Res Gestae Gentis Lartiae - a Roman Restoration AAR
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Awesome chapter, and another tragic death. I loved the charecter of Titus, and even if he didn't died in the field it seems that he died happy, next to his loved brother and remembering his beloved kids.
Thanks in advance for doing a post of the state of the world, as I don't truly understand right now what what land is under Iulius proper, who are his vassals and how is the situation in the barbaric realms.
Btw, Are you using Elective Galvenkind or what succesion law?
Thanks in advance for doing a post of the state of the world, as I don't truly understand right now what what land is under Iulius proper, who are his vassals and how is the situation in the barbaric realms.
Btw, Are you using Elective Galvenkind or what succesion law?
I'm currently on full Elective, as I don't like Gavelkind much, nor do I consider it realistic for the story ("You shall be my successor Iulius!" Then croaks and dim witted Hadrianus gets half off the lands). But that might change as I get more vassals. Or a bigger title....
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Thanks for the explanation, it was because for a second I thought that Iulius brothers had some land that I misunderstud what succesion law you where using. I prefer Elective over Primogeniture, at least in smaller realms so that I can elect which son is the good one, but in bigger realms one founds the problem that other people may inherit as well.
I too quite dislike primo, but for now succession seem the last of my problems, as the current vassals are more than happy with Vibius.
Subbed.. I absolutely love your writing skills. They are simply amazing !
Curious, For each chapter how many years do you generally go before stopping and then wrting up the chapter ?. I am curious because i am hoping this summer to start my own AAR and i cant seem to figure out how many years i should go and then write a chapter.. ( I am very tempted to do it how you do it because wow you have a way with words ! )
Curious, For each chapter how many years do you generally go before stopping and then wrting up the chapter ?. I am curious because i am hoping this summer to start my own AAR and i cant seem to figure out how many years i should go and then write a chapter.. ( I am very tempted to do it how you do it because wow you have a way with words ! )
Thanks for the compliments! I personally don't count the years, but rather wait for some important/interesting event to narrate. As in: as soon as I have enough material to fill a chapter, I write it. It does make for some wild time jumps (the last chapter covers something like six years) but I find it to be more fun this way.
The State of the World
At great request, here are a couple of maps to better understand the various political changes that the ascent of Gens Lartia has brought to the Known World (and those changes that have no relation whatsoever with our Roman family).
For your consideration, the general situation of Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The Christian Kingdoms of the Horn of Africa are slowly succumbing to Islamic lords, while the Zunbils have managed to carve out a decent piece of land.
The more closely interested Mediterranean area, after the Lartian conquests on the African Coast and the annexation of part of the Papal States. The yet uncrowned Emperor Pipin (son of Karloman, and third Carolingian Emperor) had retaken rebel Swabia, and gained some lands in Avaria.
The Exarchate of Italy, as ruled by Iulius Lartius Rufus.
The Lands under the direct control of Lartius, and his various vicars. Sicily, Foggia and Salernum are in the hands of secret worshipers of the Roman Gods.
A zoom on Hispania after Charlie's Campaigns, the implosion of the Umayyad Sultanate and several Asturian Reconquistas.
Britannia and Ireland, fairly chaotic, but seeing the emergence of Mercia and Northumbria.
The rest of the World! Khazaria has lost domincance over the steppes, and while Norway is still fragmented, Sweden and Denmark are pretty well off. I won't lie, didn't really follow what was happening north of the black sea much.
At great request, here are a couple of maps to better understand the various political changes that the ascent of Gens Lartia has brought to the Known World (and those changes that have no relation whatsoever with our Roman family).
For your consideration, the general situation of Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The Christian Kingdoms of the Horn of Africa are slowly succumbing to Islamic lords, while the Zunbils have managed to carve out a decent piece of land.
The more closely interested Mediterranean area, after the Lartian conquests on the African Coast and the annexation of part of the Papal States. The yet uncrowned Emperor Pipin (son of Karloman, and third Carolingian Emperor) had retaken rebel Swabia, and gained some lands in Avaria.
The Exarchate of Italy, as ruled by Iulius Lartius Rufus.
The Lands under the direct control of Lartius, and his various vicars. Sicily, Foggia and Salernum are in the hands of secret worshipers of the Roman Gods.
