by the Emperor, and dutifully the local tribunos charges small tolls on all travelers heading in and out of the city.
.6. EMESSA.
Population (1240): 20,000
Once called Hims, Emessa was also once a strategically located city at the time Syria was a borderland between Christian and Muslim worlds. Since those times have passed, its citizens have turned to trade. Yet another part of the Theme of Edessa.
.7. HARRAN.
Population (1240): 15,000
Harran has a mixed history as well. On the far edge of the traditional border of the Roman Empire, Harran was lost to the Persians during the 4th century, then conquered by the Arabs during the 7th. The city wasn’t restored to Roman rule until the 11th century, during the conquests of Alexios Komnenos, father of the Megas. The city still remains and important trading center, along the main route across northern Mesopotamia to Antioch. Part of the theme of Edessa. Harran is famous for being the home of the Sabians, an offshoot religious branch of Christianity in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D.
.8. TRIPOLI.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ancient Phoenician trading port on the Syrian coast. Still serves as an important harbor for southern Lebanon. Capital of the theme of the same name, ruled by Sinan of Byzantion, friend of the late Thomas II and a general in his armies during the Fourth Seljuk, Mongol, and Fifth Seljuk Wars.
.9. BEIRUT.
Population (1240): 10,000
Another Phoenician trading port, and harbor for central Lebanon. Part of the theme of Tripoli.
.10. ACRE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Acre was once the largest port in the Levant (defined as Lebanon to the south), until the Great Flood Tide killed 1/3 to ½ her citizens. The city itself is slowly recovering—the perennial pilgrim traffic to and from Jerusalem has undoubtedly helped. Acre, like Jerusalem, is officially administered by the imperial government by a tribunos.
.11. TYRE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ancient Phoencian trading port, harbor for northern Lebanon. Long biblical history as well. Part of the theme of Tripoli.
.12. PALMYRA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Palmyra is another dying city. Originally founded by the Osrenes, the city rose to prominence as a trading city and center of the Palmyrene Empire during the 3rd century A.D. After the city’s destruction at the hands of Emperor Aurelian, it might have faded into obscurity, save one Alexios Komnenos in 1071 rebuilt the city as a fortified camp to watch his border with the Emirate of Mosul. The camp was well positioned on a trade route, and as the Komnenids rose, so did the city, growing into one of the most important tagmata bases on the Eastern border of the Empire through most of the 12th century. However, with the Empire’s push east, the needs of the military have left as well. Deprived of its main means of survival and off the main trade routes, Palmyra seems destined to fall into obscurity once again. Still a part of the imperial demense, but likely not for long.
.13. KALLINIKOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Kallinikos, like neighboring Harran, has a long history of being a border city. Its position as the traditional center of the heretical Syriac Church has given it some measure of size and authority, but the city’s true lifeblood is its position on the main east-west trade route through Syria, as well as one of the uppermost navigable cities on the Euphrates River. Another part of the theme of Edessa.
.14. ALEXANDRETTA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor port to the north of Antioch. As Antioch’s harbor silted up, Alexandretta seemed poised to take Antioch’s business, but now that her rival is booming, it is Alexandretta that seems destined to slip into the cracks of history. Part of the theme of Antiochiea.
.15. LAODEKEIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
A sub-port of Antioch, used for less important goods when the main city docks are filled. Part of the theme of Antiochiea.
.16.HEBRON.
Population (1240): 10,000
Tradtionally an important Jewish center, Hebron functions as a regional trading center for the Roman government. Still has a considerable Jewish population. Part of the Theme of Jaffa-Ascalon.
.17. SAFED.
Population (1240): 10,000
Safed, like Hebron, is a traditionally important Jewish center, and still has a large Jewish population. Part of the theme of Galilee.
.18. TIBERIAS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Galilee, Tiberias has traditionally been an important regional center, even serving as a provincial capital under the Abbasid Caliphate. Today, the city’s Abbasid designed palace and streets are home to the Galilean Komnenids, descendant of Kosmas Komnenos and thus a distaff branch of the Antiochean Komnenids.
CITIES OF SPAIN
While Spain might be politically independent from Konstantinopolis, Spainby 1240 is just as much, if not more, a part of the Roman world than places such as Mesopotamia and Persia. Already highly urbanized and culturally advanced at the onset of the Roman arrival, the Komnenid dynasty and its Roman émigrés have only added to the existing cultural mix, not detracted from it. Most of Spain’s urban centers and population lies to the south, in the Roman strongholds of Mauretania, Baetica and Cordoba. The Latin north and west is, by comparison, far more rural…
.1. CORDOBA.
Population (1240 estimate): 150,000
Outside of Konstantinopolis, Cordoba clearly sits as the largest and most influential city in the Roman world. Prior to the arrival of the Komnenids in Spain, the city already had an extensive imperial history as the seat of the fabled Caliphate of Al-Andalus, a legacy that Spanish Komnenids have mined as a source of legitimacy. The city is home to the magnificent Imperial Palace, as well as the largest converted mosque in the world, now the Cathedral of St. Basil. The city has a rich cosmopolitan mix of Roman, Latin and Moorish architecture, art, and design, and has become one of the foremost intellectual centers in the Western medieval world.
.2. BASILIOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 65,000
Basiliopolis, also known as Fez, is the second city of the Spanish Empire. Prior to the declaration of the Empire in 1202, Basiliopolis was the capital of the Exarchate of Mauretania. One of the many termini of trans-Saharan trade routes, much of the gold later minted throughout Europe travels through this city’s gates. At present, Basiliopolis is a direct dominion of the Spanish Emperor.
.3. BARCELONA.
Population (1240): 50,000
Barcelona serves as Spain’s major port of entry into the Mediterranean, a stopping point for most shipping traffic plying the East-West trade routes across the sea. Capital of the Exarchate of Tarraconensis, it is also the largest city in the Spanish empire not held by the Emperor’s person. Her rich wharves and bustling trade are likely the only reason the Komnenids of Catalonia, descendants of Malhaz Komnenos, are even still a political force in the region.
.4. TOLEDO.
