Roman Restoration - A WTWSMS AAR

[DavidMK]

lol Well now that that's been settled, expect a new update tomorrow.

 

[DavidMK]

Roman Vengeance
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Aeneas couldn't believe it, his wife was cheating on him and with his Magister Officium no less.

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He would not stand for it and immediately issued a challenge to the man. He could face him in single combat in the throne room for all the courtiers to see or rot is a prison cell for his treason.

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The challenge was accepted and a date set for the fight.

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Aeneas swung his sword but missed as Gordianas sidestepped the blow and with a snarl swung his own sword at his head. He paried just in time and the blads locked. Gordianas looked coldly at him and said, "You're no good for her."

The blades came lose and both men regained their footing. "She's my wife you bastard!" He lunged at the traitor but he parried the attack and the followed thru. He ducked out of the way of the counter attack and both men backed off for a moment. "You will pay for this..."

"Always on campaign, always in consultations. You have no time for her. Who do you think rules when you're away? Who offers comfort to the Empress on cold nights?"

He screamed at the taunt and rushed forward, "The Senate rules..." The blade came down and once again locked. "And my daughters comfort." The blades came loose.

Gordianas luatghed in responce, "No, it is I." He followed this up with a combination of strikes that Aeneas could barely block.

After a few moments falling back, Gordianas made a mistake and Aeneas broght his sword down severing the traitor's sword hand. The traitor fell to the floor writhing in agony and cradling his arm. He circled the sorry fool a few times and then, with a sick grin on his face, brought his sword down cleaving his head in 1/2. He was too blinded by rage and victory to notice the gore of it all. Nor did he consider the need for a new Magister Officium.

***
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Aeneas crumbled up the letter and angrily threw it into the fire behind him, "Boy!" A servant ran into the room a moment later. "Ready my horse."

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Licinius was riding beside Aeneas. Aeneas had wanted to clear his head after the cabinet meeting and he had offered to provide an ear for him to vent to. "Indeed, my Emperor. Still, I don't think they acted fully of their own accord."

"Oh?"

"As you have been saying so... Eloquently for the last 1/2 hour, this is a foolish move on their part. I've no doubt the plot originated with them but it was likely the bureaucrats that pushed them to action." When Aeneas simply kept riding with a thoughtful look on his face, he decided to continue, "It is they who handle the day to day affairs of government, the nobles generally deal with merchants and their households. If they were to have a say, even if indirect, on who sat on the throne, they're power would grow significantly. You, if you don't mind me saying so, are getting on in age and your sons are popular with the military and commoners. Less so the nobles but what can they do against the mob and legions? If you were to die, Aeneas would succeed unopposed. If the succession was changed before that though, they could alter the way of things, at the very least put a more compliant son on the throne after you."

"So you're saying the nobles weren't as rash as they seem and were pushed into action by provincial governments fearful the opportunityy would go unrealized?"

"You'd have to ask the rebel leaders to be sure but I suspect they'd say the same."

"A nuisance they are."

Licinius laughed at that, "Yes but would you have us be feudal barbarians, poor and always at each other's throats?"

Aeneas could only shake his head at that.

​

The resulting battle proved short and disive. Only a few hundred battered survivors made the escape to ‎Napoli while the rebel leadership found themselves with their backs to the sea. Aeneas could have ended them but instead he parlayed with them. After offering them a modest but filling meal, he struck up a cordial conversation in an attempt to discover their motivations. It proved to be as ‎Licinius suspected and so offered a white peace in exchange for the names of the provocateurs. The rebels agreed and the guilty bureaucrats met a swift end.

***
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Alas this was not to be the end of Aeneas' troubles, for once again the Christians rose up, this time in Sicily. Aeneas quickly marched his legions south, No longer would he delay in putting the heretics down. They would die quickly and without mercy.

​

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Aeneas rode before the assembled army. These were no poor farmers but the citizen soldiers of old, clad in glistening Roman armor. They stood at attention with looks of stern determination on their faces. Aside from the advancement of technology, they wouldn't have looked out of place in the Old Republic and those legions had conquered the Known World save Germania. They would do nicely.

