Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

[EmperorOfTheNorthSea]

Hmm. How would future Rulers think of restoring the WRE as a seperate administrational entity keeping the Senate in the east and acknowledge the Eastern Emperor as the Senior?

If they can get the rest of Iberia and consolidate North Africa an autonomous WRE could reconquer Gaul barring the constant social instability brought on by constant usurpation and foederatii like in the earlier WRE, maybe people can learn from the past and realize usurpations are not good in the long term.

 

[Silver01]

683 AD

The two brothers concentrated on different things, Heraclius concentrated on Mesopotamia and the city that technically had his name. And Tiberius was concentrated on the rest of the empire, mostly Anatolia the Balkans, and the middle east.

The west was a little ignored, but it was mostly still in good hands, the exchart of Ravenna was limited to his selfish endeavors do the loyal Duke of Spoleto, While the exchart of Hispania was a loyal man, who continued Constantine’s wishes in Hispania, by now 10 years after Constans conquest, it was a rich region.

proven by His seat of power Cordoba, which was a wonderful rich city, The one Exchart who was not in control and began to abuse his power was the exarchate of Africa, Raising taxes, persecuting, and using the excuse of heretics to rob many people of the land.

He even pressured, the king of Altava to pay more tribute lying that it was an imperial decree. he continued this until he got the news that the king, most loyal and dangerous subject came back, Caecilius returned from he had spent, 11 years campaign against the Mauri.

The first 5 years were raids and counter raids where he won, many small battles, by the 5th year, of his campaign he was joined by Dihya and his son , who just accompanied him since he was too young to participate.

Caecilius had expanded into Mauri territory, but now a fierce opposition, presented himself, as a charismatic leader who would unite many Mauri tribes to battle, they had many small encounters, after some months both armies were suffering from lack of water, but Caecilius army had higher morale.

Caecilius and dhyas forces took up a defensive position, the battle started off with a duel between two Altavan and mauri champions, Afterwards, the two armies exchanged arrow fire, before finally clashing, The fighting continued for hours.

The Mauri army eventually collapsed soon after the horse of the tribe leader was brought down, resulting in the major Atlavan victory, the battle took the lives of 1000 atlavans, while the mauri casualties numbered 3000, The Mauri leader survived the battle, but went into hiding and licked his wounds. Still, many tribal leaders had died in the fighting, which posed a significant blow to the Mauri. Caecilius thought about pursuing them but then decided to retreat due to a lack of water.

still the next spring he returned, striking and winning against the Mauri, and he did the same for the next 4 springs the won another encounter and subjugating, many of them to his rule , the next years would be consolidation efforts against them, but he had to return his king called for him as emperor Constantine had died. After his return, the exchart of Africa stopped, the demands on Altava , After swearing his oath to Justinian II , he returned to finally defeat the Mauri.

 

[Silver01]

PS guys i would really like the segguestions on what the city of Heraclius should be named

 

[Taloc13]

Heracleia?

 

[Silver01]

Heracleia?

yeah but Heracleia already existed before

 

[Silver01]

Dabuya Consolidated his position, over the years, after returning from the funeral of Constantine IV, a golden opportunity presented its self, Troubles came for the tang.

In 682, the Western Turkic Khaganate chieftain Ashina Chebo rebelled against Tang rule, and Emperor Gaozong initially was to commission Pei to defeat him , but before the army could depart, Pei died. However, the commander at Anxi, Wang Fangyi was able to defeat Ashina Chebo and crush the rebellion.

Also in 682, the Göktürk chief Ashina Gudulu rose, in alliance with Ashide Yuanzhen to claim khangante title. This, unlike the several earlier rebellions, actually saw the Göktürk Khagante being permanently reestablished to Tang's north and persisting for decades, and would plague the last two years of Emperor Gaozong's reign as well as the reigns of his successors.

With that, He moved against the Sassanid successor states, Many small encounters occurred during late 682. In spring 683 Dabuya moved against them against the last of the Sassanid royal family that still did not recognize his rule, Both armies met in Nishapur.

The Sassanid put a defensive line, But Dabuya was able to outmaneuver his Sasanian counterpart, through the use of superior tactics, The Sassanid who had been deployed in a strong defensive position, managed held out Against dabuya .

Dabuya then was able to draw out the Persians from their vantage point by skirmishing advances and then made a general but cohesive retreat, that made the Sassanid break formation and attack. During the Sassanian pursuit, the horsemen were caught in extended order across a rough landscape and narrow passes.