A zoom on Hispania after Charlie's Campaigns, the implosion of the Umayyad Sultanate and several Asturian Reconquistas.
Britannia and Ireland, fairly chaotic, but seeing the emergence of Mercia and Northumbria.
The rest of the World! Khazaria has lost domincance over the steppes, and while Norway is still fragmented, Sweden and Denmark are pretty well off. I won't lie, didn't really follow what was happening north of the black sea much.
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Could we see a religious map of the world? I'd like to see if the Zunbils are still Zunist, as well as how paganism is doing in Europe currently.
Interesting (and tragic) happenings. And as usual, top class writing and characterization.
But I'm curious, how did you manage to get out from under the Karlings and to the Eastern Romans?
Also, I wonder why Iulius has not married yet. Is he just too devoted to his military exploits for a wife, or is there another reason...
But I'm curious, how did you manage to get out from under the Karlings and to the Eastern Romans?
Also, I wonder why Iulius has not married yet. Is he just too devoted to his military exploits for a wife, or is there another reason...
Playing with CK2plus installed had its perks! The way they handle the Carolingian Empire is interesting, with a few unique features. Including the ability for powerful vassals to secede from the Empire upon the death of an Emperor. To simulate the Carolingian instability I suppose.
Iulius being unmarried is... something that just happened! I guess I was too busy taking care of other parts of the story to include a romance. That does fit with his being chaste ingame, with both sexes, if that's what you were asking.
I suppose I will write in him having a thing for older women, since the only lovers he had were always at least 10 years his elders, but he did tell his brother he would be Caesar before being a woman's husband...
Chapter VII: The Man who Broke an Empire
Iulius was silent, a colored statue silhouetting against the setting Dalmatian sun. He had become quite brooding as of late, but no one could reproach him: of the once numerous children of Avitus, now only him, Aurelius and Marina remained, Hadrianus having killed himself a year earlier, unable to bear his wife's many infidelities.
"I'm here Aurelius, I'm listening."
His brother was supposed to bring him important news from Basileus Anthimos's court, but his mind was wandering, unable to focus on the present. He felt as if he were on the precipice of a very deep chasm, and yet he could not think about himself, instead thinking about his father. In more ways than one, Avitus had made his life into what it was now. And he found himself wondering whether he would have been proud of him. Begging for a piece of advice. He had served the Isaurian for years now, yet with every passing day the Emperor's cruelty found new ways to show itself. He had always done his duty, but what was his duty now? When the State fought against the People, who did he serve?
"The armies of the Empire are on the march, Iulius. Anthimos has declared war on the Islamic Caliph, and wants our armies to sail to Jerusalem."
Iulius sighed, looking up to the sky. It had been far too long since he had taken some time to simply lose himself in the colors of dusk. Then he heard it: a sharp, high pitched call. The Eagle flew high overhead, its dark wings spread out against the heavens. It was quite a rare thing to hear an Eagle's cry, and even rarer to see one flying West during winter. Towards the sea. Towards Rome.
"Send words that our armies shall sail to Palestine. Then get ready to leave, Aurelius, we must head East. To Constantinople."
Hearing that battlecry ring clear and loud cast every doubt from Iulius's mind. Even as a young boy he had been conscientious, philosophising on every action, but in the heat of battle every uncertainty was forgotten. There were no shades of gray, only right and wrong, life and death. As he whispered Mars's name, asking that his sword not go blunt and his arm not falter, he could feel his father fighting besides him. He knew he was doing the right thing.
As the big norseman came rushing at him he pirouetted, striking back at him with the full force of momentum, but never losing his balance, ready to sidestep when a spear thrust was aimed at his stomach. His red mantle swirled around him as he dodged every blow, answered each attack with a strong counter. He felt invincible as he led his men in the halls of the Imperial Palace of Constantinople, cutting through Anthimos's Varangian Guard, who, for all that could be said about them, had remained faithful to the Emperor no matter what the conspirators had offered them. And now paid their fealty with blood, for who could stand against Iulius? He felt like a God! He stopped whispering Mars's name, instead reveling as the men chanted his own.
But he was no God. It was hubris to dream such a thing. And hubris is seldom left unpunished by the Gods. The punishment came in the shape not of a lighting bolt, nor of a great fire. Not even in the shape of a Varangian sword. A small dagger, thrust deep in that red cloak of which Iulius was so proud. A small, insignificant, iron blade, for a small, insignificant, mortal man. That was enough to humble he who would think himself above the laws of mortals, he who would think himself a God.