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Aeneas looked across the battlefield. It was littered with bodies, bodies adorned with crosses and cheap armor he couldn't help noting. He couldn't make out any loyal Romans though he knew he hadn't avoided casualties. Just then a rider rode up, "We managed to capture 80 odd prisoners, my Emperor. What should we do with them?"

A sick idea crossed Aeneas' mind, "Crucify them! Let them join the Dead God they so adore."

​

Again Aeneas knew victory, a few had escaped but over 300 survivors including the heretic priest that led them had been captured. He now stood before that persist, recently crucified and looking down pathetically at him. He smiled and said, "How many times do I need to put you fools down?" He turned and walked away, he would not give the heretic a chance to reply.

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And so ended yet another Christian uprising.​

***

​

Aeneas awoke with a start, leaping out of his bed and grabbing his sword from the sheath lying on the bedstand. It wasn't until he had taken a defensive stance, sword raised high, that he realized he was in his darkened bedroom, alone and naked. He heard a commotion outside and barely had time to throw down his sword and wrap the bedsheets around his lower body before his guards, terrified servants standing behind them, burst into the room.

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Aeneas awoke to find a stranger in his bed, poised menacingly above him. He reacted quickly throwing off the attacker and throwing a wild punch at their face as he fumbled to grab his sword. A scream of pain and surprise came from attacker as the punch landed squarely on the lower jaw... A secram with a familiar voice. "Messalina?" As before, the guards came in, the open door letting in light. It was indeed Messalina, they had reconciled after the last time as she rushed to his side to calm him. He was thinking clearly again, he had awoken to her lovingly kissing his forehead and he had responded by beating her...

***
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An urgent letter arrived from Despot Victorinus. Aeneas was busy but the urgent nature of the letter and the fact that it came from his favorite son compelled him to read it immediately.
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Beloved Father,

I hope all is well, Mother writes to me of your nightmares. I hope her efforts to sooth them meet with success. I write you to inform you of my efforts to punish the Ostrogoths. As my army marched, I received word that another barbarian tribe had crossed the Danube to steal my prize. Despite my efforts to reach the border quickly, the barbarians beat me to the prize sizing most of Pannonia for themselves. I regret to say that while the Ostrogoths have been defeated, it was not at our hands and now, save a small foothold I was able to establish, rightful Roman lands remain in barbarian hands.

I do not write this letter simply to lament my slowness. Rather I ask that you send me an army to complete the reconquest for Dalmatia lacks the resources to defeat such a large barbarian horde on it's own.

I hope this reaches you quickly, for I know you will not deny me our vengeance.

Your loving son, Victorinus.​

​

He was right of course. While Pannonia had not been his next objective, he couldn't fault his son's innisitive and now Roman honor had been committed to the cause. He would not deny his favorite son and chose to personally lead the army to Pannonia.

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The barbarians weren't slow to react and had quickly overrun the Roman foothold, only to fall back at the word of the larger Roman Army approaching the region.

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Aeneas would not let his would be assassins escape. He ran from his tent catching them just outside. Screaming he wildly swung his sword at the 1st assassin he saw. The man was fast, sidestepping the blow and unsheathing his own weapon. His ally came from behind but he turned to face the other assassin and parried the blow, curiously noting that the assassin was attacking with the blind side of his weapon. Just then a hard blow came down on the back of his head, fighting to not black out he realized this was not an assassination but a kidnapping. Fighting to regain his senses, he tuned on the 1st attacker managing a glancing blow on his cheek. As the 1st attacker stumbled back, the 2nd yelled, "My Emperor, stop!"

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At 1st the war moved quickly. Unsupported the barbarians garrisoning fled at the 1st sight of the Roman Army and in a short time were in former Ostrogothic lands utterly crushing the barbarian army sent to challenge them.

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Without immediate opposition the Romans quickly overran Pannonia Inferior only for Aeneas to receive word of another heretic rebellion, this time the Titan worshipers.

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With the rebels in southern Italia, Aeneas sent word to the local nobles urging them to use their levies to contain the rebels until the Roman Army could disengage in the east. In the meantime, Aeneas sized the barbarian capital hoping to end the war decisively.

