I'm slowly finding out that this project, coupled with my work, is becoming harder and harder to plug through and write updates like in the past!
Hopefully Volume 2 doesn't lead to a massive "disinterest" in wanting write from my perspective.-
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I'm slowly finding out that this project, coupled with my work, is becoming harder and harder to plug through and write updates like in the past!
Hopefully Volume 2 doesn't lead to a massive "disinterest" in wanting write from my perspective.
Chapter XIV, Volume II: John The Great and the Rise of Empire
As we closed with the first volume of the Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization, with the ascension and overview of the moral fiber of the emperor Theodosius, one of the major factors not leading to his overthrow was undoubtedly the revived strength and quality of the Roman economy. The Roman Empire, although it had long dominated Mediterranean trade, even during the ascendency of the Arabs in the Levant and later in Anatolia, had always been an agrarian empire. Indeed, while it is true to say that all empires and nation-states until the recent era of industrialization we have just experienced were agrarian economies taking their basis of power and taxable income on agrarian food production – the new Roman economy was benefitted by the resurgence of trade in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean during the late fifteenth century.
Although the agrarian production reached its climax in 1025 under the Macedonian dynasty, and even in the late period empire, agrarian production never reached half that level – the substantial re-routing and domination of trade from the Black Sea and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, a product of the Roman revival, had profound benefits to the empire.
As I have mentioned, Theodosius was the main beneficiary of this economic boom – more so than the commoner in Constantinople or in Greece as without it, he would have certainly felt the displeasure of popular discontent for his stewardship of the Roman Empire. Perhaps, it can be unfairly construed, that he did not have a heart for his subjects. Unlike Justinian, who believed taxes should be raised in the least oppressive means to the taxpayer, Theodosius did not have misgivings with raising taxes from his subjects and spending it lavishly on himself and the imperial court. The push to increase taxes during his reign was to make up the major income deficient and spending on war and conquest of the previous emperors – something that was often disregarded in the grand scheme of things. In that sense, he was reposition the empire as an economic power in the eastern world.
Yet, as many people still suffered, lacking bread and other basic necessities of life, the newfound economic growth would have been better suited on popular aid than increased wanton spending and military re-armament. However, once again the latter seems to have merits as, during his reign, which I shall cover later, he waged war with the Italians and Mohammedans to procure the survival and expansion of the Roman Empire during his rule.
The genius of his reign remains, the significant increase in trade in the Mediterranean that once again flowed prodigiously into the Golden Horn. State subsidies to Greek merchants also displaced the former Mohammedan and Latin Quarters, who had long dominated trade in the city after the Fourth Crusade, which later prompted the Palaiologoi to pursue and open trade and economic policy – which benefitted Italian merchants, in order to make up for the destruction of the Roman merchant quarter that had essentially had a monopoly on trade and craft in the city since the days of Constantine.
An image of the bustling trade in Constantinople (I know this is a much later image than the current timeline).
As trade increased, the economy of the Roman Empire, which had been steadily decreasing since the days of the last Macedonian emperor Constantine IX, the re-emergence of the Roman economy also caused worry among the Italians. The Italians, who had controlled trade in the eastern Mediterranean after they had sacked the city on route to Jerusalem in 1204, now saw their worst fears coming true. Not only were the Mohammedan Turks a constant threat to the monopoly on Italian trade, but so too was the Roman Empire. The Romans, well-knowing of the controversy and political tensions being caused through their economic re-emergence, took precautions to ward off a possible attempt by the Italians to attempt and restore their hegemony in the eastern basin of the world’s greatest sea.
Rather than spend this newfound economic wealth on public goods, Theodosius, when he wasn’t spending it on himself like a selfish and pompous aristocrat, was forwarding the monies to the re-armament of the Roman Navy. During his reign, the Roman navy grew by 200%, and by the end of his reign, the Romans possessed the sixth largest naval force in the world. Granted, this navy was dominated by merchant ships and galleys, not the famed carracks and other proto-heavy warships found in the arsenals of the Kingdom of Castile (Spain), France, or England, naval warfare in the Mediterranean was long dominated by moderate to smaller and more maneuverable vessels than the large warships that came to prominence during the age of sail.
If the re-rise of the Roman economy due its growing plurality, to eventual monopoly on eastern seaward trade, than certain the stagnation of the Roman agrarian economy of the same period was easily alleviated and largely left unknown to Roman officials with the great income and wealth being attained by merchant trade through the chains of the Golden Horn.
The Italians had different ideas than watch the Romans eat away at their lucrative markets. Unlike the Roman Empire of a bygone era, which sent its armies out to conquer and colonize and re-colonize the world, making the Mediterranean a Roman playground, the Italian merchants and trade policy was akin to the Carthaginian Empire. Unlike Rome, which expanded for the sake of expansion and political power, the Carthaginians expanded per an economic imperialism rather than economic and cultural imperialism. Carthage expanded in order to gain power and prestige in new trade routes, so too did the Italians, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, come to adopt a similar strategy. While the Roman Empire centered in Constantinople sought to keep the political power in their provinces, the Italians ran a much more benevolent empire across the Mediterranean. With outposts scatted through the Balkans to the Ukraine – Italian merchants spread even further passed the eastern world and into China for the sole purposes of economic gain and exploit through trade.
