It has resulted in some good relations, he has become quite friendly with Al-Andalus, Ethiopia probably loves him for all the support he's given them in their modernization campaigns, Bayezid probably likes him more than any Ottoman sultan is rightfully allowed to like an emperor of Rome, he is a close personal friend of the King of Arles and the Doge of Genoa. The main people he seems to have aleinated where the christian spaniards.
An Age of Miracles: The Revival of Rhomanion
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It has resulted in some good relations, he has become quite friendly with Al-Andalus, Ethiopia probably loves him for all the support he's given them in their modernization campaigns, Bayezid probably likes him more than any Ottoman sultan is rightfully allowed to like an emperor of Rome, he is a close personal friend of the King of Arles and the Doge of Genoa. The main people he seems to have aleinated where the christian spaniards.
Louyan
Banned
His father was a friend to the Genoan Doge. Theodoros pressed them hard when Genoa was in need. I can see the Genoans treat him in kind.
I think Hungary would take the side of the Byzantine. They fought a war against Venetia not long ago and they would want a remach against them. They are frendly with the Rhomanoi and neutral with the Vlachs. I could see them trying to take the Venetians down. Plus the Venetian soldiers set a dangeros presedence by violating a royal familie, even the most ardent of their suporters would think twice aiding them. After all if they permited this to happen to one royal familie them what is stoping them from doing it to them. Todays allies are tomorows enemies.
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
Actually, I think it's likely that Hungary would interfere either when the news of the Royal Family's violation and murder reaches them, or when the Rhomans bloody the Venetians.
Grouchio: Venetia, probably. But the only way Serbia and Bulgaria could be romanized would be if the Romans conducted an extermination campaign that would make even Timur blanch. The Serbians and Bulgarians are too numerous and independently minded to really be assimilated. As for the next chapter, see below.
Mathalamus: If the Roman Empire survived in Anatolia, we'd basically see a rerun of the mid 1200s, with a much stronger and very, very pissed-off Nicaea-ish state. Regarding Anatolia, the allies are hoping it will fragment or be eaten by the Mamelukes and/or Ottomans. None of the European allies have the numbers to be able to hold down Anatolia. Vidin and Varna combined muster about 9% of Roman Asia's population. (800,000ish compared to 9 million).
The Sandman: Gallipoli: D'oh. I is stupid. I'll fix that. As for the Bulgarians and Serbians, that is a real danger. The main threat is if Hungary moves, Vlachia is free to move as well. But so long as Buda is quiet, Targoviste will be as well. The Vlachs cannot afford to commit the bulk of their forces, and they'd need them to take on the Serbs, if the Hungarian armies aren't busy someplace else.
Arrix85: That's what the allies are hoping/expecting. If Anatolia breaks up, their European possessions are secure, since the Roman remnants will be busy fighting the Mamelukes.
Elfwine: Fragmentation wouldn't be inevitable, but the Komnenid dynasty is currently shaky, with the heir to the throne only ten years old.
Tapirus Augustus: That would be nice. I'm not sure it would be realistic though. At best it would be a 'spare the Venetian populace, but the Dandolo and Loredan familes get wiped out very gruesomely'.
elkarlo: That's why Venice is sinking now! The AoM Romans are striking back, even as we speak!!!
What have I done?!
Voyager75: The Romans would keep the city. It's valuable, strategically located, and a good way of rubbing in the fact they won.
Dragos Cel Mare: Currently the Roman response is 'I don't care if I'm just as bad as the Venetians, just so long as they're dead.'
eliphas8: Is that a challenge? The Horses are admittedly the only thing I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there was a lot of artwork taken. Rest assured, Theodoros is 'making a list, checking it twice'.
Theodoros does have good friends, as you pointed out, the Ottomans, Ethiopia, Arles. Unfortunately the most helpful states, Genoa, Aragon-Sicily, and Hungary are all 'meh'. Theodoros is friends with the King of Arles. Demetrios was the friend of the Doge of Genoa. Sorry for the confusion.
Romanos: Thanks.
