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Volume 1: Chapter I

The Late Period Empire, 1444 A.D., and the Conquest of Trebizond

As mentioned in my preface, I have termed this era of the Roman Empire as the “Late Period” starting after the crusader defeat at the Battle of Varna, 10 November 1444 AD. Hitherto, I will not explain why I have created the terminology; if you’re interested you may return back to the preface and read the second paragraph which explains this.

The Empire of Rome, I confess, is a very poor choice of name at this time in its storied history. While it had some legitimate claims in calling itself the continued empire as founded by Augustus Caesar, the territories under the control of the emperor, who was based in the imperial city of Constantinople, did not extend much beyond the walls of the city. While the claimed authority also presided over the Peloponnese Peninsula, this territory was under the authority of the μέγας δομέστικος - megas domestikos, or Great Domestic, who was Constantine Palaiologos, the eighth child of the Emperor Manuel II and brother to the Emperor John VIII. Additionally, there was unfinished business with the Komnenos Family, who continued to style themselves as the true successors and emperors of Rome, although their authority did not extend much beyond the mountains fortress they called their home (to a certain degree, their claim was perhaps more legitimate from a purely lineage standpoint, since they were related, although by very distantly, to the great emperors of the Komnenos Dynasty of the eleventh and twelfth centuries).

The Emperor John, who was still contemplating how to deal with the more immediate Mohammedan threat, posed by the Sultan of the Turks, called upon his younger brother, the Great Domestic of Morea, to mobilize the Imperial army to bring the Komnenians back into line. While John initially thought to restore Imperial authority to Trebizond via diplomacy, the ruling emperor of Trebizond, John IV Komnenos, rejected all attempts by John to reunify the two “empires” under a single authority that would be headed by a Palaiologoi. Instead, John IV of Trebizond insulted John VIII of Constantinople by writing him that if he would be so kind, as to acknowledge the claims of the Komnenos Family as being the true legacies of the Roman emperor, and therefore subject himself to Komnenian authority – then single authority could be restored. This of course, was something that John VIII would never accept.

Thus, Constantine Palaiologos, Great Domestic of the Morea and Captain of the Imperial Army, gathered his forces at the Golden Horn to be transported by the Roman fleet into the Black Sea and catch the pretender Komnenos off guard. Naturally however, it would be inappropriate to call this Roman Army much of an army, or their fleet, much of a navy. The Imperial Palaiologan Army numbered just 6,000 men, and their navy was not at all impressive, totaling nine proper vessels. As a result, fishing vessels and other small boats were confiscated to transport the 4,000 men under Constantine’s command into the Black Sea for their prospective invasion of Trebizond.

During the nativity of the Lord, the Imperial Army left the Golden Horn for the Black Sea, destined for the beaches of Trebizond, hoping to catch the army of Trebizond by surprise (it is also appropriate to jeer at the suggestion that the emperor of Trebizond had an army under his rule – his “imperial army” was half that of Romans, although – due to naval neglect, the sizes of both armies that would eventual meet in the mountains of eastern Anatolia were of almost equal size. The journey across the Black Sea took a devastating toll on some of the men. Those who were not fortunate enough to be transported on one of the nine Roman warships, those poor souls being transported by fishing boats and other small pieces of wood that would make any Englishman snicker at the suggestion that a two-by-four would be called a ship, had to hug the shoreline during the entire expedition. Even at that, some of the fishing boats were lost, and several hundred men drowned on the journey. A young Roman soldier wrote, “I can finally understand how poor Odysseus must have felt during his return from Troy. If Poseidon does exist, then I shall pray to the Lord he is kept contained until our safe passage to the shores of Trebizond.”


A more contemporary painting of the Golden Horn at sunset. The Horn was considered to be, along with St. Peter and Paul's Square in Rome, among the most majestic and beautiful places in the entire world. It still is, to a certain degree, true today.

This letter is most interesting for three reasons. First, the soldier mentions Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s Odyssey – meaning that some of the Greek classics were still distributed and read even among the lower classes of Romans, whom this soldier probably was part of. In comparison, the “more advanced” Latins were still slumbering in the darkness when it came to reading anything of literary merit. Second, the soldier calls into question a Pagan deity. This seemingly gives some meritorious concern that many Protestants had – in claiming that the Catholic and Eastern Churches had been infiltrated by Pagan traditions – and that their attempts to “purify” the Church of Christ were therefore valid. However, it should not come as much surprise that – under the circumstances, with the Romans actually having read the classics of Homer, in which the Olympian gods are central characters aiding the heroic Greeks in their struggle against the Trojans, would have made such references to them – whether they had any sincere belief in their existence or not cannot be established. Third, the soldier again shows the importance of religious piety by praying to the Lord, Christ, for safe passage until they reach their destination (upon which he probably would pray again for deliverance in battle).

