Chapter 23
My mother, Unia, dies at 62, a Monophysite to the last. She was getting a little older, but she was not ill, so I am a bit shocked. But I suppose any son would be taken aback at the death of a parent.
Who are the 80 idiots who actually voted for this?
Time is running out on the possibility to grow through force of arms. “The Drunkard” is trying to install Absolute Monarchy, which would squash my ability to make any kind of war. But I’ve got to be realistic. If I can’t make use of the current opportunity for war to work, I will need to focus on other strategies. So I take great pains to pick a good target for my next Holy War, which could very well be my last.
I won’t go into too many details. I lost.
Salerno, in middle Italy, looked nice as a target. Byzantium is already attacking the infidels in the duchy of Calabria, so that is probably distracting other infidels that could come to the aid of Africa. Salerno is owned by the Sultan al-Muizz II of Africa. That’s an impressive title, but owing to all sorts of battles and misfortunes, he can only call out 471 men to protect himself with his levees. I could probably take that by myself if I had to, but of course my ally will help me.
We don’t have boats. The army will have to walk all the way to Salermo. That seems a bit foolish, but all the non-foolish options are not available to me. I order my men to move out, knowing that they will be away from Sennar and their homes for months, perhaps years. I hope not too many desert when they see how bad off Sennar really is compared to most everywhere else.
Sometimes, even when you realize your marshal is craven, you need to listen to him and let him do his extensive preparation. What did I miss?
This guy has friends. Lots of friends. Emir Hine I “the Unready” of Cyrenaica jumps at the chance, despite his name, to aid at once a fellow infidel.
Then another infidel joins in. And another.
Well, they still are no match for my in-law the Doux. I will be passing right by his demense, actually, and it will be the perfect opportunity to link up and provide a unified front to our enemies.
As my army of 557 men sets out, my liege draws one man from Sennar to aid in his wars. I hope that one guy doesn’t get knifed outside a cathouse in Cairo on his way to Byzantium, or “the Drunkard” will think we failed our vassal obligations to provide a levee.
After several months, my men takes reach Byzantium and Doux Iosephos’ counties. I put out the call to my ally to help me take the Byzantium empire to Italy.
What? Is he still sore over that last war that wiped out all his armies? But I need those levees!
And to make matters worse—as if that were necessary—more infidels have shown up.
Five on one, guys? Really, now, is that fair? How about just me and the little guy.
There is no way another Julius Caesar would be able to take Italy back from the infidels with this kind of odds, let alone a barely competent general with too much of an indulgence in tej. Fortunately although they received a declaration of war from me, they do not seem to know where Sennar actually is. I order my men to turn around and come home before the infidels can figure out where we live. I guess there are some advantages to living next to nowhere.
Obviously war is not quite the solution to bring back the glory of the Zagwe Dynasty that I had hoped. It is time to set down the sword and try other methods. Our best chance now is in state diplomacy. However heretic and foreign Sennar really is to Byzantine nobles, as the count I am the reassuringly Greek Orthodox face of Sennar, and so I represent the best chance we have of forging further alliances, winning favor from the Basileus, and influencing Byzantine politics for our benefit. It is with my comfortingly familiar religion and culture that Byzantine nobles will be moved and I will win land for us when the sword did not.
Entertaining thoughts such as these, I see a crowd of men and woman by the road listening to some kind of orator. Someone shy like me is often fascinated by the ability of others to captivate through speech, so I stop and listen. And then I am hooked…
Can I have my 500 piety back, at least?