Louyan: The Empire is in a sticky situation. Theodoros has always been, well, Venetian in his foreign affairs, caring more about money than friendship (unlike his father). The only one who might help cheaply is Arles, since Theodoros is the friend of the king, but Charles I has the Plantaganets and Lotharingia breathing down his neck.
bolhabela: Hungary does lean toward Byzantium. However a suitable sweetener (say papal-Venetian support for Hungarian reconquest of Presporok) could dissuade them from intervening. All the Venetians need to do is secure Hungary's muttering neutrality.
Mathalamus: If the Roman Empire survived in Anatolia, we'd basically see a rerun of the mid 1200s, with a much stronger and very, very pissed-off Nicaea-ish state. Regarding Anatolia, the allies are hoping it will fragment or be eaten by the Mamelukes and/or Ottomans. None of the European allies have the numbers to be able to hold down Anatolia. Vidin and Varna combined muster about 9% of Roman Asia's population. (800,000ish compared to 9 million).
The Sandman: Gallipoli: D'oh. I is stupid. I'll fix that. As for the Bulgarians and Serbians, that is a real danger. The main threat is if Hungary moves, Vlachia is free to move as well. But so long as Buda is quiet, Targoviste will be as well. The Vlachs cannot afford to commit the bulk of their forces, and they'd need them to take on the Serbs, if the Hungarian armies aren't busy someplace else.
Arrix85: That's what the allies are hoping/expecting. If Anatolia breaks up, their European possessions are secure, since the Roman remnants will be busy fighting the Mamelukes.
Elfwine: Fragmentation wouldn't be inevitable, but the Komnenid dynasty is currently shaky, with the heir to the throne only ten years old.
Tapirus Augustus: That would be nice. I'm not sure it would be realistic though. At best it would be a 'spare the Venetian populace, but the Dandolo and Loredan familes get wiped out very gruesomely'.
elkarlo: That's why Venice is sinking now! The AoM Romans are striking back, even as we speak!!!
What have I done?!Voyager75: The Romans would keep the city. It's valuable, strategically located, and a good way of rubbing in the fact they won.
Dragos Cel Mare: Currently the Roman response is 'I don't care if I'm just as bad as the Venetians, just so long as they're dead.'
eliphas8: Is that a challenge?
The Horses are admittedly the only thing I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there was a lot of artwork taken. Rest assured, Theodoros is 'making a list, checking it twice'. Theodoros does have good friends, as you pointed out, the Ottomans, Ethiopia, Arles. Unfortunately the most helpful states, Genoa, Aragon-Sicily, and Hungary are all 'meh'. Theodoros is friends with the King of Arles. Demetrios was the friend of the Doge of Genoa. Sorry for the confusion.
Romanos: Thanks.
Louyan: The Empire is in a sticky situation. Theodoros has always been, well, Venetian in his foreign affairs, caring more about money than friendship (unlike his father). The only one who might help cheaply is Arles, since Theodoros is the friend of the king, but Charles I has the Plantaganets and Lotharingia breathing down his neck.
bolhabela: Hungary does lean toward Byzantium. However a suitable sweetener (say papal-Venetian support for Hungarian reconquest of Presporok) could dissuade them from intervening. All the Venetians need to do is secure Hungary's muttering neutrality.
The Black Day of Rhomania
Part 2: A Prince of the Empire
Manuel of Kyzikos glanced down the street, holding his sword blade flat against his chest. There were two men, hauling a young woman down towards the harbor. He recognized the woman, the older sister of his charge Prince Andreas. The one he should have been guarding, if he hadn’t been off-duty at a tavern on the far side of town. They were getting closer. He moved.
His blade flashed out, the Venetian sword moving to parry, but not fast enough. Manuel rammed his weapon into his opponent’s armpit, puncturing his heart. He flicked it out again as the man toppled. The other Venetian had let go of Zoe, slashing with his sword. Manuel parried, his blade singing as it snipped the tip off the man’s nose. The Venetian staggered, long enough for Manuel to gash open his throat.