Adam Smith and David Ricardo would certainly laud the trading genius of the Italians, who exhibited the free trade spirit if there ever was such an ethos exhibited by medieval merchants. Now, with their trade markets jeopardized by the incursion of the Romans under Theodosius, the two sides were marching to war for different reasons. The eventual inclusion of the Romans in the Italian Wars was a matter of expansion and power, while the Italian rivalry with the Romans in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century was motivated out of self-preservation and the need to retain their hegemony in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. While the events of the Italians Wars will be covered in a wholly different section of my second volume of the decline and fall of Rome, the events leading up to the coveted domination of eastern trade and the rise of modern warfare in the Late Renaissance has its beginnings with the economic re-emergence of the Roman Empire under Theodosius.
At the very least, the Italian holdings of minor Greek islands, as well as the larger outposts in Crete, would become central focus in the forthcoming wars just as much as the warfare on the Italian mainland as the Romans were drawn into the wider conflict with the Austrian Habsburgs and the French Valois – both of whom were also seeking to take advantage of the diminished position of the Italian states in the Late Renaissance. Theodosius's legacy is therefore also felt by his successor, his nephew, John X, who truly wrought havoc in Italy with the Roman armies during his reign, which is the principle focus of my work in this volume.
John X examines the body of the deceased French captain, the Duke Henry Valentinois, after the Battle of Trieste, one of the major battles during the Italian Wars.
The City of Constantinople in the late Fifteenth Century and the Origins of the Italian Wars
As we closed with the first volume of the Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization, with the ascension and overview of the moral fiber of the emperor Theodosius, one of the major factors not leading to his overthrow was undoubtedly the revived strength and quality of the Roman economy. The Roman Empire, although it had long dominated Mediterranean trade, even during the ascendency of the Arabs in the Levant and later in Anatolia, had always been an agrarian empire. Indeed, while it is true to say that all empires and nation-states until the recent era of industrialization we have just experienced were agrarian economies taking their basis of power and taxable income on agrarian food production – the new Roman economy was benefitted by the resurgence of trade in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean during the late fifteenth century.
Although the agrarian production reached its climax in 1025 under the Macedonian dynasty, and even in the late period empire, agrarian production never reached half that level – the substantial re-routing and domination of trade from the Black Sea and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, a product of the Roman revival, had profound benefits to the empire.
As I have mentioned, Theodosius was the main beneficiary of this economic boom – more so than the commoner in Constantinople or in Greece as without it, he would have certainly felt the displeasure of popular discontent for his stewardship of the Roman Empire. Perhaps, it can be unfairly construed, that he did not have a heart for his subjects. Unlike Justinian, who believed taxes should be raised in the least oppressive means to the taxpayer, Theodosius did not have misgivings with raising taxes from his subjects and spending it lavishly on himself and the imperial court. The push to increase taxes during his reign was to make up the major income deficient and spending on war and conquest of the previous emperors – something that was often disregarded in the grand scheme of things. In that sense, he was reposition the empire as an economic power in the eastern world.
Yet, as many people still suffered, lacking bread and other basic necessities of life, the newfound economic growth would have been better suited on popular aid than increased wanton spending and military re-armament. However, once again the latter seems to have merits as, during his reign, which I shall cover later, he waged war with the Italians and Mohammedans to procure the survival and expansion of the Roman Empire during his rule.
The genius of his reign remains, the significant increase in trade in the Mediterranean that once again flowed prodigiously into the Golden Horn. State subsidies to Greek merchants also displaced the former Mohammedan and Latin Quarters, who had long dominated trade in the city after the Fourth Crusade, which later prompted the Palaiologoi to pursue and open trade and economic policy – which benefitted Italian merchants, in order to make up for the destruction of the Roman merchant quarter that had essentially had a monopoly on trade and craft in the city since the days of Constantine.
An image of the bustling trade in Constantinople (I know this is a much later image than the current timeline).
As trade increased, the economy of the Roman Empire, which had been steadily decreasing since the days of the last Macedonian emperor Constantine IX, the re-emergence of the Roman economy also caused worry among the Italians. The Italians, who had controlled trade in the eastern Mediterranean after they had sacked the city on route to Jerusalem in 1204, now saw their worst fears coming true. Not only were the Mohammedan Turks a constant threat to the monopoly on Italian trade, but so too was the Roman Empire. The Romans, well-knowing of the controversy and political tensions being caused through their economic re-emergence, took precautions to ward off a possible attempt by the Italians to attempt and restore their hegemony in the eastern basin of the world’s greatest sea.
Rather than spend this newfound economic wealth on public goods, Theodosius, when he wasn’t spending it on himself like a selfish and pompous aristocrat, was forwarding the monies to the re-armament of the Roman Navy. During his reign, the Roman navy grew by 200%, and by the end of his reign, the Romans possessed the sixth largest naval force in the world. Granted, this navy was dominated by merchant ships and galleys, not the famed carracks and other proto-heavy warships found in the arsenals of the Kingdom of Castile (Spain), France, or England, naval warfare in the Mediterranean was long dominated by moderate to smaller and more maneuverable vessels than the large warships that came to prominence during the age of sail.
If the re-rise of the Roman economy due its growing plurality, to eventual monopoly on eastern seaward trade, than certain the stagnation of the Roman agrarian economy of the same period was easily alleviated and largely left unknown to Roman officials with the great income and wealth being attained by merchant trade through the chains of the Golden Horn.
