Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

[Silver01]

After Justinian the northern confederation, many Arabs were wary of crossing towards the ghassanid kingdom or Roman Mesopotamia, having nowhere else to go but Arabia the era of migrations was ending, and new leaders had new ideas.

The north Arabian confederation was made up of the nomadic Annizah, the Bakr bin Wa'il and its cadet branches the Banu Ijl and Banu Yashkur, the Tay living in al hira, ruled by Hayyah II whose grandfather conquer the area from the Sassanid in 650 during the war and helped Constans in his endeavor

However Constantine's annexation proved to be dangerous so much so that the Taay and Bakr bin Wa’il, also united against the Romans were the Ibād and other Nestorians that lived in the old Lakhmid, these were the bulk of the confederations army as cities revolted and they sent their forces, some of the Banu Qays, Banu Tamin, Banu Tay, Banu Abs, and some forces of the Taemin, while the branch of the Banu Tayy the Al Jadila and the Taghlib along with, the Banu Kalbs joined the ghassanid and Tanukhids Romans or opposed the confederation.

After Justinian crushed the Mesopotamian rebellions and the Arab confederation the Annizah would be nearly destroyed few sources mention them after the battle, Banu Bark was greatly weakened, while those who joined the Romans Banu Taghlib, parts of the Banu Tamim, and the Al Jadila Taay, branches were rewarded the Taghlib fell under influence the ghassanids who also gained control over the territory of Anizzah, while the Taghlib and the Banu Kalbs, taay were given the roman title of patrikos as well as Bahram who converted to Christianity.

Heraclius with the ghassanids the Al Jadilah Taay, Taghlibids, and Bahram kick out the Al Hira Taay and these went back to Jabal Salma due to this another conflict started with the Jabal Taay when they were attacked by Heraclius, king of the ghassanids Amr V ibn Jabalah with support of the Taghlibs, Kalbs and after a short two-year-long war these were forced to migrate The same was with the Banu Abs were also attacked but Heraclius ruler of Mesopotamia forced peace between the Banu Abs and Tamin.



706-727

The Taay were forced to migrate some moved to the area of Qays others to the area of Hanifa and Banu Abs, some of them went even further by 722 the first arrived at the ex-Sassanid province of Mazun revolted but were crushed it but they were spared now the new migrants helped the king brother to take the throne from his brother and they became his guard.

705-726 Hejaz
I the north, in the area of what used to be the Lakhmid kingdom, was raided but after Justinian II despite his uncle's suggestion, the emperor made reprisals against the local the Ibād and other Nestorians, selling some of the rebels to slavery one of these minor nobles fled with the Taay out of Mesopotamia leading some 600? men to the desert, he settled he was refused and threatened by Banu Numayr and Abs he then settled in the Njad but there he got into conflict with the Banu Sulaym due to a raid their forces did, with the leader death they expected them to be killed, however, his son took his place, he was more ambitions, he rallied the troops moving south as he had angered the tribe who part of the powerful Qay confederation even though unknown to him there were divisions as some tribes were wary of the growing power of the Meccans while the Banu Sulaym were there allies, still the Nestorians continued till Hejaz and when they asked the Banū Thaqīf for refuge but were refused and war broke in 712

Overconfident in their numbers the citizens of Tā'if met the 2000-strong force of the Ibād-Taay force outside of the city outnumbering them 4 to 1 little is known about this battle but after a feign retreat the Ibad force managed to route the force back to the city wall soon the force was laid under siege but the Ibad had no siege engines and tried to assault the city and decided to sent word to the Banu Hawazan but was rejected they sent an army fearing that they were allies of the Quraysh, the Tā'if, sent word to their trade rivals the Quraysh, they received news that the army was from the Njad he saw it as their rival the Banu Nasr clan of Hawazin, the Quraysh had been the dominant force since they won the Fijar War they were major economic power, another series of minor conflicts with the Hawazin tribes and from 651 to 655 another war broke out called the second Ḥarb al-fijār both sides hired some expelled arabs from Yemen by the Aksumites.