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Unfortunately, the barbarians and their king had managed to amass an army to the east and so long as it remained, they had little incentive to surrender.

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He crushed the enemy and sent the survivors fleeing into the dark forests of Dacia.

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Aeneas moved to drive the barbarians out of Pannonia completely as he marched south to deal with the rebels.

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Aeneas tried to drown out the screams of wounded and dying but it was just too much. He accepted that he would have to endure it as he and his road toward the city gates where a small group of rebel leaders was waiting to parly. As they got close, 1 of the leaders, dressed as an Auger, raised his hand, "That's far enough." Aeneas signled his guards to stop.

"What say you?"

"You have driven our army from the field and stand poised to lay siege to this city. The gods do not take kindly to surrender but I'm not suicidal. Allow us to leave the city in peace, we will leave our arms behind. We have lost, we accept this and see no reason to continue fighting."

Aeneas paused, seemingly in thought. In truth he stood by his promise to himself, heretics who took up arms would be shown no quarter and dealt with swiftly. Still he had to make a show of things to keep the heretic's guard down. "It is as you say..." The heretics seemed to relax. "You have indeed lost and there is no reason for the war to continue... Seize them!"

Archers, hidden by tall grass, loosed their arrows downing the heretic's horses as his guards rode down the now unhorsed rebel leaders. As he hoped most attempted to fight compelling the guards to cut them down, only their leader saw sense and stayed down allowing the guards to bind him. When the Romans made to enter the city, the rebel garrison didn't resist.

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Aeneas sighed and wondered how long it would take for the heretics to learn.

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With the rebels dealt with, Aeneas marched north to conclude the war in Pannonia.

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The barbarians proved resilient and their army had regrouped and launched a counteroffensive while the Romans were in Italia, quickly reversing their loses. As the Roman Army neared the borders, urgent word reached him that the Titan worshipers had not been truly defeated. Enraged by how he'd ended the last battle, the heretics had united behind a new leader and as Aeneas and his army found themselves facing down the barbarian horde, they rose up in the Roman Army's rear. Aeneas was quick to recognize the trap and turned the army around to deal with the heretics before the barbarians could react.
​

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Aeneas couldn't help but yell as his horse fell, an arrow thru 1 of it's eyes. He was undefended having road ahead of his guards to deal with a group of rebels threatening to punch thru a weak point in the battle line. Despite his attempts to rally the men, the rebels had broken thu and now he was in the dirt. A rebel rushed at him, swinging down with his sword. He parried with all the strength he could muster forcing the rebel back. As the rebel regained his footing, he raised his sword above his chest ready to deflect the next blow. The rebel noted his stance and that he was pinned by his horse. He again rushed at him, fainting a strike at his neck. As he moved to parry, the rebel swung his sword down on his pinned leg. He gave a loud scream, dropping his sword and blacking out from the pain, remaining on the very edge of consciousness. He heard faint footsteps, the sound of air being cut then a splattering sound followed by a dull thud. His vision returned and he looked around to see the rebel dead at his side with a bloody gash thru his chest. Standing behind the corpse was 1 of his guards, dismounted and with a bloody sword in his hand. He dropped the sword and rushed over dragging him from his head horse. The guard the knelt beside him and grabbed a bandage from his pack which he used to fashion a tourniquet as the other guards rode up. "Hold..."

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He woke up screaming. Looking around he screamed again assaulted by the smell of rotting flesh and the sight of mangled bodies and disembodied limbs. His heart racing and his vision blurring, he noticed he couldn't feel his right leg below the knee. Ripping the bedsheets off himself, he saw 1/2 his leg missing and screamed again. He kept screaming even as the surgeons rushed over. He kept screaming even as they offered him a bitter drink. He kept screaming until everything went black. Then he was silent, in the cold embrace of oblivion.

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The line did hold and the rebel army was routed but not before a 2nd had risen in the south. With Aeneas incapacitated, Licinius took direct command of the army pushing back the barbarians and finally forcing them to submit.