Population (1240): 40,000
Toledo has had a storied history. Once she was a part of the Ummayad Caliphate, then conquered by the Castilians, who were then overthrown by native Moors who founded the powerful Sultanate of Toledo which briefly ruled almost the entirety of the Iberian peninsula. This powerful force was crushed by the Megaloprepis, and Toledo briefly fell under the purview of the Germans. When the locals rebelled and joined Alexios Komnenos’ nascent empire, the Komnenid Emperor allowed the position of Duke of Toledo to remain, and appointed his cousin by marriage, Theodoros Akripolites, as the next Duke. The Akripolites dynasty has continued to rule as official ‘Dukes’ even though their duchy is hardly run along latin lines—in all but name, it functions like the themes of the southern parts of the Empire.
.5. SEVILLE.
Population (1240): 30,000
Seville was briefly capital of a powerful emirate in her own right, before the great unification of the West at the hands of Basil III Megaloprepis. This beautiful city still has a powerful place in Spanish politics, and her ‘militia’ of professional soldiers regularly forms an integral part of Spanish Imperial military forces. Seville, like Basiliopolis, is a direct part of the Western Imperial demense.
.6. ALGIERS.
Population (1240): 25,000
Algiers was once capital of an emirate in its own right, before the African crusade of 1135 brought a vast army of Frenchmen to the region. The Latin lords created two duchies to govern the region (Algiers, and Constantine), and promptly began forcibly converting the population. Many fled, others stayed and accepted the new faith—as a consequence, 13th century Algiers is ironically a Latin city. Where the Duchy of Constantine knelt before Basil III Megaloprepis in 1170, the Duchy of Algiers was forcibly conquered by Gabriel Komnenos in 1130 and promptly ceded to the Spanish Empire. The city is now capital of the theme of Algiers, ruled by Prince Georgios Capet, a distant cousin of the French royal family and Orthodox Roman through and through, as well as capital of the Exarchate of Africa itself, ruled by Prince Abdullah de Toulouse.
.7. BADAJOZ.
Population (1240): 25,000
Badajoz was founded by the Moor Ibn Marwan in the 9th century, and served as a border fortress against Christian northern powers until the rise of Toledo in the 11th and 12th centuries. At present, the city is a regional trade center, and capital of the theme of Badajoz, an ecclesiastical see controlled by the Metropolitan of the same.
.8. TANGIERS.
Population (1240): 20,000
Gateway to the Mediterranean, Tangiers is an important commercial hub, and major port for goods from Theoxira and further south into the Mediterranean world. Additionally, Tangiers is the capital of the strategically important Theme of Tangiers. Eusebios Komnenos, Prince of Tangiers, can confirm direct descent to Manuel Komnenos, second son of Basil Megaloprepis. While ambition Princes of Tangiers have been noises that it is they, not the descendants of Thomas that should occupy the Konstantinopolis throne, none have been in any position (or been given release by their Imperial overlords) to press any such claim beyond small talk.
.9. THEOXIRA.
Population (1240): 20,000
Theoxira was formerly the Moorish city of Marrakech—the name, meaning “Land of God,” being translated into Greek. Theoxira is an important waypoint for the westernmost routes of trans-Saharan trade, and is renowned throughout the Mahgreb for its fine wares. The city is part of the Western Imperial desmense.
.10. CEUTA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Sister port to Tangier, it serves as a regional port and a lesser terminus of the westernmost trade routes. Also a part of the theme of Tangiers.
.11. KAETARIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Formerly known by its Moorish name Algeciras, her new Roman overlords have adopted her ancient Roman name for this city. Algeciras is a weak shadow of the dual cities of Ceuta and Tangiers across the Straits of Herakles. She is center of the theme of the same name, as well as part of the Exarchate of Baetica.
.12. GRANADA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Capital of the theme of Granada, and home to the Alhambra, one of the most impressive pieces of Moorish architecture in all of Spain. The city has become a secondary capital for the Western Empire, of sorts—she serves as capital of the Exarchate of Baetica, second most powerful of the Roman political units in Spain. Additionally, Emperor Nikephoros III took summers here to try and keep his delicate constitution away from the hustle and bustle of Cordoba, a tradition the far more hale and hearty Nikephoros IV seems inclined to continue.
.13. LISBOA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Regional capital, home of the lord of the theme of Braganza.
.14. TLEMCEN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Tlemcen, part of the Exarchate of Africa. Tlemcen is notable for being a critical point on the central trans-Saharan trade routes, the point where traders split from a single route to possible ports of Oran, Algiers, or Rusadir.
.15. ORAN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor trading port, part of the theme of Algiers, Exarchate of Africa.
.16. CADIZ.
Population (1240): 10,000
Another comparatively minor trading port and regional center, capital of the small theme of the same name. Cadiz has become the unofficial recruiting point for the fearsome Algarves who, since Messina and Zaragoza, have become renowned around the Mediterranean for their fearsome abilities on the battlefield.
.17. ZARAGOZA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Important and strategic northern Spanish city, and site of the pivotal battle between Alexios I Komnenos and Drogo Capet. Zaragoza is remarkable for being a non-Latin city, surrounded by an almost completely Latin countryside. This unique dynamic meant it was an obvious target for the Duke of Asturias’ rebellion in 1238, where it was also the place where his army, and the Duke himself, met their doom.
.18. PAMPLONA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Duchy of Asturias, and home to Baron Maurice de Bracy, the highest ranking Latin nobleman in the north of Spain.
.19. VALENCIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of the same name, ruled by Alexandros Komnenos, brother of Emperor Nikephoros IV. Valenica is an important regional center.
.20. COMPOSTELLA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Also known as Santiago de Compostella, this city is perhaps the holiest site in Spain, a regular destination for those on the Way of St. James. Originally founded by the Suebi after the fall of the First Western Roman Empire, the remains of St. James were claimed to be found inside the city during the 8th century. Since then, the city has served not only as an important religious center, but also the regional capital of Galicia. At present, this city, as well as its surroundings, are controlled by the Western Roman Emperor directly.
.21. GERONA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Sister port to Barcelona, Gerona has grown rapidly in the last few years as a logical supply depot for Imperial expeditions across the Pyrenees.
.22. CARTAGENA.
Population (1240): 10,000
In ancient times known as Carthago Nova, Cartagena is a minor trading port, as well as part of the theme of Almeria and the Exarchate of Baetica.