Zoe was standing, staring at him blankly, a massive bruise the size of a fist on her left cheek below her puffy eyes. “Manuel?” she whispered.
“Yes, milady. It is me.” He extended his left arm towards her. “Will you come with me?” For a moment she glanced at his rough, dark hand, and then she took it.
* * *
Iason stared at his opponent. He blinked, and the kataphraktos thrust his blade. His fifteen year old son Philippos parried, the wooden sword clunking off Iason’s. Thrust, parry, jab, dodge.
Iason heard the horse galloping into the village where a droungos of kataphraktoi had their estates. “Riders of Rhomania! The demon is at the gates!” Both Iason and Philippos froze at the words, Iason’s blood running cold. What?! Timur is dead! Shah Rukh is dead! “The Venetians are attacking Smyrna!”
Iason glanced over at his eikosarchos Matthaios, who immediately began barking orders. “Alexios, get this man a new horse so he can warn the other villagers. Manuel, ring the church bell. I want the men here now.”
Iason turned to Philippos. “Get the horses ready.”
“Iason?” He turned to look at the speaker, his wife Anna. He could see the fear in her eyes, and knew they reflected what was in his own. Their first son, Michael, a short, bookish man ill-suited for the life of a heavy cavalryman, was in Smyrna, a student of astronomy at the university.
“We’ll get him out, I promise.”
“We?”
“Philippos is coming with.”
“What?! Why?”
“The droungos is at two-thirds strength. We need every man we can get.”
“But he’s not a man! He’s still just a boy!”
“He’s close enough. And if we’re to win this, a lot of boys are going to have to learn how to be men before they should have to.” As he finished the sentence, the bell of the village church began to toll.
* * *
Manuel looked over his battle line and shook his head. The ‘army’ defending the University of Smyrna campus, the only part of the town not in Venetian hands, was anything but. Manuel counted four soldiers, all Imperial guardsmen who like him had been off-duty when the attack began. As a result they, like him, were armed only with a sword and no armor, not their full kit of plate armor, mace, and sword.
The remainder were a mix. Alongside blacksmiths with their hammers stood pimps with their clubs. Alongside butchers with their cleavers stood students with their boar spears. Merchants, tanners, beggars, local aristocracy with their retainers, the whole gamut of Smyrna’s people were here, what was left of it.
They had nowhere to run. Venetian cavalry were on the prowl outside the walls, making sure no one could escape. They wanted prisoners for ransoming. And if their captives weren’t worth anything, well the best way to keep the shipyards from being rebuilt was to kill the labor force that could do it.
Manuel sniffed. The stench of sulfur was in the air; the Venetians had started blowing up the navy yards. As he watched the last, desperate hope of Smyrna’s people, he knew that the Venetians had already won. They had already gotten what they came for. The great stores of pitch, hemp, canvas, the slipways for repairing vessels, the stores of powder and shot, all were being destroyed. The Roman fleet would return from the Holy Land, outnumbered almost two to one by the Republic’s armada, and now it would have no supplies, no place to rest and repair.
“Here they come again!” a student yelled, his voice cracking at the last syllable.
“Wait!” Manuel shouted as a few notched their bows. “It’s a flag of truce.” A Venetian galloped forward.
Manuel clambered over the rough barricade compiled of bits of piled-up debris and walked over to the Venetian, his hand on his pommel. “Good day to you, sir,” the horseman said.
“Allow me to disagree.”
The man grimaced. “I suppose I deserve that.” Manuel nodded. “Anyway, I am here to inform you that we are allowing some of your people through our lines.” He gestured at the Venetian ranks, which opened up.
Manuel barely managed to stop himself from bulging his eyes out. Andreas was alive, with two soldiers, a Turkish woman, and two girls. Andreas’ eyes met Manuel, widening for a second, and then transforming into a blank, empty stare.
Manuel looked at the Venetian. “Haven’t you forgotten to kill them first? That does seem to be how you…people make war. Kill everything.”
The man winced. “Not all of us are savages. I, for one, would have liked peace to exist between us. If you had not destroyed our trading quarter at Damietta, it might have been so.”