Dabuya then rallied and counterattacked inflicting very heavy losses on the disorganized Sassanid. Both noblemen, Who were shas of their states were killed in the final melee, and the Sassanid defeat was total. With the victory, dabuya attempted to move further east, but he had to stop, due to his overstretched supply lines, he offered peace to the Sassanid successors states allied with eastern satrapies, to no avail. With no army big enough to stop him, Dabuya moved to the east and laid siege to Merv.No army came to its salvation, but the defenders bravely held. After a year of siege, Merv fell

With that Dabuya reclaimed much of the old Sassanid territory, but he received news from the north, his army was decimated in a mountain pass, by another Sassanid Sha, not wanting to overextend and overstretch his conquest, Dabuya made peace with the last Sassanid successor states. Despite his victory, the war was not over, but still Dabuya was determined to reconquer His lands.

 

[Silver01]

Caecilius, returned to wage his war against the Mauri, The Altavan force, now numbering around 6000, was stationed on a slope, facing the enemy army with the rear being protected by the towering mount itself, before the battle, Caecilius had assigned archers on a nearby hill.

This was a strategic decision in order to protect the vulnerable flanks of his outnumbered army; the archers on the hill were to protect the left flank, while the right flank was to be protected by the Mount, which meant the Maurian army would not be able to turn around the Altavan camp, and thus the Altavan army wouldn't be surrounded or encircled by the Maurian army.

Caecilius, ordered the Altavan archers to never, under any circumstances leave their positions on the hill, unless ordered to do so by him only, the Maurian army positioned itself facing the Altavan lines, with the main body led by the Berber leader and the left and right flanks commanded by his general and a new commander named Badis. The battle began with a charge led by the Berber leader, but it was Thwarted by a shower of arrows from the Altavans , and he was forced to retreat.

The next day.

General engagement between the two armies commenced, Altavan's confidence quickly began to dissolve as the Maurian swept through their ranks. But then Caecilius ordered a counter-attack, The Maurian army was pushed back and made repeated attempts by its cavalry to overrun the Altavan left flank, were negated by their archers, the Altavan broke through the Maurian lines, with victory near their grasp. However, the archers in their overconfidence, disobeying orders to remain stationary, decided to move out, as they ran downhill to join in the advance a, leaving the flank vulnerable.

At this critical moment, the Maurian led by Badis exploited this move and attacked the archers, who did obey Caecilius orders, and were still positioned on the hill, From there, the maurians were then able to target and overrun the altavan flank and rear, Confusion ensued, and numerous atlavans were killed. While the Maurian began to advance, rumors circulated that Caecilius had been slain, however, that Caecilius had only been wounded due to an arrow, fending off the assaults of cavalrymen, most of the Altavan managed to withdraw and regroup in higher ground.

A small faction was cut off and tried to make its way back to the north, though many of these were killed, the Maurian leader, unable to ascend the slopes in pursuit of the Altavan forces and also suffered many casualties after some days of rest the Berber leader, decided to return to his camp without pressing his advantage.
The battle was a defeat for Caecilius, but it was not a total victory for the Maurians , as the maurian leader had suffered many casualties And they also had to retreat, despite the defeat this war was far from over.

 

[Silver01]

Well I guess heraclia is the winner for the name of the city .

 

[Silver01]

689

Years after his first major defeat, Caecilius waited a year where the Altavans and Maurians , From 686 to 689, only did raids and counter raids many small battles occurred, however, the Gaetuli also fearing altavan expansion joined the Mauri, were both had many victories and defeats, after gathering their forces both Maurian leader Aghilas and Caecilius moved, there armies where biggest armies fielded by both sides, the Maurian- Gaetuli confederation numbered about 11 to 12 thousands.

While Caecilius, Altavans, Berbers with Dihyas men numbered about 11 000, as the rest of the Altavan army was still in the kingdom just in case he failed, confident in his previous victory, Aghilas, and the other officers, but Badis argued that The army should not fight in open battle, but should instead entrench itself and dispatch the cavalry out only to probe them.

As Altavan discipline and armor were better than his loose confederation, but the officers and other leaders in the confederation, persuaded Aghilas, that the Altavans could be easily defeated, as they did years ago, especially now that they had better weapons and armor, due to the many raids on military forts. He made make up his mind, as both armies met, as both the forces were arrayed, Caecilius, moved with his horse with his son, made a speech, But soon his son took over the conversation

Men, my comrades, today we fight against TRAITORS! , for we offered peace and submission and even if they refused, they should not attack us and promised not to do so, But THEIR LEADER IS A MURDER, AND A LAIR . who killed our envoys and attacked our lands?

So today We fight for honor, the safety of our families against Murders, glory for us and for our leader, your king, and your emperor.

Who has given you the safety, peace, and wealth that you desired?