The Italians had different ideas than watch the Romans eat away at their lucrative markets. Unlike the Roman Empire of a bygone era, which sent its armies out to conquer and colonize and re-colonize the world, making the Mediterranean a Roman playground, the Italian merchants and trade policy was akin to the Carthaginian Empire. Unlike Rome, which expanded for the sake of expansion and political power, the Carthaginians expanded per an economic imperialism rather than economic and cultural imperialism. Carthage expanded in order to gain power and prestige in new trade routes, so too did the Italians, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, come to adopt a similar strategy. While the Roman Empire centered in Constantinople sought to keep the political power in their provinces, the Italians ran a much more benevolent empire across the Mediterranean. With outposts scatted through the Balkans to the Ukraine – Italian merchants spread even further passed the eastern world and into China for the sole purposes of economic gain and exploit through trade.
Adam Smith and David Ricardo would certainly laud the trading genius of the Italians, who exhibited the free trade spirit if there ever was such an ethos exhibited by medieval merchants. Now, with their trade markets jeopardized by the incursion of the Romans under Theodosius, the two sides were marching to war for different reasons. The eventual inclusion of the Romans in the Italian Wars was a matter of expansion and power, while the Italian rivalry with the Romans in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century was motivated out of self-preservation and the need to retain their hegemony in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. While the events of the Italians Wars will be covered in a wholly different section of my second volume of the decline and fall of Rome, the events leading up to the coveted domination of eastern trade and the rise of modern warfare in the Late Renaissance has its beginnings with the economic re-emergence of the Roman Empire under Theodosius.
At the very least, the Italian holdings of minor Greek islands, as well as the larger outposts in Crete, would become central focus in the forthcoming wars just as much as the warfare on the Italian mainland as the Romans were drawn into the wider conflict with the Austrian Habsburgs and the French Valois – both of whom were also seeking to take advantage of the diminished position of the Italian states in the Late Renaissance. Theodosius's legacy is therefore also felt by his successor, his nephew, John X, who truly wrought havoc in Italy with the Roman armies during his reign, which is the principle focus of my work in this volume.
John X examines the body of the deceased French captain, the Duke Henry Valentinois, after the Battle of Trieste, one of the major battles during the Italian Wars.
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Are those spires I see on the Hagia Sophia? How very... Oriental... of the Emperor...
We will send space marines too?
Let the Emperors wrath descend upon the heretic Italii!
For the Emperor!
Are those spires I see on the Hagia Sophia? How very... Oriental... of the Emperor...
More accurately, we would describe the "spires" as Minarets since the inclusion of spires onto Islamic mosques is noted to have come from the influence of minarets found on Zoroastrian temples. And if you were ever curious, although it appears you know this, any depiction (painting wise) of the Hagia Sophia with those spires/minarets is a depiction from the Ottoman period, as it was common practice to convert a church or cathedral to a mosque through the addition of the minarets, just to add a certain "Islamic" flare to Christian buildings. (Personally, I've always thought the Hagia Sophia looked/looks better with them anyways, makes it more grandiose than the already grand Byzantine style!
When we actually fight Venice, the Romans will have that in the first and foremost mind. But I am afraid I may have sparked enthusiasm for the war of which I am not covering in the next update, or perhaps, the next few chapters as I have decided to chronicle this volume of the work based on events (which occurred somewhat linearly) rather than the chronology that I wrote during the first! We'll see how that turns out, after all, got to spice things up a bit!
We will send space marines too?
Roman colony on the moon by 1492?
Let the Emperors wrath descend upon the heretic Italii!
For the Emperor!
I think the emperor's wrath should return the horses of St. Mark to the Hippodrome that were stolen in 1492! And even though this hasn't occurred from TTL's perspective, the British might as well return the Elgin Marbles to Greece too!
That is actually a very neat painting if I say so myself.
Very fun times indeed, a lot of bloodshed and carnage if one considers that fun!
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The advantage to falling behind is that there are lots of updates to read! The disadvantage to catching up is that I now have to wait. Such is life, I guess.
Ya, too bad it's not like a true book and you can read as far as you want and then come back whenever! Well, it sort of is like that, except you (the gracious reader) doesn't know when this will end while I do!
Chapter XIV
Constantinople had long been a center of trade, commerce, and diplomacy ever since the city was founded by Constantine over the old Greek settlement of Byzantium. Rather than a prophetic or divine dream leading Constantine to founding the city – it was a matter of practical pragmatism. The Golden Horn, situated at the crossroads of the trade routes from Africa and Asia into Europe – the location was perfect for the New Rome.
In addition to its ample location for matters of trade, the geographic location of the city in an otherwise generally beneficial and temperate climate suitable for agriculture was another major advantage of the city and the location of the empire in general. Although the agrarian heartlands of Anatolia and the Levant had long since been overrun, the eastern Mediterranean basin was still the agricultural capital of the world (at least in terms of Europe, Africa, and the Orient). Constantinople had therefore been the jewel of the Roman Empire and the envy of a jealous Europe and expansionist Mohammedanism, all seeking to capture the crown that was Constantine’s city – the last stronghold of the caesars.
