Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR

First of all, I’ll have proper replies up tomorrow. For the teaser update this time, I've included a brief summary of those who also chose to attend the meeting in Rome, after news that the Eastern Emperor intended on coming...


Once news that the Eastern Emperor was attending the Holy Papal Conference, the lords of Europe began tumbling over each other to come as well. The winter of 1170-71 saw a year of tumultuous change in Germany and England as well – in both countries, a new, vigorous ruler took control, though through different circumstances. The winter was mild, allowing great lords to stream south through the month of February. By the arrival of Basil on March 19th, the city of Rome had been taken over by this noble delegations, some staying in suburbs outside of the city to escape the crowding.

Among the most powerful and well known of the leading powers:

The Great Kings​

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In England, old King Stephen finally died, leaving the throne to his son Richard. Richard de Normandie was 21 years old, nearly the same as the Emperor, and also had a fearsome military reputation. At age 16, he’d lead the storming of the castle at the Vexin, long thought to be impenetrable. At 18, he’d crushed the Duke of Brittany’s armies in the field in Morhiban. At 19, he’d defeated an immense Scottish army on the fields of Flodden, ending their threat to English sovereignty. Outside of Emperor Basil himself, no man in Christendom had as spotless a military record or as formidable a reputation. However, Richard is known for his rashness, outrageous anger, and boorish behavior. It is unlikely the new King will make many friends, and likely he’ll make far too many enemies through his stay. Jealous of his reputation, has been known to get angry at a reference that another is a better commander than he.


Not to be outdone by his Eastern ‘cousin,’ Emperor Heinrich VI Arpad also came to Rome, clad in the raiments of his office and openly seeking to outshine all the other luminaries present. 26, Heinrich came to the throne in February of 1170 near the very end of Germany’s most recent civil war after his father perished in battle. The new Emperor from May – August, managed to crush or bribe all the great dukes of Germany into uniting behind his banner. To guarantee his participation, Pope Boniface excommunicated many of his opponents, offering absolution if they came to Italy and joined the Holy effort. Heinrich came without the military reputation of his peers, but his diplomatic ability was beyond reproach. Is reportedly jealous of the acclaim the Eastern Emperor has won for his ability, and utterly despises Drogo of France. Resentful of the popularity of Emperor Basil amongst the knights and people of Europe, views the Eastern Emperor as an upstart.


Then there was France. Long the flower of European chivalry, as well as one of the wealthiest and most powerful realms, Drogo II had taken over from his mad father as King in 1165. The 38 year old monarch had successfully resisted incursions by the English, Germans, Flemish and Frisians, while adding Anjou and Languendoc back to the French realm by force. While not as militarily brilliant as Richard of Basil, or as diplomatically skilled as Heinrich, some might say that Drogo was the perfect blend to make a dangerous king. France clearly has the most to gain from a Crusade to Iberia, as any lands taken could easily be directly added to Drogo’s growing realm. Rumor has it that Drogo himself is especially keen on launching a Crusade for this very reason. Widely respected and feared, if there was a ‘senior statesman’ of Europe, Drogo would have held that role. Widely known to despise King Richard of England and Heinrich VI. Views any Romanoi move into the Western Mediterranean as an invasion of his personal waters.


Magnus III, 44, comes to Rome a relative unknown. His far northern kingdom is only a century and a half removed from pagan barbarism, and Eastern representatives especially openly show disdain for this “unwashed Varangian.” Unlike his peers, Magnus came simply dressed much as his men, and even wore armor when meeting Pope Boniface. Rough and uncouth, no one knows what to expect of him or his men. His opinions on most of the other monarchs present are unknown, and not really sought.


Unlike his Swedish rival, King Knud Knytling, 58, is far better known. To the Romans, he’s known as the ruler of the devilish Varangian merchants in Russia who continually cause trouble, to the Germans he’s known as “the Raider,” for his opportunistic attacks into northern Germany during the civil wars, and to the Poles he’s known as “Red Hands,” for the dead that piled up during his assaults on Gdansk. Knud’s approach to warfare is simple, brutal and methodic – smash your opponent more than he can smash you, and you will win. Consequently, his reputation isn’t among the best, and rumor has it he has only come as a way of absolving his sins. Deadly enemy of Boleslav of Poland, and a frequent foe of Emperor Heinrich's father. Views both Richard of England and Basil of Romanion as mere "boys playing with swords."


Boleslav III, 48, was the first monarch to announce his intention to attend, and brashly believes his word prompted the Western Emperor, his arch-nemesis to do the same. Boleslav, self-declared “the Beautiful” or “the Bold” has a healthily inflated opinion of himself – according to his word, at Smolensk he broke the back of a Rus army in 1168, and he successfully parried furious attacks by Knud of Denmark and Heinrich’s father the previous decade. However, these successes often had much to do with Boleslav’s lieutenants, and often little to do with the King himself (who was often drunk or waylaid by women of the night). His true reputation lies in the fact that he has more bastards than any man should have – 8 sons, only 2 of which are legitimate. Utter and complete emnity for King Knud, who Boleslav sees as a ravaging barbarian at best. Openly distrusts the Romanoi as well, due to their role in supporting the Rus state.


