Chapter XII
The Neapolitan War and the Conquest of Southern Italy
The Neapolitan War that raged from 1481-1484 was one of the great achievements in the imperial foreign policy of John IX. Although his triumphant entry into Athens ranks higher and certainly more memorable for all the pomp and circumstance associated with the return of the Roman emperor to the city of Athens that had long been under Roman control for over a millennium, the Neapolitan War would see the Roman Empire return to the Italian homelands.
The War itself was decided at the Battle of the Aegean Sea, as the Neapolitan and Roman navies bid haste to garner the favor of the wind and wreck the enemy fleet, which would permit an invasion of the native homelands of Greece or Southern Italy. On May 11, or 12 according to some documents (probably just a mistake) the two fleets met one another south of the Albanian coasts. The Neapolitan fleet included 18 war galleys and other warships, and around 30 or 40 smaller ships. The Roman fleet numbered 24 war galleys and various other warships, and around and equal number of smaller ships.
The naval reforms and training of the now deceased Philemon Tornikes would be put to the test yet again, this time against a European adversary on much more equal terms than with the larger Mohammedan Turkish fleets that required the equivalent to hit and run tactics to prevent the Mohammedan crossing of the Bosphorus. The Romans deployed their fleet in a traditional V-shaped pattern, with the head flagship leading the point. Roman marines lined the sides of the galleys armed with javelins and other missile weapons, and a few of the larger Roman galleys were armed with experimental cannons positioned at the ship’s bow. In the center of the Roman formation were the smaller and more vulnerable ships that had come with the Roman fleet. By comparison, the Neapolitan fleet organized themselves in an even more traditional straight line with their strongest ships at center and their weaker ships on the flanks.
The formation of the fleets gave a clear advantage to the Romans, if they managed to break the Neapolitan lines because it would effectively split the Neapolitan fleet in two. At two o’clock, the Neapolitan fleet broke in the center and was isolated. The Roman navy quickly encircled several of the isolated Neapolitan ships and captured two war galleys, and sunk about a dozen smaller ships of the Neapolitan fleet. The ships that remained headed home after a brutal beating. The Romans, having captured two war galleys and sunk 12 or so smaller ships, lost only 5 small auxiliary vessels during the fighting.
The Battle of the Aegean Sea, this manuscript is apparently detailing the moment when the Roman fleet breaks the Neapolitan fleet.
The Roman victory in the Aegean Sea ensured that the 10,000 strong army led by Emperor John IX would be boarding their transports and head off to invade Southern Italy. Fearing the impending catastrophe, Pope Gregory XIII sent a diplomatic envoy offering a peace settlement between the Neapolitans and the Romans, but was sternly rebuffed in his efforts.[1] By the summer of 1482, the Romans were landing forces in Southern Italy, but a Neapolitan Army gathered by the Duke of Lucania marched south to stop the Roman advance upon Naples while the Romans were themselves, still disorganized and could be defeated before being able to link up.
The resulting battle however highlighted the resiliency of the new Imperial Army of the Palaiologoi. While about 4,000 of the Roman soldiers were Condottierri, mostly Italian mercenaries in the service of the Roman emperors – their loyalty was without question. After all, national identity akin the nationalisms of the nineteenth century had yet to be formulated – they were loyal to the highest bidder for their service, in this case it was the Emperor John IX. The Neapolitan Army of 7,000 men, which could have split and defeated the Palaiologoi Army led by the emperor himself (6,000 or so men) and then turn to defeat the smaller mercenary corps (again, about 4,000 men), the failure of the Neapolitans to catch the Romans divided meant that the Neapolitans would have to fight the united Roman Army of 10,000 men.
The battle itself was hard fought, and saw the deployment of early and primitive firearms, that otherwise had little impact on the actual fighting. After the infantry bodies had come into contact with one another, the Roman cavalry, personally commanded by John IX, swung south to the left of the Neapolitan lines. The Neapolitan cavalry challenged them, but were quickly broken in battle. The Roman cavalry swung behind the Neapolitan line and began forming to strike the Neapolitan army from the rear. Sensing the impending doom, the Neapolitan army fled in order to save themselves. The Romans harassed the retreating Neapolitan army all the way to Naples, where the Neapolitans were humiliated at Abruzzi and Bari, and by the time the army had reached the walls of the capital, surrendered to the Roman Army outside of their walls. Over the next year and a half, the Romans pillaged through Southern Italy. The looting, by all accounts, was destructive and profitable.