"About damn time!"
Anthimos had, in truth, not been waiting long for the Italian galleys. The Emperor liked to be seen on the battlefield, liked poets to sing about his brave actions in war. Yet, for some strange twist of fate, he always reached the front when the bulk of the fighting was already over. The last time he had been too early, he had lost a hand. That had made him a cautious man. Some would have said even paranoid, although that would have have implied that his fears were unjustified.
The Basileus could have waited as much as he liked before going to meet the newcomers. He could have waited for Exarch Lartius to send a messenger forward to announce him, or to come himself and beg his lord's pardon for his lateness. Anthimos Isauros was not a man who liked to wait however and, like a child rushing to his mother when he expects her to give him a treat, rushed down to the beach with just a couple of generals that were, by chance, walking with him on that very same moment. Most of his newly christened Varangian guard had been left in Constantinople to keep the order, and he didn't even notice that his Greek honor guard stayed behind when he headed towards the ships. Iulius Lartius had seemed like a gift from God at first, but recently he had come to despise the man, who was becoming more and more popular in the Empire, so the only thing he could think about was how to humiliate the man in front of his soldiers.
Yet, for all the envy he felt towards the Roman, he could never completely erase the reverence he once felt for the man. When he was a child, his grandfather had told him of the hero of Rome that was fighting the barbarians in the West. When his father Christophoros had been forced by the aristocracy to abdicate, he had comforted him by saying that one day the Red Eagle of Gens Lartia would come save the rightful Emperor's rights and protect him from the evil men that wanted to weaken the Empire. Even now, he could not help but look in awe as the soldiers of the Exarchate jumped of the galleys, all of them fearsome, in shining mail or plated armor like that of the ancients. Their spear tips high in the sky, their swords gleaming in the Levantine Sun. Rather than just landing, it almost looked as if they intended to take the whole beach by storm. And then they did. A man in a plumed helmet shouted an order, and suddenly the Italian soldiers were in formation, most of them forming a wall of shields, facing the Roman encampment, while an elite cadre encircled the Emperor and his generals.
"Treason! To arms men, make the traitors bleed! To..." Anthimos shouted furiously, but was forced to his knees by a powerful kick on the back of his knee. As he sprawled to the ground he saw it had been one of his generals, the Strategos Stephanos of Epirus, long time husband of Marina Lartia, that had hit him.
"Do not try to resist, Isaurian, I would hate having to kill you before we reach Constantinople."
"Enough!" he shouted. "I've been sealed in that cabin for weeks! Show your face, coward! Who are you?"
Silence was his only answer for a long while. Then he heard a long whisper, and the sword being put back in its sheath. The blindfold was finally removed, and as light entered his vision it blinded him once more. He looked up, but could only see a vague red shape. He shut his eyes, then opened them again, but still the fiery patch remained. It took him a few seconds to realize it was a mane of hair.
"I am Iulius Lartius Rufus, son of Avitus the Wise, commander of the Italian legions, and faithful servant of the Senate and the People of Rome. You know me, Anthimos, and it is by my will that you haven't been killed for your crimes against the people you were sworn to defend."
Anthimos wanted to jump on him. How dared that man, the son of a barbarian bitch, defy him? How could he accuse him, who had only ever done what was best for his people, even when it meant going against the will of the ancient noble families. Of those that called themselves Strategoi, Patrikioi, Hypathoi, Magystroi...
"Faithful servant?!" He spat out spitefully. "How dare you, Lartius! You are a traitor! Nothing more, you hear me? You are a traitor!"
Iulius looked at him sadly. The Gods knew he had tried to make Anthimos change, to eradicate his cruelty, to unearth the just young Emperor that lived beneath it all. But he had failed.
"Perhaps, Anthimos. But I am Imperator."
Iulius almost did not turn when he heard Strategos Taxiarches of Adrianople addressing him thus. He did not feel deign of the title. The true Caesar, who, although by Gens, was also called Iulius, had taken control of Rome by fighting against Pompeius in a war for the heart of the people of the Empire. He had earned with sweat and blood the right to steer the fates of the greatest Civilization to ever walk this Earth. In comparison, his palace schemes and hidden plotting felt unworthy. He sometimes thought he would have preferred to face Anthimos in the field, letting the soldiers of Rome decide who should lead them. In those times he would console himself by reminding himself of what civil war meant for the people caught in it. He had sacrificed his own honor for the safety of the citizens of the Empire. He had done his duty.
