The Journal of the Comnenus Family: A Trebizond AAR

The Report of Sir Charles Jacobs-to Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Members of Parliament: 7 October 1863

While digging around the city of Trebizond in the country of Turkey, I have discovered a journal of great interest. This has allowed us to date the ruins of the old city of Trebizond, which was previously impossible due to the destruction of records in Constantinople after the Hellenic Independence War.

The journal is that of the Family Comnenus, the Emperors of Trebizond. Most of it is lost, but the part after 30 December 1419 survived.

In order to facilitate ease of reading, I have translated from the Greek this was in. However, despite my prodigious knowledge of the language, I have been forced into guesswork. Rest assured, however, the message has been fundamentally unaltered.

Part 1

Sir Charles begins reading the journal.

"Continuation of the Reign of Alexios Kommenos, Fourth ruler of Trebizond of that name.

'1 January 1419
Being the 2nd year of my Reign

…The response to our proposal of a marriage between the two great houses of the Byzantine Empire came today. It has been denied. None the matter, we still have good relations with the Emperors in Constantinople.

4 January 1419

It seems the Ottoman Turks are growing more warlike. It looks as if their armies are preparing to invade the area of our Empire around Constantinople. We must be on our guard.

17 February 1419

The Turks grow more restless. The several states are banding together. Candar, around the city of Kastamonu, has joined with the Ottomans in a military alliance. They look bloodthirsty.

5 April 1419

The Emperor in Constantinople has reconsidered his previous rejection of our offer. The marriage will take place as soon as possible.

1 May 1419

Finally! Trebizond seems to be ready to fight on the seas. Due to advances in naval technology, I have ordered all ships outfitted with the latest equipment.

1 June 1419

A group of merchants have set out for Venice in order to trade with Europe. I hope that we will gain money from this…

3 June 1419

Terrible news has reached the court. The Kingdom of Georgia, thinking us weak, has begun to invade our Empire. Fools. They shall be driven back presently.'

"From this section we can see that the country was surprised by the attack by Georgia. Their entire focus was on the south and west, towards the Turks and Byzantines. This is all I have translated so far. I shall translate another part and return when I have finished."

Originally posted by Sytass
Oh, this is reminiscent of MrT's Drums in the deep AAR.

"They're coming."

Looking forward to more of this.

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No "drums in the deep" with Georgia, I'll tell you that right now.

am a bit surprised that Georgia declared war on Trebizond considering that both countries are orthodox. Why pick on a potential ally against the Ottomans? Fools...

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Exactly what Alexius thought. Don't ask me why, the AI doesn't think too far ahead. I just happened to be a seemingly weak neighbour.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and *ahem* "translate" () more of the diary.

27 June 1419

Constantinople is prepared to defend us and help against Georgia. They are sending troops on their ships even as I write this.

5 August 1419

Money has begun to flow in from our merchants in Venice. Things are going well there, it seems.

17 August 1419

News comes in from the east. The Bohemians, a tribe of barbarians, have thrown off the yoke of the Bishop of Rome. Perhaps they are not as barbaric as they first seem.

12 October 1419

They come! The armies of Georgia have arrived. Our forces are ready, arrayed near Yusufeli. The battle will begin!

21 October 1419

Ha! The Georgians have been driven back easily. The battle was simple. Not that it looked that way at first. They easily outnumbered us. But Trebizond will not fall to numbers.

Their battle line was straightforward—infantry in front, archers behind them, some cavalry in the back. Our battle line was organized so: infantry in the middle, ready to take the attack. Archers behind for support. Cavalry on the wings, ready to swoop down on their flanks.

The battle went exactly as planned. They attacked directly. Once they hit our line, the cavalry took out the small groups in front of them. They spread panic amongst the archers. One group hit other cavalry. The enemy was cut down. Among the dead was found the enemy general. His back was turned to us.

The enemy broke. Our cavalry nearly trapped them. But they eventually escaped, although decimated. We will now march into Georgia.

24 October 1419

I have sent General Willamos Sermanos forward while I continue to administer the country. Sermanos has pledged to “make Georgia howl!” Here’s to hoping he does so.

"This shows how well the country rallied and prepared for the invasion. The Battle of Yusufeli (the Turkish name of the city) was obviously a complete slaughter. But even in war, Alexios seems concerned with administrative matters. An excellent king, I would say."

18 November 1419

A few days earlier I caught up with General Sermanos’ army after finishing up administrative matters. It seems he is ready to attack the Georgian army. Today was spent maneuvering the armies into position. Their army is on a formidable hill. The main force of ours is hidden behind another one, while a small group sits in a village below the hill.

19 November 1419

Another glorious day! Practically nothing remains of the enemy army. We began to burn the town, forcing the enemy general to bring his army down to stop us. When we attacked, he likely thought we were doomed—a thousand men against over seven times that number?

That was until General Sermanos struck from behind his hill. I led my cavalry to hit the enemy general on the other flank. His cavalry broke, but we caught all of them. Foolishly, the first group King Alexander had sent out was his archers. They were cut down by more cavalry.