The economic renewal of the empire was purely on the grounds of a laissez-faire and free trade basis. Naturally, the geographic gains of the empire were more or less useless in the long term. The Despotate of Trebizond had little agrarian land to feed, not only its people, the empire at large. Greece was more developed, but still lacked the necessary size to fund the state and feed the mouths of the Roman subjects who clamored for bread every day. Trade was Rome’s only answer, and they had invited the large corps of Italian and Mohammedan merchants and traders. While the Roman merchant class itself was making a comeback, the need of grain was still not able to be met by the Roman economy alone, and it was necessary to import large amounts of grains – barley and wheat in particular, to meet this crisis of bread in the late fifteenth century.
A map of the important trade routes in the fifteenth century Mediterranean World.
In this respect, Theodoras’s administrative genius shines above all things, yet, in counterarguments from friends who endorse a nationalistic economic system, he fell short of the state controlled and state run industries that may have been able to avert the eventual fall of the empire according to some negative theorists and historians who have obviously let their impulse and bias towards state socialism mar the reality of the economic miracle under Theodoras and John X. As some 4 million people needed fed[1], the Romans had no choice but to turn to others to meet the demand for grains.
Of course, this meant that their rivals would also benefit economically, as it is well-established, from men like David Riccardo and Adam Smith, that trade makes everyone universally better off – not taking political concerns into the matter since Rome was cornered by enemies that would have otherwise liked to see her ruination, but nonetheless were willing to trade to benefit their subjects too. In that sense, it may seem as if this should have been an era of peace and prosperity, rather than two decades of war and destruction that befall Greece, the Balkans, and Italy – with Roman, Italian, French, Austrian, and Mohammedan forces clashing with one another during one of the major episodic wars that dominated the reigns of Theodoras and John X.
I am of the opinion that the newfound economic wealth acquired by Rome emboldened both her and her enemies, principally the Italians into setting both sides onto a path of inevitable conflict as I outlined just a few pages ago (the last update). The natural balance of power was upset, or from a Roman perspective, being returned to their rightful hegemony.
Not only was the grain industry, through trade, prospering, but so was the ancient silk industry that had rapidly fallen out of grace after the end of the Komnenoi but had now been experiencing an exponential rise in productivity and trade shipment as Roman merchants once again opened the old silk road with the Chinese. The relative calm in Persia meant that Chinese silk merchants were now willing to re-commence the trade through the Orient and up into Europe, this also meant that the silks so preciously valued by western Europeans would have to pass through the gates of Constantinople where Roman merchants did their best to ensure the silk would remain inside the city for as long as possible.
There is a particular ambiance to the merchant quarters of Constantinople, even today, the feel of the multicultural and multi-religious dynamic to the city is something hard to come by. Even during the height of the Roman Empire in the east, under Justinian or Basil II, the city had a pluralistic and enthusiastic atmosphere of multicultural exchange and commerce. Traders from the Far East to North Africa, to even the often misperceived Vikings of Finland or Sweden had found their way to the merchant quarters of the cities that served all but benefitted those natural born merchants who received generous subsidies from the Roman state until the fall of the city in 1204.
Even though the dependency on agrarianism is absolute, as it would be true for any country of this era, the most powerful nations in history have always dominated global (or regional) water trade. Trade, more so than agricultural taxation, is always wealthier and greater in the increase of wealth. The fundamental truth of all economics is that trade makes people richer than any other form or segment within the economic framework. Thus, as the Roman Empire expanded its trade network and now controlled a majority of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, their superficial revival should not come as too much a surprise to the unbiased onlooker. As a fellow colleague of mine said, “Those who oppose free trade support keeping people poor.”
But, like with all things in the global political context, or in this case, the regional context, one person’s wealth is another man’s envy. That envy was, as I have mentioned earlier, the Italians. One of the key episodes in driving Rome and Venice towards war when was a Roman trade ship docked in Venice and was abruptly attacked by the Venetians. Its cargo was looted, and several crew were killed trying to defend the ship. Another Roman vessel, docked nearby, saw the horror, immediately set sail out of the harbor for fear of an anti-Roman riot that swarm the dockyards.
Although it seems that this episodic violence against the Roman merchants in Venice was not sanctioned by the Doge, in fact, he seemed incredibly saddened by this, Theodoras did not take lightly this affront to Roman honor and newfound prestige. In response, the Roman navy set sail and entered the port of Heraklion (Crete) and captured 12 Venetian merchant ships and their cargo, towing it back to Constantinople as trophies in this quasi war on the high seas of the Mediterranean. Naturally, the Venetians set sail their fleet, destined for Athens.
"The Oracle Watches over the Ships", this painting is meant to reflect the tumultuous times in the Mediterranean as a quasi-war was being waged between the Romans (based in Constantinople) and the Venetians (based in Venice) for control of the important trade routes in the eastern basin of the sea.
[1] This estimation of the empire’s population is based on the border of the empire as found in the game, coupled with the Greek demographic population ca. 1500, which was 4.5 million in all of Greece + Asia Minor (the west coast of Turkey which had a large Greek Diaspora). I deduced 3.5 million from the estimate that I do not have Asia Minor and all of Greece seeing that the Ottomans still have some holdings I need to take (I estimated 3.5 million in Greece proper + 1 million in Greek Asia Minor). I presumed my territories in Greece to have 3 million, and added 1 million for the additional territories I have = 4 million people in the empire.