Numerous dukes of great repute came, the most powerful of which was Duke Raimond of Poitou, who controlled all of the south and west of France, independent from the French crown. In total, this immense congregation, the greatest gathering of nobility Europe had ever seen, brought both Emperors, five kings (or their representatives), 12 dukes and numerous more minor nobility to the Holy City…

Okay, so to some replies finally, starting from the last set of unreplied replies:

RGB - I guess I mentally saw Manuel's end as him getting bored - to him politics and intrigue is a game almost. Konstantinopolis was boring, so he moved to a new, more pristine venue to play.

As for Basil, he's grown a little cocky - considering the odds he's faced and the age he is, it's little wonder why. He's 23 years old, faced insurmountable odds, and is considered the living embodiment of his grandfather. He firmly believes God is on his side, so why should he fear the Moors, even if they outnumber him all told ten to one?

As for linking... I should do that! I think I'll do it later on tonight!

asd21593 - Noticed the avatar change. Excellent choice. Wars are always risky endeavors, especially wars far from home with few men behind you... messy indeed...

Estonianzulu - Quite a few, yes, though technically in game Nikolaios reigned only 6 years. Part of the reason the average was so long was Demetrios' absurdly long reign - 45 years on the throne. Manuel was there for a long 28 years as well.

Oh, and don't expect the other Kings of Europe to sit aside as Basil attempts to gobble all of Iberia. France especially has a vested interest in the regions just south of her border, and as the French King is technically also sovereign over the Crusader States of Algeria, he's going to be taking a personal interest into what happens in what he increasingly views as "his end of the pond."

"Volatile" doesn't begin to describe this group of villains...

Enewald - If you remember, what happened with Manuel and Egypt was that he conquered all of the Delta without consulting Nikolaios, and Nik took Alexandria for the Imperial desmense and made Manuel give the rest back. One of Manuel's first acts as Emperor was to swiftly retake the rest of Egypt as Romanoi. In game, Nik only took Alexandria, and Manuel cleaned up the rest in his reign.

And yes, Basil is going crusading, much as the real Manuel Komnenos "did." Save the real Manuel Komnenos, as soon as the situation had changed, left the Crusaders of Antioch to their own devices and went home. It remains to be seen if Basil will carry on that tradition, or if he'll truly "crusade."

As for 38 bastards How in heaven's name did you get that many?!

AlexanderPrimus - In the realm of the Kings in Rome, to me, it seems the biggest problem is going to be simple coordination and cooperation. The Iberian peninsula is quiet large, and these monarchs (or at least their troops, assuming they all commit to the Crusade) have a great distance to march. Also, Boleslav isn't "the Bold," he's self-titled himself that. The rest of Europe has less savory names for him.

As for Rodrigo not saying anything in the exchange... well... look at his traits. You tell me if you think something is going on. And yes, Basil might be a genius, but there is always a very thin line between genius and madness... and often that line gets blurry.

Irenicus - Indeed Demetrios was a mighty conqueror. Partly that's because he started off with a relatively strong Empire and absurdly strong personal lands (before the Imperial title, Demetrios was prince of three of the largest themes in the Empire). If I had the gains broken up into individual wars, though, you'd notice that alot of his conflicts took only three or four provinces, and thats it - other than Cyrenaica and the last Seljuk War, that is how all his wars operated. So his reign was more a series of small gains over an absurdly long time (45 years) with two massive gains - one in the middle and one at the very end.

Basil - schizophrenic? He took a heavy blow to the head at Jerusalem, and its only after that the visions began. But then again, how would he, or anyone else, know it was divine intervention versus a hallucination? I guess we'll just have to find out...

Fulcrumvale - When Romanion has a bad Emperor (it's not an if, its coming quickly down the road), alot will depend on the Imperial bureaucracy - how much good inertia is left? Also, alot will depend on the loyalty of the themes - they might easily be more loyal to a bad emperor that liberally bribes them and empties the treasury than a good emperor who hoards his money and spends little.

As for the possibility of an insane Emperor, yes, you will see the results of that. And true, disasters tend to have very very long preludes. Romanion's final fate will be no different.

And perhaps Basil needs a lesson in humility right now... you never know how handy it might come in later... I wouldn't call those who he's about to head to war with from the rest of Europe "geniuses." In game, its more when the Pope issued the call for a Crusade against Cordoba, every single European county, duchy and kingdom pounced...

Nikolai - Great commanders sometimes make really dumb assessments or even stupider mistakes. What separates a great commander is his ability to recover from a moment of idiocy, not necessarily not having said moments.

Eams - :rofl: I don't think "Here's Ioannis!" works as well as "Here's Johnny!" I might be mistaken! As for whether Basil is mad or not... as for this motley group of monarchs, I'm not sure they could equally divide a stuffed teddy bear, let alone an entire peninsula...

English Patriot - Likely, the Hispanian campaign will be the most ambitious launched since Justinian... and since the Turks have been bled dry, if there was a time to reach for the impossible, it'd be now. And coordination by far is going to be the hardest issue for the Crusaders (see above), not just spoils of conquest...

TC Pilot - Ah! Someone who still believes in Basil, and that he's not crazy! Hooray!

junrui - Hey! Congratulations, you've made it! Glad to hear you've enjoyed what you've read so far!




The next update is about 60% done right now, so it will probably be up tomorrow afternoon some time. Glad to hear everyone is enjoying things!