In early 1445 AD, the Roman navy had made headway to the beaches of Trebizond and had landed on the soft sands of the of the pretending successors of Caesar, Augustus, Trajan, and Constantine. This move caught the Komnenian Army of Trebizond completely by surprise. The Emperor John IV of Trebizond fled the city with his wife and mistress, making safe passage into the mountains and fleeing to the Kingdom of Georgia – where he would court the King to help him push back the Roman army from the only real city of importance under his dominion. However, the Komnenian Army, which was not as frightened as their emperor, gathered to do battle with the Romans (if not to do anything but show the “pretender” Romans who were the “true” Romans). The Battle of Trebizond was about to begin, and the final question as to whom held the true title of Caesar, was about to be determined after 200 years of petty rivalry, jealousy, and formal confusion as to which of the noble families that had escaped the sack of Constantinople more than 200 years ago, could truly call themselves Emperor of the Romans.

The sight of the Roman army at the beaches of Trebizond should not be stylized as something romantic, mythological, or even heroic. It would have been more like a band of brigands had arrived than an actual army. Had the Romans been fighting anyone else, perhaps one could look back at the siege of Trebizond with some sense of pride, encouragement, or audacity on the part of the Romans – but any such notions would be untrue. Even so, the army that claimed to be the scions of the legions of Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar would had borne little resemblance to the fighting machines that fought in the Punic Wars or during Caesar’s Conquest of the Gallic tribes – in fact, those two model armies of the Republic would have had little resemblance to one another, so for the Romans to claim that their forces still resembled what was, for a great deal of time, the most effective military in the world, seems dubious.

The morale of the Imperial army was lackluster at best, but having experienced two-and-a-half centuries of defeat after defeat, it is a miraculous feat that the army decided to fight after journeying out of the Golden Horn, across the Black Sea, and landing at the beaches of Trebizond. The fighting style of the Romans had changed little since the composition and tactics of the Komnenian Army of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, another reason that precipitated their military decline after the Palaiologoi Restoration. One tradition that was however, remarkably similar to the legions of Caesar was the bearing of the Imperial regalia at the head columns of the Roman fighting force.

Although, since the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of the empire, the traditional Eagle and Banner markers indicating the Legion number had long been forgotten, replaced by flags bearing the face of the Son of God or the Virgin Mother – the same idea held true. The Roman army therefore, as it composed itself and marched toward the city of Trebizond, had in the foreground of the marching column the Tetragrammic cross, a red colored flag separated into four squares by a yellow cross – with each square bearing the Greek letter beta in each corner. The composition of the letter beta in the four corners roughly denoted the phrase, “King of Kings, the ruler of other kings.” This motto was inherited by the old empire of Constantine, and was unmistakably Roman in its origin (conversely it may have been of Persian origins). Therefore, to see a red-stained flag, presumably the blood of the martyrs past, with beta, beta, beta, beta, marching toward you – that generally meant one should cower in fear at the approaching army. In this case, neither the phrase, nor the general reaction would seem appropriate.


The famous Roman flag, with the phrase Βασιλεὺς βασιλέων βασιλεύων βασιλεύουσιν, hence the betas, roughly denoting the phrase, "King of Kings, the ruler of other kings."

The “King of Kings” was isolated to the confines of a single city. In fact, upon John VIII’s return from Italy – he never again left the walls of Constantinople. Furthermore, this King of Rome did not rule over or demand tribute from other kings, let alone was he the King of Rome, as the motto implies; the reverse was true, the King of Kings was being ruled over by other kings and often had to pay them tribute just for his own survival. Lastly, the vaunted war machines of Caesar, Titus, and Constantine would have been ashamed that an army that hadn’t seen a notable victory in over two centuries had the audacity to call itself the Army of Rome, let alone the heir to the Roman Legion. Instead of fear, for many centuries, a Roman army marching toward you meant victory was imminent for your forces, not Rome’s.

Despite so much against the Roman army, it had one great advantage in its arsenal, Constantine Palaiologos, who was, for his time, a very fine commander – given the circumstances that surrounded him. His best attribute in battle was the utter terror and shock he could install into an enemy army in the midst of battle, most often at a critical moment or an inopportune time from his opponents perspective. The Komnenian Army that was sent to meet him, numbering around 3,000 men, fell right into his trap. The mountain roads meant that few forces could actually engage one another in a pitched battle, and the Komnenian Army, expecting such a fight, deployed in the valleys below the canyons in a single block line. The Roman army accepted the challenge, but only deployed half of their force, roughly 2,000 men, in the same valley to meet the Komnenian resistors. Constantine divided the rest of his men into two parallel columns that would dash around the valley from both sides and strike the Komnenian army from the rear, preventing their escape. Clearly Constantine had favor from God, for the Komnenian general did not recognize the Roman movements on the mountain passes on his flanks, and when the battle commenced, if the Komnenian army did not score a decisive victory in the early hours of fighting, then all would be lost.