Will you find to defend all of that and be thankful?

The Berbers responded YES in unison as they also cheered.

Then let us be remembered in as the defenders of civilization against these bloody Barbarians.

He said as son and father Saw eye to eye, and Soon the whole army began to pray, as the prayer came to an end, father and son saw each other once more and parted ways, In the Maurian side, a tribe leader was given command of the elite heavy cavalry, while Badis remained with the infantry. While the maurian leader and troops were in the center. The leader of the cavalry was wary about the Altavans, but he was certain his cavalry could easily handle the ragged Berbers of Dihya and others who pledged loyalty to Caecilius.

And he was the first to set out, As he did Caecilius' son yelled HOLD THE LINE.

to his surprise, the Berbers, contingent were had good archers and a good shield wall, and held the line, as the cavalry momentum died. Caecilius son, gave a signal and his mother came out, and then They swiftly ambushed the Maurian cavalry, they attacked with they had some simply thrown bags full of pebbles at the horses’ heads, to prevent the Maurian infantry from aiding the unhorsed commanders, the altavan cavalry lead by Caecilius attacked.

Despite not having many numbers in his attack, the surprise and heavy armor were enough to grant the advantage, to the Maurian force was annihilated and thus, their principal advantage was destroyed. Regathering the remnant of his cavalry, the Berber leader furiously charged the Berber lines directly, and similar to Scipio Africanus against Hannibal, Caecilius son made the Berbers step aside to open up a corridor and let the Maurian cavalry through, then closed it again, separating the cavalry and like Scipio they made sounds and other things to disturb the horses.

While the rearguard man by Diyha held a line to prevent the cavalry from returning, as Caecilius kept plowing the Maurian infantry, soon the leaders were slain in battle, seeing their leaders dead, panic spread and the maurian ranks broke up and fell into retreat. The ones who didn’t, under Badis held ground for a while longer, but Berber numbers soon overwhelmed them.

The Maurians were routed. Of the 12 000 troops, half were killed, ¼ captured, and ¼ escaped. Including the ones that died was Aghilas, after the battle, Caecilius moved against the Mauri, over the period of two years the tribes submitted to him, atlavan influence now stretched to the great ocean, during this time he also defeated or allowed more Berber tribes to join him asking them to submit to the king and the emperor.

Once he returned, He was expecting a parade for his triumph, but then was mortified, due to the exchart of Africa, who was in a better position and had abused Altavan sovereignty, demanding more tribute, and using his excuse to some officials that they were heretics to commit various atrocities against them while he gave the king the excuse that they were for the defense of the empire and some of his subjects were religious dissidents as some Donatist extremist did commit attacks against officials.

now It seemed a conflict between the exchart and Caecilius would be inevitable.

 

[Silver01]

691 AD

showing Altavan influence , from Caecillius nearly 20 year long campaing.

and Dabuyas subjucation of many of the sassanid succesor states.

 

[Silver01]

early 689,

Justinian was ruler already and he has been for 5 years, Justinian was now 20 and occupied, with the empire. To avoid his uncle's fighting, as civil war nearly broke out during the 4-year regency, due to the different views and interests of the regents, Justinian separated his uncle’s and gave them power so that they might not fight each other .

his uncle Heraclius became the exchart of Mesopotamia, he turned the province wealthy it was represented with his seat of power, the city of Heraclia , the city of emperor Heraclius. After the construction of the city was finished in 686, Heraclius made it wealthy, constructing massive buildings and a church that was only surpassed by Hagia Sophia, after that was done.

Heraclius and Justinian ordered the building of a statue and mosaic of Emperor Heraclius, in the city There was to be no ambiguity in the message. Heraclius had brought Sassanid Persia to its knees and Constans II with the same sword had killed it.

On the other hand, Tiberius became ruler of Italy, collaborating with the duke of Spoleto, and still worked with the other 2 excharts but in a lower level, aside from "Lombard" raids in the north, Italy was a quiet province, As Tiberius had to manage and keep order Since his father and brother had already done much of the reconstruction and migration to make the province great again.

Their efforts were paying off, Italy after nearly 30 years of good imperial rule, was close to a full recovery of the devastation it had seen in the 6th century, however, a rift began after the death of Constantine IV, tensions grew during the rule of the two brothers tried to get powerful nobles on their side and to them loyalty was more important than skill as tensions grew, even more, the men taxed more the new regions they also competed for the loyalty of the nobles of Italy and the ones of the Caucasus.

however before the civil war began Justinian II reached adulthood he quickly separated his uncles, but he did not get rid of their respective supporters as he did not care much for administration and was more concentrated on gathering more recourses to deal with the enemies of the empire he began he kept the high taxes that made him somewhat unpopular he also augmented the tribute to the prince of third Heraclian appointed Armenia Grigor, the ruler of Caucasian Albania Varaz Trdat and the ruler of Iberia, Adarnase II .