This was only a nominal victory for the Hawazin as they defeated the Quraysh at Autas however they knew they could not gain any more than the reduction of control over Taif and the trade of the Njad, how ever in the following the war their power also grew to the north and they slowly more control of the tribe to their south weakening them, they even tried to conquer the city but the siege in 677? failed despite that they gained more lands in the area and by the 8th century they had recovered and even gained more power making the surrounding region pay tribute


By the time the migrants of the northeast arrived he Quraysh agreed to wait as to send their army so that they then might safe or take advantage of the siege them allowing them to fully incorporate the south by weakening the strongest city, unknow to them this would have massive ramifications for Arabia, the leader of the Ibād said to the slaves that would grant them freedom this combined with a night assault allow the Nestorian army to take the city, the Christians saw the idol of the goddess Allāt, who was then known as "the lady of Tā'if, destroyed it with that he declared that it was their land, once conquered the leader made peace he had alienated the pagans with the destruction of their idols however he convinced some to join them to fight against the domination of the Quraysh.


After the victory, the Hawazin joined the new settlers since they offered to help end the Quarishy domination against the Quraysh as they went to deal with them, they found it was a Christian force with more anther 1000 men were sent to 2000 that already sieged the city the reinforcements were attacked and beaten by the Hawazin, sporadic fighting occurred in the first year, the kingdom used the time to consolidate and raid the areas as the Banu Amir, Hawazin and Banū Khuzaʽah attacked the Quraysh with victories and defeats from those who opposed the Quraysh and Kināna

The war lasted 6 years and its most notable battles been at Hunayn which was a major defeat for the Quraysh but the battle of Nakhla the anti-Quraysh alliance, war ended with the weakening of the Quraysh losing their absolute control over western Arabian trade of the Njad and lost the Ta'if's trade they controlled.

However the Quraysh remained in a very powerful position and with the full intent to destroy their monotheistic neighbors as showed by their dislike of Usman ibn Huwayrith, a more recent preacher who died from disease nearly a century ago also the byzantine and Aksumite preachers did not gain attention, also it was showed by the persecution of new cults around the area that threaten the unity of the collation that of a certain prophet who was killed shortly after his uncle could not longer protect him and he fled the city were his army was crushed.

a peace issued but only lasted a year in 722 war started again between them, some 1000 Ibād forces comprising mostly of infantry with 30 cavalry and 10 camels, met the Quraysh at Autas having 3000 forces also mostly comprised of infantry with 120 cavalry and 40 camels.

Their leader Malik challenged one of the enemy leaders Ali ibn Harith which he killed and after he cut his arm he killed him, two more duels ensued and the Nestorians won them all the pagans attacked and the men received their attacks were Malik cried for God to deliver them from the pagans, their morale was high due to the example of the leader and their religious vigor in a counter-attack they broke the center forcing the pagans to flee, the Nestorians suffered 56 casualties and the pagans some 60 with a further 80 more captured.

In the retreat, the Nestorians captured many of their leaders of the 80 people they captured they executed 17 ransomed leaders but they offered freedom to anyone who joined them and even better treatment if they converted, some did but many were just ransomed back or sold into slavery, this battle was to have massive implications for the region of Hejaz the previous war had saved the new domains and this battle finally turned Malik from a smart but opportunistic outcast into a leader capable of defending his realm the other Arabs now recognized the power and their new position, the victory also made members of Banu Thaqif accepting the new rulers due to their prestige some of them even converted.

 

[Silver01]

Due to this victory, Malik made Taif a major rival of the Quraysh again those tribes who joined him were glad about their new balance of power however they did not know that Malik was ambitious after nearly a year of peace, in 723 tensions erupted into war again the sources contradict the Nestorians said it was them breaking their treaty by attacking a caravan, the surviving Quraysh records said that it was the raids that Nestorians did against them whatever the case the Quraysh allied himself with the Banu Sulaym, their leader Abu Utbah with the Sulaym gathered a 3000 strong force consisting mostly of infantry 150 cavalry and some hundred camels, Malik gathered only half of that force with 30 cavalry and some 60 camels.

The armies met north of Taif in the mountains, the first day is mostly unknown but both that small fighting occurs and both sides retreated, in the second day Malik force attacked from the mountains however the Quraysh managed to make a second front and avoided a complete route after the battle continued till night, the last day had some back and forth and both sides retreated, the Nestorians lost some 110 while the Quraysh had 85 casualties, however, both retreated this is considered by modern historians as an Ibād defeat however the number of loses forced a retreat, Malik exaggerated this notion

Malik boldly drew up his battle lines against the polytheist he rushed in against them. With Christ's help and blessings, He bestowed upon His servant’s salivation when as when his (Malik) had gathered plotted against him and he had disgraced the pagans and he drove the idolater from back to the mountains and thus he did the victor triumph over his enemies.

