I know. But it consumes so much time, that I don't have at the moment.
That it does...
Post 6 Imperial Heyday
Holy
0 Roman
1 Empire
2
The century following the Renovatio Imperii lacked the prominent, defining figures of the previous two centuries. Despite this, the time was one of great importance for the Roman state, and was marked by rebellion, numerous foreign wars, and political upheaval. Ioannes' decree brought most of Europe east of the Rhine under the direct control of the Advisory and the Emperor in Constantinople. The situation was unacceptable to the remaining European powers and to much of the populace in the recently acquired lands. The northern Germans and the Slavic peoples who lived in what was formerly eastern Bohemia were especially rebellious, although these rebellions were staggeringly unsuccessful. Their failure prompted the Advisory to extend the scope of the centuries-old Guardian Edict, claiming a right of conquest against all heretics who would not convert. The armies sent to northern Germany to quell the rebellions there then marched straight through to Poland and Prussia, driving these states back to the Baltic coastline. They were only saved, at least for the time being, by a distraction closer to home. The largest rebellion of the period was the Italian revolt of 1633, which wiped out the local garrisons and ransacked the peninsula before the arrival of frontline troops from France put them down. (tons of revolts in uncured provinces, an unpleasant revolt event in Italy; Deus Vult allowed me to wrap up the rest of the protestants when I had some extra bad boy to burn, with armies that would otherwise be strictly rebel hunting in northern Germany)
Image: The Roman Empire at the time of the Italian revolt. Progress is being made into Gaul while North Germany and the Steppe is mostly quiet.
Foreign wars were also a staple of this period, due to foreign resistance to increasing Roman hegemony and lofty Roman ambitions. Wars with Western powers, particularly France, Castille, and Great Britain were common occurrences, but the Advisory's keen diplomatic maneuvering kept them from forming a united front that could have successfully resisted Roman invasion. A series of wars that drove a deep salient through France, permanently crippling that nation, were interspersed with bloody wars in southern Britain. The Romans also fought a number of wars with Castile, but these were restricted to naval battles in the Mediterranean and back and forth campaigns in North Africa. The most decisive war in the first half of the 17th century was the Arabian War of 1643. Unlike their western counterparts, the Muslims formed a large alliance to challenge the Romans. The war involved the Persians, the still-formidable, if greatly reduced, remnants of the Golden Horde, the entirety of the Arabian peninsula, and parts of the Horn of Africa and India. The war lasted barely a year and a half. The Arabian Peninsula was crushed, while Persia and the Golden Horde were forced to cede important borderlands, solidifying the Byzantine frontier in the east. The decisive victory ended any threat to the Romans from the East. (A series of limited wars, typically against only one state at a time, that allowed me to gain territory from Arabia to Newcastle to the Pyrenees
Image: The Arabia at the outset of the war. Despite the fact that the eastern muslim states were weak and fractured, their planning and cooperation made them at least as formidable, if not more so, than the Western powers faced by the Romans during this century (actually I got bored and decided to start a war with everyone… I added the Persians to that war a day later; also notice the ottomans humorously landlocked in Ethiopia. No idea how that happened).
In the aftermath of the Arabian War, the Advisory was at the height of its power. Successful diplomacy and military prowess had made the Empire the most powerful state in the world. The only potential rival to the Imperial juggernaught was Castile, which backed up a resurgent France and led an Iberian coalition while growing fat on the wealth of the New World. North African engagements notwithstanding, despite involving tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides, Castile and the Empire had yet to fight a major war, as the Advisory repeatedly blocked Emperor Friedrich III's attempts to go to war with the last Great Powers of Europe. Finally fed up, Friedrich dissolved the council for the first time in over a century, replacing it with a cabinet that answered solely to him. Fearing civil war, the Empire's generals mobilized the army. And nothing happened. One of the strongest political institutions in Europe dissolved with barely a whisper. (Lack of CB was hindering my conquest goals. Switch to absolute monarchy for Imperialism!; also cabinet NI)
With the Empire's armies mobilized, and the diplomatic obstruction of the Advisory removed, Friedrich declared war on France. Gaul went up in flames for almost 30 years before France was reduced to a rump state in Gascony and made to pay tribute to the Emperor. Lack of foresight, however, left France with a political foothold on the continent that would last for decades to come. Determined not to make the same mistake with Castile, Friedrich IV's generals created the Serpent Plan, designed to isolate Castile from the wealth of her overseas colonies and force the government to abdicate to the Americas. The plan was executed in multiple stages, the first of which, the seizure of the Iberian coastline, took less than two years. The complete destruction of Castile would not come until 1700, in large part due to the delay caused by a timid regency for Friedrich III's great grandson, Maximilian I. (Huge blunder with France allowing them to move their capital to the coast, so I made sure to take all of castile's coastal provinces first. Would have taken Spain in the time it took my truces to expire except for the blasted regency; Church attendance duty NI happened in here, too, but I am saving that for the next update, going to pretend it happened later)
Images: The execution of the Serpent Plan and the fall of Iberia.
