Prologue: The Edge of the World
It was in the year of 1159 Ab Urbe Condita when the seeds of an exodus were laid. As the Roman legions of Brittania revolted against the Emperor over a lack of pay, they chose a new leader, Flavius Constantinius, to lead them. When Constantinius moved on towards Gaul became organizing to take legate by the name of Septimus Severus implored Constantinius to leave his legion of comitatenses behind so Brittania would not be lost to the Empire. Constantinius reluctantly agreed, deciding 1,000 fewer men would not be critical in the fight against the Emperor Honorius.
Legate Severus would do his best in the following four years against ever increasing internal unrest and barbarian invasion from the sea and the north, but with no assistance forthcoming from Rome, even once Constantine was declared co-emperor in 1162 AUC. The Saxon barbarian raids only increased, and Severus was forced to focus his defense around Londinium. Those in Britain were split, for they were angry at Rome for the lack of support, but even so refugees flooded into Londinium seeking the protection of the last truly Roman formation against the onslaught.
All seemed lost to the virtually abandoned Romans on the edge of the world, with the constant putting out of fires seemingly more and more helpless. Salvation, in the eyes of Severus, would come in the form of a priest he visited to attempt to seek assistance from God. The priest would tell the legate of a rumored island a 5 day’s sea voyage north that was a paradise, and that it had been visited by monks from a monastery further north.
Septimus Severus’ Fleet as it exits the mouth of the Thames River
To Severus, this was the only hope he had left, for Rome had all but abandoned not only him and his men, but those who gladly called themselves Roman in Britannia. Beyond this, in Gaul, an invasion of Vandals had made attempting to retreat off the island just as dangerous as staying. Severus made up his mind; he ordered his men to seize every vessel they could from the Londinium harbor and the surrounding countryside he could still count as loyal. From this small gathered fleet, he gathered supplies, animals, even the scrolls and codices of Londinium’s libraries, everything he considered necessary to begin a new Roman colony. Severus then coldly picked those Roman citizens he considered most loyal and valuable to the colony, with young, Latin speaking couples being at the top of his list.
With the remaining contingent of his legion and some local limitanei and those Severus picked amongst those civilians willing to follow him, the Roman fleet set sail in 1163 AUC. Severus was not pleased with the number who heeded his call, so as he sailed along the coast, word was sent ahead to the still nominally Roman settlements along the coast from Camulodunum to Pons Aelius. The fleet would pick up a few more ships and hundreds of more desperate settlers seeking a more peaceful life. As the fleet turned north from Pons Aelius, close to five thousand people on nearly 50 ships had joined Severus’ desperate expedition. To Britannia, this was the end of Roman authority as Rome’s last army in the region disappeared over the horizon, chasing some fool’s errand idea of paradise.
The Fleet at sea as it spots land
Four days went by without any sight of land, with each day those aboard the fleet growing increasingly nervous, for most had never been to see, and going so long without sight of land caused great distress. Severus did his best to keep the fleet calm, moving north in the direction of the stars at night. Disaster would strike on the fifth day, as a storm descended on the fleet. By the time the storm passed, much of the fleet had been scattered or outright lost. Several vessels gave up and turned around, hoping to return to land and home. Against all odds, Severus managed to rally a large majority of the fleet that remained to continue on. But the storm had left them hopelessly lost, with clouds obscuring the sky, making navigation difficult.
Four more days would pass, with the fleet growing ever more restless with every day land remaining out of sight. Many began to simply give up hope of ever seeing land again, which might have been true if not for the extensive supplies brought along to feed the colony during its earliest days. On the 10th day of voyage, salvation would come as land was finally spotted. A snow capped peak appeared above the horizon, then an extensive, snow covered landmass. Paradise, it was not, but the sight of land spurred the Romans onward, rallying their fading spirits. Cheers and trumpets echoed through the open watters as oars were lowered and all haste was made towards the land before them.
The next day was spent with the fleet hugging the shoreline, with Severus refusing to stop until they found a place that could truly be called home. As they traveled further along the shore, the land grew green and heavily forested, and finally after turning around a peninsula, at a site where steam rose from the ground from hot pools of water, Severus was satisfied with the harbor and land surrounding it. The fleet beached itself, and those aboard jumped to the beach, kissing the ground and weeping, for they had finally made it safe to what now seemed to be Paradise.