Following this battle Malik had to give minor concessions to the Quraysh on their before agreed peace this one lasted longer Malik formally established his alliances, but in 727 after years the peace was broken due to an accident that most modern historians say was an active Provocation on the part of Malik as his men killed some Quraysh in caravan due to one these men accusing them of robbing them in their last trade deal, both sides had prepared for war but the recourses of the Quraysh allowed them to get a bigger army the Quraysh hired mercenaries, in total having 6000 men

While Malik had assistance with his allies the Hawazin and the Banu Amir however the latter did not seem to join so he sent one of his commanders a small force to send word to them leaving some 2400 men to defend Taif and the citizens, so he decided to defend the citizens and this proves to be a good decision as despite a century of evolution in warfare sieges were still rare in Arabian warfare still yet the Quraysh brought siege engines the siege the defenders and attackers showered each other with arrows with the Quraysh attacking them with their siege engines, Malik is stated to have said:

We are depending on our Lord and God, for was it not he that delivered his land from the king of Assyria and he shall deliver us from the idolaters, now lord we call on your aid do not stay still they have conspired and have gathered to destroy your servants, we beseech you to not forsake us and beseech you to preserve us in battle against this evil.

As the month passed Malik resisted punishing those who wanted to flee, the Quraysh attacked and insulted the defenders for 25 days and nights, the men reached their limits but then the subordinate returned with the Banu Amir they made many campfires to scare the alliance against them then the next day Malik sailed out in the early morning and the Amir also attacked, some 38 people from the side of Malik died while the Quraysh suffered some 140 casualties

The victory meant that a new treaty was formed that allowed a peace that gave more control of the Njad the Nestorians also pressed that anyone who wanted to join their religion from among the Quraysh and desired to live there was free to worship in mecca a hard proposition but the Quraysh accepted they also entered an alliance that if one was attacked by another coalition of tribes (as some wanted to take advantage of the new weakness of the Quraysh) that Malik would defend them and so the peace continued for nearly 3 years. In 730 for nearly but reasons unknown, the Banu Amir attacked the Quraysh the now 36-year-old Malik assembled a 4000 strong force with a vanguard in front to honor his treaty however in his march as most historians agreed most likely due to Malik not telling them the Quraysh attacked the Vanguard, with this Malik was angered and then moved, the army set out for Mecca Volunteers and the army soon camped located some miles south of Mecca.

Malik ordered every man to light two fires to make the Meccans overestimate the size of the army, the Meccan forces fearing a massive force, deserted, the Meccans that fought the next day numbered 3000 as Malik men charged ordered their troops to form a defensive square, allowing the Nestorians cavalry to fall on the flanks to envelop his army. the Meccans were slaughtered. the Meccans were so sure of victory, as Malik never had any true success in the offensive and so they brought their families and flocks, due to this the Nestorians were able to capture huge spoils and he shared it with the Banu Amir, and some told him to leave however Malik had no intention to do so.

As he saw the city of Mecca which lay in a valley, surrounded by rugged hills reaching heights of 300 m at some places, there were four entry routes through passes in the hills. These were from the northwest, the southwest, the south, and the northeast, Malik divided the army into four columns: one to advance through each pass. Their tactic was to advance simultaneously from all sides targeting a single central objective as to avoid their men to concentrate But unknown to Malik, he had already destroyed the main Meccan force and what was left was a Petty 1000 strong army, the entry was the peaceful and bloodless entry on three sectors.

The Nestorians kept their agreement and peacefully began to enter the city. except for one of the column, the second column, the hardened anti-Christians gathered a band of Quraysh fighters and faced the column, the Quraysh attacked the Christians with swords and bows, the Nestorians responded and charged the Quraysh's positions, as others fled Malik got the news and sent more men, After a short skirmish the Quraysh force was destroyed, the Nestorian now in the city, with them been attacked the began attacking the population, Soon they entered the Kabba destroying every single idol they can find, some did flee with some idols, but the Nestorians did not destroy the idol of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus still kill every man they can find. Every single idol was broken and then the Kabba was burnt. Soon after the Quraysh tribe scattered the victorious Malik was cheered by his people and a few days after the conquest he was declared King Malik of Hejaz history would remember as Malik alfatih, the conqueror but also Malik the confessor .