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With Pannonia Inferior reconquered, Victorinus was given control of the region as per Aeneas' standing orders and the army turned south, Aeneas brought south by carriage having refused to abandon the army.

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The battle was decisive and Aeneas, equipped with a prosthetic, personally surveyed the battlefield riding Licinius' generously provided horse. After his survey was complete, he rode back to camp walked into the tent where the rebel leader was being held and personally cut his throat.

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As Aeneas rode into Rome at the head of his Triumph, washed over by the cheers of his people and the flowers they threw at him, he couldn't help but consider the events that had led to this point. The Christians had been thoroughly dealt with. The nobles had largely been placated and while opposition had existed, they had acted prematurely, pushed into action by the bureaucrats. He had called their bluff and compelled them to take up arms before they were ready. His decisive victory in the field followed by his even handed offer of peace had put an end to the 1/2 hearted rebellion and likely smothered any simmering sources of remaining rebellion. The heretics had risen up repeatedly but he'd put them to the sword quickly each time. His son, Despot Victorinus, had endeavored to put an end to the Ostrogoths and while the barbarians across the Danube had moves quicker, he had endeavored to reverse the results. The heretics had almost cost him the war but he'd pulled off the reconquest in the end and rewarded Victorinus' initiative with control of the region. True the remainder of Pannonia remained outside Roman hands but the treacherous Ostrogoths had been cast down and Victorinus would undoubtedly seek to finish the reconquest. Also true was that ridiculous Alpine duke who insisted he was king of Italia. Still, he was only a duke and would inevitably fall to his rivals. Better still, he wasn't even an Ostrogoth, the title having been sized by a rival tribe after they had been driven from Italia. A smile crossed his face. Sweet vengeance had been realized, the decline of the Western Empire reversed and the authors of its near demise all but extinct.

The Western Roman Empire in 508.​

 

[DavidMK]

So ya... Aeneas has PTSD and is going a... little... crazy due to the constant wars and rebellions. I've finally caught up with my playing so the rest is as much a mystery for me as the rest of you. Good times ahead I think, I almost hope he becomes a lunatic and/or possessed.

 

[Nikolai]

So you're going east and not south to Africa for expansion. Easier to transfer troops I guess. But wasn't Carthage's area a breadbasket at the time? Or am I misremembering? Purely going for RP reasons of course.

 

[DavidMK]

So you're going east and not south to Africa for expansion. Easier to transfer troops I guess. But wasn't Carthage's area a breadbasket at the time? Or am I misremembering? Purely going for RP reasons of course.

No, Carthage is my target but as I (or rather Aeneas) said, Victorinus wasn't happy with just Dalmatia. He only grabbed a country from the Ostrogoths because of a rival invasion so I went in to fix the map gore. Shame, Victorinus was going for all of Pannonia and would have brought the whole kingdom into the empire had he not had competition. Apparently he had a CB I didn't because I could only grab the duchy. I'll be going after the Vandals next and leave Victorinus to finish up. I suppose Aeneas II could do it as well but i can just give it to Victorinus when Aeneas II takes over if that happens. I was hoping to limit my heirs to just 1 kingdom each least I have a nasty succession but I can't fault Victorinus, he's more like Aeneas than Aeneas II is. lol

 

[DavidMK]

Both Aeneas and Aeneas II had some fun. Update coming up.

 

[DavidMK]

War Of The 3 Emperors
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Aeneas and Messalina were sitting in the palace courtyard. They had just finished a romantic picnic lunch and Aeneas was laughing at a joke when an officer with the palace guard walked up. He stood at attention saying nothing as Aeneas tried to ignore him. After a moment of awkward silence Messalina looked at her husband with raised eyebrows and offered a polite cough. Rolling his eyes, Aeneas slowly turned to face the officer, "You better have a good reason for intruding..." He let the words hang menacingly.

"Apologies, my Emperor. I have a letter marked urgent with your son's seal."

"Which 1?"

"Aeneas, my Emperor."

"Give it here than."