Severus and Senators inspect one of the first farms
Severus would order any of those willing to continue to sail around the land to gauge the size of the land. Meanwhile as those who wished not to were organized to build the first settlement, which Severus would name “Campos Vapos”, for the clouds of smoke billowing from the hot springs. Upon the return of the fleet, it confirmed that they were on a large island, with much of the west green and covered in trees and rolling hills, with the other half covered in snowy peaks. With this information, Severus would announce that land was limited, and the entire island was now the state property of the Province of Insula Viridia.
Of the roughly 3,500 people who arrived, Severus would select 30 of his centurions, and those who most distinguished themselves on the journey to serve on a new ‘Senatus Insula’, for the Senate in Rome and Constantinople could not be contacted. Septimus was then voted to serve as proconsul of Insula for life. The rest of Severus’ life would be spent ensuring the colony’s survival and future, forbidding large latifundia, with no farm larger than 125 hectares being allowed, and strict controls placed on the size of farm per family.
From here, the Romans at the edge of the world would live a meager life on a dreary island, unaware of the day that Western Rome collapsed to Odoacer’s revolt. Or of Justinian’s attempt to restore the empire. By 1623 AUC, or 870 AD to the rest of Europe, an extensive Roman population had grown on the island, reaching over 57,000 strong, but such a population was straining its resources
Insula Viridia
As Roman fishing fleets sailed further from the island in search of more food, a rumor would be spread amongst Norse fishermen of strange men encountered at the sea. Eventually, a curious sailor by the name of Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson would find and follow one of these strange ships. He would discover Insula Viridia, though he would call it ‘Island’, Iceland, for his sight of the land was the glacial peaks of the eastern half of the island. He would not investigate further, returning home and began to spin a tale of a paradise, with only a handful of naive natives occupying the land.
Ingólfr Arnarson arrives off the coast of Insula Viridia
In 1625 AUC/872 AD, Hrafna would return alongside Ingólfr Arnarson and several hundred colonists, seeking to escape the civil strife of King Harold I’s reign and to carve out a new land of their own. To the isolated Romans of the island, the arrival of these barbarians was sent a shockwave throughout Insula. Angry and fearful of an attack, the Romans refused the Norse any right to settle. However the Norse refused to leave, instead settling on the more mountainous eastern half of the island, living in what settleable fjords they could find. Over the next few decades, a few thousand more Norse would arrive and occupy the western half of the island before the Romans would finally have enough.
Several hundred Roman soldiers would descend on the Norse settlements in the east. The Norse settlers attempted to offer resistance around the center of their colony, a settlement they named Reyðarfjörður. However, while the Romans had not fought for 400 years, their inherited armor and maintained martial tradition, and most importantly numbers, made the battle a one-sided affair. The Norse Islanders were driven from the field and Reyðarfjörður burned, with a new fort named Castrum de Orientus built on its ashes. Those Norse that remained were forced to submit to the Proconsul, or flee. Virtually all decided to stay in exchange for promised immunity from further persecution, not wishing to return to the unstable situation in Norway.
With the entire island now settled, and with the outside world starting to creep in, the Romans of Island began to look out. Ships set sail looking for more land for those who could not stay to move to, with the assistance of Ingólfr Arnarson who saw it as an opportunity to move his people further away from the troubles of home. Over the next hundred years, contact was made with the new kingdoms of the British isles, and through them, slowly the rest of the world came into view. To much of Europe’s western courts, there was shock of discovering these people who called themselves Roman and spoke Latin from beyond the British Isles
Limited contact would be made with the Eastern Emperor Leo VI in Constantinople in 1663 AUC/910 AD. In this meeting, Leo would agree to Insula’s roman-ness, and would declare that their independent system could remain in place while being considered part of the Roman Empire, in exchange for one Senator to permanently reside in Constantinople as an Imperial ‘advisor’. All this external contact would drastically affect the Romans of Insula however, as Catholic priests would arrive to try to pull them away from their old Pelagian and Nicene based rites of Christianity. Soon, a significant number of Romans and especially Insulan Norse had abandoned their old rites for the Catholic ones, with the leadership of these groups believing it would allow for peaceful, closer ties to those nations closest to them. It would come to a head in 1687 AUC/935 AD when several Catholic senators left a meeting of the Senatus Insula, alongside several hundred soldiers who followed them. These senators would declare the Sancta Res Publica Romana, a new Catholic Roman Republic, and that a new third Rome was born. This traitorous faction would quickly secure the eastern half of the Empire, with those Norse living there eager to support a regime that offered a more equitable treatment. To the ruling Proconsul Fabius Salvius, this challenge would be the greatest threat to this corner of Roman civilization since Severus led the great expedition to the island…
The Following Images represent the world situation at the start of this campaign just after the Iron Century start date due to time being needed to move characters around.
