[1] Alexios Macedon, born on March 6, 990 to Basil II and Eudoxia Komnena, would grow up to be a talented and competent man, a worthy heir to his father when he died in 1025 and became the new Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans in the aftermath of his father's death. Alexios I's reign would be marked by a consolidation of his father's conquests during his reign with Alexios, as Emperor, dealing with the rise of the Seljuks and the Normans beginning to arrive in Sicily. While his reign would be considered to be a largely "boring" reign, it was one which provided the Empire with 30 years of stability with his heir, Romanos, having a succession largely uncontested when Alexios I died in 1055 at the age of 65.
[2] Born in 1021, during the reign of his grandfather Emperor Basil II, he was named after his great grandfather, Romanos II, Byzantine Emperor, 959 to 963.
During his education, Romanos attended the University of Constantinople, becoming a student under professor Michael Psellos, who bore the honorary title of "Chief of the Philosophers"
In 1048, Romanos married Anna Bryennios, only daughter of Nikephoros Bryennios, an important Byzantine general and his wife, Anna, who had the rank of kouropalatissa.
Thanks to military support, when Alexios I died in 1055, Romanos was able to succeed the throne with only a distant relative, staging a failed two day rebellion, in Kalavrye, Thrace.
Following the death of Michael I Cerularius in 1059, Romanos elevated his former tutor to the position of Patriarch of Constantinople.
With his father-in-law as commander of the Byzantine army and navy, Romanos was able to concentrate on the finances, keeping taxes as profitable to keep the treasury full but not high enough to cause any revolts.
The efficient navy was able to push the Normans out of Italy while in the Balkans, the army was able to defeat Hungarians who tried invading Belgrade as well as holding back the Seljuk sultan, Alp Arslan from sending skirmishes from Anatolia.
His death in 1079, came following a year of illness. He was succeeded by his son, Alexander.
[3] Alexander, born 1055, was the only surviving son of Emperor Romanos III. Only a few days before he died, his father chose him as his successor. The new emperor was young, handsome, and energetic. However, he suffered from poor health for most of his life, and entrusted the business of governing to his advisors.
In early 1082, he died shortly after putting down a revolt in Greece. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine.
[4] Constantine IX was the older son of Alexander II, being born in 1074 and becoming Emperor at the age of eight. As a result of being a mere child, he would spend the first years of reign under the regency of his mother until 1092, when the Emperor turned 18 and his rule as Emperor actually begun as opposed to being a mere figurehead for his mother. It would turn out his reign as Emperor would be the longest any Roman Emperor to date would have, reigning for 68 years as Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans.
His 68-year reign as Emperor would be marked by a general period of peace and prosperity during his reign as while Constantine would lead the Empire into new heights, his reign would be marked by how he, outside of a few defensive wars, would not wage war during his reign. Instead of military adventures and imperial adventures, Constantine IX would spend his reign patronizing culture, enacting laws, and reforming the Empire's administration with his reign marked by peace and prosperity.
However, all good things must come to an end with Constantine dying at the age of 76, being succeeded by his son, Nikephoros.
[5] Nikephoros (named after his great grandfather, Nikephoros Bryennios) was born in 1098 as the oldest son of Constantine IX. He was taught everything on the military and would marry the daughter of an general. Upon his ascension as Roman Emperor, Nikephoros would join a Crusade which saw the taking of Egypt from the Muslims.
Nikephoros had several children with his wife, and married some of his daughters to the Kings of the Crusader states. He died in 1163, at the age of 64, and was succeeded by his oldest son, Constantine.
[6] Constantine was born in 1125, and was trained to be a military leader like his father and maternal grandfather.
Growing up in his grandfather’s peaceful reign meant that his real military training came only during the few defensive wars on their borders.
It wouldn’t be until turning 25, when his father succeeded his grandfather, that he would get a taste of a proper war, joint the Crusade and enjoyed commanding armies, laying sieges and experiencing victories, securing Crusader states for his future brother-in-laws.