The Revived Roman Trade Routes in the Eastern Mediterranean
Constantinople had long been a center of trade, commerce, and diplomacy ever since the city was founded by Constantine over the old Greek settlement of Byzantium. Rather than a prophetic or divine dream leading Constantine to founding the city – it was a matter of practical pragmatism. The Golden Horn, situated at the crossroads of the trade routes from Africa and Asia into Europe – the location was perfect for the New Rome.
In addition to its ample location for matters of trade, the geographic location of the city in an otherwise generally beneficial and temperate climate suitable for agriculture was another major advantage of the city and the location of the empire in general. Although the agrarian heartlands of Anatolia and the Levant had long since been overrun, the eastern Mediterranean basin was still the agricultural capital of the world (at least in terms of Europe, Africa, and the Orient). Constantinople had therefore been the jewel of the Roman Empire and the envy of a jealous Europe and expansionist Mohammedanism, all seeking to capture the crown that was Constantine’s city – the last stronghold of the caesars.
The economic renewal of the empire was purely on the grounds of a laissez-faire and free trade basis. Naturally, the geographic gains of the empire were more or less useless in the long term. The Despotate of Trebizond had little agrarian land to feed, not only its people, the empire at large. Greece was more developed, but still lacked the necessary size to fund the state and feed the mouths of the Roman subjects who clamored for bread every day. Trade was Rome’s only answer, and they had invited the large corps of Italian and Mohammedan merchants and traders. While the Roman merchant class itself was making a comeback, the need of grain was still not able to be met by the Roman economy alone, and it was necessary to import large amounts of grains – barley and wheat in particular, to meet this crisis of bread in the late fifteenth century.
A map of the important trade routes in the fifteenth century Mediterranean World.
In this respect, Theodoras’s administrative genius shines above all things, yet, in counterarguments from friends who endorse a nationalistic economic system, he fell short of the state controlled and state run industries that may have been able to avert the eventual fall of the empire according to some negative theorists and historians who have obviously let their impulse and bias towards state socialism mar the reality of the economic miracle under Theodoras and John X. As some 4 million people needed fed[1], the Romans had no choice but to turn to others to meet the demand for grains.
Of course, this meant that their rivals would also benefit economically, as it is well-established, from men like David Riccardo and Adam Smith, that trade makes everyone universally better off – not taking political concerns into the matter since Rome was cornered by enemies that would have otherwise liked to see her ruination, but nonetheless were willing to trade to benefit their subjects too. In that sense, it may seem as if this should have been an era of peace and prosperity, rather than two decades of war and destruction that befall Greece, the Balkans, and Italy – with Roman, Italian, French, Austrian, and Mohammedan forces clashing with one another during one of the major episodic wars that dominated the reigns of Theodoras and John X.
I am of the opinion that the newfound economic wealth acquired by Rome emboldened both her and her enemies, principally the Italians into setting both sides onto a path of inevitable conflict as I outlined just a few pages ago (the last update). The natural balance of power was upset, or from a Roman perspective, being returned to their rightful hegemony.
Not only was the grain industry, through trade, prospering, but so was the ancient silk industry that had rapidly fallen out of grace after the end of the Komnenoi but had now been experiencing an exponential rise in productivity and trade shipment as Roman merchants once again opened the old silk road with the Chinese. The relative calm in Persia meant that Chinese silk merchants were now willing to re-commence the trade through the Orient and up into Europe, this also meant that the silks so preciously valued by western Europeans would have to pass through the gates of Constantinople where Roman merchants did their best to ensure the silk would remain inside the city for as long as possible.
There is a particular ambiance to the merchant quarters of Constantinople, even today, the feel of the multicultural and multi-religious dynamic to the city is something hard to come by. Even during the height of the Roman Empire in the east, under Justinian or Basil II, the city had a pluralistic and enthusiastic atmosphere of multicultural exchange and commerce. Traders from the Far East to North Africa, to even the often misperceived Vikings of Finland or Sweden had found their way to the merchant quarters of the cities that served all but benefitted those natural born merchants who received generous subsidies from the Roman state until the fall of the city in 1204.
Even though the dependency on agrarianism is absolute, as it would be true for any country of this era, the most powerful nations in history have always dominated global (or regional) water trade. Trade, more so than agricultural taxation, is always wealthier and greater in the increase of wealth. The fundamental truth of all economics is that trade makes people richer than any other form or segment within the economic framework. Thus, as the Roman Empire expanded its trade network and now controlled a majority of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, their superficial revival should not come as too much a surprise to the unbiased onlooker. As a fellow colleague of mine said, “Those who oppose free trade support keeping people poor.”
But, like with all things in the global political context, or in this case, the regional context, one person’s wealth is another man’s envy. That envy was, as I have mentioned earlier, the Italians. One of the key episodes in driving Rome and Venice towards war when was a Roman trade ship docked in Venice and was abruptly attacked by the Venetians. Its cargo was looted, and several crew were killed trying to defend the ship. Another Roman vessel, docked nearby, saw the horror, immediately set sail out of the harbor for fear of an anti-Roman riot that swarm the dockyards.
Although it seems that this episodic violence against the Roman merchants in Venice was not sanctioned by the Doge, in fact, he seemed incredibly saddened by this, Theodoras did not take lightly this affront to Roman honor and newfound prestige. In response, the Roman navy set sail and entered the port of Heraklion (Crete) and captured 12 Venetian merchant ships and their cargo, towing it back to Constantinople as trophies in this quasi war on the high seas of the Mediterranean. Naturally, the Venetians set sail their fleet, destined for Athens.