"Taxiarches! What news from the Provinces?" Aurelius asked. After the coup in the Imperial Palace, Iulius had tasked his brother with reassuring the people of Constantinople, while Taxiarches Monotes and Stephanos Chameas informed the legions in the provinces, confirming the fealty of their commanders.
"Not good, Sebastos." Taxiarches shook his head. "Chrysantos Eparchos has refused to recognize Imperator Lartius as his sovereign, and the size of his army is considerable. He now has unchallenged control over all lands from Charsianon to the border with Armenia."
"And what? Does the man fight for the Isaurian? Or does he fancy himself Caesar?" Aurelius was growing anxious.
"Neither. He claimed that Rome is dead, and that the Lartii have killed it. He names himself Despot of Trebizond, a free realm. What do we do, Sebastos?"
Iulius sighed. It was to be civil war after all. It was his now duty to fight against those that would see the Roman State fall. Indeed Despot Chrysantos was not wrong. He had broken his oaths, usurped a throne that was not his to sit upon, had defied the Roman Law he claimed to love so much. He had broken the Empire, and now it was his duty to bring the pieces back together. His whole life, he had done his duty diligently, how could he stop now? And now it was his duty to kill his own countrymen, to spill Roman blood so that Rome's borders would not shrink...
"Nothing." Iulius said at last.
"Lord?"
"I would rather confront a loss of face than slaughter citizens of the State, burn their farms and kill their livestock, only to rule over a barren wasteland of my own making."
"Then, what? We let the man rule?" Aurelius was shocked.
"We bless the man's rule, if necessary. You see to it that this does not create a precedent. Me, I have a beautiful woman to marry."
Iulius smiled, for the first time in a long while. And it was not just a smirk, or a coy pursing of the lips. His was the face of a happy man. He had almost destroyed the Roman State, that had survived for more than a thousand years. And yet the future never looked so bright.
Author's Notes: Emperor at last! After a close brush with death, Iulius Lartius has become the absolute ruler of the Roman State. Again, I have to thank the team of CK2plus for the imperial coup events. I won't hope to have fooled anyone with Iulius's faked death, but I had my fun writing the coup.
The creation of the Despotate of Trebizond was my doing, not the game. I just took all the worst opinioned vassals in the area of Asia Minor, granted them independence, and then gave a kingdom title to one of them. This was more a gaming choice than a story related one (I did not want this AAR to become me steamrolling everything as the ERE, so I at least gave myself a handicap), but I think it works out in a way.
Plus, it gave me the chance to depict a change in Iulius. The whole chapter has seen him very moody, depressed even. Between the death of his brothers, Anthimos Isauros's increasing tyranny, and the fact that he was already on the fence about the emperor in the first place, he was in a fairly dark place. He finally found the strength, instead of just doing his duty, to do what he thought was right. In a way, he freed himself from the burden of having multiple masters, and now his only duties are those to his People and the Gods which, for a Roman man, are two very reconcilable things.
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Ave Ceaser Iulius, ave Imperator, ave Roma!
At last a true roman (I hope you get Roman culture soon (I think thats a thing in CKIIplus) and show the world the might of a true roman emperor and a reeborn Roman Empire.
Do you pretend to extend the Roman/Hellenic pantheon through the Empire?
At last a true roman (I hope you get Roman culture soon (I think thats a thing in CKIIplus) and show the world the might of a true roman emperor and a reeborn Roman Empire.
Do you pretend to extend the Roman/Hellenic pantheon through the Empire?
Well one way to deal with rebellious vassals: park themselves in a separate kingdom to take care of later as needed.
I rather liked this update, good pacing.
I rather liked this update, good pacing.
That's the plan! I'm slowly spreading the secret faith, as soon as I have enough important vassals on my side I'll convert openly. As for Roman culture, it's normally only for the Reborn Roman Empire, but I'll mod that in for the Byzzies too.
True that! Besides, my borders are more "Republican Era" now.