Proconsul Fabius Salvius
Insula Viridia/Iceland in 936 AD/1688AUC, population 74,425 (69,388 Romans, 5037 Insulan Norse)
The World Situation at Start, 10th of August, 936
It was in the year of 1159 Ab Urbe Condita when the seeds of an exodus were laid. As the Roman legions of Brittania revolted against the Emperor over a lack of pay, they chose a new leader, Flavius Constantinius, to lead them. When Constantinius moved on towards Gaul became organizing to take legate by the name of Septimus Severus implored Constantinius to leave his legion of comitatenses behind so Brittania would not be lost to the Empire. Constantinius reluctantly agreed, deciding 1,000 fewer men would not be critical in the fight against the Emperor Honorius.
Legate Severus would do his best in the following four years against ever increasing internal unrest and barbarian invasion from the sea and the north, but with no assistance forthcoming from Rome, even once Constantine was declared co-emperor in 1162 AUC. The Saxon barbarian raids only increased, and Severus was forced to focus his defense around Londinium. Those in Britain were split, for they were angry at Rome for the lack of support, but even so refugees flooded into Londinium seeking the protection of the last truly Roman formation against the onslaught.
All seemed lost to the virtually abandoned Romans on the edge of the world, with the constant putting out of fires seemingly more and more helpless. Salvation, in the eyes of Severus, would come in the form of a priest he visited to attempt to seek assistance from God. The priest would tell the legate of a rumored island a 5 day’s sea voyage north that was a paradise, and that it had been visited by monks from a monastery further north.
Septimus Severus’ Fleet as it exits the mouth of the Thames River
To Severus, this was the only hope he had left, for Rome had all but abandoned not only him and his men, but those who gladly called themselves Roman in Britannia. Beyond this, in Gaul, an invasion of Vandals had made attempting to retreat off the island just as dangerous as staying. Severus made up his mind; he ordered his men to seize every vessel they could from the Londinium harbor and the surrounding countryside he could still count as loyal. From this small gathered fleet, he gathered supplies, animals, even the scrolls and codices of Londinium’s libraries, everything he considered necessary to begin a new Roman colony. Severus then coldly picked those Roman citizens he considered most loyal and valuable to the colony, with young, Latin speaking couples being at the top of his list.
With the remaining contingent of his legion and some local limitanei and those Severus picked amongst those civilians willing to follow him, the Roman fleet set sail in 1163 AUC. Severus was not pleased with the number who heeded his call, so as he sailed along the coast, word was sent ahead to the still nominally Roman settlements along the coast from Camulodunum to Pons Aelius. The fleet would pick up a few more ships and hundreds of more desperate settlers seeking a more peaceful life. As the fleet turned north from Pons Aelius, close to five thousand people on nearly 50 ships had joined Severus’ desperate expedition. To Britannia, this was the end of Roman authority as Rome’s last army in the region disappeared over the horizon, chasing some fool’s errand idea of paradise.
The Fleet at sea as it spots land
Four days went by without any sight of land, with each day those aboard the fleet growing increasingly nervous, for most had never been to see, and going so long without sight of land caused great distress. Severus did his best to keep the fleet calm, moving north in the direction of the stars at night. Disaster would strike on the fifth day, as a storm descended on the fleet. By the time the storm passed, much of the fleet had been scattered or outright lost. Several vessels gave up and turned around, hoping to return to land and home. Against all odds, Severus managed to rally a large majority of the fleet that remained to continue on. But the storm had left them hopelessly lost, with clouds obscuring the sky, making navigation difficult.