The two forces marched slowly toward one another before finally meeting. The men, when they met, probably thrust their shields toward their opponents, hoping to jar their footing before closing in with their sword or spear. The fighting grew increasingly intense, and all discipline broke into a general rabble with individual soldiers from both armies breaking ranks, finding someone to fight, and proceed to try and kill one another in any manner possible. Some would strangle their opponent with their hands, and others would pick up loose rocks and bash them into the heads of the man who considered himself to be the proper Roman. The less masculine winced at the chance to fight in a dignified manner, and resorted to trickery and deception to defeat their man, like lying down among the dead then rising up with a sword in hand and thrusting it into the most inhumane of places. As the valley turned red with blood, and the Komnenian army beginning to reel back, they were suddenly met with a sharp thrust of steel into their rear. By the time the Komnenian army had realized what happened, the battle, if one could call it that, turned into a slaughter. The entire Komnenian army was trapped and killed – in a rare display of true Roman valor, that is, to have shown little mercy to an opponent who was clearly defeated, which was much the custom of the Roman army after the conquests of Justinian. The entire Komnenian force had vanished, and if there were any survivors, they were most likely incorporated into the Roman army under Constantine, who ultimately suffered no more than 600 casualties during the engagement.


An Italian fresco depicting the Battle of Trebizond. Note the historical inaccuracy as the Romans are dressed in improper Latin heavy armor and weaponry. This was a common practice in Western European art for many centuries throughout the Medieval and into the Renaissance period.

With a rare victory behind them, Constantine marched his army to the gates of Trebizond, where a small and hasty defense force of about 2,000 men stood. Constantine, ever being the diplomat, offered the city terms of surrender at first, rather than put it to the sword. In this sense, perhaps one might consider the Greek speakers to be better Christians than the Latins, for the former seemed to take to heart Jesus’ message that “he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,” a message that was seemingly absent from the Latin armies ever since the days of Saint Augustine. Instead of accepting the rather generous surrender terms, the commander of the guard, whose name has been lost to history, declined. The next day, Constantine, without any proper siege equipment, decided to lay siege to the city. The only way this was possible was to simply starve it from within. The Roman army simply stood outside the walls, looking at the Komnenian army inside the walls, who appropriately looked back, and perhaps on occasion, offered a salutary wave to the Romans outside the walls. However, matters would become more complicated when the Komnenian emperor secured a war declaration, of liberation, from the Georgian King – who proceeded to mobilize a truer fighting force of 10,000 men to break the “siege” of Trebizond and restore John IV to his throne. News of this impending storm reached Constantine, who quickly hastened a defense of his position, once again resorting to trickery and deception to defeat the much larger Georgian army, but who could blame him given the situation that presented itself?


 
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Those "Romans" are suffering from a very bad stroke of very bad luck (Bladrick dixit).
 
You set a great tone with the state of the Roman navy and army. There was a sense of what once was great, now was a mere shadow.

I could almost see Constantine loving the taste of victory, but when learning of the 10,000 troops from Georgia, thinking maybe it’s time to get back on the boats and return home. But, no…he cries, “let us learn who we are!”
Cliffhanger!

Great job.
 
Hmmm, if the ancient texts are still in use, that perhaps military drill scripts are somewhere around too? No matter the size, those ~6000 soldiers could still proove formidable Legion of the past if trained well.

Constantine seems like a formidable man, perhaps he could do a reform to bring back the roots beeing Roman...

And i might sound akward, even for such bizantiphile like me, but i hate that flag! tessares beta looks too autistic.
 
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Good writing on what happened, should be interesting to see what happens when the Georgian army arrives.
 
Those "Romans" are suffering from a very bad stroke of very bad luck (Bladrick dixit).

Luck will have everything to do with what happens next. Tyche is certainly paying the old Romans a welcome visit! :cool:

You set a great tone with the state of the Roman navy and army. There was a sense of what once was great, now was a mere shadow.

I could almost see Constantine loving the taste of victory, but when learning of the 10,000 troops from Georgia, thinking maybe it’s time to get back on the boats and return home. But, no…he cries, “let us learn who we are!”
Cliffhanger!

Great job.

I am glad you picked up on the tone, I worked especially hard to create the atmosphere, which I thought would provide a greater imagery when reading, rather than dry dribble on how I moved the army to attack Trebizond and so-forth! Alas, this is how much of the writing will be (or at least I think it will be) hereon. Not to say the typical "this is what happened" is a problem, I want the pages to breathe life!

Ah, perfect time to remind those Caucasians who is the boss!

Is that the proper term for people from the Caucasus Mountains? I learn something new everyday! :blink: Now I don't need to painfully fumble trying to find a dictionary... (cough, I have 4!, bahahaha)...they look nice on my book shelves.

Hmmm, if the ancient texts are still in use, that perhaps military drill scripts are somewhere around too? No matter the size, those ~6000 soldiers could still proove formidable Legion of the past if trained well.

Constantine seems like a formidable man, perhaps he could do a reform to bring back the roots beeing Roman...

And i might sound akward, even for such bizantiphile like me, but i hate that flag! tessares beta looks too autistic.

ca. 6000 men would still be a nice sized force and an equivalent sized army would create a nice sized engagement historically, this much is true. Yet, the days of armies in the 10,000s is quickly vanishing - the armies of grander scale will be fast approaching. But then again, there is the in-game troop numbers to be mindful of... we don't want to much artistic liberty when this is a "history" AAR.

Good writing on what happened, should be interesting to see what happens when the Georgian army arrives.