A Roman is back in control of the Empire - it is a fine day. Though I wonder where he goes next. Italy would seem to be the "Roman" thing to do, but there lay the strongest foe. Interested to see his next step! (And a pity about his family, Hadrianus was just tragic)
Chapter VIII: The Only King of Rome
"Don't overestimate his words, brother." Iulius shook his head.
He had sent envoys to the so called Holy Roman Emperor Pipin Karling, Charlemagne's nephew, in hopes of ensuring peace between East and West. He had received but a shy gift, clearly intended to appease Costantinople. Now his successor, Tancrad Karling, offered to finally acknowledge the power of what once was just an Eastern Empire.
"He might have promised us tribute, but the Carolingian Empire won't obey our laws, and we are now forced to respect his sovereignty. Still, it's a start. At least no one will dare say that I am not Emperor of Rome now."
"True, and yet we are surrounded by enemies." Proconsul Taxiarches growled, just returned from his campaigns on the Danube.
"They won't show their teeth." Iulius beamed. In ten short years he had ensured that not one crowned head in the known world would dare stand against the Empire of the Romans.
"There are other matters, Caesar." Vibius spoke the title with a smile, knowing how much his uncle hated being called thus by his family. The boy had been sitting with Iulius's council for only a short while, yet managed to always make his voice heard.
"Tensions are rising between the ever increasing numbers of apostates in the Empire and the Patriarchate. Blood flows in the streets, Roman citizens are being crucified and burned on the pyres." The boy was not smiling anymore.
"Let them rot!" Ecumenical Patriarch Manuel slammed a fist on the table. "They blaspheme the name of our Lord, renounce the Righteous Way by worshiping false icons! True Romans follow the Christ, those men do not deserve the protection of citizenship."
"Your words are harsh, Patriarch." Iulius grimaced. "Some might say the Christ taught forgiveness above all. He was the one who said to turn the other cheek."
"That is true, Caesar, yet we must also think of what is good for the State." Taxiarches rubbed his chin: he had never hidden the fact that he sympathized with the oppressed pagans. "I would never have suggested it, but if blood is to flow, at least let's make it so that the Empire is strengthened by it."
"Do not forget, Proconsul, that once it was the Pagans that ruled, and it was Christian blood that flowed." Aurelius intervened. "That did not stop Christianity from taking hold of the Empire."
"Aye, and thus it will remain!" the Patriarch was becoming furious. "As Saint Constantine the Great willed it, Rome will follow the Christ! We shall follow the examples of the ancients!"
"The Patriarch speaks true." Iulius smiled a worrying smile. "We must follow the example of Constantine, who brought an end to religious strife and peace in the Empire. I have already something in mind. Send out the word that a great ceremony is to be held in the Imperial Palace. Now, I believe I have some private matters to attend to. Nephew, will you join me?"
"He will pull through. Your son will pull through, Imperator." Rita looked at him with fire in her eyes. The fire of a mother that almost lost a child. Iulius had loved that fire once. Loved all of her little quirks, all of her coy smiles and her hunting scar that crossed her cheek. Once Iulius would not even have heard her words, lost that he was in the fathoms of her clear blue eyes. Now, however, he could not help but focus on that word. Your son, she had said. He had grown Lucius as his, given him his name, the name of Lartius, taught him the secrets of the sword and of the Gods. And yet he wouldn't ever truly be his son.
"I know he will." Iulius smiled, then kissed the boy on the forehead. To hell with it, he is my son.
"Can't you wait like all the other faithful citizens of Rome?" the Princeps chuckled.
"I am but curious, O Caesar. And, I won't lie, slightly afraid."
"You have no reason to be. Nothing can go wrong. But Rome must be strong, and this religious strife has weakened it considerably. The people do not know who to follow! Look at the Carolingians! It is but a question of time, until Tancrad manages to bribe the Pope into crowning him Emperor. Then all the offers of tribute in the world won't be worth anything. Strong as we might be, in the eyes of the West we are still but a Byzantine Empire..."
"And you will change that?" Vibius himself couldn't tell whether that was hope or arrogance in his voice.
"I will try. Christianity is a powerful tool for a ruler: the promise of an eternity of happiness does wonders to the mind of those that live a life of strife and suffering. Yet it has one great flaw: it lacks a leader. Do you know that just the other day I fought with the Patriarch because the Pope had changed a minuscule part of the liturgy? Me! Fighting about christian liturgy!"