The Surrender of the Neapolitan Army to the Roman Army, outside the city of Naples.
However, the war in Southern Italy wasn’t the only military concern for John IX. Georgian nationalists who had risen up against their Mohammedan Tartar masters had successfully re-established a quasi-Georgian kingdom from their former masters, who had been decisively defeated in two major battles.[2] The victory of the Georgian rebels shattered the prestige and power of the Mohammedan Tartars who had come to control the region through various wars and shrewd diplomacy. However, the Georgian rebels were poised to march across the border and invade Roman Georgia, part of the Despotate of Trebizond. The Duke of Trebizond, Manuel Komnenos, was only able to field a force of 4,000 men, about half the size of the rebel army that was situated across the Roman borders.
Attempts at diplomacy failed, and by news of the rebel invasion was delayed due to the emperor fighting in Southern Italy. When the news did arrive in late summer of 1483, the emperor was so grief stricken that he gathered his personal army and set sail from Southern Italy, leaving his generals in command of the Roman forces in Italy. The Roman generals were well aware of their difficult position. Most of the soldiers left in Italy were mercenaries, and the generals feared a mutiny was possible if a peace settlement was not reached. The generals also feared that the weakened Roman military presence would lead to a Neapolitan uprising, which would likely force the Romans out of Southern Italy if it was of substantial size.
As a result of their predicament, the Romans marched to Naples to bring about a favorable peace before the Neapolitans knew of the Roman situation in Italy. Thankfully, the Neapolitans were ready for peace, and opened their arms to the Roman delegation. The province of Salento, which the city of Taranto was part of, was requested as a war conquest of the Romans. The city had a long history under Roman control, and after the division of the western and eastern empires, the city was among the last cities to fall from Roman control after Italy was temporarily re-unified under the emperor Justinian in the sixth century.
The inability of the Neapolitans to realize what had just transpired would cost them dearly. Agreeing to the peace, the Romans regained a historic foothold in Italy. The re-emergence of the Romans in Italy also started many of the Italian powers, as well as the French. The French, who had hegemonic ambitions in Italy, were shocked that the Romans also seemed to have designs on Italy. In addition with the Austrian ambitions in Italy, the French allied with the Venetians, who also feared of a Roman revival in Greece, would eventually lead to a war between the two powers.
But more important issues were on the mind of the emperor. When John arrived in Trebizond, he was unaware of the peace settlement in Italy. Regardless, he and his 6,000 men rallied with Duke Manuel and marched off to fight the Georgian rebels who were marching on T’blishi. It could be of contention that Emperor John overreacted; after all, this was merely a rebel force of rabble? Those who advocate this notion are severely misled or deliberately misleading. Having repelled the Tartars in pitched battle on at least two recorded occasions, the Georgian rebels marching into Roman Georgia were a battle hardened and veteran force marching to liberate their former capital from the yoke of Roman rule. Although united by religion, the Georgians were a stubbornly proud and patriotic people, thus, even being part of the Roman Empire and benefitting from a lax administration, beneficial laws, and a homogenous religious culture – the Georgians were still determined to have an independent kingdom after their own.
Once more, in the crooked and steep mountains of the Caucasus, long a battleground for empires, cultures and religions would the Romans attempt to cement what power they did have in the region to prevent the formation of an independent Georgian Kingdom. I am reminded by the traditional stories of the contentious nature of the Caucasus Mountains, “[God] sneezed when making the Caucasus, spilling all different people and the rugged and uneven terrain in one confined place."[3]
[1]Game version of Pope Gregory XIII, not the Gregory XIII OTL.
[2]A reference to the Golden Horde. It was commonplace for older historians to call the successor Khanates to the Mongols simply as Tartars. Some very old fashioned Orientalists still do.
[3]This is a very traditional Islamic story of the origins of the Caucasus Mountains and its many different people told to me by my Russian History Professor. Personally, I like the humor in the story.
Although the idea of fomenting Orthodox uprisings is appealing...I really need a third diplomat for the opportunity cost to be worth it from my perspective. 