Sermanos struck from the flank and rear. The enemy was surrounded. They fought hard—most never surrendered, but died on the field. Quite the fools, actually. They would have been better off surrendering. And even better fate: King Alexander of Georgia was among the few captured. Quite useful to put on the table when the time to negotiate comes.

26 November 1419

Another token force attacks us. They have been cut to pieces.

1 January 1420
Being the 3rd year of my Reign

Winter strikes hard in the mountains. We are besieging the enemy, but we do have to deal with a few supply problems. Odd, however, that we are even having problems. I made sure to set up a secure route.

6 January 1420

Some more hunger. A few are deserting. Some say they should be back home, defending against the Turks—why? They are not threatening us now.

9 January 1420

Supplies! The army rejoices. But with the supply train comes dire news indeed.

The Turks have invaded Trebizond.

10 January 1420

I have called for a truce in the war. The enemy has accepted. Negotiations are beginning. We shall return to Trebizond to defend our country.

God be with us.

1 April 1420

We have learned much from the Georgians. I have studied their tactics for the past week intensly. I believe we are prepared for the enemy.

10 April 1420

Scouts report that Trebizond has been besieged. Our army is approaching. These mountains slow movement, however. Hopefully, we will not be too late…

14 May 1420

Hmm. The scouts report seeing Georgians among the army around Trebizond. But likely they will soon be gone. The peace has been made. Georgia was forced to give a token tribute. We are inching ever closer to Trebizond…

“The next few pages are missing”

2 August 1420

We have arrived. Our forces are arrayed against the enemy. We will scatter their army and relieve the garrison around Trebizond. For the Empire!

4 August 1420

I barely escaped alive. Our army was completely destroyed. I led a charge—then veered left to make sure the supplies made it to Trebizond. Our army will not need it anymore. There is no army.

Our force hit them head-on. The enemy reeled for a second. For a while it looked as if they would break. Our cavalry hit from behind—victory was at hand! Then they counterattacked. First the infantry broke. The archers were cut down mercilessly. Those who surrendered were killed.

The cavalry was doing well. General Sermanos was killing Turks left and right. But an arrow put an end to that. Through the skull—Oh, terrible! My horse took me from the field at that point. The supplies had made it. Trebizond will last for at least six more months.

News from the west comes hard. Constantinople is surrounded by Turks. That city may fall as well. The Ottoman Turks use fire and smoke to shatter the walls.

I have made it to our great city. The people welcomed the supplies with a cheer—then saw I had no army behind me. Five thousand men stand between the Turks and the Black Sea.

God be with us.

6 August 1420

I have ordered rationing to store for the hard times to come.

1 January 1421
Being the 4th year of my Reign

Food is starting to become scarce. We cannot hold out. In my dreams, I hear a Turk, laughing. Oh, a horrid laugh. I now begin to hear it during the day as well. Never can I escape it!

13 April 1421

Please! The laugh! I cannot avoid it! Please, make it stop!

The people think me mad. Ha! Madness sits outside our walls. Madness is the way of the Turk, not my way. They do not wish to see so, though.

27 May 1421

The new Ottoman sultan, Murad II, is visiting their camp outside the walls. Our archers attempted to take a shot at them, but missed.

The laugh has a new voice. Murad’s voice. It will not go away!

15 June 1421

No! Not The Laugh again! Please! Do not—NO! AAGH!

3 August 1421

I cannot go on. No more laugh. But the same three words course through my mind. “Trebizond will fall. Trebizond will fall. Trebizond will fall..."

There is no escape! Now more noise. The Turks blast their horns. And beat their drums. Drums. No! The pounding… This is it. Please, no! Alexios will not be captured.

God be with the garrison!

“Now we know that Alexius became insane during his last year as Emperor of Trebizond. The day of the last entry, which was bloodstained and crumpled, was, according to the documents we found around the city, the day the Turks prevailed. They had brought one cannon along, which demolished a wall. Their army ran in. All the forces stood until they were cut down by the Turks. The final group to go was some archers, their back to a wall. With a cry, they attacked. The final one to die shouted, ‘God save Trebizond!’

“Beside the journal we found a skeleton, that of Alexius Comnenus. A sword, rusted with age, confirmed our suspicions. It almost certainly had been driven through the Emperor's body. Alexius’ own hand clutched the hilt. He had committed suicide. The Turks utterly demolished the city and built a new one, Trapzon, two miles away.

“Constantinople was saved when the Emperor there pledged to pay a yearly tribute. However, in 1450 he refused to pay. The Turks, under Mehmed II, finally captured the city in 1453. By 1460, the last vestiges of the Roman Empire, on the southern tip of the Peloponnesian peninsula, had surrendered to Mehmed.

The Turks eventually, as you know, cut out an empire from Hungary to Iraq, from Algiers to Egypt. But this collapsed, and the Greeks revolted in 1820, with the memory of the sackings of Constantinople and Trebizond still fresh in their minds.”