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

Jeez this Berber Empire is a second Mediterranean Empire that's large enough to be an existential threat to Rome itself. It's becoming a second Carthage and shaping up to be a rehash of the Punic Wars (this is awesome!). The Romans need to destroy that state before it fully develops and emerges as a second Mediterranean Empire great enough to threaten Rome.

This should basically be how the Romans are feeling now. Tiberius can likely use this as proganda to boost the PR of his family since he's the only Heraclian left and his position is dangerous as everyone will be scared if he coughs as that will mean a huge civil war will occur.​

 

[Silver01]

he managed to defeat soon enougth

Jeez this Berber Empire is a second Mediterranean Empire that's large enough to be an existential threat to Rome itself. It's becoming a second Carthage and shaping up to be a rehash of the Punic Wars (this is awesome!). The Romans need to destroy that state before it fully develops and emerges as a second Mediterranean Empire great enough to threaten Rome.

youll see a treath to both the frankish kingdom and the roman empire askel wants to go for the franks while his brother wants egypt

 

[Silver01]

Jeez this Berber Empire is a second Mediterranean Empire that's large enough to be an existential threat to Rome itself. It's becoming a second Carthage and shaping up to be a rehash of the Punic Wars (this is awesome!). The Romans need to destroy that state before it fully develops and emerges as a second Mediterranean Empire great enough to threaten Rome.

This should basically be how the Romans are feeling now. Tiberius can likely use this as proganda to boost the PR of his family since he's the only Heraclian left and his position is dangerous as everyone will be scared if he coughs as that will mean a huge civil war will occur.​

Well Tiberuis is the only male Heraclian left , but Leo is only permited to be protector of rome due to his victories and Tiberuis aproval if he dies shit will hit the fan , and the berbers would love that.

 

[Silver01]

After the siege of Alexandria, Askel went to his brother remarked that he still had that coin Pointing to a golden coin of Emperor Heraclius, the same coin that Gregory used, then all the kings of Altava had, and then Askel used as a necklace or medallion.

Tariq spoke saying how it was to show that he and his house would become as great as the Roman emperors, Askel smiled, yet he came there for business, askel gave honors to his new “lord” and stayed with his brother for a while, By this point, his brother moved the Capital from Altava to Carthage, after this he returned to Hispania without Tariq

he heard the d news about the north that Duke odo was planning an attack on Hispania, due to this and king askel wanting more funds, he would go and do incursions into old Roman Gaul, as part of the treaty, was the granting safe passage towards the north, askel raided as far as Autun in Burgundy in 726, Odo hated paying the tribute but allowed safe passage to the king of Hispania to attack the territories outside of Aquitaine, finally in 730 duke odo after 10 years, the treaty ended, Askel sent him a new deal with less tribute to pay in late 731 Odo rejected this killed the envoys.

Askel declared war, but this time askel would have to lead without Tariq , also according to some sources left behind the coin of the roman emperor still marched north and met odos forces, which were annihilated near Bordoax and Askel had the town raided, as askel moved towards Tours. Odo informed Charles about the Berber invasion and Charles decided to help Odo, the invading forces were caught off guard to discover a large force sitting directly in their path to Tours. Charles achieved the total surprise he had hoped for. He then chose not to attack and rather began fighting in a defensive position. Charles' infantry was his best hope for victory. Seasoned and battle-hardened, most of them had fought with him for years, some as far back as 717. In addition to his army, he also had levies of militia which had not seen significant military use except for gathering food and harassing the Berber army.

Days passed by the 8th, Askel attacked, he trusted in the tactical superiority of his cavalry and had them charge repeatedly. The disciplined Frankish soldiers withstood the assaults, but still, the Berber cavalry broke into the Frankish square several times. Despite this, the Franks did not break. The well-trained Frankish soldiers accomplished what was not thought possible at that time: infantry withstanding a heavy cavalry charge, by the third hour, the Berber troops had broken into the square and tried to kill Charles, but his men surrounded him like a wall that would not be broken. The battle raging when a Frankish soldier pushed king Askel off his horse. Seeing how their king felled, rumors of his death spread, the Berber troops at once broke off the battle and some returned to camp to secure their loot and leave.