.23. ALMERIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of the same name, part of the Exarchate of Baetica, and revered by Orthodox in Spain as the initial landing site of Hagios Basilieos during his campaign to conquer the Iberian peninsula.
.24. MALAGA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor trading port, and capital of the small theme of Murcia, Exarchate of Baetica.
.25. PALMA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Catepancy of the Baleares, and a major port of the Spanish Imperial Fleet. The city is strategically and commercially important due to its location directly between European and Africa Mediterranean trading cities—thus it is a major halfway point for trans-Med trade, as well as being the ideal location for a fleet capable of intercepting enemy shipping.
.26. CHELLAH.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once a minor Roman trading colony, Chellah has grown into a regional port, and serves as one of two main points of entry for the few goods that come from the Roman possessions called the Canary Islands. Part of the Imperial demense.
.27. ANFA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Sister port of Chellah, and also part of the Imperial demense.
.28. RUSADIR.
Population (1240): 10,000
Also known as Mellila, Rusadir is one of the multiple port termini of the central trans-Saharan trade routes. Part of the theme of Tlemecen.
.29. MEKNES.
Population (1240): 10,000
Originally Meknes was named Kasbah by its founders, the Miknasa Berber tribe. These Berbers still form the majority of the residents of the city, which has become a bastion of conservative Muslim reaction against more cosmopolitan views further north. Part of the Imperial demense.
.30. CONSTANTINE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Constantine, and part of the Exarchate of Africa.
.31. BURGOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once the capital of the Christian kingdom of Castile, Burgos is now a stronghold for Latin religious thought in Spain. Part of the Imperial demense.
I’m going to step around the demographics of the real Anatolia issue for now—because, to be honest, I’m not nearly qualified to weigh in really. I’m making guesstimates myself, and the conversation that’s gone on in here has been immensely useful in helping me come up with city numbers and purposes, something I hope will be reflected in this installment
Now, thanks to people’s insightful comments and ideas (and some help from Wikipedia and its articles on historical demographics!), I can give you a somewhat rough rubric on how I came up with numbers and maybe a haphazard guess at the population of the whole empire...Ancient Rome according to the sources I’ve found (wiki and a buddy of mine who is in graduate school for ancient history), had an urbanization rate of 25% or so… a quarter of the population lived in towns or cities, an extraordinary rate that wasn’t equaled in the West until very recently. I’m going to submit that my Komnenid Empire numbers listed here, since they are for fairly large to large cities (and discount towns less than 10,000, which would be far more numerous than these few cities), would constitute perhaps 5-10% of the population depending on location, numbers far more in line with the medieval world. Densely populated regions might have a higher urbanization rate, lower populated regions might have less than one.
So, let’s run with some rough percentages I’m pulling out of thin air because I can.
Balkans – 5% are in those cities listed. Idea behind this being the Balkans have much more of their population in a rural areas than in a few large cities.
Italy – 10% are in the cities listed. Italy has historically been comparatively urbanized, and the highly urban north is counterbalanced by the less urban south (though in this timeline, the south too has great cities of its own)
Egypt and North Africa – 5% Egypt is densely populated, but that whole stretch of North African coast would likely pull the urbanization number down…
Syria and the Levant – 8% Highly urbanized Syria coupled with less urbanized Levant
Anatolia – 8% Urbanized coast coupled with more remote hinterlands where cities are mostly trading centers along specific trade routes. Countryside in hinterlands dominated by herding, great estates.
Mid East – 5% Numerous large cities, but also numerous villages and towns that would fall under the 10,000 threshold due to recent conquest…
Spain – 8% Urbanized south counterbalanced by urban north.
So, playing with these numbers (again, a bunch of hocus pocus), we arrive at these guesstimates:
Balkans: 2.625 million
Italy: 4.75 million
MidEast: 9.2 million
Egypt and North Africa: 8.2 million (with Egypt having the lion’s share)
Spain: 8.25 million
Anatolia: 7.1 million
Syria and the Levant: 4.5 milion (mostly in Syria)
Konstantinopolis & suburbs: 600,000
Total, Empire proper: 27.775 million
Total, Roman World: 45.225 million.
Slice and dice that as much as you want (or feel free to cut it up, say its wrong, and give your own!), but one thing sticks out to me… the central core doesn’t dominate the periphery (Spain and the limited MidEast the Romans control) population wise. Mesopotamia and the portions of Persia and Arabia the Romans control are almost a third of the “core” Empire’s population. Spain is near that, and much further away. Some sobering statistics for anyone that wants to be a conqueror and unite the whole affair…
…but enough playing around with the numbers! Onto the cities!
CITIES OF ANATOLIA
If any place can be described as the heart of the Komnenid Empire, it is Roman Anatolia. The birthplace of the Komnenid line is also the bastion of Orthodoxy in the Empire. While Anatolia does not boast any truly enormous cities, it possesses quiet a few rather large cities, and many many smaller cities, making her perhaps the most populous region of the Empire, as well as the greatest source of tax income. The Emperor’s personal desmense covers only a small portion of the region (Rhodes, Lykia, Amisos and Sinope), meaning the region is also the heartland for many rich and powerful dynatoi, most of whom either bear the Komnenid name (or by intermarriage, Komnenid blood).
While most of the population is along the coast, those in the hinterlands have scrambled to find ways to prosper—the chief among these is by focusing on the land trade routes that connect the herders of Anatolia to the vast market for wool that is Konstantinopolis. The Angelids of Kaiseria, a region that otherwise would be an economically desolate place, are among these.
.1. TREBIZOND.
Population (1240): 70,000
Capital of the Metropolitanate of Trebizond. This rich Pontic port was among the first cities in Roman history to be officially granted to the Church, who rules the theme in the Emperor’s name and with the assistance of an imperial kephalos. The See of Trebizond is thus perhaps the second most important in the Konstantinopolis Patriarchate after that of Thessalonike—previous holders Nikolaios Gabras, Gennadios Pilos and Ignatios Komnenos all eventually rose to the Patriarchal throne themselves.