It was during the crusade that Constantine fell in love with Bertrade of Jerusalem, only daughter of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem.
At the age of 38, Constantine, would succeed his father, becoming the tenth emperor of his name.
From the marriages of his siblings to seats across the crusader states that bordered the Levantine Sea, Constantine was able to pursue an ambitious economic and foreign policy, using his military support and being the main trade route, he was able to push the minor states to become his vassals, as well as persuading the states to install a Greek Orthodox Patriarch alongside the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1189, at age 65, Constantine X, died from a heart attack. He was succeeded by his son, Alexios.
[7] Emperor Alexios II was a man who was never really suited to be Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans and was the first really bad Emperor the Roman Empire had in a few centuries.
Born in 1151, Alexios II was a man who was spoiled from a young age by his father Constantine, growing up to be a hedonistic prince who was a womanizer. As such, he would prove to be an incompetent and ineffective Emperor who weakened the Empire during his six-year reign, especially as he would prove to be an autocratic tyrant who engaged in many purges during his short but bloody reign of many competent officials.
A conspiracy led by, Basil, who was related to Alexios II through being his younger brother, would overthrow Alexios and name the leader of the conspiracy the new Emperor, but the damage had already been done.
[8] Basil was born in 1153 as the younger brother of Alexios II, and was very different from him with his extravagant ways. Basil was popular with the people and was quite intelligent, being a professor at the University of Constantinople before his reign. He began planning a conspiracy against his brother following his killing of one of his friends, which ended with Alexios being overthroned and Basil becoming the new Roman Emperor.
Basil spent his reign reparing relations with neighboring countries and improving education for the populace. When he died in 1217, the Roman Empire had mostly recovered from the tyrannical rule of Alexios II, but still had to deal with the uprisings by Alexios' son, Justin. Basil was succeeded by his grandson, Alexander.
[9] Prince Alexander was born in 1199 as the grandson of Basil III and would become Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans in 1217 after his father Nicephorus died in 1215 due to the revolt by the so-called Emperor Justin III which Alexander would crush during the early part of his reign.
Alexander III's reign as Emperor would largely be a continuation of his father's reign in how he stabilized the Roman Empire during his reign, even if he focused more on the economy that his father did. He would also try his best to eliminate corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies that had sprung up during this period, trying to weaken the dynatoi with the Emperor becoming more powerful. However, despite his effective administration of the Empire, Alexander's reign would be overshadowed by how it ended.
Alexander III would die in 1242 in the Second Battle of Manzikert, one of the greatest defeats the Roman Empire had, being killed in the catastrophic defeat the Naiman Khaganate, one of the largest Empires of all time, would unleash on the Empire. The next Emperor, Constantine, would have to deal with the Naimans invading the Empire with the army destroyed and the dynatoi seeking to regain their old privileges.
[10] Constantine was born in 1222 as the heir to Alexander III. He didn't have much knowledge when it came to ruling and military strategy, so when he came Emperor at the age of 20, Constantine was an incapable ruler. He would lead his troops at the Battle of Kayseri against the Naiman Khaganate, only to be killed moments into battle. As Constantine XI had no children or siblings, the dynatoi took this as an opportunity to have a new Emperor who would give back their privileges. Thus they picked Alexios Raoul Petraliphas, as the new Roman Emperor.
[11] Alexios Raoul Petraliphas was Despot of the Morea prior to his coronation as Emperor, and it was certainly not skill for why he was elected. Alexios Petraliphas was the Grandson of Alexios II, via his sole daughter Eudoxia, who married the Morean-born officer; Constantine Petraliphas. Crowned amidst the Naiman Invasion, Alexios turned the rides of the war by emptying his coffers and employing dozens of thousands of mercenaries from the west, such as Spaniards, Franks, and Germans. At the Battle of Datvan, the combined armies of Alexios III defeated the Khaganate.
For much of the remainder of his reign, Alexios steadily tried to remake the exuberant funds lost, but sadly would never succeed. He would however constantly attempt to have his reign seen as a continuation of the Macedonian Dynasty, but alas his paternity was all too well known, and so a new dynasty was born. During his reign, three children were born to him and his Greek-born wife, and he was succeeded by his daughter and son-in-law.