Justinian went to the east and crushed the first Khazar incursion to the byzantine empire with help of the 3 rulers of the Caucasus and even led a relatively successful expedition to the khaganate territory, later as Tiberius was reconstructing and making his province rich until he was killed by his emperor to assist him

as Slavic tribes had crossed the Danube others attacked the Bulgars, was due to them weakening due to his defeat against the byzantine and Kuber arrival the khan and he developed a rivalry the khan had kuber assassinated in 686 which led to some rebellions that were crushed quickly which led to some Slavs migrating Slavs attacking the area, so Justinian and Tiberius wherein the Balkans, as the Slavs began, attack, and also began to push to the byzantine ally territory, the Bulgars, aspekruk joined the emperor and his uncle.

The Slavic leader was told to go to the mountain passes and took advantageous positions on the heights but his impatience made him go down to the lowlands and attacked the enemy, the battle started at 7 AM in the morning and lasted until sunset. It was long and bloody but in the end, the Romans were victorious although they lost many soldiers and commanders. The Bulgars also had heavy casualties, while the Slavic leader managed to escape.

years passed, the Slavs attacked the now attacked the Bulgars again, Justinian first attempt to overwhelm the defenders in the hills to the north it was unsuccessful and his army was unable to pass through despite this the Emperor did not abandon the attack, he ordered his uncle and the bulgar khan to maneuver his troops around and attack. the Slavs from behind, while he continued the main assault

They did And led their troops along a steep path that led him into the Slavic rear, 3 hours they attacked the Slavic defenders trapping them , The Slavs abandoned their position face this new threat and Justinian was able to break through the front line, in the confusion of the rout, thousands of slavic troops were killed and the remainder desperately attempted to flee.

Among the ones killed were the Slavic leaders after the victory, they consolidate their positions and soon in the next years expanded till the Carpathian mountains, by 692 Justinian returned to his capital, To find out that a rebellion had broken out in Altava .

 

[Silver01]

Caecilius Moved against the exarch, under command of his family and Badis one of his old enemies now his general, Faced the exarch with about 9000 men, the two armies formed up for battle two byzantine generals the wings army while exarch was in the center, Caecilius deployed with the center, again appointing dhyia as commander of the left-wing, His son and Badis as the commander of the right-wing.

The battle began with a duel, between Caecilius son and the two generals of the byzantine wings. The duel was short as the 20-year-old manage to kill one, and cut the other down, the life of dealing with Constant raids and then fighting since he was 14, with his father against Mauri made him into a natural warrior.

After his son killed the 2 generals, the battle began. Caecilius gave the order for a general attack and the Berbers rushed forward to assault the Byzantine army, the Byzantine army the men fought bravely and were able to hold the Berber attacks for a while.

But because of the death of their generals, disorder and confusion soon became apparent in the byzantine ranks, eventually, under the continuous Berber attacks, the Byzantine army lost all cohesion, turned, and retreated. Half of the army was slain or captured, but the exarch of Africa escaped. After the defeat, he fled to Justinian and lied about what happened.

Early 694
Justinian arrived with the exarch and met Caecilius for battle, and the later sources state that Caecilius looked at the coin of Heraclius coin that Gregory had all those years ago and by some sources, he said: Pity that I have to fight your flesh and blood, because of some lying dog.

Caecilius son gave another fervent speech and said

do not hold the emperor at fault that he fights us today, ITS THE FAULT OF THE DECEIVING Dogs! Who lied to him.
the young leader told him to capture the emperor if they encountered him after all was their ruler and then said: If you see the banner of the governor of Africa, be sure to bring us his head.
the battle began with a charge, the Byzantines soon began to push the Berbers back, but the Byzantines left advanced too fast, got encircled, and many of them got captured or slain, they retreated the first day ended. On the second day, Badis plan was put into action

Badis massed his cavalry force, while Caecilius was intended to drive the Byzantine cavalry entirely off the battlefield so that the infantry, who formed a great part of this imperial army, would be left without cavalry support and thus would be exposed when attacked from the flanks and rear. At the same time, he planned to push a determined attack to turn the left flank of the Byzantine army.

Meanwhile, the Berber centered their attack pressed against it from the front, while the Berber right moved to make under the two-pronged attack, the Byzantine center fought, while right-wing fell back and collapsed and fell back to the Byzantine left center, greatly disordering it, the remaining Berber cavalry under Badis then attacked the Byzantine left wing cavalry at the rear.

