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More revolts! :eek: The Romans just can't get a break! Who was Konstantinos' heir again? :blush: Your forces now have to be deployed on three seperate fronts, right?

Revolution is the Roman way! That and political infighting. This rebellion fell quickly, but there's a few fronts open otherwise. Still, I've lots of Legions to put where I need.

I didn't mention the heir's name yet. It'll be in the next update.a

I would personally protest to calling the Byzantine armies as legions, since the legion system was completely disbanded by the end of the seventh century and had taken a completely different structure in later Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, just my aside on the ongoing gripes I have with Paradox on the subject I study and write on! :p

In this case, that's a relatively recent reform. In the CK2 era, the retinue was named the Scholai Palatinae (even when they grew to tens of thousands, or were completely destroyed and reformed). At the point of conversion, they reorganized as local Themas, and in the late 15th century reformed as Legions along with some other changes.

In the same way, the political system is a bit weird, as I had a period of extreme low crown authority, which I took to be the formation of a feudal hierarchy type thing. Matters have been reformed since then, but the nobles have family memories of having near-total local power.

But more revolts and civil war, now we're getting somewhere! :cool:

Well, since the emperor is found dead in his room, this means either two things... he was either poisoned or his heart simply gave out! :rofl:
Either way, it's natural causes for an Emperor!
 
Poisoned would have been better! ;)

I also must say, having read your first attempt, I think it's so ironic that a Dane ascended the throne!! :rofl:
 
I didn't mention the heir's name yet. It'll be in the next update.

Who's prepared to lay money that the next heir will be another Konstantinos? That's assuming that we don't have a basilissa up next, given that Idhrendur was playing the pronoun game, deliberately or otherwise. :)
 
Poisoned would have been better! ;)

I also must say, having read your first attempt, I think it's so ironic that a Dane ascended the throne!! :rofl:

I had forgotten about that. Though that was more an excuse to end things after Egypt took Greece and my last character was left as a count under them with no prospects of lasting long. I held on to the save for a long time, though, so I might see if it were possible to claw my way back. But later patches broke compatibility. :(

1 million dead. The Great Uprising ever Crushed.

And after they're still coming. At this rate you'll depopulate Latin Europe and have it ready for Greek colonisation. Its probably the only way you'll get some rest.

One million imperial soldiers. One million rebels. And who knows how many civilians caught in the middle, fled, starved, or whatever. At a guess, the Empire was decimated (in the original sense). I was thinking of writing more on the effects of the war, but it made me feel ill thinking about it. History, even alt-history, if horrifying sometimes.

Who's prepared to lay money that the next heir will be another Konstantinos? That's assuming that we don't have a basilissa up next, given that Idhrendur was playing the pronoun game, deliberately or otherwise. :)

You're making me tempted to post early! I'm trying to go for not more than once a week, to give me time to play and write.
 
So, during that hiatus that recently ended, I fixed a few items in the custom mod I've been using. Some of my missions were fixed, some country formation decisions were fixed, and the ruler titles for the Empire were fixed. Thanks for pointing out the growing absurdity, as I'd have not bothered to look without some prodding.
 
67. The War of Three Emperors
The War of Three Emperors

Demetrios I was the son of and successor to Konstantinos the Zealous. He was excellent at war, skilled at diplomacy, and good at administration. His son Ioannes, who promised to be even more skilled, was appointed heir.
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Demetrios garnered good will among the nobles when he reestablished parliament. He insisted on appointing the members, but the nobles took this as a sign that they would again have some form of power. They did not see it for the trap it was.However, Demetrios had inherited three wars along with the Empire. His plans to neuter the nobles would have to wait. And wait they did. For he died on March 7th of 1639, Emperor for less than two years.

