His name is Bradley James. The show's not all that old though. The 4th season starts this fall.
Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR
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His name is Bradley James. The show's not all that old though. The 4th season starts this fall.
The death of the infant Basileos reminded me of the fate of Jean Ist of France, who died 5 days after his birth in suspicious circumstances which pointed towards his regent, Philippe de Poitiers, later King Philippe V le Long. Though, I have to admit Manuel II is much more a vilain than Philippe ever was, in fact or in fiction. Have you read Maurice Druon's Les Rois maudits (La Loi des mâles)?
Why did i get a Caligula vibe? (I mean the hideous movie from 1979) where Marcus (The Preatorian Guard) kills Peter O'Tool Aka Tiberius with a pillow for Caligula.There aren't any parallels between Manuel and Caligula bij any chance? That.. really wouldn't be good, I mean.. A calm, ruthless killer, who is a madman. Perfect material for Romanion.
Can't wait for the next update.
Can't wait for the next update.
I don't feel sorry for Ioanna really, but I feel sorry for Meleniou. He was and is a pretty stand-up guy and I hope things work out for him. Too bad about his girlfriend probably dying and his son getting axed, but he probably won't miss being Regent, at least. As for Manuel vs Sybaslava, I think I'd rather see Manuel win. He might be an evil bastard but Sybaslava doesn't seem any better really, and I don't think a Russian could ever really be Empress for long.
Alexandros II dead. The greatest character yet has been killed by Constantinople...
Rooting for Eirene and Spahbod Ioannopoulos now.
Rooting for Eirene and Spahbod Ioannopoulos now.
I've been gone for a long time, but... maaaan! How brilliant has this series remained! The level of characterization, detail, plotting, etc. Amazing! It was one of the deciding factors to begin my own AAR again. It'll never be as good as this one, but consider it an ode to you, General_BT.
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
and I just realised that this AAR needs to get in a few fake questes from [Edward] Gibbon, I'm really curious what name his monumental work has in this timeline!
The Rise and Fall, then Re-Rise and yet another Fall of the Roman Empire... Also anyway didn't Edward Gibbon mostly marginalize and ignore the Byzantine Empire?
Mostly but not completely, I have only read the short version of HotDaFotRE but Justinian gets a lot of space, thre crusades too and then the church union in 14XX and the siege of 1453. But I guess there is more stuff in the full version!
Woot. Caught up again.
First, is it Roland or Guy du Roche? Are these equivalents?
Secondly, I don't think we've had a truly insane schemer...all the mad ones were generals or just loony builders weren't they? Here's hoping for Manuel...he is in the line of Thomas the Pope-slayer and Thomas of the Three and a Half Oranges...though not in the line of Thomas "I've never seen a buttress I didn't like"
Third...sad to see Alexandros leave so little legacy. I had high hopes for him as an enlightened new Padishah to build a forward-looking cosmopolitan Persia, a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. Hopefully, his nephews and their progeny will follow better the example of his father than his grand-father (as fond as I am of the early Gabriel).
Fourth...BT gets to play whomever he likes in the EU portion, but my bias is towards avoiding the City like the plague. All the invasions, coups, intrigues are beginning to blend together.
Fifth...wow, terrifying to think that Constantinople is so completely and totally dependent on Egypt. I can't think of any comparable grain production center. Not very fore-sighted of generations of Kommenids to allow this single resource choke-point to fall out of their control. At least the Corrino's realized Arrakis was the key...not their fault they had to fight someone who could see the future.
First, is it Roland or Guy du Roche? Are these equivalents?
Secondly, I don't think we've had a truly insane schemer...all the mad ones were generals or just loony builders weren't they? Here's hoping for Manuel...he is in the line of Thomas the Pope-slayer and Thomas of the Three and a Half Oranges...though not in the line of Thomas "I've never seen a buttress I didn't like"
Third...sad to see Alexandros leave so little legacy. I had high hopes for him as an enlightened new Padishah to build a forward-looking cosmopolitan Persia, a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. Hopefully, his nephews and their progeny will follow better the example of his father than his grand-father (as fond as I am of the early Gabriel).
Fourth...BT gets to play whomever he likes in the EU portion, but my bias is towards avoiding the City like the plague. All the invasions, coups, intrigues are beginning to blend together.
Fifth...wow, terrifying to think that Constantinople is so completely and totally dependent on Egypt. I can't think of any comparable grain production center. Not very fore-sighted of generations of Kommenids to allow this single resource choke-point to fall out of their control. At least the Corrino's realized Arrakis was the key...not their fault they had to fight someone who could see the future.
