Chapter III
One of the major problems that had always plagued Roman civilization, since the days of Julius Caesar to John VIII, were the warring factions within the Roman nobility. Following the Palaiologoi restoration, the civil wars wrought by the rivalry with the Kantakouzenos Family allotted the advancement of the Mohammedan powers into Europe. Even after the successful re-acquisition of the empire of Trebizond back into the Imperial dominions, the ruling Komnenos family retained the throne of Trebizond – in the sense that John IV was rededicated as Duke John of Trebizond. Although he acknowledged Imperial hegemony and sent forth the needed collection of taxes back to Constantinople, the power of Constantinople did not extend much beyond the walls of the city. In that sense, John Komnenos, Duke of Trebizond, was still free to run his lands as he saw fit (although it was wise not to upset the emperor).
A major player within the Kantakouzenos Family, by the name of Theodosius, had been stirring trouble against the Great Domestic Constantine in the Peloponnese. Among his criticism, Theodosius claimed that Constantine was plotting against his own brother, the emperor! Some other historians have speculated that this move by Theodosius was an attempt to get into the good graces of the emperor after having said some unsavory comments concerning Emperor John’s late wife, Maria. The problem was, blaming the emperor’s brother, and a hero from the war with Trebizond, didn’t seem like the most amble rout to win back the good graces of the emperor. Some of the commoners in the Morea were appalled, not only at Theodosius’s claim, but also that Constantine would be plotting against his brother – which was pertinently untrue, but to a certain degree – made sense since he was at the height of his popularity from his success at Trebizond. Needless to say, such behavior from a noble would not be tolerated, and Theodosius was found dead in his home under suspicious circumstances.
The discovery of the dead body of Theodosius Kantakouzenos. His death was officially ruled as a suicide.
The nobility of the late empire wasn’t noble outside of the fact that they were noble families. In the original conception of the nobility – they were to provide for their subjects the necessary facilities needed for survival, health, prosperity, and free exercise of the true faith. Repeatedly however, the Roman nobility neglected their subjects, squabbled among themselves, even resorted to bribery and taking bribes for various gifts or benefits. As seen above, the many rivalries among the Roman upper caste was not healthy for the empire, and was one of the major reasons for the inability of the empire to defend itself following the restoration under Michael VIII. Such insolence could not be tolerated, but the empire existed only on paper, and the privileged nobles of the few but various lands “under imperial dominion” exercised their power as they saw fit, and exercised it often and to their personal benefit as much as possible.
In the late 1440s, a series of sweeping allegations made their way to the emperor’s palace, in Trebizond and the Morea, Roman nobility had been “bought off” by land barons, military officials, and even the Church! While this practice of corruption was not limited to Rome, it had been with Roman society as far back as one could remember. The problem with the purchasing of the nobility was soon to come to light, leading church officials and bishops had forgone paying taxes to the government – instead, they surrendered unused land to the nobility for exchange of freedom from taxation, which was granted. Nobles quarreled with one another as to who would be the beneficiary of these spoils – like monastery vineyards that obviously didn’t serve a purpose for Church business outside of the possibility of self-made win for the dedication of the Eucharist. After all, if the empire was burning, perhaps the Mohammedans would take pity upon nobles tending grapes for wine, although I have been told that is illegal to consume alcohol in the Mussulmen faith [1].
Many of the better fit men who could have served in the army purchased their way out of military conscription. Thus, the Roman army from 1449-1452 was recruiting from the very worst pools of men they could possibly conscript and recruit from. That is not to say the weak and the small cannot be good fighters, there are clearly exceptions like David who rose to be King of all Israel, but no level of disciple and effective training can help a small man in stature overcome a larger and more deadly Mohammedan. The local recruiters got rich from the dealings, but the Roman army suffered from a lack of good discipline, and worst, large contingents of soldiers were of the faint of heart.
When this news reached Constantine, the de facto commandant of the small Roman army, he immediately reported the information to his brother the emperor. John was shocked upon hearing the news that search for replacements to repopulate the Roman army after the war with Trebizond, as well as the small increase in size of the standing Roman army had been undertaken with, as he called them, “A generation of cowards!” Attempts were made to weed out the problem from its deplorable roots. Not to mention that this news brought to light the extent of the corruption and wanton desires of the Roman nobility which hampered the emperor’s efforts at reform and survival. After all, to many Romans, the fate of the empire was no longer a major concern – the fate of their desires, wealth, and privileged status were!
A painting depicting the wanton desires and lust for luxury among the Roman nobility during the Late Period Empire.