With that Charles attacked scattering the Berber troops, Askel had fallen, but was captured Here is where his talent shined, he spoke to Charles and after some talking he said
If you let me go, I shall return ½ of the treasure I took and I shall not attack you for 10 years.

I don’t think are in a position to bargain said Charles as he demanded all of the treasure back and more payment

well if you were to keep me, prisoner, I have already sent a portion of my spoils, to my brother, if you keep me prisoner or if die, he will come alongside with my best general Tariq, with an army 2 times bigger than this one and an entire fleet of 100 ships.

and unlike me, my brother is not as merciful with cities much less barbarian cities of a barbarian state, also I heard that Odo is not quite as friendly with you as I thought ....would be a real shame if gold from your territory went to him, and he had the assistance of the Berber army?

Charles was worried, He knew that he might be bluffing but he heard what happened at Cyrine ...and Odo was just his ally by circumstance if the Berbers offered him something he might switch sides

Odo, duke of Aquitaine, and Major of the Mayor of the Palace sound nice no?

Charles was not risking it, he accepted Askel proposal for staying with half of the booty he captured and allowed his army to go back to Hispania. Still, Askel lost 8 000 men, and rumors began to speculate about how in this one battle later sources say because he didn’t take the coin of the emperor Heraclius was the reason he lost .n of emperor Heraclius was the reason he lost .

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

Cursed image
@Tomislav Addai

View attachment 500652

@Goldensilver81 what do you mean by cursed image? I don't understand what this screenshot is trying to convey. Could you please clarify this?

 

[Silver01]

@Goldensilver81 what do you mean by cursed image? I don't understand what this screenshot is trying to convey. Could you please clarify this?

It's a joke refering how our 2 timelines are toghtoger which all most never happenens yeah that's pretty much it

 

[Silver01]

After the defeat of Tours, Askel didn’t seek battle or raided the old Roman province of Gaul, instead helped his brother Gwafa in his plans, with peace secured with the Frank's in 737, both men were ready.

Summer 738
The Berber emperor was ready, Emperor Gwafa moved 45 000 men and 400 ships to take
Alexandria once in Cyrene,10 000 and 30 ships moved To the city, the Byzantines by surprise the Berber army under the command of the two brothers, stayed and took the coastal cities till they reached Alexandria, The third Berber Amy with 15 000 men under Tariq moved and attacked Egypt moving to cross the river and siege Babylon fortress, in the way Tariq defeated many local Coptic forces, Leo realized the trick but could do little if a fleet from Anatolia or Greece moved towards Alexandria, however, the fleet of Italy due to many encounters in the seas battles they were hardened but didn’t have the best weapons.

Still, He sent them to attack via proxy the Berber and disrupt the blockade of the city, Now the Berbers began construction walls, from a byzantine surprise landing to the west, By august, the wall was finished, and the Berber fleet that had been blocking the city now moved to the attack

But 250 byzantine ships appeared it was a part of the Italian fleet, 200 warships alongside 100 transport ships, Half of The warships baited the vast majority of the Berber warships to attack, as soon as gap formed they deployed Greek fire and attacked the Berber ships, still the Byzantines began Losing some ships, but it was worth it, after all, It was distraction As the rest moved on, To deliver their cargo of 4500 men and supplies, while other 75 warships stayed to defend the city as the transport fled with the remaining warships, the Romans had burned 150 ships and sank 70, a few hours later after failing to extinguish the fires the others ships sank.

Despite the city being surrounded there was to be no engagement the Berber sailors didn’t want to fight the Byzantine fleet seeing how 70 ships sunk and they were afraid of the first of the Romans, Leo had spent Leo gathered a bigger force, but winter came; the siege had been going for nearly half a year, but, the situation was still good for the Berbers as they had abundant supplies and Tariq had was still laying siege to Babylon fortress.


