The size of your retinues grow as your power increases.Therefore, the number of legions should swell, not sure if the legions should go back to 5,000 men units though. All in all, 1,000 men legions are superior in many respect to 5,000 men legions as permanent formations.Fine I get the point...
Hey wait, I just came up with something here. Example:
Emperor Justinian blazes across the western Mediterranean, beating ass wherever he goes. He restores Italy, Pannonia,Africa and Hispania and declares the return of the Roman Empire.
Option 1: He goes after the Franks
Option 2: He now spends his energy on consolidating his conquests, fortifying his borders and reorganizing the Empire. Hordes of recruits pour into the army in the glory of the new Empire. Properly trained and diciplined, the legions swell in size, as do the population.
What I mean to say is, if you restore the Grand Empire, the legions should grow as your power increases.
Must say that these 'Roman' officers weren't really Roman. They are barbarian chieftains who were granted the status of Foederati and that even if they were to seize Rome, they wouldn't have had the legitimacy to control the entire empire. Real Roman officers of the period on the other hand, such as Magnentius, Flavius Aetius or Constantine III tend to set the Emperor up as a puppet or outright usurp the throne.Not that I disagree with you, but I would point that if earlier to rebel would usually mean to go seize Rome, subjugate the Empire and rule in all its entirety, near the end of Empire rebels usually just tried to carve out a nice little empire for themselves. Which makes sense, considering that this military leaders weren't just Roman officers, but also a kings of their tribe. And that tribe constituted the majority, if not entirety, of their force.
There's two counterpoints to be made. First, it didn't happen in the regions, subjugated by Justinian's commanders. Second, Justian wouldn't ever do that, the man was paranoid enough already, to give Belisaurius even more power, unthinkable.
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