“If you wanted peace, maybe you should’ve stayed out of our civil war.”
The man sighed. “This is pointless. Anyway, here are your people. Whether or not they live once we take the university, I cannot say. But this is the best I can do.”
Manuel nodded. “So there is some honor in Venice.”
“A little.”
“Well, it’s better than nothing.”
“That is true.” A pause. “You have ten minutes to make peace between you and your God. Then we attack.”
“Ten minutes till you attack. Well then, you have twelve minutes to make peace between you and your God.” The man nodded, turning to leave. “Good day to you, sir,” Manuel said.
* * *
“Andreas!” Andreas turned and looked as he staggered over the barrier guarding the university. A moment later Zoe wrapped her arms around him. “You’re alive.”
He hugged her back. “How did you get away from the Venetians?” he asked as she let go.
“Manuel rescued me.” She gestured at the man.
A moment later he kneeled on one knee before Andreas, bowing his face. “My prince, I am sorry.”
“For what?”
Manuel’s eyes remained fixed on the ground. “I failed in my duty.”
“Look at me.” Manuel did. “You did not. You rescued Zoe. Had you been there when…when…” Tears clouded his eyes, turning Manuel into a blur. “Emperors don’t cry,” Andreas snarled at himself. “Princes don’t either.” He blinked the tears away, clearing his throat and looking straight at Manuel. “Had you been there, one more Roman would be dead, and it still would’ve happened.
“No.” He gestured out at the banners of lions. “They are the ones who should apologize. And they will.”
* * *
Iason stared at the mutilated Venetian corpse, sprawled in the shrubbery to the east of Smyrna, shaded by the pillars of smoke rising from the city. In the sky, more clouds were gathering, shrouding the sun. He glanced at Matthaios as he flicked a piece of Venetian kidney off his blade. “He talked. The bastard talked.”
“So the rumors are true, what those refugees said?” Matthaios asked.
“Every word, and more.”
Matthaios grimaced, spitting. “Tell the men to mount up. We ride.”
* * *
The Venetian horns were sounding. Their ten minutes were up. Manuel glanced behind him. Zoe and Andreas were huddled in the shade of a fountain, with the prince clutching a small knife he had found off the body of a dead butcher. He drew his sword.
The Venetians began marching. Many came in ordered ranks, disciplined, hardy marines. But many more…Manuel sneered. These were no soldiers. Unlike the marines, which marched in unison, chanting calls to Saint Mark and the Virgin Mary, their call was more like the howling of a pack of mangy curs, an incoherent ruckus of hundreds of pirates, the offal of the Mediterranean.
A crossbow bolt snarled past Manuel’s ear. A ragged flight of arrows lashed out from the Roman lines as a dark cloud swept across the face of the sun. Crossbows snapped back, men on both sides going down screaming. Manuel ignored that, staring at the incoming dogs. “I fought in the Emperors’ Battle!” he roared. “Do you think I fear the likes of you?!”
They were close, the howling of the curs intermingling with the roar of the Lion of Saint Mark. Manuel yelled one more, the call of the Romans, hailing back to the day when they had been a broken people in exile, and had still conquered. “Theodoros Megas!” And then there was no more time for ancient calls, for shouts to great heroes or saints in heaven. There was only time for killing.
* * *
Andreas watched, his eyes wide, as Manuel fought. He had seen it before, in sparring matches on the training field. He had even dueled against Manuel a few times. But he had never before seen his personal guard as he had been before, simply a soldier on a battlefield.
He could barely see Manuel’s blade as it slashed at the Venetians, gashing open their wrists as they climbed over the stockade. He did not know how Manuel killed or wounded. A lot. But it was not enough. Everywhere the Romans were giving way, the Venetians cutting down everyone who stood in their path.
One almost completely covered in blood hurled himself at Zoe, waving his sword above his head. Manuel was pulling his blade out of another’s belly. It wouldn’t be soon enough. Zoe hurled a rock, just missing the man’s ear as he flinched. Andreas shoved his knife into his ribs.