By 739, the siege continued by March, as Leo marched a general commanding an army of 55 000 against Tariq, when he was marching, the troops of roman and the Sassanid king of Mesopotamia rebels invited the sha to Dadhburzmihr, frakuhans successor, however despite wanting, he did not due to problems in the east, so army arrived in Syria and began to march, despite the emperor's orders, they divided their forces 40 000 would go against Tariq while the other 15 000 crushed the rebellions

By June, Babylon fortress had not yet fallen Tariq also defeated a 10 000 strong force in Heliopolis
by deploying straw men to create sand clouds and make it seem like he had a bigger force to confuse the enemy, This did the trick and caused the roman lines much confusion and panic, seeing this the Berbers charged and encircled the roman force, who noticed what happened Tariq had pulled a Hannibal on them and the smaller Berber force encircled the larger army the roman army was slaughtered with only 3000 survivors, when news reached Alexandria it motivated the Berber army and the first assaults to the city began the next week, this even motivated the Berber navy, this motivation quickly diapered when the byzantine Greek fire burned and sank 150 ships.

But now the Berbers began to suffer from hunger and disease so they began to send foraging parties, during the night the Byzantines let out 4000 troops from the city and these began to follow a big Berber foraging party, and cough them by surprise, the 6000 strong Berber foraging party was killed, still, the Berber army was doing well and by winter the Berber besieging Pelusuim, but as the second winter approached, things began to get worse.

The second winter of the siege was harsh; the Berber supplies began to disappear, it was not helped that during a sortie the Romans burned much of the grain of the Berber army soon starvation began to set in, and in Tariq raided the countryside before making foraging hard, and even he was running out of supplies by this time Tariq army was doing worse as epidemic broke out in his camp killing some 3000 and he fell ill and had to return to the camp at Alexandria, however this good news would be drowned out as it seemed the situation would improve for the Berbers as the Dabyuid sha seem to be preparing to attack the romans.

 

[Blacklister]

Is this timeline collaborative like that of Tomislav's?

 

[Silver01]

Is this timeline collaborative like that of Tomislav's?

same premise very diferent out look, also my timeline only has 2 authors me and my friend if you want to help us you can . but just to tell the descition


thomi, he tells more of events like in this year that happend x and this happened , mine is more of characters story , also the events in both timelines are very diferent

 

[Tomislav Addai]

same premise very diferent out look, also my timeline only has 2 authors me and my friend if you want to help us you can . but just to tell the descition

thomi, he tells more of events like in this year that happend x and this happened , mine is more of characters story , also the events in both timelines are very diferent

Me reading Heirs of Heraclius... Looks good for a historical series (when will this get filmed? ).
Someobe else reading mine timeline...be like .. I ve opened a history book on page 12 th century Mongolia.

 

[Silver01]

Me reading Heirs of Heraclius... Looks good for a historical series (when will this get filmed? ).

is this compliment? since most historical seires are unrealistic as heck ...nah just joking thanks that means a lot comming from you


Someobe else reading mine timeline...be like .. I ve opened a history book on page 12 th century Mongolia.


LOL

 

[Silver01]

Someobe else reading mine timeline...be like .. I ve opened a history book on page 12 th century Mongolia.

but atleast your story can go faster i mean look at this your in 1100 while iam bearly in 740 but still , many people ask me if i ripped you off oh jeez ,LOL

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

Wait I just realized that the Berbers are acting like the Arabs of OTL in terms of their conquest. What makes no sense to me is how they were so quickly able to overcome Egpyt. Egypt has been under constant Roman rule for 700 years since the days of Augustus its been a proper integrated part of the Empire for so long. How did it fall so easily. How have the Berbers not been overstretched here. How are they even holding the place. North Africa is not as developed as coastal Arabia which had access to trade between India, Persia, and the Roman Empire. They should be focusing on consolidating their gains here, and the Romans should have their armies and garrisons intact here with the recovery of the Empire under Heraclius, Constantine IV, and Constans II the Romans have basically had 3 generations of very competent Emperors (6/6/6 EUIV Reference). There's not really a reason why the Romans should be performing this poorly. Sure they had a civil war, but Heraclius after he deposed Phocas found the treasury empty, and then had to fight a 20 year long war with the Persians which he fought to a bloody stalemate bringing back the empire from near certain doom. Unlike otl Heraclius managed to rule long enough for the Empire to begin its recovery process. In otl the Arab Conquests disrupted this recovery. Thanks to Islam not arising, Rome then had both Constans II and Constantine IV rule well and help expand the Empire far beyond Justinian's conquests. The recovery was well enough that they had resource to rebuild Italy into a thriving province as the Empire's birthplace and ancient cultural heartland. In otl Maurice was beset on all sides and the treasury was near empty and his small army of 100k troops (Justinians full active duty troops were in the range of the 300-400k) was scattered defending the provinces as garrisons and patrolling the frontier to deter enemy raids. The Heraclians thanks to the long peace and stable reign of multiple generations of Competent Rulers (Justinians successors aside from Maurice were all horribly incompetent) that was able to bring a new golden age to the Empire.

