WtWSMS: Chronicles of The Emperors' That Never Were

[COITALPRODIGY]

What if Odoacer never existed? What if he never dealt the final blow to the WRE? The Chronicles of The Emperors' That Never Were aims to answer that. It probably won't, but it can try! Ideally, this AAR spans from 476, up to 1453. I've never made it that far in a Ck2 game, so we'll see how it goes. I'll be posting these on the Crusader Kings subreddit as well.​

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Little Augustus
"What could've been?"
476-485​

Romulus Augustulus was born in the relatively new Imperial Capital of Ravenna, around 461 AD. Much of his early reign was marked by invasion, rebellion, and religious uprising respectively. Subsequently, the early reign of Romulus is rightfully tied to his trusted general and mentor, Ameilianus Calidus. In the summer of 477, the Warini, a Germanic tribe from the Baltics led by Borries, invaded what was left of the Roman Empire in the west. Their invasion was short lived as Ameilianus met them on the opposite side of the Italian alps, where they were thrown back across the Danube a short while later. At the dawn of 478, Rome was once again torn apart by civil war, a trend that had marked much of the previous two centuries. Felix Himelco, lord of the Italian prefecture, declared himself Emperor in the west, and promptly marched on the old Capital of Rome. Amelianus once more was called upon to prevent disaster, and he mustered his forces to meet the new threat. He met the rebels three times. The first at Hernici, the second at Praetutium, and finally in Naples, where the traitors under Himelco were beaten for good. For his trouble, Himelco was left to rot in a cell for the remainder of his life.

The next three years would pass uneventfully, until a minor religious uprising came from the west. Insignificant, it was quickly put down. With his coming of age in 484 AD, Romulus Augustulus was let loose to rule on his own. He'd grown to be a skilled but untested commander. In September of 484, Romulus was married to Aviena Octavianus, a woman who allegedly was the last living descendant of Augustus. Seeing the opportunity to let the Empire begin again, Romulus married into her family.

His first and only test as Emperor came early in 485, when Thuringians crossed the Danube into Northern Italy, bent on carving out a new homeland from the ailing Empire. Augustulus gathered the legions, and began a march north to meet the Thuringian invaders. The Romans met the Thuringians at the battle of Iuvavum in March of 485. In a moment of mad bravery, the inexperienced Emperor led an ill-fated charge into the German lines, where he met his end at the end of a spearpoint. The promising young Emperor died at the age of 24. While the Emperor was lost, the Thuringians were turned back, and retreated back across the Danube, waiting to fight another day. Leaving the world with no heir, he was succeeded by Aurelius Licinus.

 

[volksmarschall]

Welcome to the world of AAR-ing! I'm sure this will be a fun process for everyone involved, you and your readers. Should be fun to see how far you get. The character dynamic of CK2 is something I always tell myself I'll master someday. Eh. I prefer the Macro intensity of the other titles.

Good luck. I hope this project of yours turns out memorable and successful.
Cheers!

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Welcome to the world of AAR-ing! I'm sure this will be a fun process for everyone involved, you and your readers. Should be fun to see how far you get. The character dynamic of CK2 is something I always tell myself I'll master someday. Eh. I prefer the Macro intensity of the other titles.

Good luck. I hope this project of yours turns out memorable and successful.
Cheers!

Thanks! I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. It's breathing new life into Ck2 for me. The only ones who aren't enjoying it, as we'll see, are the Thuringians.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Aurelius Licinus
"The right place, the right time"
485-496​

Born in 435 to Pannonian royalty, Aurelius Licinus was already an old man at fifty by the time Romulus Augustulus came of age and ascended to the Imperial throne in 484. Despite his high birth, Aurelius lived much of his life out of the public eye. He managed to avoid the crisis of the 5th century, and married Alypia Constantius in 477, the daughter of former Anthemius Constantius. Within the next year his first son, Leontis, would be born.

