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The dynatoi have been cowed for decades precisely because of the Gardener's handiwork; he made examples of his enemies, he dealt with potential threats before they could truly take roots and become something more serious. Andronikos, on the other hand, has been doing the exact opposite; he's been propping up a façade of him being an Emperor who cares about the people, but nothing more; the work of his daggers remains largely unknown to both the dynatoi and the public, which is both good and bad. The people love him, and the dynatoi see him as as a man who wields power, but they do not fear him. The Sack of Barcelona, the single act that could've kept his vassals in check for decades if he used it properly, he foolishly attributed to his step-father in order to bring him down.

Poison keeps men in line, as Manuel said. And lets not forget that the dynatoi filling their coffers with German gold is something Andronikos brought onto himself fully; he did not have to summon Alexandros, he had armies in the Balkans that were just as large as the Persian host. But in the zenith of his arrogance, he greatly underestimated his cousin's capability, being certain he would fail. Had he done the right thing then, it would be him having this triumph, and being admired by the entire Empire. Had he realized what victory in France truly meant, he would've had the Oikoi follow the Makrinokomnenos the minute he left Konstantinopolis with his orders for the West. He would've had them ready to strike him down the minute he achieved victory, and he would've prepared a suitable puppet for the last remaining Exarchate.
 
Andronikos started off good, as emperor, to keep imperial power high, but his actions over the past decade surely undid all the good he did at the beginning of his reign. The empire is heading to a succession crisis of unparalleled scope, that much is sure.
 
It's funny that posters are lambasting Alexandros for not being the typical, paranoid Byzantine Emperor, i.e. for not undercutting and sacking his most competent commanders. :p

Emperor Justinian usually gets a bad rap because he sacked his best generals, Narses and Belisarius, who won his greatest triumphs. I wonder who will get to write the secret history of Andronikos II reign :D
 
On an unrelated note, I just read the "Secret History" a few weeks ago, all the while thinking of this AAR:D

And surely you mean Andronikos? Still, getting rid of Phillipos would've been a very good choice at this point; having good commanders stationed in Spain was only a necessity because of the threat of France. Now that threat is gone, and has been replaced with an internal one; the as-of-now immensely powerful Exarch and his generals. There would be no external threats to the Western part of the Empire for years after this, plenty enough time for some new good commanders to rise up, if the aforementioned ones were sacked.
 
Isn't this Andronikos II already?? Or is he still the first to bear this name? :confused:

Anyways this is still the 13th century, by the time 19th and 20th century historians get to write their histories of the medieval Roman Empire, they might only have one or two really comprehensive sources. For much of Justinian's history, there really is only the Secret History as a comprehensive source, and it was written Procopius, by a vitriol-filled guy who was out to really bash Justinian. Andronikos might suffer the same fate, if the centuries to come are as harsh on historical sources as in real history. :) This makes for lasting controversies among historians - "Andronikos - patron of the Roman Commonwealth, or last of the medieval tyrants?" Something like that :p
 
It took me about a month, yet I finally got my reading up to date. And must say this is not only the best AAR I read, but it could easily be a decent book. The literary quality is high, the story is catchy, and some of the characters are just fascinating.
You have my congrats, General BT, and your writing skills have another admirer
 
It took me about a month, yet I finally got my reading up to date. And must say this is not only the best AAR I read, but it could easily be a decent book. The literary quality is high, the story is catchy, and some of the characters are just fascinating.
You have my congrats, General BT, and your writing skills have another admirer

true story +2

I wonder how empty my life will be once this epic saga will be over.
 
Andronikos ironically is endangering his Empire in the long term with a longer life; he will set a precedent a generation will take for granted having grown up only knowing that and no more, and when it cannot be reproduced, well.

I'm looking forward to the fallout.

As for the Mask - it is that far gone then?
 
Yeah, I looked it up. The first Andronikos in Byzantium was after the Point of Divergence. Andi I was the grandson of Alexios I in OTL, and became Emperor after Alexius II

I don't know what really to think of this timelines Andi. He has done some impressive things, but unknowst, or perhaps known to him is that everything he (and Albie) has/have worked for is very quickly being undone. In many ways, he is a Justinian analogy. With a beautiful wife he ruled fairly well, but with her death, he was never quite the same, like only half of the whole. He had to deal with various successful generals, though with different results at the moment. And with the vast resources of the Empire, he expanded it to its furthest borders, however his death led to all of this being destroyed.