I think rocks are in order! :p
 
To All:

I think it is ironic that I am now about to write a long historiographical paper for my work on the Fall of the Roman Empire, now I have to keep my facts straight! :eek:

Does anyone know Arabic? :blink: I can't read what Arabic historians have said about the topic - so I am stuck with all Europeans, and starting with Gibbon until the late 1980s, they are absolutely brutal in their salvos against "Byzantium." Oh well, I suppose my conclusion will have to be a rebuttal.

I should update again sometime this weekend I think.

Btw, I highly recommend two books I recently found for anyone Byzantine lover: The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora by Stephanie Thornton and 1453 by Roger Crowley, although I have some reservations with Crowley's conclusion for our contemporary world.

Cheers!
 
Chapter I

War with Georgia, Constantine's Victory at the "Battle of the Sun"

The Georgian army that had gathered at the bequest of John IV Komnenos was personally being led by the King of Georgia – Vakhtang IV, a man of limited talents, who would preside over the collapse of Georgia as an independent people during his reign. That said, the military force that he had mobilized to face the rather mundane threat posed by the Roman invasion of Trebizond was worthy, to a certain degree, of being called an army. Of course, a force of 10,000 men seems relatively small in comparison to contemporary sized armies, but for the late medieval age, particularly for a relatively modest kingdom as Georgia was at the time – 10,000 men is a somewhat remarkable feat and could prove to be a very capable and deadly force when in action.

Constantine therefore, who was informed of this impending storm that was marching toward him, had little option but to stand his ground and prepare an intricate battle plan to counter the size superiority of the Georgian army. Ever the cautious planner, whose main military philosophy was to analyze the geography of the surrounding countryside to gain any and every advantage possible, a tactic that would be incorporated to more successful use by the armies of the Habsburg’s, decided that his only prospect of victory, with his force of around 3500 men was to use the deep mountain passes, caves, and slender roads to his advantage before finally succumbing to a more decisive engagement. Naturally, one might consider such tactics to be ungentlemanly, and you would be right – but when victory is your only option, for defeat would almost certainly guarantee extermination, like the rodent, one must do anything to survive and hopefully – prosper.

As the Georgian army neared Trebizond, they were met by the Romans in a series of brutal hit-and-run engagements, with small bands of Roman soldiers inflicting severe damage, both in terms of blood and psychology, to the prospective Georgian liberators. As the Georgians, who were marching along the narrow mountain paths, would form to pursue the small group of Romans raining javelins, arrows, and even rocks down upon them – these groups numbered no more than 20 or 30 men at a time; would quickly retreat into the caves and deep mountain mazes where the Georgians could not pursue them to any effectiveness. By the time the Georgian army had reached the plains of Trebizond, they had lost some 2,000 men to largely negligible casualty levels for the Romans. Although they still greatly outnumbered Constantine’s army – this was offset by the morale and psychological trauma that had been inflicted upon them by the Roman guerillas.


An image of Constantine Palaiologos, Great Domestic of the Morea, and General of the Imperial Armies, brother of Emperor John VIII, and heir to the Roman throne.

The most effective weapon during this ungentlemanly campaign waged by the Romans, was the javelin, a successor to the Roman pilla of the republican era armies. One might think them akin to our modern day firearms, in the sense that multiple “shots” could be “fired” by a single soldier, to consider the javelin even remotely similar to a firearm is unfair to both weapons. While it is obvious the javelin is inferior to our modern weapons – it was a technological marvel during its day – much like the crossbow. It would be fired by a soldier as if throwing a ball, for a lack of a better comparison, with the soldier either tossing it into a crowd of soldiers across from them, or in this case – below them, or perhaps, if one was really confident of his abilities – target a single soldier, so in this sense, some wielders of this weapon could be seen as the world’s first sharpshooters. The javelin was often around the same length as a man, perhaps longer, and was finished with a long, thin, and incredibly deadly piece of steel that was designed to cut through a human body like a warm knife through butter. To be hit by one of these weapons would certainly mean your death. And to see your friend, who moments ago was talking to you, to suddenly be speared in the head or shoulder from one of these weapons – the psychological trauma cannot be described, let alone imagined.

So by the time the Georgian army gathered for battle, one might say, despite their numerically superior size, the battle was very much even because of the poor morale. But like a proper king leading his men, King Vakhtang positioned himself at the helm of his troops – unlike the coward John IV, who courageously positioned himself in the rear of the Georgian army, personally protected by a circle of his palace guards. Constantine gathered his men and faced parallel the Georgian army, and when the trumpets sounded and judgment day came – the two bodies of men slowly marched toward one another, many knowing that this would be the day that if an afterlife is true, many would soon be ushered into it.

Indeed, by the time the armies had met one another – like two blocks of human walls finally collided together – the bloodshed was incomprehensible from a percentage standpoint. While there have been battles with a far great sum of soldiers and spectators killed, the Second Battle of Trebizond, which is a bad name since it was still part of the larger siege of Trebizond, certainly saw one of the highest proportion of casualties among any battle in history. Some would later call this battle the Battle of the Sun, to distinguish it from the previous battle and the ongoing siege. As mentioned, the Georgian force, being a little over twice the size of the Roman army – suffered the worst of the clash of titans (I confess also, that the word titan to describe both the Roman and Georgian armies is meant to be more figurative than actual).

