The eternal war FTW!
Well, it's good to see the Persians have a bright future ahead of themselves.
Well, it's good to see the Persians have a bright future ahead of themselves.
Rome AARisen - a Byzantine AAR
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Spoilers!
Well, for one, the Danes are around in 1353, okaydokay. Second, Samarkand was mentioned as being in Roman orbit, that answers some of my perennial questions. Thirdly, judging by this, clearly there's not been a Kwasatz Haderach and whatserface and whatshisface are clearly not it. The Reverend Mothers must try again.
Well, for one, the Danes are around in 1353, okaydokay. Second, Samarkand was mentioned as being in Roman orbit, that answers some of my perennial questions. Thirdly, judging by this, clearly there's not been a Kwasatz Haderach and whatserface and whatshisface are clearly not it. The Reverend Mothers must try again.
They ARE Rome's eternal enemies. It would be rude of them if they weren't present at the end.
It's truly a testament to the abilities of the Komnenoi that it takes ninety more years of gradual rot for the whole imperial edifice to start to collapse. Ninety years! The fact that the institutions they created survive that long is, if you look at it one way, pretty amazing--it places Romanion on par with Rome, even if it looks like it will share Rome's fate a thousand years after the fact.
Amazing. I agree with Fulcrumvale. I thought things would go down spiral much earlier than that. Komenoids rule.
Sad ending, in the teaser: Three generations of constant war commencing...
Sad ending, in the teaser: Three generations of constant war commencing...
So... that Emperor was NOT the current Emperor, because he was 70 or so, and Andronikos is almost 20 in 1262, which would make Alexandros about 110. However there is mention of the steely eyes again, seems to be a repeating trend in Komnenid genetics... Perhaps he is the son of Alexandros I, possibly the fabled Alexander the Great II (possibly the first Byzantine Alexandros, since it might allude to him being the successor to Alexander the legendary Macedonian King.) , or Andronikos II, the harbinger of doom and destruction for the empire, if we are to believe that post-nuclear period professor from way back when.
I suppose that Two-Rivers, Two-Seas business refers to the Euxine (possibly the Auxine again by this time if things go badly up north again...) and the Mediterranean, but I can't figure out what rivers they are referring to. My first thought was the Euphrates and Tigris, simply because of their significance as the beginning of real society, however if the Persians are alive and kicking, then I doubt the Empire proper controls Mesopotamia, though it is possible. My second guess is the Lycus and the Tiber, though I am not sure why the Emperor would use the rivers as titles, rather than just saying something like the Two Cities, or something. Also, that would require an increase in the importance of Rome to the Empire, or a rather nostalgic Emperor, ala Basil, wishing for a "Roman" Empire of sorts.
I suppose that Two-Rivers, Two-Seas business refers to the Euxine (possibly the Auxine again by this time if things go badly up north again...) and the Mediterranean, but I can't figure out what rivers they are referring to. My first thought was the Euphrates and Tigris, simply because of their significance as the beginning of real society, however if the Persians are alive and kicking, then I doubt the Empire proper controls Mesopotamia, though it is possible. My second guess is the Lycus and the Tiber, though I am not sure why the Emperor would use the rivers as titles, rather than just saying something like the Two Cities, or something. Also, that would require an increase in the importance of Rome to the Empire, or a rather nostalgic Emperor, ala Basil, wishing for a "Roman" Empire of sorts.
Actually, the byzantines didn't really like ancient Greece. They portrayed them as barbarians while the romans were the civilized people. So that's unlikely.
Well, the old dual-division between East and West, Rome and Parthia-Sassanids-Arabs-Caliphate-Turks-Persians is still standing.
The Empire shall stand strong as long as it has some divine mission to guard the west from the perils of east.
The Empire shall stand strong as long as it has some divine mission to guard the west from the perils of east.
Yeep! Things move fast in this thread.
Thank you for posting the link again, Alexander Primus, and I'm sorry for my laziness and forgetfulness. And laziness.
On the update: I'm assuming the Empress of Persia here is Eirene "Sorsha" Kaukadene-Komnene, from this entry:
http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8917782&postcount=1680
If so, that would make the Emperor in the most recent entry Andronikos II, as Kirsch guessed. It appears he oversaw the end of a 100-year civil war with Persia (including the fall of the City), only to start it up again for another 100-ish years. Harbinger of doom, indeed.
Timur (born 1336 according to Wikipedia) was 18 in Eirene's entry, which puts it in April 1354 at the earliest, 1 year after the entry with Gregorios and Andronikos. Either Constantinople was already at war with Persia at this point (it doesn't appear so, from Eirene's musings), or more likely Eirene's entry took place a bit earlier than Gregorios', and either I or Eirene got Timur's age wrong.