Four more days would pass, with the fleet growing ever more restless with every day land remaining out of sight. Many began to simply give up hope of ever seeing land again, which might have been true if not for the extensive supplies brought along to feed the colony during its earliest days. On the 10th day of voyage, salvation would come as land was finally spotted. A snow capped peak appeared above the horizon, then an extensive, snow covered landmass. Paradise, it was not, but the sight of land spurred the Romans onward, rallying their fading spirits. Cheers and trumpets echoed through the open watters as oars were lowered and all haste was made towards the land before them.
The next day was spent with the fleet hugging the shoreline, with Severus refusing to stop until they found a place that could truly be called home. As they traveled further along the shore, the land grew green and heavily forested, and finally after turning around a peninsula, at a site where steam rose from the ground from hot pools of water, Severus was satisfied with the harbor and land surrounding it. The fleet beached itself, and those aboard jumped to the beach, kissing the ground and weeping, for they had finally made it safe to what now seemed to be Paradise.
Severus and Senators inspect one of the first farms
Severus would order any of those willing to continue to sail around the land to gauge the size of the land. Meanwhile as those who wished not to were organized to build the first settlement, which Severus would name “Campos Vapos”, for the clouds of smoke billowing from the hot springs. Upon the return of the fleet, it confirmed that they were on a large island, with much of the west green and covered in trees and rolling hills, with the other half covered in snowy peaks. With this information, Severus would announce that land was limited, and the entire island was now the state property of the Province of Insula Viridia.
Of the roughly 3,500 people who arrived, Severus would select 30 of his centurions, and those who most distinguished themselves on the journey to serve on a new ‘Senatus Insula’, for the Senate in Rome and Constantinople could not be contacted. Septimus was then voted to serve as proconsul of Insula for life. The rest of Severus’ life would be spent ensuring the colony’s survival and future, forbidding large latifundia, with no farm larger than 125 hectares being allowed, and strict controls placed on the size of farm per family.
From here, the Romans at the edge of the world would live a meager life on a dreary island, unaware of the day that Western Rome collapsed to Odoacer’s revolt. Or of Justinian’s attempt to restore the empire. By 1623 AUC, or 870 AD to the rest of Europe, an extensive Roman population had grown on the island, reaching over 57,000 strong, but such a population was straining its resources
Insula Viridia
As Roman fishing fleets sailed further from the island in search of more food, a rumor would be spread amongst Norse fishermen of strange men encountered at the sea. Eventually, a curious sailor by the name of Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson would find and follow one of these strange ships. He would discover Insula Viridia, though he would call it ‘Island’, Iceland, for his sight of the land was the glacial peaks of the eastern half of the island. He would not investigate further, returning home and began to spin a tale of a paradise, with only a handful of naive natives occupying the land.
Ingólfr Arnarson arrives off the coast of Insula Viridia
In 1625 AUC/872 AD, Hrafna would return alongside Ingólfr Arnarson and several hundred colonists, seeking to escape the civil strife of King Harold I’s reign and to carve out a new land of their own. To the isolated Romans of the island, the arrival of these barbarians was sent a shockwave throughout Insula. Angry and fearful of an attack, the Romans refused the Norse any right to settle. However the Norse refused to leave, instead settling on the more mountainous eastern half of the island, living in what settleable fjords they could find. Over the next few decades, a few thousand more Norse would arrive and occupy the western half of the island before the Romans would finally have enough.
Several hundred Roman soldiers would descend on the Norse settlements in the east. The Norse settlers attempted to offer resistance around the center of their colony, a settlement they named Reyðarfjörður. However, while the Romans had not fought for 400 years, their inherited armor and maintained martial tradition, and most importantly numbers, made the battle a one-sided affair. The Norse Islanders were driven from the field and Reyðarfjörður burned, with a new fort named Castrum de Orientus built on its ashes. Those Norse that remained were forced to submit to the Proconsul, or flee. Virtually all decided to stay in exchange for promised immunity from further persecution, not wishing to return to the unstable situation in Norway.