Military reforms were swiftly implemented, and some 6,000 Roman soldiers and prospective recruits either executed or disbanded. The fury of the emperor extended over to the Roman nobility who had been tasked with such efforts of recruitment. Some, fearing their lives, made deals with Constantine to hide their names from their corrupt actions and met with the emperor to court military favor and begin a new recruiting system that would hopefully avoid another near catastrophe as this. Emperor John accepted the new “demands” of the Roman nobility calling for a renewed interest in the army, and recanted, “I thank God that our enemies had not waged war on us, for we would have surely perished with the generation of boys masquerading as soldiers.”
As the Roman army was being refitted with the best possible recruits, a new military policy was devised by Duke John of Trebizond. In 1454 he decried a new law throughout his despotate that any person found sheltering, aiding, even allowing an enemy of Rome to walk on his land – he and his family would be seen as enemies of the emperor and aiding in an enemy war effort. If found out, the head of the family would be promptly executed and the mother left homeless with her children. While brutal in nature, the law was seen as being highly patriotic and would, in theory, prevent any collaboration with Roman enemies and possibly see patriotic fervor sweep through the lower classes who would either join the ranks of the Roman militia or forcibly rise against “their oppressors.”
News of this law reached Constantinople in early 1455, and John quickly decreed it to be law across all the empire, and not a moment too late. Constantine had been gathering the Roman army at the Golden Horn once more, and again, the destination was the Black Sea. Roman spies in the Kingdom of Georgia reported a much weakened Georgian state after a recent war with the Mohammedan powers in the Caucasus Mountains. Emperor John, on the request from Duke John of Trebizond, began mobilizing the Roman army for an invasion of what remained of the Kingdom that had formerly been the ally to John when he was attempted to salvage his “empire” from the Roman invasion. Now, the Roman forces gathering at the Golden Horn would be soon on their voyage to Trebizond, with their ultimate destination the conquest of the Georgian Kingdom and bring their long lost brothers back under proper Imperial dominion. In a bid to prevent further corruption among the nobility, John ordered Constantine that the guilty parties of the prior scandals that plagued them be sent to the front of the Roman forces, leading their regiments in battle, or be executed for failure to comply with the defense of the crown.
[1] This is partially true. The Qur’an forbids the drinking of “date wine” (An-Nahl 16:67); although some scholars insist that only alcohol made with dates are illegal (thus non-date alcohol is permissible). Many figures in Islamic history have consumed alcohol, most famous being the Mughal emperors of our timeline. (FYI, I own a copy of the Qur’an in my library, although I’m dependent upon translators since I do not know how to read Arabic).
The Immoral Decadence of Roman Society in the Late Empire
One of the major problems that had always plagued Roman civilization, since the days of Julius Caesar to John VIII, were the warring factions within the Roman nobility. Following the Palaiologoi restoration, the civil wars wrought by the rivalry with the Kantakouzenos Family allotted the advancement of the Mohammedan powers into Europe. Even after the successful re-acquisition of the empire of Trebizond back into the Imperial dominions, the ruling Komnenos family retained the throne of Trebizond – in the sense that John IV was rededicated as Duke John of Trebizond. Although he acknowledged Imperial hegemony and sent forth the needed collection of taxes back to Constantinople, the power of Constantinople did not extend much beyond the walls of the city. In that sense, John Komnenos, Duke of Trebizond, was still free to run his lands as he saw fit (although it was wise not to upset the emperor).
A major player within the Kantakouzenos Family, by the name of Theodosius, had been stirring trouble against the Great Domestic Constantine in the Peloponnese. Among his criticism, Theodosius claimed that Constantine was plotting against his own brother, the emperor! Some other historians have speculated that this move by Theodosius was an attempt to get into the good graces of the emperor after having said some unsavory comments concerning Emperor John’s late wife, Maria. The problem was, blaming the emperor’s brother, and a hero from the war with Trebizond, didn’t seem like the most amble rout to win back the good graces of the emperor. Some of the commoners in the Morea were appalled, not only at Theodosius’s claim, but also that Constantine would be plotting against his brother – which was pertinently untrue, but to a certain degree – made sense since he was at the height of his popularity from his success at Trebizond. Needless to say, such behavior from a noble would not be tolerated, and Theodosius was found dead in his home under suspicious circumstances.
The discovery of the dead body of Theodosius Kantakouzenos. His death was officially ruled as a suicide.
The nobility of the late empire wasn’t noble outside of the fact that they were noble families. In the original conception of the nobility – they were to provide for their subjects the necessary facilities needed for survival, health, prosperity, and free exercise of the true faith. Repeatedly however, the Roman nobility neglected their subjects, squabbled among themselves, even resorted to bribery and taking bribes for various gifts or benefits. As seen above, the many rivalries among the Roman upper caste was not healthy for the empire, and was one of the major reasons for the inability of the empire to defend itself following the restoration under Michael VIII. Such insolence could not be tolerated, but the empire existed only on paper, and the privileged nobles of the few but various lands “under imperial dominion” exercised their power as they saw fit, and exercised it often and to their personal benefit as much as possible.