My guess would be that Andronikos II wanted to break Persia while it was distracted and/or weakened by the war with Timur, and Eirene either beat both of them back, or fell but was replaced by Timur as Rome's eastern antagonist. I'm guessing the former because... well, she's Sorsha.
Also interesting to note is that neither the Emperor or Gregorios thought Eirene's husband worth mentioning. Is he so weak that he's utterly beneath notice, or has Eirene finally brushed him aside for good?
I love that you've been building suspense for this period for 150 pages. I think I'm now anticipating the Eirene period more than the release of the next Song of Ice and Fire book.
Edit: re-reading Eirene's entry, it looks like it must take place before Gregorios', as in Eirene's entry Persia is ruled by her dying uncle Ioannis, and she's trying to get her husband (also named Ioannis?) to seize the throne.
Thank you for posting the link again, Alexander Primus, and I'm sorry for my laziness and forgetfulness. And laziness.
On the update: I'm assuming the Empress of Persia here is Eirene "Sorsha" Kaukadene-Komnene, from this entry:
http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8917782&postcount=1680
If so, that would make the Emperor in the most recent entry Andronikos II, as Kirsch guessed. It appears he oversaw the end of a 100-year civil war with Persia (including the fall of the City), only to start it up again for another 100-ish years. Harbinger of doom, indeed.
Timur (born 1336 according to Wikipedia) was 18 in Eirene's entry, which puts it in April 1354 at the earliest, 1 year after the entry with Gregorios and Andronikos. Either Constantinople was already at war with Persia at this point (it doesn't appear so, from Eirene's musings), or more likely Eirene's entry took place a bit earlier than Gregorios', and either I or Eirene got Timur's age wrong.
My guess would be that Andronikos II wanted to break Persia while it was distracted and/or weakened by the war with Timur, and Eirene either beat both of them back, or fell but was replaced by Timur as Rome's eastern antagonist. I'm guessing the former because... well, she's Sorsha.
Also interesting to note is that neither the Emperor or Gregorios thought Eirene's husband worth mentioning. Is he so weak that he's utterly beneath notice, or has Eirene finally brushed him aside for good?
I love that you've been building suspense for this period for 150 pages. I think I'm now anticipating the Eirene period more than the release of the next Song of Ice and Fire book.
Edit: re-reading Eirene's entry, it looks like it must take place before Gregorios', as in Eirene's entry Persia is ruled by her dying uncle Ioannis, and she's trying to get her husband (also named Ioannis?) to seize the throne.
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Just having read the post from long ago in the link, it appears that Alexndros II Megas is in fact Persian, rather than ruler of Constinople (though that's not to say he doesn't conquer it at some point.) Should be interesting.
Antoku: Remember Genghis Khan, he came earlier than IRL. So Timur might very well not be born the same date as historical.
PERSIA! PERSIA! PERSIA! PERSIA! PERSIA! (wildly cheers)
I liked the update, hooray for spoilers.
Also, Eirene is freak'in amazing (and hot!). I mean come on, what isn't hot about a woman (from the Middle Ages!) seizing power and manipulating weak relatives and husbands? . As far as I am concerned she is my new favorite character.
I liked the update, hooray for spoilers.
Also, Eirene is freak'in amazing (and hot!
). I mean come on, what isn't hot about a woman (from the Middle Ages!) seizing power and manipulating weak relatives and husbands? . As far as I am concerned she is my new favorite character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shajar_al-Durr#End
The part where she gets bludgeoned to death in the bath with wooden shoes?
... although, actually, that does sound weirdly like the ending to a weird fetish video.
But I'm sure the Empress of the Peacock throne won't go out that way! Oh, who am I kidding, with this AAR's record she'll probably end up being bludgeoned to death with flailing war-horses while drowning in a cauldron of boiling oil.
Agreed! Nīkās Εἰρήνῃ, ή αληθής ὁ βᾰσῐλεύς Ῥωμαίων καί Περσίδων!
(I think that's "Victory to Eirene, true emperor of the Romans and Persians", but I washed out of Greek 101 more than once, so its actual meaning may be "Antoku is a stupid foreigner who should stick to languages he actually knows")
Yes, well it seems that it probably is Andronikos II, so this Alexandros in Persia is potentially the next Megas. (Megas Komnenos even? Maybe just for a little while? Please?)
However, this Andronikos doesn't seem to be a BAD ruler, as far as the last update went, we didn't hear of him being necessarily evil, thought he was certainly a warmonger, it seems. In fact, Demetrios Megas was nothing if not a lecherous warmonger with a penchant for drunkenness and debauchery.