"I have heard of the whole filioque dilemma, but what do you care, uncle?" Vibius had been raised a follower of the Roman Pantheon by Iulius himself.
"I don't. But it's just more evidence that Coelestinus does whatever he can to assert his power. I won't have that. Four of the Five Pentarchs are under Roman rule, and yet that man cares still claims primacy."
"So what, you'll declare the Ecumenical Patriarch head of Christianity? Manuel? You do know they call him "the Cruel" right?" Vibius was shocked.
"Vibius. Have faith." Iulius chuckled at his own joke, as his nephew rolled his eyes. "Fatherhood has had a bad influence on my sense of humor hasn't it?"
"Speaking of which..." Vibius decided to change the subject, knowing the Imperator would not tell him anything else about the upcoming ceremony. "I am relieved to see Lucius is recovering. He gave us all quite the scare."
"That he did." Iulius nodded. "I can't understand how the sickness reached the children's quarters. I was a fool. I should have sealed the Palace's gates until the plague had passed."
"Don't go blaming yourself uncle!" Vibius now regretted ever bringing up the matter.
"How can I not? What if Lucius had passed his little sister the pox? Silvia isn't strong enough to survive that!"
Iulius finally understood what Titus meant when he spoke to him of the burdens of fatherhood. No war, duel, conspiracy had ever startled him as much as the knowledge that his children were in danger, and that he was unable to do anything about it.
"You yourself taught me history isn't made with what-ifs, didn't you?" Vibius tried to console his uncle. More than just relatives, they had become friends, and as much as the young Lartius liked to poke fun at the Princeps, he loved him as a father and hated seeing him in a bad mood.
"True, but Lucius is not out of the wood yet, is he? He could still get worse."
"The boy is strong, Iulius! He takes after his father." Vibius smiled, but saw that his uncle only frowned. "He is going to get out of this yet, I assure you. He is going to heal, grow up into a fine young man, and one day into a great Caesar!"
Iulius looked at his nephew straight in the eyes.
"He is going to be a fine young man." He nodded. "But he will always be just Lucius Lartius."
"Uncle?"
"You, Vibius, shall be Caesar."
The assembly grew silent as Imperator Lartius Rufus stepped in the throne room of the Great Palace of Constantinople. In that room were now standing the noblest and most important people in the Empire: Greek landholders, Legates from the various provinces, great Generals, notorious clergymen. All of them brought together by the promise of a their beloved Emperor's greatest edict yet. The promise that the Basileus ton Rhomanion, the Imperator Caesar Augustus, Autocrator et Princeps, Pater Patriae, would bring an end to the religious corruption that was plaguing both West and East, if in different ways.
Ecumenical Patriarch Manuel was standing in the front row, proud in the knowledge that this day would be remembered for ages to come as the day in which he would be named Patriarch Supreme of all Christians. Relations between State and Church had never been optimal, but Emperor and Patriarch had always lived in a state of co-dependency, one needing the recognition in the eyes of God, the other the military power that only the Roman Empire could provide.
Iulius smiled as he looked at the gaping eyes set upon him. It was the moment of truth, the moment in which the power of Rome had to confront the whole Christian world and ascertain it's superiority. All he had done, all the conquests and subjugations, all the triumphs and shows of strenght, had led up to this moment. He could not help noticing the disapproval in the eyes of the more traditionalist faction in the Empire, but couldn't guess whether it was because of the fact that he was about to change a secular dogma of Chalcedonian Christianity, or because of his garb. He had always dressed in the traditional way: not wearing the long robes of his predecessors, with all their jewellery and precious stones, but a short tunic and a toga, like a common citizen. That day however that clothing had something regal about it, reminding the assembled of those statues depicting Augustus not as Princeps but as Pontifex Maximus.
"Citizens of Rome! Your Imperator welcomes you!" The crowd roared. Iulius had grown quite beloved by nobility and people alike, having allowed the Eagle of Rome to soar to new heights.
"I have heard your pleas, I have seen your afflictions, I have cried for you, o Romans! For the greatness of our Empire means nothing if our people suffer, if they fight between them. But now I have an answer to your troubles." Again, the room was filled with thunderous applause, but silent trepidation soon followed.