Justinian, noticing the huge cavalry maneuver of the Berbers, ordered his cavalry to group together but was not quick enough. Before he could organize his heavy cavalry squadrons, the Berbers had wheeled their cavalry back to attack the concentrating Byzantine cavalry squadrons, falling upon them from the front and the flank while they were still moving into formation. The disorganized and disoriented Byzantine heavy cavalry was soon routed and dispersed to the east.

With the Byzantine cavalry completely routed, The Byzantine left-center was attacked at its rear by Caecilius cavalry and was finally broken, with the retreat of the Byzantine left center, a general Byzantine route started.

Nevertheless, many of the soldiers managed to escape the slaughter, the Berbers took many prisoners in the battle and the subsequent pursuit, Among them was the emperor and the exarch, the battle was over but Caecilius was sad he never wanted this , the situation of Altava revolt was explained, and with Justinian’s blessing, the Berbers executed the exarch

Justinian was freed in Mid-694 and returned to his Capital, unknown to him the situation had changed, the incompetent landowners and men in the government heard rumors of the death of the emperor and as he had no son some went to Heraclius and Tiberius to ask them to take the throne while other generals and nobles went to take the throne, Leontios one of Justinian generals took power and claimed the throne, Using the argument that none of the 2 brothers could rule since Constantine IV forbade them from been emperors and he even forged a document that Justinian II left his empire.

In reality, Justinian was forced to flee, but rumors that he was still alive spread, This lead to the duke of Spoleto and Tiberius rebelling as he was not a claimant to the throne but a restorer, in Anatolia some others rebels as well while the Caucasian princes also supported the Heraclians and defended the Caucasus, Still news reached Africa, that Justinian was probably executed, and Tiberius and other Heraclians were was fighting the usurper.

Caecilius said to Badis: Prepare the troops general; tomorrow we march towards the east.

 

[Silver01]

Early 695

Caelcuis now moved to avoid the coast and quickly laid siege to Carthage, with the exchart dead the morale was low, the intentions of Berber was to distract the usurper and allow Tiberius to win, the siege lasted 3 weeks as news got to them that the Berbers were fighting as a distraction, most of the men were loyal to Justinian and therefore Tiberius so they opened the gates.

And Caecilius took the city, he hoped the usurper would send part of his army, and allow Tiberius to take the throne, around two weeks later Tiberius and the usurper met near Doclea. Apsimar commanded the left-wing; another byzantine commander the right; and Leontios positioned himself in the center. On the other side, the duke of Spoleto was stationed on the left-wing, a byzantine general was positioned on the right, and the center was commanded by Tiberius

In the ensuing battle, the imperial left-wing under Apsimar, completely routed the rebel right-wing, Pursuing them to the rebel camp, there and was on the cusp of seizing the rebel camp and victory along with it, the soldiers tried to kill Apsimar but failed, Still, the rebel left, pushed back the right flank, seeing this the rebels pushed back Apsimar forces to their camp

It seemed the Heraclian would win, but in the height of battle, Tiberius was shot down from his horse by an arrow and was killed, the rebel forces seeing this panicked and routed, Tiberius had been slain, the Duke fled, but the new emperor dint peruse him as he just received news that the Berbers took Carthage.

The Berbers had just taken the city some time ago, then news reached him that Tiberius had died, Caecilius received the news and quickly sent word to Heraclius in Mesopotamia, it was in his eyes the last hope of the Heraclian line, but he needs to distract the usurper so he argued with his son to expand or defend Carthage, it was decided that they would leave some take the towns they did not attack and then he waited for the response of Heraclius.


(author note )

I always wantd the berbers to make more impact in timeline so i did but i dont know how, one day i found a post so i took inspiration from @metalinvader665 idea of a berber muhamed . i dont know if this is what he planned either way its fun so i adapted to my story so yeah thanks man

 

[Silver01]

Seeing how the Berbers took Carthage, the Franks and Visigoths attacked, the situation had changed since the defeat of Eborin he tried to deal with the rebellions and chaos after the death of Childeric II he managed to win and then tried to conquer the north however the events that had occurred weakened him to the point that the Austrasians defeated and killed him in the battle of Bois-du-Fays under Pippin and Martin, Pippin popularity rose and he later became mayor of the palace, later he defeated the Neustrians at the Battle of Tertry by 689 he was lord of all of Frankia, he later subjugated the Alemanni, Frisians, and Franconians, bringing them within the Frankish sphere of influence. Between 690 and 692.