Ultimately, his reign will be looked back on with mixed views by historians, much like Justinian.

No?
 
Except that IMO Justinian was overall a pretty awesome emperor, and Andronikos is not. :)

In the last updates he's really losing his touch... yelling at his wife, explaining why (in his mind) he MUST do things the way he does... not realizing that many of the assumptions he takes for granted are wrong. For example, that he must appear to be a cultivated, civilized ruler. He doesn't in fact have to appear as one, as the example of Manuel, Thomas I or Thomas II so aptly showed. He's just making up reasons for himself...

As for Nikephoros, the leper emperor... oh my. How in the world is this supposed to work out. :eek:o
 
I believe that Andronikos has, in this thread, been compared to the Megas quite a few times: both seem to have become a lot less stable after their most beloved wives' deaths; though Demetrios perhaps in a greater extent. I honestly think that the death of the Megas Empress (Anastasia, was it?) has directly led to the Komnenid dynasty being so ridiculously large at this point. Had Demetrios not lost his loving wife, he probably wouldn't have become a drunkard who sires a child with every woman he sees.
 
Isn't this Andronikos II already?? Or is he still the first to bear this name? :confused:

Anyways this is still the 13th century, by the time 19th and 20th century historians get to write their histories of the medieval Roman Empire, they might only have one or two really comprehensive sources. For much of Justinian's history, there really is only the Secret History as a comprehensive source, and it was written Procopius, by a vitriol-filled guy who was out to really bash Justinian. Andronikos might suffer the same fate, if the centuries to come are as harsh on historical sources as in real history. :) This makes for lasting controversies among historians - "Andronikos - patron of the Roman Commonwealth, or last of the medieval tyrants?" Something like that :p

There is a possibility that he gets to keep his reputation intact if some of his own written works survive, and demonstrating that he was an intellectual. Almost every ruler/king/Emperor that is viewed as a intellectual managed to keep their reputation more or less intact.
 
Except that IMO Justinian was overall a pretty awesome emperor, and Andronikos is not. :)

Except that he left a empire racked with strife and exhausted from various wars. Just look at Italy after the Gothic wars. As far as Andi rule goes, I think BT did a very good job of making it very hard to judge Andi and his reign Emperor. So much has occur ed, but was it all for the best? That is a question to ponder...
 
Hello I've in the last three weeks or so read up to right after Thomas III death as sadly funny that was, and I got to the part where Andriokinous(?) got the trait skeptical. I want to say you were lucky in my Ireland game the father (who was a idiot) died at a seige when the heir was 4 or 5ish. The kid went crazy but by the age 12 all his stats were above 10 and he got the prodigy event (best trait in the game) so I had a crazy king of Ireland with Martial 25 and all others greater then 15. How very Irish :rofl:. I went to war with all of the British Isles at the same time for a challenge :D.
 
There is a possibility that he gets to keep his reputation intact if some of his own written works survive, and demonstrating that he was an intellectual. Almost every ruler/king/Emperor that is viewed as a intellectual managed to keep their reputation more or less intact.

Oh yes, intellectual emperors...

One of the later updates (~100 years from now) should feature one of Andi's mad sons, setting fire to their dad's library on purpose :D

"So you were an intellectual man, dad... good for you... but no one will ever know, because I BURNED EVERYTHING!!!" *muahahahaha*

And then as an epilogue, some excerpt from a history book where 20th century scholars really are left puzzled as to what kind of person Andronikos really was.
 
Oh yes, intellectual emperors...

One of the later updates (~100 years from now) should feature one of Andi's mad sons, setting fire to their dad's library on purpose :D

"So you were an intellectual man, dad... good for you... but no one will ever know, because I BURNED EVERYTHING!!!" *muahahahaha*

And then as an epilogue, some excerpt from a history book where 20th century scholars really are left puzzled as to what kind of person Andronikos really was.

LOL! Sad...but LOL!
 
In my opinion, the most disturbing thing is the way Andi trusts Syrenos unconditionally. I simply can't understand how he cannot see that Syrenos is not the loyal (if brutal) friend that Ioannis was. He's after his own goals exclusively and he's not above manipulating an Emperor (and the information he gets) to do it.

And Manuel will be under his tutelage. This has all the makings of a disaster.