[12] Alexios III's older daughter, Sophia, would become the first Empress of Rhomania since Irene of Athens as her brother Constantine would die in 1261. As a result of this, the 30-year old Sophia would be acclaimed as co-ruler with her husband, the powerful general Romanos Doukas, as the co-Emperor of the Roman Empire after he died in 1262. The two had a hard situation with the dynatoi increasingly powerful, Anatolia still reeling from the Naiman invasion in the 1240s, and the treasury still mostly empty. The couple who would be Rhomania's new rulers would have their work cut out for them during their reign.
Over the 39 years that Empress Sophia would be Empress with her husband by her side, Sophia and Romanos would do their best to stabilize the situation that the Empire had and while the dynatoi were now more powerful than they had been for a long while, their joint rule was marked by a return to relative stability for the Empire. While the Empire was still relatively weak compared to what it was at the height of the Macedonian Dynasty, the Empire was still in stable hands by the time the 39 years ended with Romanos and Sophia dying a few months after each other in 1301. They would be succeeded by their daughter-in-law, following a minor successional war.
[13] Nichola was the daughter and the only surviving child of the successful and influential general Theodore Aurellanius.
In 1274, once she was married to John, who was the second son of Empress Sophia and Emperor Romanos IV, her father gained more influence at the imperial court. In 1276, those who were wary of Theodore’s growing power orchestrated a plot to kill the general, which succeeded. However, those who were responsible were punished by the Empress and Emperor.
When the Empress and Emperor both died, John waged a campaign to ascend to the purple, before his older brother, Manuel, who was purported to be insane, would. But, a few miles from Constantinople, John died from an unknown illness, however, others think that he was poisoned. Nichola continued the march to the imperial capital, reaching the city, crowned Empress, in the name of the deceased John, and prepared the city for a siege from Manuel’s forces.
After more than four months of sieging, Manuel’s army was weak and severely hampered by the spread of disease, Manuel refusing to surrender, ordered a head-on charge, but his soldiers refused to commit such an action. Manuel was killed by contingent of soldiers after threatening to put to death all those who did not carry out his orders.
With the rest of the Empress’ reign relatively peaceful, with the exception of a brief revolt in the Cretan islands, she utilized her time on the throne to promote many cultural developments across the Empire.
In 1319, the Empress died and was succeeded by her only surviving son, John.
[14] John was the son of Empress Nichola Aurellanius and John, making him grandson of Empress Sophia and Emperor Romanos IV.
He was born posthumously in 1301, the year his grandparents and father’s death. His older brothers Romanos and Theodosius would die a few years into their mothers reign.
Growing up as heir, he was taught about his uncle’s militant tyrannical ideology and how good Byzantine’s died because of Manuel’s cruelty.
John would come to resent military and favour men of culture, church and science to be his close advisors, carrying on his mother’s cultural developments.
In 1321, John took as his wife and queen, Eleanor Ivanovna of Moscow, in hopes of uniting the two Orthodox Churches. The pair lived a happily pious life until his death in 1344, when he succumbed to a long illness, that thinned him out and aged him quickly. He was succeeded by his second son; Vladimar Porphyrogenitus.
[15] Born in 1324, shortly after the birth of his elder brother; Alexios (b.1322), and named for his maternal grandfather; Vladimir II of Moscow. Young Vladimir was often thought to be destined for a military career, being placed into the Roman Military at a young age, and becoming a skilled leader of men in battle, while his elder brother; Alexios was crowned as Co-Emperor in 1337, and became a man of politics, and words. Tragedy would strike in 1341, as Alexios IV died, after taking part in one of his brother's military exercises and, being an unskilled rider, fell from his mount and struck the ground and so, the young Vladimir was thrust into the limelight, as the heir of his ailing father, who crowned Vladimir as co-Emperor in 1342.