Constans II is basically the Basil II of the Heraclians here, leaving a full treasury with the Heraclian Renaissance peaking under him. It took Basil II's successors who were cartoonishly incompetent for the Empire to end up in the 11th century crisis that culminated in the Battle of Manzikert. Constantine X after all was the one who simply chose to ignore the Turkish raids across the border and had the dumb idea of gutting the military of funding and disbanding the Armenian garrison of 50,000 soldiers in the face of the Seljuk onslaught. He also decided to appoint his toadies to generalship instead of promoting competent men undoing the work of Empress Theodora and the military reformer Emperor Issac I Komnenos. Sure the Romans had a civil war, but their leadership hasn't had that many decades to rot right?

 

[Silver01]

Wait I just realized that the Berbers are acting like the Arabs of OTL in terms of their conquest. What makes no sense to me is how they were so quickly able to overcome Egpyt. Egypt has been under constant Roman rule for 700 years since the days of Augustus its been a proper integrated part of the Empire for so long. How did it fall so easily. How have the Berbers not been overstretched here. How are they even holding the place. North Africa is not as developed as coastal Arabia which had access to trade between India, Persia, and the Roman Empire. They should be focusing on consolidating their gains here, and the Romans should have their armies and garrisons intact here with the recovery of the Empire under Heraclius, Constantine IV, and Constans II the Romans have basically had 3 generations of very competent Emperors (6/6/6 EUIV Reference). There's not really a reason why the Romans should be performing this poorly. Sure they had a civil war, but Heraclius after he deposed Phocas found the treasury empty, and then had to fight a 20 year long war with the Persians which he fought to a bloody stalemate bringing back the empire from near certain doom. Unlike otl Heraclius managed to rule long enough for the Empire to begin its recovery process. In otl the Arab Conquests disrupted this recovery. Thanks to Islam not arising, Rome then had both Constans II and Constantine IV rule well and help expand the Empire far beyond Justinian's conquests. The recovery was well enough that they had resource to rebuild Italy into a thriving province as the Empire's birthplace and ancient cultural heartland. In otl Maurice was beset on all sides and the treasury was near empty and his small army of 100k troops (Justinians full active duty troops were in the range of the 300-400k) was scattered defending the provinces as garrisons and patrolling the frontier to deter enemy raids. The Heraclians thanks to the long peace and stable reign of multiple generations of Competent Rulers (Justinians successors aside from Maurice were all horribly incompetent) that was able to bring a new golden age to the Empire.

Constans II is basically the Basil II of the Heraclians here, leaving a full treasury with the Heraclian Renaissance peaking under him. It took Basil II's successors who were cartoonishly incompetent for the Empire to end up in the 11th century crisis that culminated in the Battle of Manzikert. Constantine X after all was the one who simply chose to ignore the Turkish raids across the border and had the dumb idea of gutting the military of funding and disbanding the Armenian garrison of 50,000 soldiers in the face of the Seljuk onslaught. He also decided to appoint his toadies to generalship instead of promoting competent men undoing the work of Empress Theodora and the military reformer Emperor Issac I Komnenos. Sure the Romans had a civil war, but their leadership hasn't had that many decades to rot right?

simple the berbers have not conquered egpypt , they only took some areas by force since most of the land was handed to them the copt( unlike the Muslims the berbers are Romanized and both the Roman and copts supported them more than the Muslims also had 60 more years of tension since the declaration)

not all of them but in many cases , opened the gates to the berbers , since ever since the council of constantinople the egpyptians have been persecuted a lot and forced to convert to chalcedonian chirsnitnity by the byzantines ( not massacres but by taxes and others same that resulted in the revolts against the umayed) ,this has been going on for about 60 years tensions have been boiling. as the manaphystes dislike their byzantine taxes this has also created tensions with the ghassanids

" North Africa is not as developed as coastal Arabia which had access to trade between India, Persia," constants has turned north africa in to spledid rich province after gregories rebellion.