A shrewd diplomat, in 483 he'd brought Sardinia and Corsica back into the Roman realm without bloodshed, chipping away at Vandalic holdings in the Mediterranean.
After the death of Augustulus at the battle of Iuvavum in 485, he was proclaimed Emperor by the legions. Aurelius moved quickly across the Danube into central Germania in pursuit of the Thuringians, where the Romans would spend much of the Summer battling the Germans where they could, and seizing what they could. It wasn't until September that Hermanafrid, king of the Thuringians, quickly found himself with nowhere to left to run, and was forced to surrender.

By November, Aurelius was back in Ravenna, where he was officially elected to Emperor. Despite large outbreaks of smallpox, the rest of the 480s passed on quietlly.
A daughter named Marcia was born to Aurelius in 490 (another named Sabina was born later), amidst the great Pox. The largest outbreak of smallpox that Italy had yet seen. In 491, with the pox dwindling, Aurelius toured Italy for the first and only time.
Towards the close of the 5th century, Rome under Aurelius would see small expansions led by Leontis Licinus, a taste of things to come, and a second invasion by the Thuringians. The campaign for Sicily in 493 was quick and brutal. By the end of the campaign, most of Sicily had been seized, and the Vandals army smashed across the island.

Eleven years after they were driven back across the Danube, the Thuringians tried their luck once again, crossing into Raetia-Noricum in 496. Leontis was there to greet them at the Veldidena pass. The Germans began to waiver when their right flank broke apart, and finally routed when their center was overrun. The Romans next fell on the Thuringians at the battle of Munchen, where they easily outnumbered and routed the Germans back across the Danube. As Licinus had done before, Leontis gave chase across the Danube, into central Germania. The Romans were relentless in their pursuit. Laying siege to one settlement, before rushing off to scatter the tribesmen once again. In July, the Thuringians surrendered a second time.
By now Aurelius, began to feel his age catching up to him. In his son, he could see many a Scipio. In December, Aurelius Licinus abdicated the throne to Leontis Licinus. In a momemt rare for Romans, Aurelius Licinus died in his own bed in 504 of natural causes.

 

[Nuada Airgetlám]

Augustulus met an unfortunate end but at least Licinus is bringing some much needed stability to the succession.

Good luck with the aar!

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Augustulus met an unfortunate end but at least Licinus is bringing some much needed stability to the succession.

Good luck with the aar!

Thanks! So far the Licinus dynasty has been pretty solid.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Leontius Licinus I
"Luckier than Augustus, better than Trajan"
497-505​

A bright spot in an increasingly dark age, Leontius Licinus, son of former Emperor Aurelius Licinus, was crowned as Augustus in January of 497. Young at the age of 19, capable, and charismatic, he shown the promise that Augustulus had shown, but with all the ability to back it up.

While he followed in his father's footsteps of being a natural diplomat, Leontius was mentored from an early age by the best commanders of the day. By the time he would come of age, he'd already garnered the reputation of a skilled warrior. He was made into a commander by the Emperor on his 16th birthday.
Whether or not he wanted to, his chance to prove any would be detractors wrong came quickly. In 492, the old Capital revolted, declaring for its independence. At the head of an army 6,000 men strong, Leontis quashed the rebellion before it really began.

A year later, he would lead a campaign into Sicily, reconquering it from the Vandals. In 496, at the head of another army, he turned back the second Thuringian invasion of Raetia-Noricum. He crossed the Danube, and took the fight to the Thuringian's, securing a victory by the fall of that year. It's here that Emperor Aurelius Licinus abdicated the throne to the young son, upon his return to Ravenna.
In March of 497, he was married to Vospica Afranius, daughter of Rex Syagrius of Soissons.
With the coming of a new century, Leontius began to focus much of his energy inwards, restoring the Empire from within. New ports were built along the costs of the Mediterranean Islands, in addition to new cities. On the Italian mainland, he had forums long neglected restored.

In May of 500, his first son and only son, Leontius the Second, was born to him.