The two armies had at one another for the span of three days. Each day, by sundown, the armies would retire to their camp and rest under the pale moon light. Had either side assaulted the other in camp – perhaps the outcome of the battle, and the siege, would have been different; certainly, the Romans would had been at the disadvantage had the Georgians made such a move.

On the third day of battle, the sun rose over the Roman camp, an omen from Christ that God’s favor was with Constantine and his army, or so it has been mythologized. By this day, the Roman army was at about half-strength, comprising no more than 2,000 men from their original 3,500 or less. The Georgian army still held a numerical advantage, with about 4,000 or fewer men (having lost half their numbers from the previous two days of battle, both sides were looking at this day to be the final calling card to end the conflict). Taking advantage of the blinding rising sun behind them, Constantine ordered a full advance into the Georgian ranks, who, as they awakened to the sun rising before them – blinding many as the Romans advanced, the Romans had managed to catch the Georgians by surprise. The screams of the dying echoed through the countryside, and the Georgian King lost his entire personal entourage while escaping to his horse to flee the ongoing slaughter on behalf of the Roman army. The slaughter was unmeasurable, by all accounts, Roman soldiers slew Georgian men while some were still sleeping – others were sliced down trying to escape barely dressed. By noon, the battle had ended, and the Georgian army, no more than 1,500 men or so, retired from the plains and headed back to their borders dejected and defeated. In the bloodshed that ensued, Constantine’s army stood victorious outside the walls of Trebizond, totaling an equal force of about 1,500 or so men.


The "Battle of the Sun" (the Second Battle of Trebizond), depicting the Roman surprise attack on the Georgian camp and the slaughter that ensued.

With the retirement of the Georgian army from the field, with the King personally leading the retreat back to Georgia, the Romans were left in prime position to strike the final blow against the Komnenian city. In fact, a surprise had arisen when it was learned that Emperor John IV was among the captive. Constantine, after the battle, had the surviving men kneel and offer up a prayer to God for the deliverance in their time of need. According to Diogenes, mid-way through the celebratory prayer, Constantine was informed that John was among the captive, to which Constantine quoted Ephesians during Christ’s harrowing of Hell, reciting in celebratory joy – “He has made captivity captive” [1]. By evening, Constantine had invited the captured emperor into his tent.

John IV, expecting the worse, believed that the tent of Constantine would be his grave site – for when he entered, he uttered the words, “If you shall send me to the Lord, let it be now!” Constantine smiled at the gesture, laid his hands upon John and replied, “My brother, emperor of Rome, has a better choice for you and your family.” An agreement was reached between the two that would bring about the end of the siege, which had been going on for many months by now. John was to concede all authority to John VIII in Constantinople. In return for acknowledging Imperial authority as headed in Constantinople, John would retain his political power in Trebizond.

This was not much of a surprise during the late period empire, even for the empire in the centuries preceding it. While the empire existed on paper, the various territories under Imperial authority only gave lip-service to the emperor in Constantinople. After all, few emperors dared to venture outside the walls of the protected city. As a result, the territories under Imperial authority fell into the hands of powerful nobles, who, although to some degree loyal to the ruling Palaiologoi emperor in the city on the Bosphorus, had more direct control over the affairs of his region. When John IV surrendered the city of Trebizond on New Years’ day 1447, he followed this same pattern by swearing his allegiance to Emperor John VIII, who was still sheltered in the confines of the Imperial Palace, but he himself still wielded much autonomy. Although he was stripped of his title as emperor, and renamed Duke of Trebizond, this plague of pseudo authority would continue to plague the political function of the empire throughout much of John VIII’s reign.

The ending of hostilities gave the Romans a base along the shores of the Black Sea, an important location as Trebizond was ideally situated to be a minor partner in the lucrative outgoing trade from Italian traders in the Crimean Peninsula. The re-establishment of Trebizond under imperial dominion also provided Rome with an outlet to the farther East, and the possibility of taking part in the greater trade routes from Persia became an open possibility. Even still, one should not commend this success as any revival of the empire – it was still heavily outnumbered and outmanned by their Mohammedan rivals, they were still primarily based at the city of crossroads, without the force to properly exert imperial authority or defense outside the city walls.

When Constantine returned to Constantinople, who processed into the city as the old tradition of Rome dictated, in victorious triumph! Although, given the economic destitution of the empire, the ceremony was not akin to Titus or Constantine the Great. But, the ceremony was still a grand display of Roman civic pride and virtue.


An inaccurate and overly romantic depiction of the procession of Constantine into Constantinople following the success of the Trebizond War, 1445-1447. The painter went to great lengths to depict Constantine in the image of Titus Flavius, note the inclusion of the Menorah under the arch. Constantine was at the height of his fame and popularity, he would soon depart back for the Morea to take up his noble residence, again waiting for the call to captain the armies if necessary.


NOTES:

[1] Ephesians Chapter 4, Verse 8.