When John died in 1344, Vladimir would assume the full reigns of government, and almost immediately sought a military victory to cement his rule, and led a full campaign to the north East Balkans, and led stunning victory after victory. In 1352, the Campaign was declared complete with Roman Rule being pushed through Dacia and to the western banks of the Dnieper, and Crimea was fully annexed. The second half of his reign capitalised on his father's cultural pursuits, by building great Port-Cities along the coast.of the Black Sea, as well as encouraging Science, philosophy, and the arts. In 1353, he took a wife; Isabel of France, a Capetian princess, and had many children with her before his death in 1371. He was succeeded by Andronicus I
[16] Prince Andronicus was born in 1355 as the oldest son of Emperor Vladimir I and his wife Isabel and would grow up to become an intelligent and capable young man, a worthy successor to his father as Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans when his father died in 1371. The reign of Andronicus could be summed up as a quiet consolidation of his father's claims.
While Andronicus I would, much like his father, become an effective and capable ruler, he would be a ruler who would be more like his grandfather than his father in how he sought to rule as an Emperor of a peaceful and prosperous Empire and promoted a golden age of culture within Rhomania during his reign, with the promotion of the Orthodox Church seeing Lithuania convert to Orthodoxy in his reign. In addition, he would also carry out a reform of the administration of Rhomania during his reign as well. While he would be a ruler who would largely rule in peace, his last years would see trouble brewing with Persia resurgent and the Haemus (OTL Balkans) increasingly unstable due to the rise of Hungary.
In his personal life, he would marry a daughter of the King of Bohemia in 1372 and died in 1417 from a stroke, being succeeded by Athalrichos, a peasent-born member of the Guard.
[17] Athalrichos' origins are largely unknown, aside from the fact of his birth on Crete and his father herded goats, details largely scraped from his own memoirs and notes. With the childless death of Andronicus, the Palatial Guard maintained the veil of information, while refusing access or leave to any entering or leaving the Palace, while the corrupt officers and captains effectively drew lots. Athalrichos, a lowly captain, won, and so was crowned Emperor. While he was the man upon the throne, the superior ranking officers were very much the power behind the throne. The unstable condition in the Balkans slowly simmered, with Hungary rising and even pushing further along the Danube, to which Athalrichos was unsure and unready to react. It was this slowness that caused his downfall as the cabal of generals and officers removed Athalrichos and had him beaten and drowned. He was succeeded by Prince Leopold of Hungary.
[18] Leopold was born in 1370, a member of the Hungarian branch of the powerful and rich Habsburg family.
Leopold was able to make a name for himself, by becoming a renowned military general in Hungary and named Duke of Lower Hungary.
In 1385, Leopold married Sophia, the youngest child and daughter of Emperor Vladimir I of Byzantine and Isabel of France, being blessed with a child in their first year, followed by more.
In 1417, when Sophia’s brother, Andronicus died, Leopold was shocked to find that rather than using one of the siblings, the Palatial Guard, corruptly crowned a peasant.
Angered by this, Leopold raised an army and began pushing further along the Danube, when news of the generals and officers removing Athalrichos and having him beaten and drowned, Leopold moved his army, which had now recruited more soldiers from disgruntled Byzantine men, down towards Constantinople.
Outnumbered and unprepared, the city fell quickly, with Leopold named the new Emperor, along with his wife, Sophia.
Leopold put all the disgraced generals to death for their crimes against the country and bring into the palace Sophia’s family members to live in harmony.
The pair would rule happily together, having additional children and presided over a time of peace. Following his victory in Constantinople, Leopold’s health began to decline following years of hardship, he would die in 1429, a few months before the eight-year anniversary.
Sophia would step down, in support of their successor Frederick.
[19] Frederick, born the first son of Emperor Leopold I and Sophia II, in 1385. Instead of being a military man, Frederick was a capable administrator. In 1421, his father tasked him with administrating the Duchy of Lower Hungary for him, which he did until the Emperor’s death in 1429. And, with the abdication of his mother, Frederick became the Roman Emperor.