"The Oracle Watches over the Ships", this painting is meant to reflect the tumultuous times in the Mediterranean as a quasi-war was being waged between the Romans (based in Constantinople) and the Venetians (based in Venice) for control of the important trade routes in the eastern basin of the sea.
[1] This estimation of the empire’s population is based on the border of the empire as found in the game, coupled with the Greek demographic population ca. 1500, which was 4.5 million in all of Greece + Asia Minor (the west coast of Turkey which had a large Greek Diaspora). I deduced 3.5 million from the estimate that I do not have Asia Minor and all of Greece seeing that the Ottomans still have some holdings I need to take (I estimated 3.5 million in Greece proper + 1 million in Greek Asia Minor). I presumed my territories in Greece to have 3 million, and added 1 million for the additional territories I have = 4 million people in the empire.
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That is quite a large population, considering what a sorry state the remains of the once proud Empire were, especially after Turkish raids and the plague.
And yes, any action against free trade is an active action that aims to prevent different people from different lands from becoming more wealthy.
And yes, any action against free trade is an active action that aims to prevent different people from different lands from becoming more wealthy.
Excellent, this provides you with a valid excuse... I mean, Casus Belli, to secure Crete and make the Aegean a Roman lake again!
That is quite a large population, considering what a sorry state the remains of the once proud Empire were, especially after Turkish raids and the plague.
And yes, any action against free trade is an active action that aims to prevent different people from different lands from becoming more wealthy.
Well, you have take into account that this population estimate is based on the developments of the game. The empire in 1453 probably didn't number more than 500,000 (and that's being generous). At the Restoration the Empire had about 5 million people. And I now know why the wikipedia page lists 1453 with 4.5 million, it was the total population of Greece and Greek Asia Minor, not the Byzantine Empire as it existed. I was about to say, that is definitely wrong if people are listing the empire's population at 4.5m when it controlled Constantinople and the Morea only, Constantinople only had 50,000 people living in it in 1453!
It most certainly does! The question is, will this lake be one in which the Roman navy dominates, or one in which the navy dominates and has ports in the Italian controlled Greek islands?
Unless the OE has something to say about, and France for that matter...
Chapter XV
The outbreak of the Mediterranean Quasi War between the Romans and the Venetians, but not limited to them, marks the beginning of Theodoras’s descent into madness. Whether or not this shift in his thinking can be attributed to a sort of paranoia to the turmoil engulfing the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the fifteenth century, it is without question that his mental health went into a serious decline. The court historian, Evagrius had this to say in his magnum opus, Life of Theodoras:
The antics of Theodoras had heightened over the last two years. He would, rather humorously to those of us at his court, parade around the palace naked at times. Perhaps it was a vain attempt to entertain the women he kept beside Annia [his wife]…
…I recall what Constantine [a court artist] said to me the other day when conversing with the emperor. He had asked me if the emperor ever mentioned his adoration of the classical statues that lined the halls of the palace and the gardens. I replied no. He then began to tell me of the most peculiar incident where he had found Theodoras dressed like the empress Theodora, or perhaps he was dressed like an effeminate Claudios, hiding in the curtains of his room. When Constantine approached Theodoras, Theodoras shouted at him to stand back because the “Praetorians” were coming…
…It became clear to me and others at the court, that the emperor was no longer in good health. At a court dinner, which was hosted in honor of the Habsburg diplomat to celebrate the newly established alliance and entry of our forces into the ongoing Italian Wars between the French and Germans [Austrians], Theodoras stood up and began dancing on the table. I must confess, this was a serious matter of embarrassment for those of us closest to him. The ambassador seemed thoroughly repulsed, and I don’t necessarily blame him. His first visit to the magnificent city and he leaves with the memories of a dancing idiot…
-Evagrius, Life of Theodoras, Book V: Private Life
It was, at this moment in time, that Isaac Pelimoras, a court groomer and aid, took away Theodoras’s nephew, the future emperor John X to shelter him from Theodoras. This was probably the best move one could have done, for if John was continually exposed to the actions of Theodoras, it seems unlikely that he would have become the emperor that he both was, and wanted to be. I must confess however, that in finding the sources for this obscure moment in Roman history, particularly the fact that a Roman emperor would have behaved in such a way, I couldn’t help but laugh at the above account from Evargrius. When Emperor John X was asked about his uncle during his reign, he replied:
A life-like replica of Emperor Theodoras at the Museum of Byzantine History. Note his woman-like emphasis and appearance. This depiction is probably from his time of personal instability.
Nonetheless, Theodoras seemed to have has mental state composed when on the battlefield, or perhaps, his true colors and blood lust was exhibited in episodes of battle. As the Quasi War folded into the larger Italian Wars, which I will cover next, the emperor himself, like many emperors before him, took to leading the troops in campaign. I will include here, that it may have been have been the hope of his wife, Annia, who was also the guardian of John, among other members of the imperial court, that Theodoras would be killed during the campaigns and the empire would fall into the hands of his more sane nephew, even if but a boy at this point in his life.
