The Empire Strikes Back - a Byzantine Megacampaign (Part 1)

[Idhrendur]

Makarios I had defeated a major rebellion. Now he faced the question of what to do with the rebel leaders.

Makarios was not a forgiving man. No, he was prone to anger instead. He revoked over fifty titles from the rebels. The prisoners themselves were left to live out the rest of their days in the dungeons. Those who objected were thrown in the oubliette. As for the titles, in most cases, he distributed the lands to more loyal vassals. But much of the coast of Greece he kept for himself.

And in the east, there was a terrible choice: return control of Mesopotamia and Armenia to rebels, or give control to Armenians. He took a third option, conquering more of the de jure territory in the duchies, granting it to new rulers, and placing them in charge of the duchy.

Between campaigns, Makarios ordered the Duke of Pisa, leader of the rebellion, castrated. A few months later, he would die from these wounds.

The second campaign, for the remainder of the Duchy of Armenia, was sure to be much larger, as it was against the Aydin Sultanate, rulers of Persia.

But it was swiftly won, and again, the lands given to a new ruler, who was then set in charge of the duchy.

Being slothful, Makarios did nothing of note until 1183, when he began to feel restless enough to overcome his slothful nature.

 

[Arakhor]

Pleasant stuff, not. The Byzantines are really quite gruesome these days!

 

[Idhrendur]

Pleasant stuff, not. The Byzantines are really quite gruesome these days!

Had to say I was pretty pleased as I read the pop-up. CK2 can make you horrible sometimes.

 

[Idhrendur]

Makarios I had fought off a major rebellion, punished the leaders, and fought two minor wars to finish the work of properly distributing the lands taken from the rebels. When all this was finished, he tried to rest, but found himself restless. Apparently he had learned to not be so slothful. So he sent the Cataphracts north, to actually assist allies in their wars.

For a few years, Makarios funded the replenishment of the Cataphracts from the spoils taken in his allies' wars. But with his help, they were all won. Seeing that Croatia was fighting a civil war, he moved the Catapracts into position for an old Imperial pasttime: taking lands from Catholics.

Sicily and Venice aided Makarios' enemies in that first war, and so Venice was attacked next.

The so-called Holy Roman Empire rallied to the defense of the Catholics in Venice, surely to no avail.

However, in the midst of this war, the Duke of Jerusalem tried to fabricate a claim on the county of Hebron. When he was discovered, he fled arrest and started a war to resist.

The local dukes were called to put him down, and they did so handily.

However, the HRE was able to land a surprisingly large army on the island of Venice, utterly crushing the Cataphracts. Makarios saw no choice but to sign a white peace. [I am an idiot who doesn't know when to retreat. Ugh!]

Makarios began building a new Imperial Army…

 

[Idhrendur]

Any ideas on what he might call the newly-built retinues? It's a perfect opportunity for a new name.

 

[MordredViking]

"The 1st Imperial Komitas and Die"

Unfortunately that probably does more to honour your rival than yourself.

 

[Jayavarman]

Nice to see the "other Romans" win sometimes.

 

[XRW]

Any ideas on what he might call the newly-built retinues? It's a perfect opportunity for a new name.

Scholai Palatinae. It was the name of the Roman imperial guard, an elite military unit that survived until Alexios I Komnenos disbanded them in the 11th century. Edit: historically it happens shortly after the game start date.

 

[Voss]

IMHO the Imperial Guard would be ok. Maybe Varegian Guard?

It's sad that there's no possibility for the ERE to restore the Empire in the West via event (when you control at least Italy)

 

[unmerged(58610)]

Careless losing all your cataphracts. Makarios is a role-player's nightmare. He doesn't rule 81 vassals so much as bully them into doing what he wants.

 

[Deaghaidh]

Makarios is a role-player's nightmare. He doesn't rule 81 vassals so much as bully them into doing what he wants.

Bullying is the heart of statesmanship!

Impressive results so far. As far as naming your new retinue, what about something like the Makarian Guard/Army/Legion? He seems like the type to name things after himself.

 

[Idhrendur]

"The 1st Imperial Komitas and Die"

Unfortunately that probably does more to honour your rival than yourself.

I shudder to think of what they might put on their banner.

Nice to see the "other Romans" win sometimes.

It's going remarkably well, for me being at them helm.

Scholai Palatinae. It was the name of the Roman imperial guard, an elite military unit that survived until Alexios I Komnenos disbanded them in the 11th century. Edit: historically it happens shortly after the game start date.

Thanks! I'll keep it in mind.

IMHO the Imperial Guard would be ok. Maybe Varegian Guard?

It's sad that there's no possibility for the ERE to restore the Empire in the West via event (when you control at least Italy)

Well, not in unmodded CK2. But in a megacampaign where I'm already planning some modding of the future games? Hmm…

Careless losing all your cataphracts. Makarios is a role-player's nightmare. He doesn't rule 81 vassals so much as bully them into doing what he wants.