-----

*Naturally, imbedded game mechanics prevent any battle from being fought as such in the actual game. Yet, seeing that this is a history AAR, I will be remaking the in-game battles to reflect a more accurate depiction of what war and engagements would have been like in the time period. Naturally, there are no month-long battles, etc. Thus, such “battles” effectually become campaigns, with smaller engagements culminating in the large battle that brings about a final winner and loser, or alternatively, the battle(s) will last a much shorter time for the sake of recreating a more historically accurate text (example at Battle that lasted from June 3-27, will have just been fought on June 3 when I report it in the AAR text). As for the case above, thank God for the mountain terrain advantage given to the defender, and for Constantine’s shock value of 5! :cool:
 
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Shock value 5 sounds enough brutal to maybe allow you to beat smaller Ottoman forces. :p

Btw, are you using Byzantine units, or Ottoman units? The latter could be better at the start of the game.
 
An EUIV historybook AAR crafted from the old-school mould, written with flair and one which at times is about as informative as an actual history of the period, only more enjoyable I suspect. Brilliant stuff so far, I particularly enjoyed your descriptions of the Byzantine Army, and your explanation of the deadliness of the humble (or not-so-humble) javelin. :)
 
I think that Georgia and Armenia as Eastern Christians are by all means supposed to be Greek/Bizantic Protectorates with all their respectfull lands. So if you are able to, got for vassalizing/annexing Georgia :)
 
You are off to a promising start. Do you think you should follow up and pick on Georgia?
 
Sorry to ask an odd question, what painting did you use for the battle between you and Georgia? There's something about it that is captivating.
 
Shock value 5 sounds enough brutal to maybe allow you to beat smaller Ottoman forces. :p

Btw, are you using Byzantine units, or Ottoman units? The latter could be better at the start of the game.

Yeah, but throw in the fact that he has 0 fire, 0 maneuver, and 0 siege, all my eggs are in 1 basket with him! :eek: Plus, John VIII's combat stats are less than useful so the emperor won't be commanding the armies anytime soon!

Thank God for Azab Infantry! :cool: No, I am not using Ottoman units, at least, not at this point in the AAR history. Although later on we will see a few such units make their way into the Imperial Army since Eastern Militia isn't the greatest thing in the world...

An EUIV historybook AAR crafted from the old-school mould, written with flair and one which at times is about as informative as an actual history of the period, only more enjoyable I suspect. Brilliant stuff so far, I particularly enjoyed your descriptions of the Byzantine Army, and your explanation of the deadliness of the humble (or not-so-humble) javelin. :)

Thank you so much Tanzhang! May I inquire about the Chinese script (or equivalent Asiatic script) attached to your name? I was in China conducting research for a paper that I have been working on for 1 1/2 years and absolutely loved the country - minus the pollution, but the scenery in some of the places I was at were simply awe-inspiring. If it turns out that it is not Chinese (I confess, I don't know any Asian languages) or if it's just there for other reasons just as good. I should probably leave a comment sometime on your AAR since I've been a lurking reader for about 3 weeks, although I am not yet fully caught up with it! I think what you're doing in your AAR is great! :cool:

I think that Georgia and Armenia as Eastern Christians are by all means supposed to be Greek/Bizantic Protectorates with all their respectfull lands. So if you are able to, got for vassalizing/annexing Georgia :)

It will become a later policy of a later emperor to try and re-unite all Orthodox Christians under the Universal Empire (Pentarchy) a la Justinian. Georgia might be feeling the might of Rome in some forthcoming updates, since I've survived into 1460 thus far, and have written 24 pages of text to that point - but have yet to plug them into the AAR thus far - I have other things to do, and plus, I think a twice-a-week posting system is about as fast as I think one should go (gives you readers who are all so important for motivational reasons to not fall behind).

You are off to a promising start. Do you think you should follow up and pick on Georgia?

I am not in the capacity to strike into Georgia, but I have plans for Georgia in the coming chapters. I think my planned Ch. 5 will bring us back to Georgia.

Sorry to ask an odd question, what painting did you use for the battle between you and Georgia? There's something about it that is captivating.

ditto Agistournas. As for the depiction of the painting, I've read that it is supposed to represent the Battle of Achelous (917 AD) between Byzantine and Bulgarian forces, although I cannot verify the source. Salvator Rosa is one of my favorite Baroque-Era painters.

Batalla by Salvator Rosa (Louvre Museum)

You are going to put me out of business! :p You might be able to help me concerning the actual painting, I've read that it might be depicting Achelous, 917, but the source I read that from did not have additional reference material to support the claim, other than it linked the painting with the battle. It could very well just be an imaginative painting of what war was like and therefore is not depicting an actual event. Since you know Rosa, and you knew Cole, I figure you must be a cultured man of the arts like me. I have a huge book from Vienna going over Baroque-Era paintings and painters which I find fascinating and soothing all at the same time!
 
Chapter II

The Influence of Sea Power Upon the Course of History, Rome Rebuilds her Navy

Since the days of the old Roman-Punic rivalries, perhaps going back even farther to the Greek invasion of Troy – the navy has always held a special place in the formation, expansion, and eventual decline of empires. The Greek invasion of Troy was possible due to their naval superiority over their Trojan foes, and even after Troy had fallen – the fateful ship that carried Aeneas and the Trojan survivors away from the burning city to their eventual destination in Rome, the very birth of the Roman Empire was centered upon the navy. The Roman-Punic wars may have seen a pantheon of heroes on land, including the great captains of battle like Hannibal and Scipio, but the ultimate demise of the children of Queen Dido was the eventual decay of the Punic navy, once the greatest naval-bearing peoples of antiquity – was surpassed by the Romans to the north of them. The fall of Carthage was only possible by the landing of Roman troops by ship, and the conquest of her docks by the Roman fleet.