The officer handed over the ledter then returned to attention. Aeneas waved him away and he did an about face before quickly walking off. After simply looking at the scroll for a moment Messalina spoke up, "So, what does your son say?" Aeneas cringed at that, she hadn't meant anything by it but after the rough patch their marriage had just gone thru the reminder that Aeneas wasn't his wife's son stung. It was a foolish response of course, Aeneas was no bastard, still it bothered him.

Aeneas broke the seal and read:

Father,

I regret not writing sooner, I know you are not well as of late. I assure you this was not neglect on my part. The burden of rule has been heavy as of late and I've only just now, ironically considering the state of affairs, found the time to make contact outside official channels. Victorinus has been keeping in touch with Mother and has passed her updates to me. I've consulted my doctors hoping that they may have advice to offer but I heard nothing that the doctors in Rome wouldn't know. I know that you're not much for writing, but I do hope you'll keep in contact with me more, I sense it will help calm your nerves to speak with me more often.

To more pressing matters, I have continued what you and Victorinus started and have sent 2 armies across the border. My aim is to crush the outpost along the frontier from which my lands have been subjected to raids and then continue across the Danube to take the fight to the enemy. As you know, these are not undisciplined fools as I expect them to give me a good fight before I finally subdue them and bring good Roman order to their lands.

I've just revived word that the army is ready to assault the 1st outpost so I must see to the task at hand. Again, I hope you write me more often and I'll be sure to send you updates as the war progresses.

Your loving son and loyal servant, Aeneas.

"Well than," Messalina said smiling, "It seems Aeneas is unwilling to wait for you and is intent on building an empire for himself."

Aeneas smiled back at his wife, "With a name like Aeneas..."

***

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The war dragged on for most of year without meaningful progress though any frustrations the Martinus family may have felt at this disappeared with the return of Prince Galbines from his service with the Scholae Palatinae.

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Aeneas shot up, the battlefield suddenly cast into darkness and eerie silence. Fighting to overcome the looming blackout, he yelled for the men to keep fighting and called his guards to rally to him. Suddenly cold water fell on his face. As he recovered from the shock he turned and saw Messalina looking at him with a worried look on her face, "Another nightmare." It wasn't a question.

​

Several weeks later Galbines informed Aeneas that he'd just received word from Greece, Prince Constans (who had become a twisted monster during his service but Galbines kept that to himself) had succumbed to illness and been given a state funeral by the Eastern Emperor. Aeneas quickly slipped into grief, managing to maintain his composure long enough to instruct the Eastern ambassador to relay his thanks to his counterpart. He then was led away by a worried Messalina and would not be seen in court again for nearly a month.

​

Shortly after Aeneas' return to court another Martinus veteran of the Scholae Palatinae returned home to Rome, this time Prince Nepotian. While everyone else was too overjoyed at his return to notice anything amiss, Aeneas was still gloom over the death of his son and noticed that Nepotian wasn't himself. Galbines had returned home standing tall and proud, Nepotian looked solemn and almost as gloom as he did. Galbines told grand and undoubtedly exaggerated tales of his deeds, Nepotian remained humble and reacted in anger at the suggestion that he was a hero. At the celebratory feast in his honor, he kept looking over his shoulder and when the bards started to sing of the battles (all fictional of course for they knew almost nothing of what had happened in the Eastern Empire) Nepotian had left the hall quickly, almost fleeing. Now he was walking to his son's chambers. It was hard on his rump of a leg but he was worried and wanted to see what was wrong. As he neared his destination he could hear his son screaming and the desperate effort of the servants to calm him. Aeneas had a sudden sense of revolution come over him. While he had not succumbed to paranoia, he recognized the anguish his son suffered as his own. He stopped walking, he could do nothing for his son now save calm him and the servants would see to that. He turned and began the long painful walk to his own chambers promising to himself that he would speak to Nepotian at breakfast the next morning, perhaps they could help calm each other's nerves. He stopped suddenly, remembering the letter Aeneas had written. This was why he wanted to maintain a correspondence. He would have to write to him in the morning.