During his time as Emperor, Frederick spent his time improving the administration of Roman provinces, especially the system of taxation. He also attempted to crackdown on corruption, however, his efforts largely failed and were the cause of many assassination attempts.
Frederick died peacfully in his sleep in 1446. As the Emperor did not have children from his marriage, he was succeeded by his niece, Irene.
[20] Princess Irene was the niece of Emperor Frederick and was born in 1422 to his younger brother Ludwig, being his only child to survive childhood and thus being groomed by Frederick to become the heir to the Roman Empire as Frederick's wife didn't have any children with his wife's pregnancies ending in miscarriages or children who died in infancy. After Frederick died in 1446, Princess Irene was acclaimed as the Empress of the Romans in Constantinople, even if a coup by powerful dynatoi who opposed her uncle's anti-corruption attempts would mark her early reign.
Empress Irene's reign as Empress would be marked by Rhomania reaching a new golden age of prosperity with the Silk Road becoming something that the Empire of Rhomania grew wealthy from. However, this new-found wealth would result in the Age of Exploration with how Al-Andalusi merchants who didn't like Rhomanian trade practices would lead to a desire to seek new routes, even if Qurtubah's attention was as much fixed on the Christian kingdoms of the North. Irene's reign would also see a start of the Empire becoming one of the big "gunpowder empires" of the early modern era as the reformed tagmata, for its time, was a force with many gunpowder weapons with a tenth of all troops having gunpowder weapons.
Empress Irene in her personal life would also be a woman known for her patronage of the arts and scholarship, promoting the University of Constantinople and patronizing artists in the Empire. She would also marry the son of a powerful nobleman in an olive branch to the nobility with the two having a happy and productive marriage. In 1470, she would die after falling off her horse in a hunting accident with her successor being a distant cousin.
[21] Despite a productive marriage, none of Irene's children would survive her and so, the Throne of the Empire came to another descendent of Leopold; Gregory of Tusculum. The oldest daughter of Leopold and Sophia; Maria Felicitas had been married to Emmanuel II, the Duke of Savoy and had managed to give her husband a son and a daughter before her early death in 1409, and her son was Duke of Savoy as Emmanuel III between 1420 and his childless death in 1442. The daughter; Theophania, was also married to a strong Italian family; the Counts of Tusculum, where she gave birth to many children, most notably; count Tolomeo VI, count Albaric IV, Pope Felix VIII, Pope Adrian VI, and her youngest son; Gregory.
By 1465, the Family Compact between the three surviving sons, Albaric, Felix, and Gregory, determined that Gregory would inherit whatever claims and inheritance his mother brought into the dynasty, while Albaric would inherit the Family lands and Felix would bring whatever wealth he could to the Comital line of the family. No body expected Gregory to inherit much, as the Byzantine Hapsburg appeared strong and stable, but in 1468; the last child of Irene and her husband had died, thrusting Gregory into the position of heir.
With the death of Irene two years later, Gregory was crowned in Constantinople the following month, before bringing his wife and Children to his empire. Gregory 's main goals during his reign were to combat the corruption and nepotism of the Dynatoi; Irony at it's finest, as the Tusculum were a family forged through both acts. He led a largely peaceful reign, and in 1492, passed the throne to his son, Theodore.
[22] Theodore was born in 1458, before his father Gregory became Roman Emperor and was just an member of the Tusculms. He had a education fit more for an Italian noble then an future emperor. That all changed when his father became Emperor of Rhomania in 1470, and so Theodore became heir to the Roman Empire at the age of 12. Over the next 22 years, Theodore would learn anything he can on the politics and cultures of the Romans, even marring an Roman woman, who would give him six children.
In 1492, Theodore's father Gregory died at the age of 52, making him the new Emperor. A few years into his reign, Theodore heard news about a new landmass being discovered by Al-Andalusi explorers, which they called Ealam Jadid (meaning "new world" in Arabic). He then sent ships across the ocean to set up colonies in Ealam Jadid, with the first being founded in 1498 with the name of New Rhomania.