while iam taking reference to the arab invasions the berber ones have big diference that they have a better system of rule than the rashudin caliphates this is why up until now the berbers had no civil war , aslo the berbers have conquered a rich province allowing them to take these riches and , also now the empire lost these rich provinces so cuts have to be made

and as you may have read the empire has sufered since the death of heraclius ( the other one) caused problems

leo had to deal with rebellion after rebelion against him until he won the first siege of alexandria back in 728

Also i think that i made clear that Tariq is basicily the alexander of his time , the odds are against him but he does manage to win.

hope that explains also i want to see your new update for your timeline cheers

 

[Silver01]

as winter continued, Leo prayers where Heard, as sha Dadhburzmihr had died, and his son Khurshid was barely 10, the regent of kurshid, had no intention to attack the Romans as he was disliked by other nobles due to him insisting to his brother to be hastier in removing their power he had to deal with assassination attempts, Leo now had to make a choice who to engage first?

He thought about it if he went for Alexandria and the Berbers had already conquered the city whether by conquest or they were welcomed by the heretics and he if he failed The Levant and Syria could fall, but if he went for the Berbers near pelusium, Alexandria could fall and he could lose half of Egypt he decided a few days later.

He marched his army towards Syria, this army had contingents mostly from Anatolia Armenia Syria and some contingents from the Levant, as he reached Tyre he was joined by the ghassanid troops who despite the tensions over religion, chose the devil they knew, due to his scouts telling him the number of the Berbers he sent 10 000 men to leave to Alexandria by ship as he marched to pelusium, once he arrived Tariq was still gone, the Berber second in command now moved, Leo moved as well and both met near Petra, Leo had hidden a part of his force near the city, now he attacked, and it seemed like the battle would be a stalemate, despite outnumbering the Berbers more than two to one, But after some time, the Berbers began to push back the Romans, It seemed like Leo would lose Then he gave the signal, the troops came out and attacked the rear, the Berbers were in shock and scattered, but Leo was not over, as he moved his troops, he surrounded the Berbers.

The Berbers now fought for their lives as the carnage began Byzantine casualties were heavy, but the entire Berber force was annihilated, as time passed and Askel heard this now he moved to Babylon fortress and other places to stop Leo from crossing, days later Leo moved and his fleet arrived Burning the northern portion of the Berber fleet, After 27 months of siege the Berbers lifted the siege and Askel quickly left before Leo arrived, the army of the city moved and killed many as they retreated.

Only 23 000 made it back to Cyrene, the Romans now seemed to push the Berbers out of Egypt but during the campaign Leo said to not pursue them some in eastern Egypt rebelled, taking advantage of the weakening of the empire And thus Emperor Tiberius decided to tell Leo, not to pursuit, Leo knew he could not disobey for fear of civil war and seeking “personal glory”, so the Berbers now there were Berber holdouts west of the Nile River, Leo defeated the rebellion hanging its leaders and then moved back. Still, Leo deposed Kavadh the fourth ruler of the client kingdom of Mesopotamia for rebelling, however, later the kingdom would be restored just 4 years later as it seemed to war with Persia would come in the next years.

The Berbers were weakened and the Persians were busy, Leo continued to give preference to the Monophysites and he had managed to convince the young emperor of reviving Heracluis compromise,, as for the Berbers the impact of the siege was horrible, they had suffered their first massive defeat against the Byzantines, the road to Syria and the Levant was blocked and the Berberemperor said that he would never attempt to take the city again, also the siege made the eldest distrust the youngest and vice versa a rift that would continue to centuries had begun

 

[Silver01]

740 AD

 

[Basileus_Komnenos]

740 AD

View attachment 501188

Dear God this has been utterly catastrophic for the Romans. Heraclius is probably spinning in his grave so fast right now that the the Romans could convert it to energy and use it to start an industrial revolution allowing them to steamroll the West retaking their lost lands and all of the Western parts of the Empire.

 

[Silver01]

Dear God this has been utterly catastrophic for the Romans. Heraclius is probably spinning in his grave so fast right now that the the Romans could convert it to energy and use it to start an industrial revolution allowing them to steamroll the West retaking their lost lands and all of the Western parts of the Empire.

Heraclius be like you fuc** idoits my dynasty was the best

You had one job no more civil wars .

The idiots : want a civil war ?