"I was once told that a man who must serve two masters is a man to be pitied, for to satisfy them both means to face madness. And yet you, people of Rome, the greatest people to ever tread on this Earth, are thus twice cursed, because you must serve not two, but three masters! One, which is your State, of which I am the voice, a second which is the Patriarchate, by right spiritual master to all Christians, and a third which is the Papacy, that claims supremacy in matters both earthly and heavenly. But thus is the spirit of Rome! Roman Citizens are slaves to no one! As decreed by that Iunius Brutus that chased the last Tarquinius from the City, Rome shall never have a King, and thus, shall never have a sole master. Well I tell you now that that is a lie! Rome shall never have a King between those that are mortal men, because that throne is already occupied! Rome does have a King, does have one sole ruler!"
He smiled, tasting the sweet excitement that his words had awoken.
"And his name is Iuppiter!"
Patriarch Manuel grew white as death. A madman! A madman and an apostate, and Sergios has anointed him! he thought. He turned to the Palace Guards, to call for the Emperor's arrest: after all, Iulius had gone mad, and it was now his duty to safeguard the Empire against him. As he turned his gaze towards the assembly, an even more horrendous vision appeared in front of his eyes: a great number of the assembled noblemen and generals, including the entirety of the palace guard, and even a couple of men who had been priests of the Christ, had pounded their chest with their fist.
"Viva Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, Viva Imperator Lartius Rufus!"
The cry resounded in the hall of the Great Palace of Byzantium, and was heard even in the streets of the city. Iulius smiled with satisfaction: his victory was now complete. Vibius beamed in the first row, himself shouting with all his voice. Even Rita could not help but shed a tear at her husband's gesture. Patriarch Manuel collapsed on the floor.
The Pope, heir of Peter, the new self-proclaimed head of all Christendom, excommunicated Imperator Lartius, who with his actions tarnished the holy cross, and claimed he would crown Tancrad Karling Emperor of all Romans, as had once been done with Charlemagne. Iulius sent a missive to Rome. It was a small piece of parchment, almost blank if but for the words "Civis Romanus Sum, mihi crux non oportet, sed tibi."
It was the 26th of March, year 827 after the birth of Christ or, as it would later be called, the year 1580 ab Urbe Condita. On the 27th, the Roman armies crossed the border with the Carolingian Empire, in a campaign for the conquest of that Italian Peninsula that had once been the heart of the Roman State.
Author's Notes: I'm quite satisfied with this chapter, and have little to add, if but a few notes mostly to explain the relation between stuff in game with stuff I wrote.
First things first, Vibius in now Iulius's heir: I changed the succession law to seniority, which with the Despot title and the Born in the Purple mechanic means I can pretty much designate my own heir, especially now that there are only two living Lartii with the Born in the Purple trait, and both of them are younger than Vibius.
As for the religious stuff, it was a fairly simple question of openly adopting the faith, as per regular Monks and Mystics mechanics. Now most of the high ranking noblemen have converted, basically creating a Hellenic pagan ruling class and a still mostly christian populace. The whole deal about appointing a Patriarch Supreme (another Ck2plus feature which basically prevents the Schism) was born out of the fact that I actually did toy with the idea, but in the end decided it would be more of a challenge to have a Catholic Pope (and thus crusades) against me. The game is called Crusader Kings after all, only in my case they will be the enemy. I triggered the Schism myself, although I don't see it as such an outlandish event: after all, why would the Pope in Rome still recognize the influence of what is now the puppet of an Apostate.
"Civis Romanus Sum, mihi crux non oportet, sed tibi." That was just me trying to write in Latin. It pretty much translate to "I am a Roman Citizen, the cross does not suit me, but (suits) you." Besides being able to use the phrase Civis Romanus Sum, which at one time was supposed to be the title of the AAR, it references the fact that Crucifixion was a torment reserved for criminals that were not Roman Citizens. On one hand Iulius is telling the Pope that he the cross does not befit him in a metaphorical way, on the other he is pretty much threatening the Holy Father with crucifixion.
Iulius's speech about serving more than a master is a Freudian concept, and although I don't believe our dear Prince ever read the doctor's Introduction to Psychoanalysis, I found the idea quite fitting. The part about Rome not having a King also references the famous episode in which Caius Iulius Caesar, having been offered the royal crown, instead put it on the head of a statue of Jupiter, to signify that he was the only king Rome would ever have.
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