Aeneas fleeing Troy with his aging father. The legend of the Aeneid depicts Aeneas's flight from Troy to Carthage, where he meets Queen Dido, betrays her, and comes to be a founder of Rome, which also served as explanation of the Punic Wars and a legitimization of the transition from republic to empire under Augustus.

After the Barbarians sacked Rome, and the gravity of power within the Roman Empire shifted to the city on the Bosphorus, the Romans continued their great naval tradition. The harbor of Constantinople, situated by protection from the Golden Horn, was the most splendid dockyard of its day. Rivaled perhaps only by the Royal Navy’s dock at Chatham. For the next several centuries, the Roman navy continued to maintain the Mediterranean as their private lake. By the time of the rise of Mohammad in Arabia and the Mohammedan conquests of the Levant, bringing them to very gates of Constantinople by the ninth century – the Roman navy had turned away any hope of a quick Mohammedan victory as had been prophesied. The Roman navy, in their struggle with the Mohammedans, introduced a terrifying weapon known as Greek Fire, an elaborate weapon system that sprayed fire like from a dragon’s mouth to the poor souls that were unfortunate enough to be in its pathway. And of course, a ship made of wood and sail would just as easily catch fire as the human flesh would.

The decline of the Roman Empire in the east can be directly traced to their decaying fleet. As mentioned in our introduction – the means by which the Latin Crusaders managed to seize the seemingly impregnable city was by way of the Golden Horn – the Venetian fleet sailed into the city’s port which was lightly guarded by the entirety of the Roman navy! The great powers of the world today, by which whose prestige and power projection is measured in their ability to traverse great distances and win a war by simply starving an enemy into submission have one thing in common – a superb navy. I recall the speech given by Sir Edward Grey, claiming that, “the British army should be a projectile fired by the British Navy,” and upon my discourse of empire – I realize how true that statement is. By the time of the Palaiologoi restoration, just as the army had fallen into decay, the navy was by all means not just a former shell of itself – for that would be too generous, the Roman navy was the mold of the decay of the empire.

The successful conquest of Trebizond was measured only in the Romans ability to transport their token army to the city of the Black Sea – even at that, it was unremarkable since the navy had to commandeer local fisherman’s boats and other small floating “ships” to ferry their men to their eventual destination. Furthermore, Emperor John, although joyous at the news of the “great” victory won by his brother Constantine – once again turned his attention to the immediate threat posed by the Mohammedans. If the Mohammedan conquest of his city was to be successful, and by all means it was only a matter of time before the Mohammedans would attempt to storm over the last vestiges of Roman culture and civilization – the Roman navy, not the army, would be the tool by which Rome would have any hope of survival.

Yet, the Imperial coffers ran dry – sucked by decades of financial mismanagement, greed, and corruption on part of the administration and aristocracy. Italian bankers, who were not very keen to giving loans to the Romans for various reasons, first and foremost being that it was a sin as dictated by the Church of Rome, and second being the Romans untrustworthy nature of repaying the loans in full – meant that the loans that the emperor may have taken out would be drastically minute in size. But the Roman emperor realized that one thing needed to be done – a complete re-armament of the Roman navy.

Therefore, by midyear 1447, having secured enough taxes through otherwise deceptive means, and by securing a few loans from the Medicci Bank by selling off some prized artwork that had managed to survive the rapture of the Venetians two centuries ago, the emperor embarked on a bold and grand naval re-armament program that was destined to bring 9 new galleys into the Roman fleet, and a handful of smaller ships for port defense and transport. Yet, another problem quickly arose – while the funds necessary to secure a rebuilding of the Roman navy was at hand, the dockyard in Constantinople was less than amble to achieve this goal alone. John had to call upon his brother Constantine to hasten a few dockyards of his own to help in the construction of the new Roman navy.

The galley is the longest serving ship in the history of warfare. While the designs have changed dramatically over the centuries, from ships intended to ram and board one another, to ships rigged with breathing fire, then a few cannons, then many cannons – the basic hull and layout of the base of the galley remained largely the same. It had a mast at the center of the ship, and generally had another at the head platform where the marines often stood to fire their weapons, which changed over time as mentioned, toward their enemies. While the age of sail could claim the ship as her own, for the wind could navigate the ship if possible, the true beauty and means of transportation for the galley was the oar, of which there were generally no less than one-hundred per ship. At times, the rowing force, often comprised of the degenerates of society, posed more a threat to the crew than an enemy vessel. While to the great seafaring powers today, to call a navy armed entirely of galleys to be the pinnacle of navy might seem odd, the galley was, for much of our history – the battleship of its day. Truth be told, a light galley could outfight larger frigates and even low rate ship of the lines into the late eighteenth century under certain circumstances. Today’s coastal defense battleships can be seen, to some extent, as the direct heirs to the archipelago galleys that protected the Baltic and Mediterranean empires into the nineteenth century.