Yet he still remains one of the most celebrated Komnenid rulers, along with Manuel, (Though I doubt Manuel was quite as popular with the people of Byzantium, he certainly is with US! I for one vote for a resurrection of him, at least through ghost-telepathy, ala the infamous Knytling possessions, which were apparently quite rampant in Medieval Denmark...) and Basil, who while not necessarily a WARMONGER, was definitely inclined to battle, rather than being a peaceful Emperor, he was lucky to have Manuel and Sophie holding the reins in that department for the majority of his reign, while he did what he did best, being a war hero and master tactician.
So perhaps being a warmonger is not necessarily bad for the Komnenids, it's worked this far, who's to say he doesn't actually bring a sort of renewal of Komnenid power, like Justinian did? Yeah, Justinian crippled the Empire financially and was pretty greedy (Like, really, really, really greedy.) but he's got the title of Megas, and is one of the most famous Emperors of Byzantium. (Perhaps one of the ONLY famous Emperors.)
Maybe the Empire needs a good long bloodbath to make sure only the competent rise to any prominence, and that technology doesn't begin to stagnate, since war is one of the most technologically demanding activities around, it always ends up producing something of value once the war's done, and when peacetime sets in, sometimes there is a bit of a lack in the need for new technologies, especially in things like machinery and metal working, where advances used to produce weapons can be easily used to produce farming equipment, and in shipbuilding, where naval technology can translate into faster/improved ships, and both of these things can spur commerce greatly.
Then again, I might just like seeing imaginary people fight for my amusement... so take my words with a grain of salt or two.
However, this Andronikos doesn't seem to be a BAD ruler, as far as the last update went, we didn't hear of him being necessarily evil, thought he was certainly a warmonger, it seems. In fact, Demetrios Megas was nothing if not a lecherous warmonger with a penchant for drunkenness and debauchery.
Yet he still remains one of the most celebrated Komnenid rulers, along with Manuel, (Though I doubt Manuel was quite as popular with the people of Byzantium, he certainly is with US! I for one vote for a resurrection of him, at least through ghost-telepathy, ala the infamous Knytling possessions, which were apparently quite rampant in Medieval Denmark...) and Basil, who while not necessarily a WARMONGER, was definitely inclined to battle, rather than being a peaceful Emperor, he was lucky to have Manuel and Sophie holding the reins in that department for the majority of his reign, while he did what he did best, being a war hero and master tactician.
So perhaps being a warmonger is not necessarily bad for the Komnenids, it's worked this far, who's to say he doesn't actually bring a sort of renewal of Komnenid power, like Justinian did? Yeah, Justinian crippled the Empire financially and was pretty greedy (Like, really, really, really greedy.) but he's got the title of Megas, and is one of the most famous Emperors of Byzantium. (Perhaps one of the ONLY famous Emperors.)
Maybe the Empire needs a good long bloodbath to make sure only the competent rise to any prominence, and that technology doesn't begin to stagnate, since war is one of the most technologically demanding activities around, it always ends up producing something of value once the war's done, and when peacetime sets in, sometimes there is a bit of a lack in the need for new technologies, especially in things like machinery and metal working, where advances used to produce weapons can be easily used to produce farming equipment, and in shipbuilding, where naval technology can translate into faster/improved ships, and both of these things can spur commerce greatly.
Then again, I might just like seeing imaginary people fight for my amusement... so take my words with a grain of salt or two.
I think this an accurate inference...
seconded, I think he is going to end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time
Can I quote this? This is by far one the most amusing quotes I've read in a while.
Can I quote this? This is by far one the most amusing quotes I've read in a while.
Knock yourself out, besides you've ALREADY quoted it if you think about it
Well, I've been lurking in this thread for a very long time (since 2008ish, I believe), and this has come to be by far my favourite AAR on any Paradox game ever, so I decided it would only be decent of me to comment on it once in a while.
Personally, I can't wait to see something more from Albie and the Persian Komnenids. Also, by whose hand do you guys think Constantinople will fall in the end? A long time ago, I thought the Turks would (appropriately) be its final nemesis, but now that they're out of the picture, could it be the Persians? I certainly doubt that Romanion could be threathened by anything the West could muster, so an Eastern enemy of some sort seems much more likely.
My apologies if this has already been answered in some of the interims, for considering the AAR's lenght, one can hardly remember everything
Personally, I can't wait to see something more from Albie and the Persian Komnenids. Also, by whose hand do you guys think Constantinople will fall in the end? A long time ago, I thought the Turks would (appropriately) be its final nemesis, but now that they're out of the picture, could it be the Persians? I certainly doubt that Romanion could be threathened by anything the West could muster, so an Eastern enemy of some sort seems much more likely.
My apologies if this has already been answered in some of the interims, for considering the AAR's lenght, one can hardly remember everything