The last battle of the Quasi War also marks the beginning of the formal Italian Wars. A large Venetian squadron was sailing down the Adriatic and into the Aegean having raided the coasts of Roman Italy and Albania with hopes to raid Constantinople, but the Romans had gotten wind of the Venetian plan and had set sail their principle fleet to intercept them. Well knowing that this would be the first clash of formal forces, rather than the constant raiding of harbors and merchant ships which had been going on now for about 2 years – both sides anticipating that a decisive strike would end the Quasi War (not being forward thinking enough to realize that such actions, like the Venetian plan to raid Constantine’s city or the Roman plan to destroy the Venetian fleet, would likely cause a formal state of war between the two Mediterranean powers). This of course, was encouraged by the Turkish Sultan, who even funded both sides during the duration of the informal conflict, believing that wounding both Venice and Rome would be good policy – at it certainly was.
On December 11, 1492, off the island of Naxos, the Venetian fleet was docked in harbor in preparation for their raid on Constantinople, which would be the grand display of force and power, they believed, to force the Romans to back down from their merchant conflict. A traitor in Naxos, who has been lost to history outside of a torn manuscript found by Mr. Lecky, a colleague of mine, in 1891, indicated that the Roman navy stationed south of Naxos received word from “an Italian” that the Venetian fleet was docked.
The Roman fleet, which included 30 war galleys, immediately set sail for Naxos to engage the Venetian fleet. The two fleets were of equal size, but the Venetians had several carracks in their arsenal. However, fortune must have smiled upon the Roman fleet. With impeccable timing, the Roman fleet emerged at the heart of the isle harbor at dawn, from the eastward side of the island. With the rising sun screening their advance, the Roman fleet entered the harbor undetected and caught the Venetian fleet by surprise, with many of their sailors still asleep. The lead Venetian vessel, the carrack Doge, was captured in a bloodless boarding in which the Venetian captain was captured in his underwear. After, a Venetian galley that was on patrol spotted the Roman ships and engaged it, but was quickly sunk. Yet, in its sacrifice, the Venetian fleet was alerted of the danger and readied itself for the coming conflict.
Ships of all shapes and sizes lined the bay, with cannons blazing and javelins and arrows raining down from the heavens, the screams of the dying pierced the skies and could have been heard from God in heaven, who surely would have wept at the carnage unfolding in the bay. At the climax of the battle, the Roman flagship, commanded by Admiral Licario Diogenes, sped towards a Venetian carrack, which had some 40 or more cannons deployed on it, and was raining a deadly fire upon the Roman fleet. The Roman maneuver was a textbook ramming attack, and the thick and solid ram crushed into the hull of the Venetian ship. However, as the carrack began to sink, the Roman galley was not able to dislodge itself from the hull of the sinking Venetian vessel and thus, she sank with the great prize of the Venetian navy with Admiral Diogenes shouting out to his crew, “Fear not friends, God will recognize his own!”
By days end, the Venetian fleet had been decimated, losing 11 ships, including 9 sunk and 2 captured. The Romans had lost 4 ships by comparison. However, in the confusion of the battle, the Venetian fleet counterattacked, not to win the battle, but to escape from the harbor without losing their entire fleet. The Quasi War had ended, and the Battle of Naxos began a thirty year period in which Roman armies would be engaged in a wider war between European powers for hegemony of Italy!
The Battle of Naxos, a contemporary painting from the Greek Renaissance, painted in 1497 just 5 years after the battle.
*So technically we were already at war for this battle to happen, but to keep the storyline established in the previous posts, I use this battle as the end of the otherwise fictitious Quasi War (reflecting Rome's rise to trade dominance) and the beginning of the Italian Wars (which, in the game, this was the first battle). And I included a reference to one of my favorite musicals in the description of the Battle of Naxos, first one to note where it comes from wins a bonus point from me!
And for all of us Americans watching the World Cup, go Team USA! I believe!
The Quasi Trade War with Venice, Theodoras's Effeminate Nature
The outbreak of the Mediterranean Quasi War between the Romans and the Venetians, but not limited to them, marks the beginning of Theodoras’s descent into madness. Whether or not this shift in his thinking can be attributed to a sort of paranoia to the turmoil engulfing the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the fifteenth century, it is without question that his mental health went into a serious decline. The court historian, Evagrius had this to say in his magnum opus, Life of Theodoras:
The antics of Theodoras had heightened over the last two years. He would, rather humorously to those of us at his court, parade around the palace naked at times. Perhaps it was a vain attempt to entertain the women he kept beside Annia [his wife]…
…I recall what Constantine [a court artist] said to me the other day when conversing with the emperor. He had asked me if the emperor ever mentioned his adoration of the classical statues that lined the halls of the palace and the gardens. I replied no. He then began to tell me of the most peculiar incident where he had found Theodoras dressed like the empress Theodora, or perhaps he was dressed like an effeminate Claudios, hiding in the curtains of his room. When Constantine approached Theodoras, Theodoras shouted at him to stand back because the “Praetorians” were coming…
…It became clear to me and others at the court, that the emperor was no longer in good health. At a court dinner, which was hosted in honor of the Habsburg diplomat to celebrate the newly established alliance and entry of our forces into the ongoing Italian Wars between the French and Germans [Austrians], Theodoras stood up and began dancing on the table. I must confess, this was a serious matter of embarrassment for those of us closest to him. The ambassador seemed thoroughly repulsed, and I don’t necessarily blame him. His first visit to the magnificent city and he leaves with the memories of a dancing idiot…
-Evagrius, Life of Theodoras, Book V: Private Life
It was, at this moment in time, that Isaac Pelimoras, a court groomer and aid, took away Theodoras’s nephew, the future emperor John X to shelter him from Theodoras. This was probably the best move one could have done, for if John was continually exposed to the actions of Theodoras, it seems unlikely that he would have become the emperor that he both was, and wanted to be. I must confess however, that in finding the sources for this obscure moment in Roman history, particularly the fact that a Roman emperor would have behaved in such a way, I couldn’t help but laugh at the above account from Evargrius. When Emperor John X was asked about his uncle during his reign, he replied:
A life-like replica of Emperor Theodoras at the Museum of Byzantine History. Note his woman-like emphasis and appearance. This depiction is probably from his time of personal instability.