Besides the creation of Colonies in the New World, Theodore focused on patronage of the arts and education, and continuing to combat the corruption of the Dynatoi. He would die in 1518 at the age of 60, being succeeded by his son, Constantine.
[23] Born in 1485, the new Prince born to Crown Prince Theodore, was named after Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and moved the seat of the empire to Byzantium, renamed Constantinople in his honour; the name was chosen by Theodore’s wife to make the new family feel connected to the heritage of the Byzantine empire.
In 1506, Constantine married Augusta Notaras, daughter of General Augustus Notaras, descended from a Greek family originally from Monemvasia.
Constantine would succeed his father at the age of 33. During his reign, he would see the rise of Protestantism sweep across Europe, while Islam was spreading across the ocean to Ealam Jadid.
Carrying on his father’s colonisation of the New World, Constantine would encourage more Roman Orthodox Christians to travel and settle to Nova Rhomania.
Constantine would also setting up the “Knights of Constantine” a religious order that brought noble sons to become soldiers of Christ, given the responsibility of prosecuting individuals and groups of individuals accused of a wide array of crimes relating to religious doctrine, alternative religious doctrine and beliefs.
He died in his sleep, aged 61 years old and was succeeded by his son, Romanos.
[24] Prince Romanos was born on May 5, 1511 and would acceed to the throne at the age of 37 after the death of his father. As heir to the throne, Prince Romanos would prove to be a competent and capable Prince who would be a fitting heir to the throne after his father's death in 1548.
As Emperor, Romanos would be an effective and stable ruler, even if his reign was not one marked by any great achievements or disasters that would mar his reign with his reign being viewed by many historians as a continuation of his father's policies, even if he was less religiously devoted than his father with his reign being seen as an era of stability.
In his personal life, Prince Romanos would marry Eudoxia Komnenos in 1535 and would die at the age of 49 from syphilis, succeeded by his eldest son; Gregory.
[25] Gregory was the eldest son of Romanos V, but was of a simpler disposition. Gregory was more interested in tending to his small garden he cultivated in the Palatial Grounds, and on occasions when Diplomats and dignitaries would visit, he's happily spend hours showing off his price and joy to the visitors. Beloved by many, and largely left the reins of the Empire to his regent Romanos, who organised a system of bureaucrats to cope with the myriad provinces, offices, and more. At the age of thirty, Gregory was found dead one morning after having passed in his sleep.
[26] Romanos was born in 1538, the second son of Romanos V and Eudoxia Komnenos. Although only the second son, because of Gregory’s simpler disposition, Romanos had earned distinction as an excellent swordsman and his strong traits of chivalry and charisma, made him a great diplomat.
Upon the death of his father, his brother took the throne, but preferred to give the hard work to 22 year old Romanos, although would never give him the dignified title of co-emperor, simply calling him regent.
Romanos would be the one dealing out punishment and making the difficult decisions, while Gregory gardened.
During these diplomatic meetings, Romanos arranged himself to be married to Princess Lucrezia of Poland in 1564.
The days following the announcement of Gregory’s death, rumours began to circle that there was foul play, which Romanos quickly squashed and crowned himself Emperor on his 31st birthday.
For the next 45 years, Romanos was able to strengthen the interior running of the empire, with years of organising a system of bureaucrats, with strict scrutiny, checks and balances, which made the treasury and justice system work efficiently.
The colony of Nova Rhomania was becoming the largest land owner in the southern region of Ealam Jadid, and another settlement, Nova Constantinople was flourishing in the northern region.
Romanos was also able to gain land in Northern Africa between Milan’s Tripolitania and Ottoman’s Egypt, naming this colony egotistical, Romanos Libiya.
His death in 1604, followed a stroke, which left him unable to move. He was surround by his wife, children and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Anastasia.
[27] Princess Anastasia was born on May 5, 1585 as the first of the two daughters of Crown Prince Nicephorus and his wife and would grow up to be an intelligent and forceful woman, a worthy successor to Emperor Romanos upon his death in 1604 after a stroke brought upon by news Prince Nicephorus had fallen off his horse and broke his neck a few months earlier had paralyzed him.