The Venetian stopped, his eyes widening as they stared at the small hands holding the blade inside, his mouth frozen in an O. He collapsed.
* * *
Manuel saw the body topple. Andreas took a step back, staring at his bloody, shaking hands. “Andreas?” Zoe said, grabbing his shoulder. He flinched.
“I, I..” he stammered.
Manuel ripped the dagger out of the ribcage. “We need to go now. We’ll have to take our chances with the cavalry outside.”
“We’re dead,” Andreas muttered, still staring at his bloody hands. “We’re all dead.” As he spoke, the wind began to pick up, blowing from the west, from the sea.
“Archangel Saint Michael, defend us in battle!” Manuel whirled towards the bellow. Over two hundred kataphraktoi were spilling over the barricade, these ones armored in lamellar and swinging maces. The Venetians immediately began staggering back.
The armored soldiers plowed through the Venetian ranks in front of them, blood and limbs flying. “To the ships!” some of the students started yelling. “To the ships!” Everywhere now the Venetians were flying backward, stunned by the sudden arrival of Roman reinforcements. The regrouped Smyrnans poured after them. “To the ships!”
“Wait here,” Manuel ordered Andreas and Zoe, and then started running after the Smyrnans, who had been joined by the kataphraktoi. “Pull back!” he yelled. “Pull back!” He climbed over the barricade. Nobody was listening.
He grabbed an eikosarchos. “You have to pull them back. If the Venetians regroup they’ll run us over.” The man opened his mouth, but it was too late. The whoops of joy had turned into shrieks of terror, as the foe swept up from the harbor, rounding the corner. Only it was not the Venetians; it was hell itself, a roaring curtain of fire, leaping from building to building.
The city was in flames, the blaze pushed on by the new sea breeze. The fire from the shipyards had obviously spread, a force more terrible than Venetian or Roman combined. Manuel grabbed a groaning body, hauling the man to his feet and back up the street. Inside the university people were screaming for water, even as the wind died.
Manuel dropped the man against the embankment, only now getting a look at him. It was the Venetian who had let Andreas through the line. He groaned, looking at Manuel. “You said twelve minutes. That was more like sixteen.”
The Roman laughed, hauling him to his feet. “So I’m late. Your sword please.”
The man nodded, handing Manuel the blade. “I am your prisoner, sir. Now, should we do something about that?” The nearby houses were beginning to smolder. Manuel opened his mouth, just as a drop of water hit his nose. And with a great burst of thunder, the heavens opened and it began to rain.
Smyrna, April 11:
Manuel coughed as the smell of smoking flesh and wood invaded his nostrils. The rain had come, the night had past, and they had lived. The Venetians had gone during the storm, leaving what was left of Smyrna’s people in the remains of their ruined city.
But not all of them had managed to flee. Over fifteen hundred had been captured, most in the victorious charge before the onslaught of hell. Now they were being paraded through the streets of the university campus, the one part of Smyrna still standing relatively undamaged.
While there was jeering, there was no one throwing things. They were too busy. Women stood on the sidelines, wrapping blankets around their waists, stabbing with their fingers. Every man with a female finger pointed at him was pulled out of line by the guards. If the woman nodded her head yes, the Venetian was gutted on the spot. To Manuel, it looked like about one-fourth were being chosen.
He glanced down at his charge. Andreas’ crop of short brown hair stuck out above a body now dressed more like royalty, taken from a part of the Imperial palace that had survived looting and fire just a few hours earlier. Now he was clothed in the finest purple Roman silk, but despite the fact that the robe was bunched up on his shoulders and flopping over his black leather belt, the hem was still brushing the dark gray paving stones. Andreas’ hazel eyes were darting back and forth, sweeping over the column of Venetians, a slight frown on his lips as he scratched his chin.
Manuel took his eyes away for a second, only to hear the hiss of a snake. Andreas’ bony arm was stretched out. “Him,” he snarled. The burly, hairy Venetian with a bald spot struggled for a moment as the butcher grabbed his arm. An university student pointed a barbed boar spear at his eye; the Venetian stilled. The butcher dragged him forward so that he was standing before Andreas. “Kneel,” Andreas ordered.