Trebizond’s immense size—the largest city amongst the many in Anatolia, is mostly due to her port being the terminus of a vast trade route, the chief means of goods leaving Mesopotamia and Persia to be loaded and shipped to anywhere in the Black Sea, or the Empire in general. As a consequence, a-all of this growth has taken place since the rise of Thomas II, and 2-the growth has been haphazard at best. The city’s ecclesiastical rulers have little knowledge nor care on home the city’s trade and commerce grows. Indeed, from their hilltop monasteries outside of the city walls, one could say they look on the urban center below as a locus of sin and vice to be avoided. As a result, Trebizond looks the part of a chaotic city—massive, gaudy new villas dot the hillsides around, while crowded, poorly designed streets and slums fill the busy streets below. Periodic outbreaks of disease are known in the city, due to the massive and growing influx of people that meager local sanitary conditions cannot handle.
.2. IKONION.
Population (1240): 45,000
Birthplace of St. Thecla, and a location of some of St. Paul’s sermons, Ikonion has long held an important place in the Christian psyche. The city’s history before the Komnenids was one of repeated growth and destruction, as Arab and Roman armies crisscrossed the region, razing the city at least twice. Since the Komnenid ascension, however, the city has seen an unprecedented era of piece—save for the Third Seljuk War, no foreign army has occupied her walls.
Ikonion is the capital of the theme of the same name, and owes its impressive size mostly due to this fact. Ruled by Georgios Angelos, the theme of Ikonion is the largest in Anatolia, stretching from the Dardanelles to the borders of Antalya. Wealthy and immensely prosperous, its riches have catapulted the Angelids from provincial obscurity into the center of Imperial politics. The Angelids of Ikonion have used their status lavishly on their capital city, turning it into a ‘miniature Konstantinopolis’ of sorts—the Basilica of St. Thecla looms over the impressive Angelid palaces, coffers fat from taxes and trade routes through their vast domains.
.3. NIKAEA.
Population (1240): 40,000
Nikaea is most well known for the famous Council of Nicaea, which provides the basic definition for the Romans of what is, and what is not, Christian Orthodoxy. In addition to being an ancient see of the Church, the city is a large and profitable commercial area as well. Both she and her sister city Nikomedia have prospered under the rather lax rule of the Laskarids, Princes of Nikaea Theme—the Laskarids quietly have stayed out of most of the civil strife of the past few decades, keeping themselves, and their people, safe. Most of this city’s wealth comes from her close proximity to Konstantinopolis—for many traders, it’s a last chance to buy supplies, guards and other necessities before braving the rich and wild storm that is the City of Men’s Desire.
.4. NIKOMEDIA.
Population (1240): 30,000
Sister city to Nikaea, Nikomedia also has a storied past—centuries before, it served as Diocletian’s imperial capital. Today, it is the second city of the rich and powerful theme of Nikaea. The Komnenid era has been kind to the city—left desolate by earthquakes and reduced in size, the Komnenid emperors, then later the Laskarids, rebuilt the city’s walls and cleared out the harbor, restoring the city’s prosperity.
.5. KAISERIEA.
Population (1240): 25,000
Kaiseria was once a rich and powerful city and central to commerce across all of Anatolia—in the 3rd century A.D. it reportedly had some 400,000 inhabitants before the old city was sacked and destroyed by the Persian King Shapur. The new Kaiseria emerged as an eastern fortress, a role it served well in from the days of Konstantinos through most of the reign of the Megas. Only with the immense conquests of the Second Seljuk War (and the Roman frontier moving far to the east) did the city begin to reassert her old commercial role as queen of the eastern Anatolian trade routes, becoming capital of the theme of Kaiseria, home of Simon Angelos, yet another member of the up and coming Angelid family.
.6. SMYRNA.
Population (1240): 25,000
Capital of the theme of Samos—a misnomer, as the theme technically does not rule the island (which belongs to the theme of the Aegean). Nonetheless, Smyra remains an important port, the terminus for most trade in the rich and populous western sections of Anatolia.
.7. SINOPE.
Population (1240): 20,000
Sinope has long been a holding of the Komnenid family—an uncle of the Megas, Manuel Komnenos, ruled this area in the 11th century before his ill-fated rebellion. The city was the site of Manuel’s last organized stand against the forces of the Emperor—a battle that saw much of the city plundered and razed. Since that fateful summer in 1092, Sinope and its environs have been a direct part of the imperial demense, ruled by a tribunos in the Emperor’s name. The city has recovered well—its natural harbor makes it a prime trading port, as well as an excellent naval base.
.8. AMORION.
Population (1240): 20,000
Amorion is yet another ancient city receiving new life under the Komnenids. At one time, after Konstantinopolis Amorion was the chief city of the Empire until its sack by the Arabs during the 8th century. Today, the city is a growing part of the powerful Ikonion theme, sitting on a major road that connects Ikonion itself with Konstantinopolis.
.9. RHODES.
Population (1240): 20,000
Rhodes the city is merely the largest point of population on one of the most important (and richest) islands in the Empire. Rhodes itself is home to a vast naval base housing the Egean Stolos, and is also a waypoint and home for numerous merchants from across the entirety of the Empire. The entire island is part of the imperial desmense, administered by a Kephalos.
.10. ANCYRA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Capital of the theme of Kappadokia, ancestral homeland of House Komnenos. Ancyra’s size mostly comes from it’s status as the traditional halfway point for traders from Kaiseria (and likely areas further east) heading towards Komstantinopolis.
.11. CHRYSOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Chrysopolis has now become the playground of the rich and famous of Konstantinopolis—a safe place where villas and riches are removed from the mob, yet the Emperor and the splendour of the court are only a short ride by boat from the Queen of Cities. Almost all of the princes maintain some kind of villa here, creating a class of super-rich who live removed by wall and fence from the underpoor who act as their servants and keepers during their stay.
.12. COLONEIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Coloneia is one of the chief cities of the theme of Coloneia, ruled by the Prince of Edessa-Coloneia, Adrianos Komnenos. Coloneia theme by far is the poorer of his two holdings, receiving little attention. The city is slightly off the traditional trade route across Anatolia, and serves mostly as a regional market and gathering point for goods headed to Trebizond for shipment overseas.