At the age of 19, Anastasia would be acclaimed as the Empress and Autocrat of the Romans and would reign for the next 46 years. As Empress, her reign would be marked by large-scale wars against the Persia-centered Ottoman Empire with the Empress waging several wars against the Ottomans which saw Syria be taken by the Empire and Rhomania reach its early modern height stretching from Bosnia to Syria and with expanding colonies in Atlantis (as the New World would be known in much of Christendom).
In times of peace, she would be a ruler known for her patronage of the arts and scholars and her support for the development of the economy and state, along with her relative toleration of non-Orthodox religious groups within the Empire. However, she would also be known for her autocratic leadership style and large-scale reorganization of the government to centralize authority in the monarch.
In her personal life, she would be known for her reported bisexuality but would have a happy marriage with her husband, a distant Tusculum cousin. She would die on November 1, 1650 at the age of 65 after being found in her bed by a guard with sources indicating she died in an aneurysm in her sleep. She would be succeeded by Nikephoros, her son.
[28] Nikephoros was born in 1608 as the first child of Empress Anatasia, and grew up to be an intelligent and forceful man like his mother. He married an Russian princess named Elena and five children with her. He was acclaimed as the Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans in 1650 at the age of 42, following the death of his mother.
His reign would see several wars against the Muslim powers including the Atlantian War, where the Christian powers took a couple of colonies from countires like the Ottoman Empire. Rhomania's gains would be the Al-Andalusi colonies of Gharnatat Aliadida and 'Ard Muhamad, which they rename to Nova Athens and Anatasiapoli. While during times of peace, Nikephoros promoted the development of education and the economy, and was tolerent of non-Orthodox religious groups like his mother.
An important event during Nikephoros IV's reign was the first constituent Kingdom being estabslished with his brother Constantine becoming the first King of Greece.
Nikephoros died in 1678 at the age 70, surrounded by his family, with his last words being "May the Empire live on forever". His successor was his eldest son, Theodore.
[29] Emperor Theodore was born in 1638, the eldest of Nikephoros and Elena’s five children, a promising youth, taking on many of his father’s traits.
At the age of 25, he married a distant Hungarian cousin, Anna Habsburg, who many historians agree that like her sisters, she was unable to conceive a child.
Theodore became a renowned womaniser, and would acknowledged at least 36 illegitimate children by various mistresses, with many more rumoured to be his, including a few wives of military and aristocratic figures.
He succeeded his father, just after his 40th birthday, enjoying an elaborate military themed coronation and would spend most of his reign concentrating on increasing the military and naval size and quality.
It was following a fifth day of military drill which he rode in the rain, Theodore became severely ill and died without legitimate issue, two days later, of pneumonia in 1680, aged 41, three months before his 2nd year on the throne and before his 42nd birthday. He was succeeded by his nephew, Andronicus.
[30] Prince Andronicus was the nephew of Emperor Theodore, being born on May 6, 1667 as the oldest son of Prince Alexios and would become heir to the throne after Prince Alexios died in 1679 from an accident involving the firing of a new cannon which exploded, killing Prince Alexios. This, with his uncle childless, would make Andronicus the new Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans.
While a conspiracy by elements of the dynatoi trying to name one of Theodore's bastards as the new Roman Emperor would occur, it would be quashed by the Megas Domestikos, Nicephorus Ypsilantis, who, along with his mother Theodora, would be the power behind the young Emperor with the Emperor marrying Nicephorus' daughter Sophia in 1688 with the two falling in love.
As an Emperor, Andronicus II would be a competent and effective Emperor, albeit one who focused mostly on domestic matters during his reign with his reign being seen as many as a golden age for the Empire, even if he had a reputation as a brutal tyrant who was always paranoid about the dynatoi's supposed plots to overthrow him.
Andronicus would die in 1715 from what some historians would argue was a sudden illness and what others would argue was the result of someone fearing he would be purged soon poisoning him. He would be succeeded by his son Nikephoros.