With the entire island now settled, and with the outside world starting to creep in, the Romans of Island began to look out. Ships set sail looking for more land for those who could not stay to move to, with the assistance of Ingólfr Arnarson who saw it as an opportunity to move his people further away from the troubles of home. Over the next hundred years, contact was made with the new kingdoms of the British isles, and through them, slowly the rest of the world came into view. To much of Europe’s western courts, there was shock of discovering these people who called themselves Roman and spoke Latin from beyond the British Isles
Limited contact would be made with the Eastern Emperor Leo VI in Constantinople in 1663 AUC/910 AD. In this meeting, Leo would agree to Insula’s roman-ness, and would declare that their independent system could remain in place while being considered part of the Roman Empire, in exchange for one Senator to permanently reside in Constantinople as an Imperial ‘advisor’. All this external contact would drastically affect the Romans of Insula however, as Catholic priests would arrive to try to pull them away from their old Pelagian and Nicene based rites of Christianity. Soon, a significant number of Romans and especially Insulan Norse had abandoned their old rites for the Catholic ones, with the leadership of these groups believing it would allow for peaceful, closer ties to those nations closest to them. It would come to a head in 1687 AUC/935 AD when several Catholic senators left a meeting of the Senatus Insula, alongside several hundred soldiers who followed them. These senators would declare the Sancta Res Publica Romana, a new Catholic Roman Republic, and that a new third Rome was born. This traitorous faction would quickly secure the eastern half of the Empire, with those Norse living there eager to support a regime that offered a more equitable treatment. To the ruling Proconsul Fabius Salvius, this challenge would be the greatest threat to this corner of Roman civilization since Severus led the great expedition to the island…
The Following Images represent the world situation at the start of this campaign just after the Iron Century start date due to time being needed to move characters around.
Proconsul Fabius Salvius
Insula Viridia/Iceland in 936 AD/1688AUC, population 74,425 (69,388 Romans, 5037 Insulan Norse)
The World Situation at Start, 10th of August, 936
This is my second AAR after my first one died around about a year ago from a corrupted save file and the forums weirdly breaking all the images on it. I've been kicking this idea around for a very long time, basically ever since then, and was born of some ideas of reading about the Irish Paper priests pre-Norse icelandic settlement and some games I've played as Iceland. Makes for a nice challenge and I hope the year of kicking around and developing this idea will pay off! (seriously put way too much work in the background). I am using Fracelli as a stand in for the 'traditional rites' of the Icelandic Romans which is based on a mix of Pelagian and Nicene rites from 410 AD when they left Britannia. I am also using the elective monarchy system to stand in for the elected nature of the Proconsuls. Hope you enjoy!
Due to said development, I can pull out random facts about life on Insula if people are interested. Maybe as subchapters if enough are!
Due to said development, I can pull out random facts about life on Insula if people are interested. Maybe as subchapters if enough are!
Notable Game Rules
- Major Epidemics; Dynamic
- Minor Epidemics: Default
- Exclave Independence: Harsh
- No Devil Worshipers
- 50 year De Jure Drift
- Culture Conversion Combination
- Slower Religious Conversion Speed
- Provincial Revolts Rare but Powerful
Mods
- Abdication Plus
- Autonomous Dependent States
- Blob Exporter
- Improved Genetics 2.0
- Larger Artifacts Menu
- Melting Pot ++
- Muslim Bloodlines
- Nicknames +++
- Purchase Claims (High cost setting)
- Real Random Dynasties
- Roman Diadem
- Major Epidemics; Dynamic
- Minor Epidemics: Default
- Exclave Independence: Harsh
- No Devil Worshipers
- 50 year De Jure Drift
- Culture Conversion Combination
- Slower Religious Conversion Speed
- Provincial Revolts Rare but Powerful
Mods
- Abdication Plus
- Autonomous Dependent States
- Blob Exporter
- Improved Genetics 2.0
- Larger Artifacts Menu
- Melting Pot ++
- Muslim Bloodlines
- Nicknames +++
- Purchase Claims (High cost setting)
- Real Random Dynasties
- Roman Diadem
Last edited:
- 2
- 1