Nonetheless, Theodoras seemed to have has mental state composed when on the battlefield, or perhaps, his true colors and blood lust was exhibited in episodes of battle. As the Quasi War folded into the larger Italian Wars, which I will cover next, the emperor himself, like many emperors before him, took to leading the troops in campaign. I will include here, that it may have been have been the hope of his wife, Annia, who was also the guardian of John, among other members of the imperial court, that Theodoras would be killed during the campaigns and the empire would fall into the hands of his more sane nephew, even if but a boy at this point in his life.
The last battle of the Quasi War also marks the beginning of the formal Italian Wars. A large Venetian squadron was sailing down the Adriatic and into the Aegean having raided the coasts of Roman Italy and Albania with hopes to raid Constantinople, but the Romans had gotten wind of the Venetian plan and had set sail their principle fleet to intercept them. Well knowing that this would be the first clash of formal forces, rather than the constant raiding of harbors and merchant ships which had been going on now for about 2 years – both sides anticipating that a decisive strike would end the Quasi War (not being forward thinking enough to realize that such actions, like the Venetian plan to raid Constantine’s city or the Roman plan to destroy the Venetian fleet, would likely cause a formal state of war between the two Mediterranean powers). This of course, was encouraged by the Turkish Sultan, who even funded both sides during the duration of the informal conflict, believing that wounding both Venice and Rome would be good policy – at it certainly was.
On December 11, 1492, off the island of Naxos, the Venetian fleet was docked in harbor in preparation for their raid on Constantinople, which would be the grand display of force and power, they believed, to force the Romans to back down from their merchant conflict. A traitor in Naxos, who has been lost to history outside of a torn manuscript found by Mr. Lecky, a colleague of mine, in 1891, indicated that the Roman navy stationed south of Naxos received word from “an Italian” that the Venetian fleet was docked.
The Roman fleet, which included 30 war galleys, immediately set sail for Naxos to engage the Venetian fleet. The two fleets were of equal size, but the Venetians had several carracks in their arsenal. However, fortune must have smiled upon the Roman fleet. With impeccable timing, the Roman fleet emerged at the heart of the isle harbor at dawn, from the eastward side of the island. With the rising sun screening their advance, the Roman fleet entered the harbor undetected and caught the Venetian fleet by surprise, with many of their sailors still asleep. The lead Venetian vessel, the carrack Doge, was captured in a bloodless boarding in which the Venetian captain was captured in his underwear. After, a Venetian galley that was on patrol spotted the Roman ships and engaged it, but was quickly sunk. Yet, in its sacrifice, the Venetian fleet was alerted of the danger and readied itself for the coming conflict.
Ships of all shapes and sizes lined the bay, with cannons blazing and javelins and arrows raining down from the heavens, the screams of the dying pierced the skies and could have been heard from God in heaven, who surely would have wept at the carnage unfolding in the bay. At the climax of the battle, the Roman flagship, commanded by Admiral Licario Diogenes, sped towards a Venetian carrack, which had some 40 or more cannons deployed on it, and was raining a deadly fire upon the Roman fleet. The Roman maneuver was a textbook ramming attack, and the thick and solid ram crushed into the hull of the Venetian ship. However, as the carrack began to sink, the Roman galley was not able to dislodge itself from the hull of the sinking Venetian vessel and thus, she sank with the great prize of the Venetian navy with Admiral Diogenes shouting out to his crew, “Fear not friends, God will recognize his own!”
By days end, the Venetian fleet had been decimated, losing 11 ships, including 9 sunk and 2 captured. The Romans had lost 4 ships by comparison. However, in the confusion of the battle, the Venetian fleet counterattacked, not to win the battle, but to escape from the harbor without losing their entire fleet. The Quasi War had ended, and the Battle of Naxos began a thirty year period in which Roman armies would be engaged in a wider war between European powers for hegemony of Italy!
The Battle of Naxos, a contemporary painting from the Greek Renaissance, painted in 1497 just 5 years after the battle.
*So technically we were already at war for this battle to happen, but to keep the storyline established in the previous posts, I use this battle as the end of the otherwise fictitious Quasi War (reflecting Rome's rise to trade dominance) and the beginning of the Italian Wars (which, in the game, this was the first battle). And I included a reference to one of my favorite musicals in the description of the Battle of Naxos, first one to note where it comes from wins a bonus point from me!
And for all of us Americans watching the World Cup, go Team USA! I believe!
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Now, with the Venetian Fleet destroyed or at least severely disrupted and the Turks giving you money, it is time to fund Greek Orthodox Rebels on all those islands - they can't land without exposing their navy to yours, and if they do, you will just smash them again...
But do you get AE from reclaiming your own cores? Are they still not Roman core provinces according to the game?