.13. THEODOSOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Theodosiopolis is the second city in the Metropolitanate of Trebizond, and is an important waypoint on the trade routes from Mesopotamia heade d to that port city.
.14. ATTALEIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Attaleia is the capital of the theme of Antalya, and serves as a major trading point for the southern Anatolian coast.
.15. TARSOS.
Population (1240): 15,000
Once home of the apostle Paul, Tarsos is an ancient city that now serves as the capital of Cilicia. The initial rapid spread of the Turks westward in the 1060s and 1070s drove many Christian Armenians away from their homelands—these refugees settled in Cilicia, initially as an allied kingdom of the Roman Empire, before being subsumed as a theme during the early parts of the reign of the Megas. The Princes of Armenia still descend from Prince Ruben, the leader of this exodus.
.16. HERAKLEIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Pontic port in northeastern Nikaea theme.
.17. SIS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Despite being smaller than Tarsos, Sis serves as the capital of Armenian Cilicia.
.18. AMISOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Amisos was once part of the theme Armeniacon, held by Prince Manuel Komnenos. After Manuel’s revolt against the rule of his nephew Emperor Demetrios Megas, the city was annexed to direct imperial rule, where it has remained since under a tribunos.
.19. ANGORA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Angora is a part of the theme of Kappadokia, a waypoint city in the long east-west central trade route through the heart of Anatolia.
.20. NIKOSIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Kyprii, Nikosia has long served as the fortified headquarters of Roman presence on the island.
.21. ADRAMMYTION.
Population (1240): 10,000
Part of the theme of Samos, Adrammytion is a growing port in the northern section of the theme, often serving as the ‘second city’ of this small but important region in the Empire.
.22. DORYLAION.
Population (1240): 10,000
Just inside the theme of Nikaea, Dorylaion has become an important city along the traditional trade route that winds from eastern Anatolia towards Konstantinopolis.
.23. KYZIKOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once this city was the ‘Fortress of the Marmara,’ serving as an advance fleet base to guard against Arab raids towards the capital during the 8th and 9th centuries. Today those vast barracks and quays no longer exist—the city has assumed a quieter role as a regional trade center, and home of a nascent monastic movement known as the Chartists.
.24. ANI.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ani was once the capital of an independent Armenian kingdom in the days before the Megas, but with the rise of the Seljuk Turks and the mass flight of the Armenian people, the city fell into ruin. The present Ani was built during the reign of Basil III as a frontier position against the Turk—against the Emperor’s will, if legend is true. Despite the frontier moving much further away, the city’s military bearing still stands—Ani remains strategically positioned in the heights of Great Armenia, and could serve as a formidable fortress in the right hands.
.25. VAN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Like Ani, Van was once an important city in the ancient Armenian kingdom that was lost when it collapsed before the might of the Seljuk attack. The city has found new life as the home of the autocephalous Patriarch of the Armenian Church, now an appendage to the greater Patriarch of Konstantinopolis. The city is now a city of pilgrims, many travelling further to the East to the nascent shrines in Samarra and Mazadaram from places such as Trebizond and Konstantinopolis.
.26. SAMOSATA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Metropolitanate of Mesopotamia, the second ecclesiastical theme established within the Byzantine Empire. From the days of the Megas to Thomas I, Samosata was a border fortress, most of its economy and trade was focused towards supporting the military. When the frontier shifted in the early 13th century to Mesopotamia, the city’s economy declined rapidly. Only just recently has it begun to recover as a waypoint on the great trading routes between Mesopotamia and Persia and Konstantinopolis/the Pontic coast.
27. EPHESOS
Population (1240): 10,000
Once one of the premier Greek cities on the Anatolian coast, today Ephesos is a city that is slowly dying. Her harbor is slowly silting up, and in response much of the ship traffic that once filled her warehouses now opts for nearby Smyrna as a safer alternative. While the city’s storied history means she will always attract visitors interested in the ancient, her days as a significant population center appeared numbered.
28. LAODEKEIA
Population (1240): 10,000
One of the three “sister cities” of Western Ikonion theme, the others being Sardis and Chonai. Laodekeia has emerged as a leading center for Jewish thought in the Roman Empire—Jews since before Christ have lived in the region, and western Ikonion has emerged as a bastion of sorts for Jewish identity in the midst of this most Christian Empire. Roman policy towards the Jews is rather muted—like Muslims, in return for a special tax they are often left alone.
29. SARDIS
Population (1240): 10,000
A city with ancient roots stretching back to the Lydians, Sardis now is little more than a regionally important center—chief city of western Ikonion theme and home of the Prince’s brother Matthias Angelos.
30. SELEUCIA
Population (1240): 10,000
Part of the theme of Antalya, and a growing port on the southern Anatolian coast.
31. CHONAI
Population (1240): 10,000
In more ancient times, Chonai was known as Colosse (the Colosse of Colossians). Today, the city is one of a cluster in Western Anatolia that includes ancient Sardis and Laodicea. All three are parts of the vast and powerful theme of Ikonion.
32. SERVOCHORIA
Population (1240): 10,000
Servochoria has an interested, chequered past. The city was founded in the mid-7th century as a military outpost against Abbasid incursions, and purposefully populated by Serbs from the western parts of the Empire. These Serbs had a dubious military record at best—at the battle of Sebastopolis, they handed defeat to the Empire by deserting the imperial army due to poor treatment. However, Servochorai is still inhabited by their descendants. A bastardized form of Serbian serves as the local patois, even though after centuries of assimilation the locals consider themselves Greek through and through.
33. KORYKOS
Population (1240): 10,000
Once an important fleet base, now hosts anti-pirate patrols. Part of the theme of Cilicia.
34. MALAGINA
Population (1240): 10,000
Malagina’s size and purpose are twofold. Situated near the vast plain used since ancient times as a marshalling ground for armies, Malagina is often the location the tagmata of Konstantinopolis as well as the troops of the theme of Nikaea muster to go to war. Those few who aren’t employed in maintaining the marshalling grounds, inspecting stores and in general keeping the grounds prepared for a sudden mobilization are employed in the numerous horse farms scattered about, most of which are personally owned by the Emperor and from whence most of the celebrated Imperial personal chargers have been born. While inside the theme of Nikaea, there is a small loophole in the charter granting the theme to the Laskarids that keeps Malagina and the horsefarms personal property of the Emperor.