​

Aeneas waved forward the next audience seeker and could tell immediately this was no poor peasant looking for justice or an insufferable noble looking for favors. No, this was a man of action, strongly built and wearing the uniform of an officer in the Roman Army... The EASTERN Roman Army. "How may I help you, Brother?"

The officer bowed then replied, "I'm here on other business but your son, Prince Volusianus, asked me to speak to you when he learned of my mission west."

"Speak than."

"Your son has retired from the Scholae Palatinae but has, having found love in Constantinople, elected to remain in the capital. He sends you his love and respect and hopes you will think fondly of him from time to time."

"Well..." Aeneas was surprised by the news and took a few seconds to think of a reply. "If you see my son again, tell him I wish him the best and hope he brings glory to your emperor."

The officer bowed again then left.

***

As the feast drew to a close, the reason for the celebration was called forward. Livilla had been 1 of Otho's top students and Aeneas was confident she'd make a fine replacement as Diviner. She gave her oath and returned to her cheating colleagues and friends.

***
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The next few weeks passed in peace and save the ongoing struggle by Crown Prince Aeneas in the east, some dared hope that peace would soon return to the Empire. Aeneas was unfit to campaign, most of the nobles were happy with the Imperial agenda and there were no hints of further rebel activity. And then the messenger came with word that 'Little' Augustus, no longer little, had resurfaced intent of regaining his throne which the Ostrogoths had driven him from all those years ago. Aeneas was outraged, it had been he who had allowed the Ostrogoths to overrun Italia forfeiting any right to the throne.

​

As the weeks passed despair took hold in the army as units across the Empire began to report dissertations as men defected to the cause of the former Emperor. When the fighting started, it would be brother against brother in both blood and arms.

The celebration was somewhat more somber with the deaths occurring so close together. Even still there had been much food and the drinks, wine, ale and liquor, still flowed like the torrent of the Nile. Aeneas called Nepotian forward. He had held the equivalent position during his service in the east and many had noted that his nerves were at least as calm as his own when kept busy so he felt his son was perfect for the job.

***
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Aeneas stood at the rear of the army on a small hill that gave him a complete view of the beach. He had insisted on leading the defence of Rome but his generals and ministers had only agreed when he promised to avoid any actual fighting. The idea of not leading from the front bothered him but he'd be a dead man if unhorsed with only 1 leg and a prosthetic to stand on and so accepted the reality of his situation.

As the ships, widely suspected of Vandal origin, neared he could begin to make out the standard of Romulus. He was tempted to be insulted at the implied connection to the city's founder but remembered his own name (and more if the bards were to be believed) implied a connection to the progenitor of the Latin people from which Romulus had emerged. His thoughts were interrupted as battlehorns near the front line sounded and the archers loosed their fiery arrow at the nearest ships. He was too far to hear the resulting screams but he could see shapes falling overboard and soon smake as well as sails caught fire. It wasn't enough those, the ships were too many and soon enemy troops began disembarking. He have the signal and his signal officer gave the order to charge.His light cavalry galloped from the flans and descended on the landing forces in an attempt to disrupt the landing. For a time it seemed to work but the Pretender's forces kept coming and after about 20 minutes the cavalry was forced to retreat back to the battle line lest they be overrun.

For a brief moment it seemed as if the invaders would stay on the beach and attempt to form their battlelines. Alas this wasn't so as arrows rained down on them and as soon as the cavalry had disengaged fully the invaders charged the 1st line of the loyalist defence. The battle raged for over 2 hours, word even reached him that Romulus himself had engaged thought he could never find him on the battlefield. Eventually the invaders, presumably Romulus among them, retreated to their ships. He remained in the field for a while longer but once he saw the fleet start north he returned to the city. This had been a victory but the Pretender had landed a 2nd army to the north in the hope the forces defending Rome would split their forces.

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He hadn't ordered a force north, recognizing the ploy. Once he had gotten a night's sleep and the army had regrouped, he led them north to deal with the rest of the Pretender's force, routing them soundly.

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His victory was made even sweeter that night when, at the end of his war council, he received a letter from his son informing him that he had secured the frontier and was making to cross the Danube. The letter also included a more personal correspondence and he smiled to himself, writing to his son had indeed been good for his mental health. He imeadetly wrote back with an idea, his son should take command of the Legion and make a martial reputation for himself in the capital.