Once news that the civil war broke out in the roman empire he moved quickly to attack and also unite the southern franks against a common enemy and attacked the area controlled by the Romans, In a year and a half the Franks took back their Mediterranean coast. except for some cities, the duke of Aquitaine odo allied with the Romans that in exchange for them leaving their coast he would attack the franks, and surprisingly he did but nothing major his attacks however made the franks pay tribute so that Odo would not attack them in their sieges.

While the Visigoths were another story, As soon they attacked the south, the basque attacked, Also to the surprise of the Visigothic king the people under Roman rule didn't revolt, instead, they joined them to fend off the Visigoths, as 20 years of imperial rule made their lives better than the sick Visigothic system and Hispania was run buy an efficient government which did not suffer too much from the corruption that followed Constantine IV death.

The “emperor” seeing this, had to choose between who to deal with first Seeing as how Tiberius was dead and that Heraclius submitted to him which was a major plus as Heraclian accepted his rule, his main enemy was the Berbers.

He sent the navy under the command of John the Patrician and Apsimarus, they entered the harbor and successfully recaptured it in a stunning surprise attack, in late 696 which resulted in the city's forces fleeing.

But they didn't press their advantage, instead, they bickered about what to do next as Apsimarus waned to secure the surrounding area while Jonh wanted to quickly press the advantage to push them back to Altava in a desire to impress the emperor or even have enough popularity to overthrow the current “emperor”, with the Romans, were in disarray due to infighting they were sapped of much of their strength.

Askel was occupied as the King of altava had abdicated in favor of him, Still, when he found out about the attack, he was enraged at having to retake a city that had not resisted the Roman take over, offered no terms except to surrender or die.

Leontios had also given his forces instructions of victory or death, but the Romans left Carthage and attacked Aksel army directly, He and His son received the full brunt of the charge and retreated.

In reality, it was a ruse, dhyia, and Badis, charged from the sides and dealt massive casualties to the Romans .their commander decided to wait out behind the walls of Carthage to let the Berbers exhaust themselves since he could continue to be resupplied from the sea. As more Berbers, and men from dhyia confederation joined. The defenders were faced with overwhelming numbers, and ferocious attacks as the Berbers made repeated attempts to scale the walls with ladders, not only that but the pro Heraclian city also began to riot,

Still, the siege dragged on, however, the roman navy loyal to the usurper was overstretched as the Italians were pro Heraclians this distraction weakened the naval hold and part of their forces went for sea battles, this caused the Berbers to take back the city after some fighting with the Romans loyal to the usurpers, retreated to the islands of Corsica and Sicily by early 697.

Due to this a group of officers who feared Emperor Leontios' wrath for failing to recapture Carthage killed John and declared Apsimar, who took the name Tiberius III, as emperor.

Tiberius gathered a fleet and allied himself with the Green faction, before sailing for Constantinople, which was enduring the bubonic plague, After several months of siege, in early 698, the gates to Constantinople were opened for Tiberius' forces by members of the Green faction, allowing Tiberius to seize the city and depose Leontios. Tiberius had Leontios' nose slit and sent him to live in a Monastery.

 

[Silver01]

698

Heraclius son of Constans II, brother of Constantine IV was alive. He had not rebelled, still, he had no love for the usurper; in fact, he wanted to join Tiberius, But then rumors circulated that Justinian was alive, Heraclius time as Exchart of Mesopotamia made him politically intelligent, as he had to deal with the heretics and the Arabs who raided.

Therefore to survive he had to become politically savvy, to keep everything in check, He applied this against both usurpers, what he hoped for is to find Justinian so that he might use Mesopotamia to attack, and avenge his brother, Tiberius III wanted to attack the Berbers but The Arabs attacked the ghassanid kingdom along with the Byzantine province of Mesopotamia

699

The Berbers took Hadrumetum then, Thapus fell and soon after Thysdrus all-pro Heraclian cities With that secured The Berbers moved back and took the cities they avoided at first with their success more Berbers joined Aksel, But Icosium, refused to surrender, once the Berber army arrived, the city agreed to terms, sending their envoys to negotiate the surrender, but due to an accident the Berber envoys were attacked and killed a man, Aksel was furious

He gave orders to punish the city and would and despite his son telling him that it was not the wisest move, however, he convinced him that art and especially the books were not to be burned, or harmed as the prince was a lover of these, the Berbers, the siege continued with many assaults, but barely any success, During the 21st night of the siege.

The prince led, some troops and killed some guards, and opened the gate, The Berber army entered and a massacre of the inhabitants began, also the city of Icosium was burned, As the royal family saw this. A soldier found some books and breaking the command of his king, he planned to burn the books.
The prince noticed this and tried to stop him, having no other option, the prince slew him as a reminded him the punishment for burning books, would be beheading, Aksel looked sad, as he saw the destruction of the city, but it was the price of treason, Some roman ships could see it from the night as Icosium was burned People in the ships knew that this was the end of an era.