Ioannes took his place. He was skilled at military matters, a genius at administration and diplomacy, but young and inexperienced. He announced his younger brother Demetrios as heir, and focused on the wars.
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The war in the north had slowly wound in favor of Muscowy. With the Legions' help, they were able to capture the main cities of the different nations opposing them and force them to surrender, typically with harsh terms. By the time Ioannes came to rule, the war was half over or more.
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The war against Mali worked more slowly. There were rumors of an army yet unkilled by the Legions, so they did not dare to spread out to besiege the land, and so little territory was just captured. But the Empire was sure to win eventually.
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In February of 1640, a routine correspondence with England mentioned that Maranea had been captured by Mali. It was clear that the missing Malinese army was in that region, so XII Legio moved to hunt them down.
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By the end of the year, all in the north but Hlynov had surrendered, and even that country was fully occupied. Ioannes made peace with them and left them to Muscowy's mercies.
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While the Mali war still raged, Ioannes implemented reforms of the Imperial mint. The silver stavraton coin was to be replaced by the gold líras. A sample of the minted líras would be stored every year. If the currency was questioned, it could be compared to a standard measure stored by the Emperor. And if the líras at question disagreed with the measure the master of the mint would be punished most severely: castrated, half-hung, and quartered. Thus, the currency could be trusted to not be debased.
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And finally in early 1642, Mali was fully defeated. They were forced to give up their coast, their overseas trade now handled by Imperial merchants. Sufficient garrisons were created to keep trade flowing. As well, their central land was returned to a descendant of the Songhai ruling class.
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The war, while lasting only five years, was later called the war of three Emperors. While this could have and should have been a satirical reference to the quick succession at this point in time, it became propaganda of the danger and strength of Muslims.
 
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Great name for the war, and was the Maranean Army defeated? :huh: The gold standard, eh? The master of the mint better be good at his job. :D What will Ioannes be planning against the Senate?
 
I can use suggestions for future ideas that you think might fit the 'personality' of the Empire!
 
more missionaries and more civil war! :p
 
Spread the one holy and apostolic church to all heretics and heathens (and by that we mean the Orthodoxy of course). :)
 
More Byzantine infighting and treachery. Also, destroy all heresy.
 
More Byzantine infighting and treachery. Also, destroy all heresy.

You can be the advisor to the most sublime August on how to defeat the evil heretics! ;)
 
Sorry for the late update. It's been a busy weekend.

Great name for the war, and was the Maranean Army defeated?
They actually took boats back to Africa somehow. They got crushed there.

The gold standard, eh? The master of the mint better be good at his job. :D
I'm not sure if it's historical or not, but I got the idea from Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. It's certainly motivation to not cheat at the job. Or at least to do so well you don't get caught.

What will Ioannes be planning against the Senate?
Schemes that play out slowly but powerfully. :ninja:

more missionaries and more civil war! :p
In this Empire? Bound to be plenty of both!

Spread the one holy and apostolic church to all heretics and heathens (and by that we mean the Orthodoxy of course). :)
I think you'll be pleased quite soon.

More Byzantine infighting and treachery. Also, destroy all heresy.
You can be the advisor to the most sublime August on how to defeat the evil heretics! ;)
Haha!
 
68. Minor Wars
Minor Wars

In the wake of the Mailnese war, there was little war to be had, so Ioannes focused on administrating the Empire while his various truces expired. He also focused on administrating Kiev, often overlooked by the Emperors. With its great expansion, the feudal organization was insufficient to govern it well. So Ioannes reformed the government, centralizing the power and renaming it the Kingdom of Ukraine.
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He also convinced the Duchy of Atbar to surrender the last of their independence, and then transferred their lands (Dar Ja'al) to Ethiopia's control.
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And of course when Muscowy requested help in their conquest of Ryazan, Ioannes was glad to send the Legions to help.

Around this time, the artistic renaissance clearly demonstrated its effects on other area of life as a group of natural philosophers began to make great discoveries about the natural world. Ioannes provided them support, organizing them as the Imperial Society of Constantinople for Improving Natural Knowledge (generally known as the Imperial Society). His most significant requirement was that their results must be published in a regular journal.
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Later that year, Scotland incorporated Ethiopia into their realm when their mutual King died. It had been bad enough that a nation in the Empire's sway was ruled by a Scot, but this was intolerable. War was given for the sake of the Ethiopian people. In 1646, Scotland agreed to the loss of nearly all their colonies and protectorates not in North America. They had lost a North American colony to the Aztecs, but on the whole their colonies there were safe for now.
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Just before the end of 1646, the truce with Hungary expired. I Legio, IX Legio, and XIX Legio moved to the attack. And when Lorraine announced their defense of Hungary, XVI Legio and XXIII Legio moved on them.
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Lorraine had often been a thorn in the side of the Empire, and Ioannes suspected many nobles would desire their lands soon. So the greater part of their Kingdom was given independence.
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Hungary was forced to give up the last of the Austrian lands the Empire desired, as well as finally give up their claims to several other promises.
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Roman Austria had been recovered. And the nobles soon hungered for the Roman Netherlands. Hainut was the first to fall, friendless and alone.
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The rest of the independent nations there would soon follow. But Ioannes had received notice that Smolensk now supported the Reformed faith. This, like the former religious disputes, would be solved with violence.
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Before I Legio and IV Legio could get in position, Muscowy declared war on Yaroslavl and asked the Empire for help. Ioannes agreed.
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Though this did not preclude a war with Smolensk at the same time.