Sadly, that's par for the course with me. I'm scared of how many stackwipes I'll have in the EU3 era (and how I'm no longer just reloading when I do something so dumb).

And while Makarios is not good for a stable, well-run, Empire, I tend to find him better than a content ruler, who just does nothing.

Bullying is the heart of statesmanship!

Impressive results so far. As far as naming your new retinue, what about something like the Makarian Guard/Army/Legion? He seems like the type to name things after himself.

Makarios agrees completely! :-D

 

[Idhrendur]

Makarios had just lost what should have been an easy war against Venice when the Cataphracts were met by a vastly larger HRE force and completely scattered.

While he started to rebuild a retinue, a faction demanded independence. Crushed in confidence, Makarios agreed. [I must have misclicked just before I saved for the night. Still, some adversity is good].

Bards and minstrels in the lands were soon singing songs of the danger of the Muslims to the East. When Makarios offered the dukes vassaldom, they readily agreed, not knowing that he was the source of these songs. But the King of Egypt did not agree to become a vassal again. Worse still, several counties outside of Egypt proper belonged to either he or his vassals.

Worse again, while Makarios rebuilt his forces, the overlooked duchy of Pisa was attached by the germans and overrun. The duke's holdings were reduced to the county of Siena, yet he still refused to again become a vassal.

Makarios foresaw that the Italian peninsula would become an eventual battleground between the germans and the Empire. He realized he could not wait for his forces to be rebuilt before he claimed more of it.

But depression at his setbacks took their toll: Makarios died at the age of 43.

 

[Arakhor]

Oh, well, that's not good.

 

[Nikolai]

That's not good.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

Bad luck freeing Syria. You'll get it back.

Now this is a crucial regency. A really good regent and the empire will be set, a bad one and Konstantinos XIII will hacve to fight hard to recover his patrimony.

 

[Idhrendur]

Oh, well, that's not good.

That's not good.

Bad luck freeing Syria. You'll get it back.

Now this is a crucial regency. A really good regent and the empire will be set, a bad one and Konstantinos XIII will hacve to fight hard to recover his patrimony.

Well, it's not good that I freed all those territories, but I got most of them back, except for Egypt. Fortunately, Egypt isn't critical for the next set of goals: restoring the Empire. Though if I get a chance to recover it, I will.

 

[Idhrendur]

This was Makarios I of the Empire. He ascended to the Imperial throne in 1177.

He was not a great ruler. He less ruled his vassals as much as bullied them into doing what he wanted. As a result, his reign was not a good one for the Empire.

It was known best for a mass rebellion, led by the former King of Egypt, who had rebelled previously. Nearly every vassal joined the war. It was won by a bold stroke at the heart of the rebellion.

The rebels were severely punished: stripped of their titles and left to die in the dungeons. Except for the leader, who was castrated. He died of his wounds within a few months.

Makarios' reign was also known for a disastrous war against Venice. What should have been an easy conquest led to the complete destruction of the Cataphracts.

After this loss, Makarios died of depression in 1189, and was succeeded by Konstantinos XIII, aged 9.

 

[Idhrendur]

This was Konstantinos XIII of the Empire. He ascended in 1189, at age 9.

This was Konstantios, his regent.

Konstantios was kind, charitable, and just, but shy and deceitful. He sent Konstantinos off to finish being educated.

Konstantios believed that it was his duty to stabilize the Empire to prepare for Konstantinos to rule it. He freed the long-held prisoners (who had no quarrel with Konstantinos), saw an end to several plots, established good relationships with many vassals, and renamed the new retinues from the "Makarian Guard" to the "Scholai Palatinae". Not only did that mean that veterans of the Cataphracts might be willing to rejoin (they tended to view Makarios with great bitterness, blaming him for their rout), but it provided a sense of historical connection to the past glory of the Empire.

And he ensured that the war in southern Italy was won.

After that, some strategic gift giving weakened the more dangerous faction in the Empire.

That accomplished, Konstantios turned his energies to matters of law. It was not right that lands properly belonging to the Empire should be held by outsiders. He declared war against some of those holding Imperial lands.

Eventually the queen mother was able to manipulate the court such that she became regent. Zealous and just, she continued to war against non-orthodox rulers.

But her actions sparked a political battle, and she was soon replaced as regent. Chrysogonos was the new regent, and being envious of the former regents, he declared a war so he could grant himself some titles.

When the war was concluded and the titles his, he stepped down as regent, leaving Konstantios to be re-appointed.

Ever the good regent, he declared another war to recover territories that properly belonged to the Empire.

Finally, on 16 September 1196, Konstantinos reached the age of majority. The regency was ended.

 

[Sakura_F]

Hail Konstantinos. Can I get a copy of your save-game? I'm kind of wondering if I'll be able to use levies and cataphracts with it.