The man’s eyes were too busy widening for his legs to obey. Andreas’ eyes flicked over to Manuel. He took one step forward and swung. The man’s shriek almost overshadowed the crunch of bone as his right knee shattered under Manuel’s mace. He collapsed. Manuel glanced down and then up at Andreas. The prince’s face was completely blank, staring impassively down at the Venetian. His eyes were cold, empty, dead. “Relax, it’s your turn now,” Andreas said.
The quivering man was silent. Andreas shrugged and looked over at another guardsman. “Sword.” The man pulled it out of his scabbard in one slick movement, reversed the blade, and placed the shiny steel pommel in Andreas’ small fist. Wrapping both hands around it, the boy hefted the sword, his eyes boring into Manuel.
Manuel grabbed the Venetian’s black hair, hauling him upwards. Andreas swung. For all the fury he put into the blow, he possessed only the strength of a ten year old boy. Instead of smoothly decapitating his target, the sword ripped out a fleshy chunk of the man’s neck, the edge of the bone peeking out, a speck of white in a tide of blood. More blood had sprayed out from the wound, splattering Andreas’ purple robe as well as his face. He blinked a couple of times to flick away the drops from his eyes, but otherwise his face was blank.
He swung again, jamming the sword in the bone, cracking but not breaking the man’s neck. He was still conscious, his mouth frozen in an O, his face in a hideous grimace of pain. Andreas wrenched the sword out; his face still blank. He swung one more time, and with a great crack the man’s neck shattered, the body collapsing on the ground as Manuel held the severed head. At a nod from Andreas, he dropped it with a thump. Ignoring the drying blood spots on his robes, the prince’s dead eyes were again sweeping the column. “They’re not all guilty, your highness,” Manuel said.
The boy shrugged. “Kill them anyway. God will know his own.”
Or if the Hungarian king has a daughter they can arange a mariage betwen the heir to the Rhomanoi throne and her. This would cemente a posible alliance. Hungary would not have to worie for the Vlach border and they would have the suport of a powerfull country and posible neutrality or even alliance of 3 others. Just the posible trade would be worth it. After that they should be free to requonquest Slovakia(or whats its name). So if they suport the Byzantine now they could get rid of one of their major enemys, secure their borders, secure new trade agreament and lay the grownd work for the requonquest.
Yeah, but Theodore is still alive, so . . .
Still, ugh. This could be very bad in a hurry if the author cared to make it so.
So the Venetians reached their goal in Smyrna, next up we'll se action in the Balkans and Thessalonika?
Poor venetians, if their city falls, if there's gonna be any survivors, they'll probably be sold as slaves. I don't think the children are gonna be taken to be raised as Romans.
Smyrna, the place where Venetians sealed their doom. Emperor Andreas will see to it. I don't think it's gonna be Theodoros, which wouldn't have treated them any better, but here we are talking about the mindset of a boy....
Poor venetians, if their city falls, if there's gonna be any survivors, they'll probably be sold as slaves. I don't think the children are gonna be taken to be raised as Romans.
Smyrna, the place where Venetians sealed their doom. Emperor Andreas will see to it. I don't think it's gonna be Theodoros, which wouldn't have treated them any better, but here we are talking about the mindset of a boy....
oh dear. this wont be good for Romania. Andreas would not be a good Emperor, at least in peace time, and if he isn't careful, he will bring Romania to ruin.
lets hope by the time he becomes Emperor, he would be mature enough to run it adequately.
lets hope by the time he becomes Emperor, he would be mature enough to run it adequately.
Dragos Cel Mare
Banned
Seeing as the 'Time of Troubles' isn't the same as the 'Black Day', I don't think so.
Might the Avignon Papacy here have an opportunity to further cement its position on the moral high ground? If the Roman Pope does not explicitly and directly condemn this brutality, made all the more shocking by the rape and murder of an Empress, Avignon might have an opportunity to condemn it in more general terms.