CITIES OF SYRIA AND THE LEVANT
Syria and the Levant. Only two centuries before, these areas were warzones, places where armies from the great empires surrounding them fought and died, stripping the land of wealth, people, and prosperity. Now, after two centuries of Komnenid rule, both Syria and the Levant are now core areas of the Komnenid Empire. While Syria’s population has exploded as a result, the Levant has been slower to recover—it is not as rich, and many gains were lost during the Great Flood Tide. If this survey had been done in 1235, the cities of Gaza, Jaffa and Arsuf would have been added to the list as well.
.1. ANTIOCH .
Population (1240): 85,000
Once nearing extinction, Antioch has arisen Phoenix-like from the ashes of the pre-Komnenid Empire. While this city had once been the second city of the ancient Empire with over a half million inhabitants, centuries of warfare and destruction had reduced her to a shadow of her former glory. Even now, despite being one of the largest cities in the empire, her walls still seem too big for her numbers. Home to the Prince of Antioch as well as the Antiochean Patriarchate, the city’s importance cannot be overstated. With the redredging of the Orontes River, Antioch promises to remain the primary outlet for Syrian trade into the wider Mediterranean world.
.2. DAMASCUS.
Population (1240 estimate): 45,000
Like Antioch, Damascus is a shadow of its former glory—but unlike its cousin-city, Damascus is on the decline, not the rise. Once the city was the capital of empires—and even after the Roman takeover, the city remained the capital of the Megas in his days as Prince of Kappadokia, and then an official imperial residence, frontier mustering point for the tagmata, and center of regional trade and commerce. Several factors have come together to slowly undo all of this—first, the rise of Antioch and especially the Principality of Edessa-Coloneia has shifted much trade away from Damascus. Secondly, the movement of the frontier further east took the city’s garrison status, as well as the monies a large body of bored men bring with them, to places such as Baghdad, and later Persia. The bottom hasn’t fallen out of this part of the imperial desmense, but the Kephalos no doubt can only watch and worry as more and more souls trickle out of the city, headed for Antioch, Baghdad, Isfahan, or any other of the burgeoning metropolises of the Empire.
.3. EDESSA.
Population (1240): 40,000
The third city of Syria, Edessa has a long history as a Christian city, and a crossroads on trade routes headed towards the Mediterranean or Anatolia. This local trade status has been mined for wealth to no end by the local branch of the Komnenid dynasty, who have used their status as Princes of Edessa to catapult themselves to the top of Imperial politics. The city is the capital of Edessa-Coloneia, and renowned throughout Syria for its fine baths, beautiful palace, and ornate market plaza.
.4. ALEPPO.
Population (1240): 30,000
If the strategic location of Edessa weren’t enough, the Edessan Komnenids also hold possession of the city of Aleppo. During the time the region was held by the Arabs, Aleppo had far eclipsed neighboring Edessa as a trade center. With the rise of the Komnenids and the Empire’s personal preference for the city with a more Christian history, Edessa has drawn away much of Aleppo’s business. The city still remains quite large and important, and by no means have the Edessan Komnenids neglected it. The Church of St. Stephanos, built in 1204 by Manuel Komnenos of Edessa, is remarkable for its combination of Byzantine architectural design and Arabic mosaics.
.5. JERUSALEM.
Population (1240): 25,000
Jerusalem might be the smallest of the patriarchal sees, but symbolically, the Holy City is by far the most important. The entire city’s economy has shifted around supporting the stream of pilgrims from across the Empire and Europe. The city itself is property of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, but all its surrounding environs are owned by the Emperor, and dutifully the local tribunos charges small tolls on all travelers heading in and out of the city.
.6. EMESSA.
Population (1240): 20,000
Once called Hims, Emessa was also once a strategically located city at the time Syria was a borderland between Christian and Muslim worlds. Since those times have passed, its citizens have turned to trade. Yet another part of the Theme of Edessa.
.7. HARRAN.
Population (1240): 15,000
Harran has a mixed history as well. On the far edge of the traditional border of the Roman Empire, Harran was lost to the Persians during the 4th century, then conquered by the Arabs during the 7th. The city wasn’t restored to Roman rule until the 11th century, during the conquests of Alexios Komnenos, father of the Megas. The city still remains and important trading center, along the main route across northern Mesopotamia to Antioch. Part of the theme of Edessa. Harran is famous for being the home of the Sabians, an offshoot religious branch of Christianity in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D.
.8. TRIPOLI.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ancient Phoenician trading port on the Syrian coast. Still serves as an important harbor for southern Lebanon. Capital of the theme of the same name, ruled by Sinan of Byzantion, friend of the late Thomas II and a general in his armies during the Fourth Seljuk, Mongol, and Fifth Seljuk Wars.
.9. BEIRUT.
Population (1240): 10,000
Another Phoenician trading port, and harbor for central Lebanon. Part of the theme of Tripoli.
.10. ACRE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Acre was once the largest port in the Levant (defined as Lebanon to the south), until the Great Flood Tide killed 1/3 to ½ her citizens. The city itself is slowly recovering—the perennial pilgrim traffic to and from Jerusalem has undoubtedly helped. Acre, like Jerusalem, is officially administered by the imperial government by a tribunos.
.11. TYRE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Ancient Phoencian trading port, harbor for northern Lebanon. Long biblical history as well. Part of the theme of Tripoli.
.12. PALMYRA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Palmyra is another dying city. Originally founded by the Osrenes, the city rose to prominence as a trading city and center of the Palmyrene Empire during the 3rd century A.D. After the city’s destruction at the hands of Emperor Aurelian, it might have faded into obscurity, save one Alexios Komnenos in 1071 rebuilt the city as a fortified camp to watch his border with the Emirate of Mosul. The camp was well positioned on a trade route, and as the Komnenids rose, so did the city, growing into one of the most important tagmata bases on the Eastern border of the Empire through most of the 12th century. However, with the Empire’s push east, the needs of the military have left as well. Deprived of its main means of survival and off the main trade routes, Palmyra seems destined to fall into obscurity once again. Still a part of the imperial demense, but likely not for long.