A sketch of the stages of building a galley. The galley would continue to serve a prominent role of the navies of the Mediterranean and Baltic well into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Opposite the Roman navy was the Mohammedan navy of the Turkic Bey, whom we shall refer to as Sultan, or king. The Turkic navy was one of the largest and most powerful fleets in the world in the middle of the fifteenth century. The fleet was comprised of many galleys and smaller ships, many armed with cannons. The Mohammedans were the first to pioneer the concept of cannon fire from their ships, something that gave them an incredible advantage over the Romans and other rivals during their age of expansion – while they could bombard their opponents, their opponents had to close the distance to either ram, board, or fire back with arrows and javelins. Furthermore, the Roman navy’s eclipse into decay meant poor morale, poor leadership, and a lack of enthusiasm for new recruits to fill the crews upon the completion of the first few galleys by the end of the 1447, was made worse by the fact that the Mohammedans were among the finest sailors in the world; easily rivaling the Italians. Their tactics were brilliant, and their leaders were trained in the art of naval warfare – a concept that Europe would later borrow.

The emperor’s new fleet was in need of a competent figure if it stood any chance of aiding in the expansion and survival of the empire. The emperor looked to Italy, and hired a Greek expatriate, whose family had fled to Genoa following the Mohammedan conquests of the fourteenth century – Philemon Tornikes to lead the new Imperial navy, who was hired on the onset of the Roman invasion of Trebizond. Tornikes was a man of modest beginnings, and in all truth, only an average naval commander – but in his averageness, he seemed like a genius compared to the men who had been commanding the Roman navy for the prior two centuries. Tornikes was a firm believer in the doctrine we call power projection, why have a navy if you are not willing to use it? After all, not every ship you build should be expected to survive a battle, otherwise, in his words, you are not fighting a battle, let alone serious about winning a war. It is unknown whether he had prior naval experience while living in Genoa. When the calls came out that the Romans were hiring, he claimed to be an officer in the Genoese merchant fleet, but as far as I can tell, there are no records indicating otherwise (but perhaps this is because of few records exist from that day).


Greek expatriate to Genoa, now returned to his Roman homeland to lead the new Roman navy, Philemon Tornikes. Whether he had the extensive naval background as he claimed still remains a mystery even to this day.

With the experience of the naval conflict with Trebizond and Georgia behind him, and with the addition of several galleys into the fleet, bring the Roman navy to arm 13 proper warships (with an additional 6 on their way), Tornikes began an incessant drilling of the Roman sailors to increase their morale, build confidence, and increase their potential combat ability; as mentioned, their performance in the Trebizond Conquest was lackluster to say the least. He was hated by his men for this – for the Romans cared little of disciple and valor by this point in their lives. Yet, despite the animosity toward him, the men became very competent sailors and marines under his stewardship. Even the average, can achieve great things. And while Philemon Tornikes was not the most celebrated of Roman naval commanders, a great debt is owed to him for reforming and modernizing the navy in an attempt to preserve the Roman empire.



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Book Recommendation: Read Virgil’s Aeneid, it is a classic, and a wonderful read if you want to learn about Roman mythology and state legitimization and the general mindset of the Romans as they transitioned from a republic to empire under Augustus Caesar.
 
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Thank you so much Tanzhang! May I inquire about the Chinese script (or equivalent Asiatic script) attached to your name? I was in China conducting research for a paper that I have been working on for 1 1/2 years and absolutely loved the country - minus the pollution, but the scenery in some of the places I was at were simply awe-inspiring. If it turns out that it is not Chinese (I confess, I don't know any Asian languages) or if it's just there for other reasons just as good. I should probably leave a comment sometime on your AAR since I've been a lurking reader for about 3 weeks, although I am not yet fully caught up with it! I think what you're doing in your AAR is great!

Certainly. Like many such forum nicknames I'm sure, its origins lie in some obscure in-joke between friends, long ago, far away and with no relation to the Paradox fora. Along with many other things which happened several years ago, I'm a little sketchy on the details, but basically tanzhang (探長) means "search leader" (so, something akin to a head detective in a police investigation.) Phonetically, 探長 is similar to 譚張, which is basically two fairly common surnames stuck together (think Tan Zhenlin and Zhang Guotao from the Chinese Civil War... or Hearts of Iron.) The name is therefore a joke at my expense, pertaining to an incident where my inability to grasp some of the fine nuances of Chinese pronunciation was made public and greeted with much laughter - but you'd only understand why that were so if you saw the 譚張 in brackets! :D

I did enjoy your detailed description on the history and strength of the Roman Navy, especially since we all know that a strong navy is the linchpin in any Byzantine survival strategy in EUIV. (although I must confess, I didn't think that Chatham was a naval base of any real importance until the around the Tudor era.) I'm always amazed at how AAR authors can at times take what must have been in gameplay terms an incredibly banal and uneventful action (building some ships and appointing an admiral) into something that's actually interesting to read!
 
Tanzhang already said most of it, but it was a great update. The expansion of the navy...we all saw that coming. ;) but you make it sound so much more interesting than just "The Emperor built some ships. The end." :)