 

[Silver01]

699 AD

Things had changed in the Arabian Peninsula, as more migrations occurred, the kingdom of Axum had problems as nomad tribes attacked their possessions in the Arabian peninsula, as another migration was occurring in Africa because the coast was getting drier only merchants and others stayed behind as many farmers moved south, this climate change from the sources got worse since 650, but Constans Trade route, gave them enough funds to crush rebellions, but as Axum got richer, so too did their Arab subjects.

As climate change made the Axumite coast inhabitable, it created a rebellion by 698, The Arabs took this golden chance and rebelled, and The Arab leader began to rally many Arabs against the Ethiopians attacking some towns and recruiting even more men.

700 AD

The Axumites crushed the rebellion and moved against the Arabs, The Arab leader had a loose army of 12 000, 9 000 people loyal to him, and 3 000 Bedouin mercenaries, so the Axumites sent a force of 15 000, The Axumites put their forces in one line with infantry in the center cavalry in the wings, the Arabs had a similar composition but the Arab leader put the Bedouin light cavalry in extreme wings, the battle began with an all-out charge on part of the Ethiopians, The Axumite cavalry, charged against an Arab shield wall and they began to give ground, seeing this The Bedouin cavalry moved in a deep flanking maneuver And killed The Axumite General.

Soon the Ethiopian line was attacked and surrounded they tried to fight and held the line, but soon the forces began to lose cohesion. Seeing this Heavy cavalry of the Arabs charged, they surrounded the right flank, and the force was surrounded and the massacre began., Records say only 500 out of the 15000, Axumites survived the battle, but it is most likely an exaggeration as other sources only mention 3000 Axumite casualties, still, The battle was a total victory for the Arabs, and a crushing defeat for the Ethiopians, as the Axumites had to deal with another civil war, they still left a small force to defend their territory.

701 ad
After a year, the victorious Arabs put Sana’a under siege, and after 4 months the Axumites surrendered due to a lack of food. After this, the Axumites were expulsed from the peninsula, after the Axumites were kicked out, the Arab leader's popularity rose even more. Due to this, he declared himself King of Yemen, with his capital in the city of Sanaʽa, After nearly a century, a new Arab kingdom was born, the new king wasted no time, and began expelling the tribes that helped the Axumites. Some resisted which lead to conflicts in 702, But their forces won, This leads these tribes to attack other tribes leading to a mass exodus to the north.

 

[Silver01]

702 AD

Aksel health was deteriorating since 698, By the turn of the new century one could notice that it was getting worse, he was in his 60s, his son and due to this his son and heir took more responsibilities, right now they both spent more time in consolidation and yet no news came from Heraclius they were convinced that he was dead , in reality, the note never reached him as men loyal to the usurper fearing a rebellion destroyed it .


By this time Justinian had been running away from some time he fled to Corsica , he had every intention to get back to his throne bbut learned of his uncle's death so Italy he then learned that many of his old supporters had been purged going sailing to capital was a risk especially when he had learned of people attempting to that pretending to be him or some sent by him and failing, on top of this the Berbers were fighting in his name and though of going to them but then again they in his mind started his mess and feared what they would due to him , so he stayed in Corsica till 698 till he smuggled his way out, he wanted to go to Italy but rumors of the assassination of people who pretended to be Justinian were common by rioters in the north and south were the usurper troops invaded, having few options he smuggled himself to an unlikely place not Constantinople he feared his supporters were purged and he would be killed rather he went to the Caucasus an area were the 3 princes had defeated the incursions of the usurpers, there he was received by the ruler of Iberia Guaram III he then sent word north to Busir, the khagan of the Khazars, who had raided the land of the 3 Caucasian princes and after giving him some treasures he offered an army and gave him his sister as a bride for him.

Justinian renamed her Theodora, after the wife of Justinian I, In 700, To find more supports with an army joining him summoned his supporters, and they all sailed , Justinian next sent approached Tervel khan of Bulgaria.

Tervel agreed to provide all the military assistance necessary for Justinian to regain his throne in exchange for financial considerations, the award of Caesar's crown, and the hand of Justinian's daughter, Anastasia, in marriage, In 701 Justinian found out that His uncle Heraclius was alive and made contact with him.

In spring 703, with an army of 10,000 Bulgar and Slav the Croats and Serbs also swore loyalty to him and both protected the Danube and attacked to distract the usurper, To this end Heraclius finally rebelled, and the 3 Caucasian lords forces the Khazars sent attacked Anatolia soon after Justinian appeared before the walls of Constantinople.