.13. KALLINIKOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Kallinikos, like neighboring Harran, has a long history of being a border city. Its position as the traditional center of the heretical Syriac Church has given it some measure of size and authority, but the city’s true lifeblood is its position on the main east-west trade route through Syria, as well as one of the uppermost navigable cities on the Euphrates River. Another part of the theme of Edessa.
.14. ALEXANDRETTA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor port to the north of Antioch. As Antioch’s harbor silted up, Alexandretta seemed poised to take Antioch’s business, but now that her rival is booming, it is Alexandretta that seems destined to slip into the cracks of history. Part of the theme of Antiochiea.
.15. LAODEKEIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
A sub-port of Antioch, used for less important goods when the main city docks are filled. Part of the theme of Antiochiea.
.16.HEBRON.
Population (1240): 10,000
Tradtionally an important Jewish center, Hebron functions as a regional trading center for the Roman government. Still has a considerable Jewish population. Part of the Theme of Jaffa-Ascalon.
.17. SAFED.
Population (1240): 10,000
Safed, like Hebron, is a traditionally important Jewish center, and still has a large Jewish population. Part of the theme of Galilee.
.18. TIBERIAS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Galilee, Tiberias has traditionally been an important regional center, even serving as a provincial capital under the Abbasid Caliphate. Today, the city’s Abbasid designed palace and streets are home to the Galilean Komnenids, descendant of Kosmas Komnenos and thus a distaff branch of the Antiochean Komnenids.
CITIES OF SPAIN
While Spain might be politically independent from Konstantinopolis, Spainby 1240 is just as much, if not more, a part of the Roman world than places such as Mesopotamia and Persia. Already highly urbanized and culturally advanced at the onset of the Roman arrival, the Komnenid dynasty and its Roman émigrés have only added to the existing cultural mix, not detracted from it. Most of Spain’s urban centers and population lies to the south, in the Roman strongholds of Mauretania, Baetica and Cordoba. The Latin north and west is, by comparison, far more rural…
.1. CORDOBA.
Population (1240 estimate): 150,000
Outside of Konstantinopolis, Cordoba clearly sits as the largest and most influential city in the Roman world. Prior to the arrival of the Komnenids in Spain, the city already had an extensive imperial history as the seat of the fabled Caliphate of Al-Andalus, a legacy that Spanish Komnenids have mined as a source of legitimacy. The city is home to the magnificent Imperial Palace, as well as the largest converted mosque in the world, now the Cathedral of St. Basil. The city has a rich cosmopolitan mix of Roman, Latin and Moorish architecture, art, and design, and has become one of the foremost intellectual centers in the Western medieval world.
.2. BASILIOPOLIS.
Population (1240): 65,000
Basiliopolis, also known as Fez, is the second city of the Spanish Empire. Prior to the declaration of the Empire in 1202, Basiliopolis was the capital of the Exarchate of Mauretania. One of the many termini of trans-Saharan trade routes, much of the gold later minted throughout Europe travels through this city’s gates. At present, Basiliopolis is a direct dominion of the Spanish Emperor.
.3. BARCELONA.
Population (1240): 50,000
Barcelona serves as Spain’s major port of entry into the Mediterranean, a stopping point for most shipping traffic plying the East-West trade routes across the sea. Capital of the Exarchate of Tarraconensis, it is also the largest city in the Spanish empire not held by the Emperor’s person. Her rich wharves and bustling trade are likely the only reason the Komnenids of Catalonia, descendants of Malhaz Komnenos, are even still a political force in the region.
.4. TOLEDO.
Population (1240): 40,000
Toledo has had a storied history. Once she was a part of the Ummayad Caliphate, then conquered by the Castilians, who were then overthrown by native Moors who founded the powerful Sultanate of Toledo which briefly ruled almost the entirety of the Iberian peninsula. This powerful force was crushed by the Megaloprepis, and Toledo briefly fell under the purview of the Germans. When the locals rebelled and joined Alexios Komnenos’ nascent empire, the Komnenid Emperor allowed the position of Duke of Toledo to remain, and appointed his cousin by marriage, Theodoros Akripolites, as the next Duke. The Akripolites dynasty has continued to rule as official ‘Dukes’ even though their duchy is hardly run along latin lines—in all but name, it functions like the themes of the southern parts of the Empire.
.5. SEVILLE.
Population (1240): 30,000
Seville was briefly capital of a powerful emirate in her own right, before the great unification of the West at the hands of Basil III Megaloprepis. This beautiful city still has a powerful place in Spanish politics, and her ‘militia’ of professional soldiers regularly forms an integral part of Spanish Imperial military forces. Seville, like Basiliopolis, is a direct part of the Western Imperial demense.
.6. ALGIERS.
Population (1240): 25,000
Algiers was once capital of an emirate in its own right, before the African crusade of 1135 brought a vast army of Frenchmen to the region. The Latin lords created two duchies to govern the region (Algiers, and Constantine), and promptly began forcibly converting the population. Many fled, others stayed and accepted the new faith—as a consequence, 13th century Algiers is ironically a Latin city. Where the Duchy of Constantine knelt before Basil III Megaloprepis in 1170, the Duchy of Algiers was forcibly conquered by Gabriel Komnenos in 1130 and promptly ceded to the Spanish Empire. The city is now capital of the theme of Algiers, ruled by Prince Georgios Capet, a distant cousin of the French royal family and Orthodox Roman through and through, as well as capital of the Exarchate of Africa itself, ruled by Prince Abdullah de Toulouse.
.7. BADAJOZ.
Population (1240): 25,000
Badajoz was founded by the Moor Ibn Marwan in the 9th century, and served as a border fortress against Christian northern powers until the rise of Toledo in the 11th and 12th centuries. At present, the city is a regional trade center, and capital of the theme of Badajoz, an ecclesiastical see controlled by the Metropolitan of the same.
.8. TANGIERS.