Well, Egypt is still in control of Komnenids, technically; just not any Komnenids we like
If anyone can keep the tide of chaos at bay for a while its Manuel, none of the other claimants have Manuels combination of skill, intelligence, discipline, experience and ruthlessness. Besides its good to have a capable Komnenid to root for, even if he's a total bastard, in every sense of the word, and for a wonder he even appears to be sane.
Wind and currents in the mediterranean makes north-south travel ALOT easier and faster than east-west travel, this had far more to do with Egypts role in feeding Rome and later Constantinople than any scarcity of wheat did.
True Constantinople's hinterlands propperly cant surstain its population, but Anatolia was a major wheat producing center and so was the danube valley, it would be more difficult and take longer but the Empire could feed the City from other sources.
PS. In all honesty Im not sure about north africa as a source of grain, before the Vandals it was a major exporter, but I dont know how they and the muslims affected that.
To be fair grain isnt really comparable to the spice, there are other places with significant grain production which could feed the City, inside the Empire we have north Italy, south-east Spain and north africa. Outside the Empire Sorte Mark aka Ukraine has been called "the breadbasket of Europe".
Wind and currents in the mediterranean makes north-south travel ALOT easier and faster than east-west travel, this had far more to do with Egypts role in feeding Rome and later Constantinople than any scarcity of wheat did.
True Constantinople's hinterlands propperly cant surstain its population, but Anatolia was a major wheat producing center and so was the danube valley, it would be more difficult and take longer but the Empire could feed the City from other sources.
PS. In all honesty Im not sure about north africa as a source of grain, before the Vandals it was a major exporter, but I dont know how they and the muslims affected that.
If so then why the prolonged crisis when shipments from Alexandria stop?
Certainly, the price of grain would go up considerably, and there'd be temporary short-falls, but it isn't like the cross-excommunication thing was a sudden secret event. Merchants and traders would have known about what was going on and re-directed there efforts to bringing grain from other ports to exploit the price increase.
Further, if Alexandros wanted to solve the problem he could have done so just by having the Imperial government buy up grain and then give it to the people (or just give people cash to buy grain themselves).
Admittedly, there'd be a period of maybe a few weeks when shortages would require rationing, but the pricing mechanism should take effect before then in re-directing trade. Like I said...it wasn't a sudden change...and besides, there was a war on right before between Constantinople and Alexandria, so I imagine some merchant had already re-directed their efforts.
Certainly, the price of grain would go up considerably, and there'd be temporary short-falls, but it isn't like the cross-excommunication thing was a sudden secret event. Merchants and traders would have known about what was going on and re-directed there efforts to bringing grain from other ports to exploit the price increase.
Further, if Alexandros wanted to solve the problem he could have done so just by having the Imperial government buy up grain and then give it to the people (or just give people cash to buy grain themselves).
Admittedly, there'd be a period of maybe a few weeks when shortages would require rationing, but the pricing mechanism should take effect before then in re-directing trade. Like I said...it wasn't a sudden change...and besides, there was a war on right before between Constantinople and Alexandria, so I imagine some merchant had already re-directed their efforts.
Oh, you guys are right. I suppose Manuel will just get grain from Sicily- oh no, wait, that's where his enemy Leo is. Never mind though, I'm sure he'll be getting it from Anatolia or the Balkans - or not, seeing as the as-of-now neutral Von Franken and Bataczes rule there now. Well, I suppose he can trade some from Sortmark; I'm sure the army of Danes marching south with their own pretender wouldn't mind
Sarcasm aside, Manuel's only option was Egypt; the only place (for now) untouched by the war.
Sarcasm aside, Manuel's only option was Egypt; the only place (for now) untouched by the war.
The point I was trying to make was simply that under more normal circumstances the Imperial bureaucracy ought to have been able to find alternative sources, after all we must assume they did so after that big flood hit Egypt. The fact that those other sources are currently unavailable for various reasons, be it no infrastructure, being held by the enemy or just being too far away to respond quickly enough, doesn't indicate any failure on the Komnenids part to propperly secure a vital resource, its just that the whole thing, from Egypt turning is coat, twice, to practually everywhere else erupting simultaneously in revolt means that Manuel et al. are a bit more constrained than would normally be the case.
Moreso, since after Egypt fell to Islam in the 8th century, Anatolia became the main grain supplier for the capital, managing to satisfy the city's demand. Even after Egypt's hypothetical reconquest in this aar, Anatolia would have remained an important supplier due to its proximity to the capital and the trade infrastructure developed during the previous 400 years. Given that, after Alexandros ascension, this province was the most secure in all of the Roman Empire, I wander what happened to the Anatolian (and Cilician) grain and its network of supply?