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As soon as Aeneas 'the Generous' (as the peasants had taken to calling him) arrived, he took command of the army and marched north to deal with Romulus.

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Shortly after the army left, Aeneas received word from his son's generals reporting that they had established themselves east of the Danube and were continuing to advance.

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A few weeks later, the news got even better as the last remnants of the Pretender's army were swept from the field and the hunt began for the man himself.

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Seeking to secure the coming peace, Aeneas gave the order to reorganize the Sicilian levies into a proper citizen legionary force, offering a generous bonus to any lorder who would release their peasants for service.

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The good news continued to come is as Roman forces continued to advance in the east while Romulus was finally found trying to buy passage to Vandal occupied Carthage (confirming suspicions regarding where his fleet had come from) from a merchant ship in the north.

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At last the news everyone had been waiting for arrived and the war Aeneas 'the Generous' had undertaken was finally over. That the prince would organize a triumph surprised nobody, he had certainly earned it. That he chose to hold it in Revana rather than Rome and kept the territories he'd won for himself rather than placing them under Imperial authority raised eyebrows. Immediately there were whispers, even from Aeneas, that had he not been Crown Prince he'd have declared himself Emperor. That the rumor was supported by the throne made it fact in the minds of many. Despite this, Aeneas didn't consider his son's actions treasonous. As heir to the throne he had no motivations to move against his father and his actions had, at least in size, made the Western Empire the equal of the Eastern for the 1st time in almost a century. For the 1st time since the last West/East split, Rome's authority stretched from the Mediterranean to the Black. Soon after the triumph in Rvana, the bards took to singing of the War of the 3 Emperors and the official chroniclers and historians soon followed.

The Western Roman Empire in 512.​

 

[DavidMK]

The next update will be up in the afternoon. It won't be anything special, just a time jump and setting up for the next proper update.

 

[DavidMK]

The Emperor Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor
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Most of the next decade passed uneventfully. The Empire's allies in North Africa, established ahead of Aeneas' planes for the Vandals, waged war to expand their domains and Aeneas 'the Generous' dealt with the usual housekeeping as he slowly worked to replace the barbarians with a proper Roman administration in the empire he'd conquered for himself. Still, not much happened. Taxes were raised improving the Empire's finances, the Sicilian Legion grew as more and more recruits flocked to the Roman Eagle (and 3 squares a day and warm cot at night), the economy steadily grew and the peasants (outside Dicia at least) slowly recovered from the near constant warfare that resulted from the Empire digging itself out of it's grave. Indeed, even the barbarians along the frontier stood down as the risk of Roman invasion seemingly disappeared.

The joy felt by the Senate and People of Rome at this brief peace (for war with the Vandals still loomed) was shattered on October 14th, 520 when Emperor Aeneas at last succumbed to age and injury at the not unimpressive age of 68.

If there was 1 source of good news it was that Aeneas 'the Generous' was in Rome on official business and thus the change in power wasn't delayed. That evening at a hastily organized coronation, Aeneas 'the Generous' was crowned Emperor Aeneas II, King of Rome, Emperor of the Western Empire and Protector of the Realm.

 

[DavidMK]

Expect another update within the next few days. Aeneas 'the Generous' has different ideas for the Empire than his father, especially in the holy land of Greece.

 

[Nuada Airgetlám]

Rome rises from the ashes!

 

[DavidMK]

Rome rises from the ashes!

I wasn't expecting such a relatively easy time in Italy. I guess they lose their death stack if you start after the conquest. I was somewhat disappointed but it did help me establish myself faster than I would have. A proper war with Italy would have probably put me back a decade or more trying to rebuild my army.

 

[Nikolai]

So Martinus has a regnal name after his father?

 

[DavidMK]

So Martinus has a regnal name after his father?

No, his name was Aeneas Jr. (going by modern naming conventions). I'm technically pope so the papal name change event fires. I'll have to change things in the save file to remove the title as it can't be destroyed.