Avignon could use this event to propose formal moral laws of wartime conduct and obligations of soldiers, their commanders, and armies in general--at least toward civilians, and particularly regarding women and children. Obviously this wouldn't be a renaissance Geneva Convention, but even in a limited sense it could form the foundation for international laws of war that go further.
Now, from a purely pragmatic and diplomatic point of view, it serves to humiliate the Roman Papacy and elevate the standing of Avignon and those in communion with it. More importantly, if Avignon can get Constantinople and the other orthodox powers to sign on, it makes supporting the Romans against Venice much, much easier; not only would the Romans be the aggrieved party, but they could be described as more civilized and righteous than the decadent and increasingly barbarous Rome and Venice.
Avignon probably is going to find that sort of mercy to be a hard sell with Theodoros, but if it brings concrete support, maybe that's enough.
Harsh... But in this era, after what happened, who could be surprised?
I think I can picture how all this might affect Andreas' personality. He's grown up with at least a couple strong women in his life--His mother, and his sister Alexia aren't exactly demure, passive ladies of court. In Smyrna, he saw his mother violently raped, but that she never stopped fighting.
When he was taken in by Nazim, it was another demonstration that people could be brave and kind, even ordinary people. Nazim's point about them all being children of God also seemed to make an impression.
But it's Andreas' reaction after Nazim is killed that stands out to me. When he realized what they were going to do to this woman and her daughters, his instinct was a protective one. He clenched his fists, stepped forward, and was going to fight. When it turned out he didn't have to, he remained not merely protective, but gentle and respectful to the woman in a way that ordinarily would be far above her station. Once at the university, Andreas also managed to be both forgiving and pragmatic to his own protector--He didn't feel betrayed, and understood the situation.
It comes down to the fact that his experience showed him the importance of strength, and the need to have it in order to protect those you love and the innocent that depend on you. Tempering this is of course is an icy pragmatism in place of mercy.
As Andreas grows up, I'd imagine he would show great loyalty and kindness to those who have done so to him, and those he loves in particular. Outside that charmed circle, people might as well be animals or tools--you don't abuse a useful thing, but neither do you need to show it warmth. Woe betide those who betray him, or hurt those he's warm to though, because I don't doubt he'll feel the need for disproportionate revenge to make a clear point, and absolve himself of his guilt for not protecting them better.
One thing about him that may or may not extend to other aspects of his personality and behavior... Andreas saw his sister and his mother violently gang raped in front of him while he was helpless. I don't think he's apt to tolerate the same kind of behavior from his own soldiers, or anyone else for that matter. Even if he doesn't experience horrible nightmares or flashbacks, seeing his sister or his mother in the eyes of a raped woman is not going to let him ignore it. Summary judgement for his soldiers, perhaps, if they break discipline in such a manner?
Avignon could use this event to propose formal moral laws of wartime conduct and obligations of soldiers, their commanders, and armies in general--at least toward civilians, and particularly regarding women and children. Obviously this wouldn't be a renaissance Geneva Convention, but even in a limited sense it could form the foundation for international laws of war that go further.
Now, from a purely pragmatic and diplomatic point of view, it serves to humiliate the Roman Papacy and elevate the standing of Avignon and those in communion with it. More importantly, if Avignon can get Constantinople and the other orthodox powers to sign on, it makes supporting the Romans against Venice much, much easier; not only would the Romans be the aggrieved party, but they could be described as more civilized and righteous than the decadent and increasingly barbarous Rome and Venice.
Avignon probably is going to find that sort of mercy to be a hard sell with Theodoros, but if it brings concrete support, maybe that's enough.
Harsh... But in this era, after what happened, who could be surprised?
I think I can picture how all this might affect Andreas' personality. He's grown up with at least a couple strong women in his life--His mother, and his sister Alexia aren't exactly demure, passive ladies of court. In Smyrna, he saw his mother violently raped, but that she never stopped fighting.
When he was taken in by Nazim, it was another demonstration that people could be brave and kind, even ordinary people. Nazim's point about them all being children of God also seemed to make an impression.