Population (1240): 20,000
Gateway to the Mediterranean, Tangiers is an important commercial hub, and major port for goods from Theoxira and further south into the Mediterranean world. Additionally, Tangiers is the capital of the strategically important Theme of Tangiers. Eusebios Komnenos, Prince of Tangiers, can confirm direct descent to Manuel Komnenos, second son of Basil Megaloprepis. While ambition Princes of Tangiers have been noises that it is they, not the descendants of Thomas that should occupy the Konstantinopolis throne, none have been in any position (or been given release by their Imperial overlords) to press any such claim beyond small talk.
.9. THEOXIRA.
Population (1240): 20,000
Theoxira was formerly the Moorish city of Marrakech—the name, meaning “Land of God,” being translated into Greek. Theoxira is an important waypoint for the westernmost routes of trans-Saharan trade, and is renowned throughout the Mahgreb for its fine wares. The city is part of the Western Imperial desmense.
.10. CEUTA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Sister port to Tangier, it serves as a regional port and a lesser terminus of the westernmost trade routes. Also a part of the theme of Tangiers.
.11. KAETARIA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Formerly known by its Moorish name Algeciras, her new Roman overlords have adopted her ancient Roman name for this city. Algeciras is a weak shadow of the dual cities of Ceuta and Tangiers across the Straits of Herakles. She is center of the theme of the same name, as well as part of the Exarchate of Baetica.
.12. GRANADA.
Population (1240): 15,000
Capital of the theme of Granada, and home to the Alhambra, one of the most impressive pieces of Moorish architecture in all of Spain. The city has become a secondary capital for the Western Empire, of sorts—she serves as capital of the Exarchate of Baetica, second most powerful of the Roman political units in Spain. Additionally, Emperor Nikephoros III took summers here to try and keep his delicate constitution away from the hustle and bustle of Cordoba, a tradition the far more hale and hearty Nikephoros IV seems inclined to continue.
.13. LISBOA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Regional capital, home of the lord of the theme of Braganza.
.14. TLEMCEN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Tlemcen, part of the Exarchate of Africa. Tlemcen is notable for being a critical point on the central trans-Saharan trade routes, the point where traders split from a single route to possible ports of Oran, Algiers, or Rusadir.
.15. ORAN.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor trading port, part of the theme of Algiers, Exarchate of Africa.
.16. CADIZ.
Population (1240): 10,000
Another comparatively minor trading port and regional center, capital of the small theme of the same name. Cadiz has become the unofficial recruiting point for the fearsome Algarves who, since Messina and Zaragoza, have become renowned around the Mediterranean for their fearsome abilities on the battlefield.
.17. ZARAGOZA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Important and strategic northern Spanish city, and site of the pivotal battle between Alexios I Komnenos and Drogo Capet. Zaragoza is remarkable for being a non-Latin city, surrounded by an almost completely Latin countryside. This unique dynamic meant it was an obvious target for the Duke of Asturias’ rebellion in 1238, where it was also the place where his army, and the Duke himself, met their doom.
.18. PAMPLONA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Duchy of Asturias, and home to Baron Maurice de Bracy, the highest ranking Latin nobleman in the north of Spain.
.19. VALENCIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of the same name, ruled by Alexandros Komnenos, brother of Emperor Nikephoros IV. Valenica is an important regional center.
.20. COMPOSTELLA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Also known as Santiago de Compostella, this city is perhaps the holiest site in Spain, a regular destination for those on the Way of St. James. Originally founded by the Suebi after the fall of the First Western Roman Empire, the remains of St. James were claimed to be found inside the city during the 8th century. Since then, the city has served not only as an important religious center, but also the regional capital of Galicia. At present, this city, as well as its surroundings, are controlled by the Western Roman Emperor directly.
.21. GERONA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Sister port to Barcelona, Gerona has grown rapidly in the last few years as a logical supply depot for Imperial expeditions across the Pyrenees.
.22. CARTAGENA.
Population (1240): 10,000
In ancient times known as Carthago Nova, Cartagena is a minor trading port, as well as part of the theme of Almeria and the Exarchate of Baetica.
.23. ALMERIA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of the same name, part of the Exarchate of Baetica, and revered by Orthodox in Spain as the initial landing site of Hagios Basilieos during his campaign to conquer the Iberian peninsula.
.24. MALAGA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Minor trading port, and capital of the small theme of Murcia, Exarchate of Baetica.
.25. PALMA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the Catepancy of the Baleares, and a major port of the Spanish Imperial Fleet. The city is strategically and commercially important due to its location directly between European and Africa Mediterranean trading cities—thus it is a major halfway point for trans-Med trade, as well as being the ideal location for a fleet capable of intercepting enemy shipping.
.26. CHELLAH.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once a minor Roman trading colony, Chellah has grown into a regional port, and serves as one of two main points of entry for the few goods that come from the Roman possessions called the Canary Islands. Part of the Imperial demense.
.27. ANFA.
Population (1240): 10,000
Sister port of Chellah, and also part of the Imperial demense.
.28. RUSADIR.
Population (1240): 10,000
Also known as Mellila, Rusadir is one of the multiple port termini of the central trans-Saharan trade routes. Part of the theme of Tlemecen.
.29. MEKNES.
Population (1240): 10,000
Originally Meknes was named Kasbah by its founders, the Miknasa Berber tribe. These Berbers still form the majority of the residents of the city, which has become a bastion of conservative Muslim reaction against more cosmopolitan views further north. Part of the Imperial demense.
.30. CONSTANTINE.
Population (1240): 10,000
Capital of the theme of Constantine, and part of the Exarchate of Africa.
.31. BURGOS.
Population (1240): 10,000
Once the capital of the Christian kingdom of Castile, Burgos is now a stronghold for Latin religious thought in Spain. Part of the Imperial demense.
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I cannot believe that the population of Balkan be that low...
And with that many quite large cities in Anatolia, the population on the land ought to be far greater and together there be more than 7 million inhabitants.
There were that many in the beginning of the 11th century!
And with that many quite large cities in Anatolia, the population on the land ought to be far greater and together there be more than 7 million inhabitants.
There were that many in the beginning of the 11th century!
The urbanisation rate in Lebannon seems lower than I expected, to be honest. I liked the re-naming of all the Maghrebi towns, kinda cool.
The Middle East is gonna play a big role in the Empire's future, their population is very high compared to Europe.
I like those Laskarids in Nicaea, it's how I imagine I would be if I were a Roman noble.