In the late 1440s, a series of sweeping allegations made their way to the emperor’s palace, in Trebizond and the Morea, Roman nobility had been “bought off” by land barons, military officials, and even the Church! While this practice of corruption was not limited to Rome, it had been with Roman society as far back as one could remember. The problem with the purchasing of the nobility was soon to come to light, leading church officials and bishops had forgone paying taxes to the government – instead, they surrendered unused land to the nobility for exchange of freedom from taxation, which was granted. Nobles quarreled with one another as to who would be the beneficiary of these spoils – like monastery vineyards that obviously didn’t serve a purpose for Church business outside of the possibility of self-made win for the dedication of the Eucharist. After all, if the empire was burning, perhaps the Mohammedans would take pity upon nobles tending grapes for wine, although I have been told that is illegal to consume alcohol in the Mussulmen faith [1].
Many of the better fit men who could have served in the army purchased their way out of military conscription. Thus, the Roman army from 1449-1452 was recruiting from the very worst pools of men they could possibly conscript and recruit from. That is not to say the weak and the small cannot be good fighters, there are clearly exceptions like David who rose to be King of all Israel, but no level of disciple and effective training can help a small man in stature overcome a larger and more deadly Mohammedan. The local recruiters got rich from the dealings, but the Roman army suffered from a lack of good discipline, and worst, large contingents of soldiers were of the faint of heart.
When this news reached Constantine, the de facto commandant of the small Roman army, he immediately reported the information to his brother the emperor. John was shocked upon hearing the news that search for replacements to repopulate the Roman army after the war with Trebizond, as well as the small increase in size of the standing Roman army had been undertaken with, as he called them, “A generation of cowards!” Attempts were made to weed out the problem from its deplorable roots. Not to mention that this news brought to light the extent of the corruption and wanton desires of the Roman nobility which hampered the emperor’s efforts at reform and survival. After all, to many Romans, the fate of the empire was no longer a major concern – the fate of their desires, wealth, and privileged status were!
A painting depicting the wanton desires and lust for luxury among the Roman nobility during the Late Period Empire.
Military reforms were swiftly implemented, and some 6,000 Roman soldiers and prospective recruits either executed or disbanded. The fury of the emperor extended over to the Roman nobility who had been tasked with such efforts of recruitment. Some, fearing their lives, made deals with Constantine to hide their names from their corrupt actions and met with the emperor to court military favor and begin a new recruiting system that would hopefully avoid another near catastrophe as this. Emperor John accepted the new “demands” of the Roman nobility calling for a renewed interest in the army, and recanted, “I thank God that our enemies had not waged war on us, for we would have surely perished with the generation of boys masquerading as soldiers.”
As the Roman army was being refitted with the best possible recruits, a new military policy was devised by Duke John of Trebizond. In 1454 he decried a new law throughout his despotate that any person found sheltering, aiding, even allowing an enemy of Rome to walk on his land – he and his family would be seen as enemies of the emperor and aiding in an enemy war effort. If found out, the head of the family would be promptly executed and the mother left homeless with her children. While brutal in nature, the law was seen as being highly patriotic and would, in theory, prevent any collaboration with Roman enemies and possibly see patriotic fervor sweep through the lower classes who would either join the ranks of the Roman militia or forcibly rise against “their oppressors.”
News of this law reached Constantinople in early 1455, and John quickly decreed it to be law across all the empire, and not a moment too late. Constantine had been gathering the Roman army at the Golden Horn once more, and again, the destination was the Black Sea. Roman spies in the Kingdom of Georgia reported a much weakened Georgian state after a recent war with the Mohammedan powers in the Caucasus Mountains. Emperor John, on the request from Duke John of Trebizond, began mobilizing the Roman army for an invasion of what remained of the Kingdom that had formerly been the ally to John when he was attempted to salvage his “empire” from the Roman invasion. Now, the Roman forces gathering at the Golden Horn would be soon on their voyage to Trebizond, with their ultimate destination the conquest of the Georgian Kingdom and bring their long lost brothers back under proper Imperial dominion. In a bid to prevent further corruption among the nobility, John ordered Constantine that the guilty parties of the prior scandals that plagued them be sent to the front of the Roman forces, leading their regiments in battle, or be executed for failure to comply with the defense of the crown.
[1] This is partially true. The Qur’an forbids the drinking of “date wine” (An-Nahl 16:67); although some scholars insist that only alcohol made with dates are illegal (thus non-date alcohol is permissible). Many figures in Islamic history have consumed alcohol, most famous being the Mughal emperors of our timeline. (FYI, I own a copy of the Qur’an in my library, although I’m dependent upon translators since I do not know how to read Arabic).
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