Once Justinian arrived he tried to convince the citizens of Constantinople to open the gates, but to no avail. As many people had claimed to be their emperor. But after find out it was the emperor, the people opened the gates , Justinian entered and once more ascended the throne.

Justinian leader the situation of the empire, the sons of the Lombards” ( in reality a Slavic tribe that the surviving Lombards fled to an integrated to) had invaded everything north of the Po river defeating the usurper's army there with the help of the franks,however they could not conquer the cities as Constans II and Constantine IV work on italy made nearly them impossible to take.



But the rest of the roman empire was getting worse the Arab Migrations Escalated, attacking the ghassanids, and the Roman province of Mesopotamia, and the Visigoths had pushed the Romans to Cordoba.

Justinian was under pressure from all sides except the east and north where the sclaveni dealt with the invading slavs, Still, once Justinian entered the Palace and found a bloodied corpse, in his hands a sword all too familiar.

Basileus, I have kept this sword after your exile, keeping the sword of Emperor Heraclius the Great from the hands of the usurpers

Now I have been attacked, I write as I die, Basileus take the sword of Heraclius used by all your dynasty, the sword of Heraclius, that went Form Mesopotamia to Hispania, by Constans and your father, Save the empire Basileus I beg of you.


Justinian recognized him the old man, it was the ex-Governor of Thrace, Justinian took the sword of Heraclius; it would be the first time he would use it, He hopes he could save the empire with it.

A few days later.

Askel, King of Altava, conqueror of the Mauri and the unifier of the western Berbers had died ,Justinian moved against the Berbers, to lift the siege of Leptis Magna, Once he arrived the Berbers lift the siege and the battle began. Both armies charged as it seemed no side was winning, Badis took his old trick that he used on Justinian in 695.

but Justinian anticipated leading a cavalry charge his and outmaneuvered the Berbers, In that attack, General Badis had been killed, the emperor then attack the Berber left flank.

Badis had been slain, as well as the larger part of their army, After 8 years of Berber victories, they suffered their first massive defeat, However, 10 000, resisted and managed to conduct an orderly retreat.

The new Altavan king or now Emperor found it that it was not a pretender and it was really the emperor with this he tried to make peace with Justinian, offering to become his vassal if He could keep everything west of Carthage, give reparations for the damages they did if he could just pardon them, but Justinian not liking the berbers denied this with the negotiations failing Justinian aimed to push the Berbers back , but a massive Arab force was attacking the roman province of Mesopotamia and Heraclius called His nephew to assist him, so it that he agreed on a truce that benefited him were the berbers would pay him for 5 years.

 

[Silver01]

Hmm. How would future Rulers think of restoring the WRE as a seperate administrational entity keeping the Senate in the east and acknowledge the Eastern Emperor as the Senior?

If they can get the rest of Iberia and consolidate North Africa an autonomous WRE could reconquer Gaul barring the constant social instability brought on by constant usurpation and foederatii like in the earlier WRE, maybe people can learn from the past and realize usurpations are not good in the long term.

i guess not

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

i guess not

This was a continuous problem for the Romans. You'd think that they would have learned with the continued dynastic success of the Heraclians expanding the Empire beyond Justinian's borders. This problem was what doomed them after Manizikert with the various pretenders inviting the Turks into Anatolia to help them take the throne. This only caused the loss of Anatolia. Once the dynastic stability of the Komnenoi in the 11th and 12th centuries was lost, the state floundered under incompetent leadership with shaky legitimacy. If Justinian succeeds the Romans will for the first time have a dynasty last for five generations. Perhaps he can transition the state to gradually recognize the blood of Heraclius as the only true legitimate royal line for the their throne. With Heraclius's achievements' his dynasty should be seen as a second Constantinian dynasty.

 

[Silver01]

This was a continuous problem for the Romans. You'd think that they would have learned with the continued dynastic success of the Heraclians expanding the Empire beyond Justinian's borders. This problem was what doomed them after Manizikert with the various pretenders inviting the Turks into Anatolia to help them take the throne. This only caused the loss of Anatolia. Once the dynastic stability of the Komnenoi in the 11th and 12th centuries was lost, the state floundered under incompetent leadership with shaky legitimacy. If Justinian succeeds the Romans will for the first time have a dynasty last for five generations. Perhaps he can transition the state to gradually recognize the blood of Heraclius as the only true legitimate royal line for the their throne. With Heraclius's achievements' his dynasty should be seen as a second Constantinian dynasty.

I swear yo god your physicic