But it's Andreas' reaction after Nazim is killed that stands out to me. When he realized what they were going to do to this woman and her daughters, his instinct was a protective one. He clenched his fists, stepped forward, and was going to fight. When it turned out he didn't have to, he remained not merely protective, but gentle and respectful to the woman in a way that ordinarily would be far above her station. Once at the university, Andreas also managed to be both forgiving and pragmatic to his own protector--He didn't feel betrayed, and understood the situation.
It comes down to the fact that his experience showed him the importance of strength, and the need to have it in order to protect those you love and the innocent that depend on you. Tempering this is of course is an icy pragmatism in place of mercy.
As Andreas grows up, I'd imagine he would show great loyalty and kindness to those who have done so to him, and those he loves in particular. Outside that charmed circle, people might as well be animals or tools--you don't abuse a useful thing, but neither do you need to show it warmth. Woe betide those who betray him, or hurt those he's warm to though, because I don't doubt he'll feel the need for disproportionate revenge to make a clear point, and absolve himself of his guilt for not protecting them better.
One thing about him that may or may not extend to other aspects of his personality and behavior... Andreas saw his sister and his mother violently gang raped in front of him while he was helpless. I don't think he's apt to tolerate the same kind of behavior from his own soldiers, or anyone else for that matter. Even if he doesn't experience horrible nightmares or flashbacks, seeing his sister or his mother in the eyes of a raped woman is not going to let him ignore it. Summary judgement for his soldiers, perhaps, if they break discipline in such a manner?
quoting freely B444, the Black Day will be followed by a lot of "very dark days".
I hope I've correctly interpreted your question.
The Sandman
Banned
The way I see the end of Venice coming is as a sort of orderly counterpoint to what just happened to Smyrna.
The city falls, the soldiers enter in disciplined fashion, and then they begin to systematically inventory everything in the city, including its population.
Once the inventory is complete, anything of value or that was stolen from Rome, any food, and probably a given personal allowance of loot for each soldier based on rank (or alternatively a cash payment akin to a prize purse for captured shipping IOTL) is removed. Any people who have skills that would make them valuable as slaves are taken; the best of them to be used by Rome, the rest to be sold elsewhere. The ones who aren't useful are executed if they're men of the right age to have fought for Venice, along with any who might have previously fought against Rome; the useless women, children and elderly are exiled to anywhere that will take them. Then the depopulated city is resettled by Romans.
And the punishment for the architects of Venice's final war will be very simple: they get to watch. They're kept alive and imprisoned, after being given a front-row seat to the death of the Serene Republic, and occasionally taken on tours of the increasingly Roman city. Assuming they live long enough, they would finally be executed when either Theodoros or Andreas dies, so that the Emperor can rest knowing his vengeance is complete.
The more interesting question, in terms of it not being a foregone conclusion, is what will happen to Rome when the ERE eventually takes it.
The city falls, the soldiers enter in disciplined fashion, and then they begin to systematically inventory everything in the city, including its population.
Once the inventory is complete, anything of value or that was stolen from Rome, any food, and probably a given personal allowance of loot for each soldier based on rank (or alternatively a cash payment akin to a prize purse for captured shipping IOTL) is removed. Any people who have skills that would make them valuable as slaves are taken; the best of them to be used by Rome, the rest to be sold elsewhere. The ones who aren't useful are executed if they're men of the right age to have fought for Venice, along with any who might have previously fought against Rome; the useless women, children and elderly are exiled to anywhere that will take them. Then the depopulated city is resettled by Romans.
And the punishment for the architects of Venice's final war will be very simple: they get to watch. They're kept alive and imprisoned, after being given a front-row seat to the death of the Serene Republic, and occasionally taken on tours of the increasingly Roman city. Assuming they live long enough, they would finally be executed when either Theodoros or Andreas dies, so that the Emperor can rest knowing his vengeance is complete.
The more interesting question, in terms of it not being a foregone conclusion, is what will happen to Rome when the ERE eventually takes it.
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