In early October of 502, he put his plans of reconquering Africa into motion, and with three Italian legions at behind him, set sail for Vandalica. They arrived a month later on the 5th of November, and made seige on Aeilia Uluzibbra. The Romans made short work of the city before setting off for Carthage.
The Romans found the Vandal army at Membressa, and went on the attack. With a charge from the Roman center, and pressure from the Roman right, the Vandalic center was slaughtered to the last man. The Romans poured through the gap, overwhelming what was left of the Vandalic army. They routed, and Leontis set up siege on the ancient city.

With reenforcements from Italy, Carthage fell in 503. The Romans were victorious not long after, at the battle of Thimida, where the heavily outnumbered Vandals were shattered against the Roman lines. For the first time in sixty-four years, Africa was a Roman province.

The Empire was again resurgent. Trade flowed freely throughtout the Empire, and Rome was at peace after decades of the seemingly endless crisis of the 5th century. In 505, however, all the work that had gone into mending the Empire came to a standstill, with the sudden death of Leontius Licinus. While an excellent administrator, too much of his energy had been put into setting the state to rights. A testament to how well respected he was in life, is that during his reign there were no major revolts or foreign invasions.

 

[blitzthedragon]

Subscribing to this.

Also, there's a discrepancy in the first post. You said Romulus died at the age of 17, but also that he was born in 461. If the latter, he would have been 24 at the time of his death.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Subscribing to this.

Also, there's a discrepancy in the first post. You said Romulus died at the age of 17, but also that he was born in 461. If the latter, he would have been 24 at the time of his death.

Thanks for subscribing! He should've been 24, you're right. For some reason, his year of birth in game is given as 468 rather than 461. I fixed it. 'Let me know if you come across anything else.

 

[hawaiiansteve]

Loving this! Definitely looking forward to more

 

[DavidMK]

Glad to see someone else doing a WRE AAR. The greeks always get the love.

Are you going to stay Christian or try and bring back the Hellenic faith?

 

[Idhrendur]

This is a good start to an AAR. I'll definitely be reading!

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Loving this! Definitely looking forward to more

'Glad you like it! I hope to have more up soon.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Glad to see someone else doing a WRE AAR. The greeks always get the love.

Are you going to stay Christian or try and bring back the Hellenic faith?

I'm not sure yet. It's definitely not a bad idea.

 

[DavidMK]

I'm not sure yet. It's definitely not a bad idea.

Historically the Romans actually considered it (at the insistence of a Papal ambassador no less ) as the Ottomans closed in and people took note that Rome, West and East, only fell apart post-Christianity. Christian hardliners pushed him out of Court and the Ottomans took Constantinople soon after but it does lend historical credibility to a resurgent WRE, with Hellenism still a major religion, rethinking Christianity.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

Historically the Romans actually considered it (at the insistence of a Papal ambassador no less ) as the Ottomans closed in and people took note that Rome, West and East, only fell apart post-Christianity. Christian hardliners pushed him out of Court and the Ottomans took Constantinople soon after but it does lend historical credibility to a resurgent WRE, with Hellenism still a major religion, rethinking Christianity.

There's a good case for keeping the Empire Christian, as it hasn't fallen, and hasn't gave anyone reason to think that.

 

[DavidMK]

There's a good case for keeping the Empire Christian, as it hasn't fallen, and hasn't gave anyone reason to think that.

It's lost all of Europe and Africa. Roame has been sacked and the Vandals are sitting on Italian soil trolling the surviving Romans. Rome may not have fallen in the start you chose (it certainly has in the Julian start) but you can't say it hasn't fallen apart. I'm not saying you shouldn't stay Christian but people absolutely have reason to think that way.

 

[COITALPRODIGY]

I'll get the next part up when I can. Leontius the Younger is giving me a bit of writers block.

 

[loup99]

Subscribed! Nice to see a WtWSMS AAR with a different start.