Sadly, Ioannes died of natural causes[1] before he could see his wars through. Demetrios was at war as soon as he ascended to the throne.
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[1]A surprising number of things count as natural causes when one is the Emperor.
 
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Holy crap, Demetrios looks like the ultimate emperor. Here's hoping he doesn't go hunting any time soon.
 
All hail Demetrios II.:)
 
Someone should murder the Autokrator and complete the true culture of being Byzantine! Plus, we don't want another egomaniac like Justinian on the throne for too long, complete with an over inflated self-importance... :p
 
Holy crap, Demetrios looks like the ultimate emperor. Here's hoping he doesn't go hunting any time soon.

All hail Demetrios II.:)

He is pretty amazing, no? Of course, we all know what that means…

Someone should murder the Autokrator and complete the true culture of being Byzantine! Plus, we don't want another egomaniac like Justinian on the throne for too long, complete with an over inflated self-importance... :p

Oh, it's not a new Justinian we need worry about, no…
 
69. 1650 Update
1650 Update

From 1600 to 1650, the Empire had again not expanded much. Instead it had put it's efforts towards enforcing religious unity.

Christianity was no less diverse for these efforts. Many times a nation's conversion allowed the ruler to appoint to new archbishop residing over his territory. This archbishop would be technically equal with all others (though in practice the Archbishops of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Rome were first among equals). Just as frequently, the ruler was able to exert control over the local Archbishop and thus tighten his power over his nation.

As well, local practices could not possibly have been stamped out, even if this was desired. Many of the particulars of the liturgy varied locally. There were even differences in theology between different regions.

Still, the Church was united. The most important theological disagreements could be resolved through synods and councils, and heresy could be countered via internal pressures. Likewise, the decentralized organization of the Church served as an effective brake on corruption, unlike the hierarchical nature of the Papist church had been.
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In the Americas, firm diplomatic contact had been made with three different organized powers. All took the opportunity to learn all they could from the Empire. In turn, the Empire hoped to use them to block the expansionism of other European states.
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The leadership of all three American nations had eagerly converted to Christianity. Most of the Cherokee people had likewise converted.
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The Inca leaders seemed disinterested in instructing any of their own people.[1]
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And the Aztecs had not had much time to figure out how to instruct many of their people.
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The African coast was proving valuable to trade – either to extract goods or to supply ships rounding the Cape of Africa. This would surely be an area of much fighting in the future.
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Deccan had tightened their control of Hindustan, but the Spice Islands had shattered into chaos.
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And Imperial explorers were discovering new lands to the East of Asia.
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In Eastern Europe, Muscowy was growing ever stronger.
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And borders continued to shift within Central Europe.
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Within the Empire, the Imperial Bureaucracy had left power firmly in the Emperor's hands. The Legion's practice of drill had led to great defensive strength, though the navy was neglected. The long-ago declaration on Unam Sanctum had led to the Legions making war all throughout Christendom. There was a strong desire to explore and to settle new lands, though frequently the settlement was just enough to bring those lands under the Empire's political sway. The locals would remain the dominant local powers. The patronage of arts among the aristocracy had led to a renaissance of arts and natural philosophy. As well, there was a growing class of merchant nobles. They had little protection from the state in their trade, but they rarely needed it. Among the lower classes, many were still tenant farmers, though they had a great many rights and protections from church and from Constantinople.
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This was the known world in 1650.
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[1]I've checked. They've got missionaries, they've got money, but they seem to have no interest in placing them.[2]

[2]Playing further, they seem to have gotten over their indecisiveness. Finally.
 
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