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Alright, so these next posts were originally one big post, but it looked 'choppy' to me, so I'm going to slip it up into several updates.

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It is 1344. After 3 years of a grueling, intense, brutal conflict, the Second Palaiologoi Civil war is finally over. Peace however brief it may be, returns to the Empire of the Romans. And though bloodied from the time of war, the imperium stands united and optimistic; a new era is dawning with fresh minds in charge, ready to meet the needs of a changing world. When the world moves on, Rhomania will not be left behind.

Let us look forward a decade later. We see that after the dramatic upheavals faced in the past few decades that saw catastrophic loss in wealth and men in the empire, things are finally starting to cool down and settle into a more acceptable pace. With popular support, a competent government, and neighbors that were more preoccupied with their own affairs than disrupting the imperials, the Roman empire would finally enter a period of brief, yet vital rest and recovery. During this period, the crucial reforms that had been at the minds of many would be laid out to the benefit of the empire. Said reforms were primarily focused on rooting out the pressing issues that plagued the state: a weak economy, an impoverished tax base, a demolished industry and a nearly nonexistent commercial sector. By the time conflict once again broke out and the empire intervened in the Third Venetian-Genoese War, a new creature had replaced the one the world had come to know.

Nearly every facet of the empire would come to be altered in the decade that had passed since the end of the Second Palaiologian Civil War: Economics, living standards, finances, military readiness, manpower, the navy, the cities, diplomacy, the guilds, and even the church. The Apokaoukan reforms, implemented swiftly in the end of 1343 had done much to restructure the empire in a positive way. Imperial finances had noticeably increased and the destitution that so very much characterized the late empire began to give way little by little. A glimmer of hope appeared in the empire. Please note however, that despite the large progress these changes had, it was still too early for Constantinople to have bounced back to her former glory. The army was tiny, the navy equally so and it was with great difficulty that the imperial coffers were able to be filled. Like a patient just coming into rehabilitation, there was still much more progress to be made, but the worst had passed.

To better grasp at the multitude of development that had occurred, it has been decided to categorize the internal and external modifications of the state by category. Therefore, this update will tackle what has changed on a subject by subject basis.

Finances:

In the efforts at achieving their most pressing needs- a means to increase the wealth of the empire- the Apokaukan reforms were largely successful in achieving that. The policies put in place, such as the establishment of the Imperial Roman Trading Company (a state owned enterprise that ensured government monopoly on external trading) [1] and the expansion of the merchant navy did well to bring in much needed coin.

Especially the latter. The Roman naval expansion (both in terms of warships and the merchant navy) over the past decade was critical in bringing in what Apokaukos had promised:a taste of the wealth that Venice and Genoa enjoyed from trade (and of course, loot from joining in pirate raids- one mustn’t forget about that). This was done by not only increasing the size of the navy and its personnel but also by expanding the presence of Roman merchants primarily in the Aegean and Black Seas. (Roman merchants, like the Venetians in the 11th century seemed to have had a fear of going into places they didn’t know too well) As well, the diplomatic arrangements with the Aydinid Emirate (and by proxy the beylik of Saruhan) ensured that piracy against Roman vessels was at an all time low while providing another excellent source of wealth: Piracy. Roman sailors often joined in with the emirates on raids against Christian shipping in the Aegean. (Later on as the Aydinids grew rich from their plunder and gained better fleets and naval bases of their own, these raids expanded their operations into the Eastern Mediterranean.) A risky yet rewarding proposition.

One must note that yes, this did infuriate the Italian merchants in the region as competition increased, but it fortunately did not lead to war with the Venetians or the Genoese or whoever due to a fortunate combination of external factors. Beginning with the expulsion of the Venetians from the Golden Horde in 1341, relations between the two states had yet again started to plummet and a state of low level undeclared war started up. It was seen as inevitable that a proper war would form, so the two attempted to avoid as many ‘unnecessary distractions’ until the next round of conflict began. In any case, Rome had found her trade presence began to increase, and with the additional money flowing into imperial coffers from this trade, efforts at improving infrastructure, internal trade, industry and agricultural yields.

However, there was another source of important income that came throughout the decade, ironically enough from the Merchant republics that were so often accused of taking away what money should be flowing into Constantinople's coffers. Much like the Regency victory of the Regency faction in the Second Palaiologian civil war, this was not due to any imperial efforts, but rather a pleasant source of international affairs; in 1341, the Khanate of the Golden Horde had banished Venetian Merchants from its realm after a diplomatic crises that resulted in the Venetian Navy attempting to firebomb the Genoese Colonies at the Crimea. While they were largely successful in their goal, many important nobles in the Khanate had been killed. Enraged, the Khan banned all Venetian merchants from his realm and forbid any sales to the merchant republic. [2] What this meant that Venice’s primary source of cheap grain had been cut off, and prices skyrocketed in the city. In responce, Venice had to obtain grain from different sources: Egypt noticeably, but also in fertile areas of Greece and Thrace. Much to the delight of farmers and merchants within the empire, demand for grain had grown considerably, and so had their profits in time. Profits which then flowed into the cities to the eventual benefit of all.

This admittedly raises the question of how did the average person benefit from all this? The answer is very much. As previously stated, the average peasant in the Late Roman Empire was much more poorer than his counterpart in say, 1000 AD. Crippling high taxes, frequent wars that led to economic disruption, poor infrastructure, and reduction in average field sizes had led a very sizable reduction in GDP per capita. With the ease in the tax burden and generous land reform policy, the troubles that had plagued the peasants began to go away. To the average peasant, this was a Godsend and easily the greatest period to be living in for a lower class Roman since the Late Komnenoi, maybe even the Macedonian Dynasty. With their tax rate finally decreased (although not that much, lowering taxes to a non oppressive rate would bankrupt the state, still it was a noticeable decrease that allowed them to save some coins) and a generous land reform policy sponsored by the imperial government, the chance of renting and owning land skyrocketed. But there lies one more benefit in this period, and that is a rise in wages. Because just like nearly everywhere else in Europe, with the passing of the Black Plague came a labor shortage that meant demand for labor increased. And when demand increases, prices rise. [3] The culmination of all these factors meant an increase in the standard of living for the oppressed masses.

Apokaukos’ government had gambled that having access to a larger tax base via land distribution, confiscation of property, land sales and trade increases would be enough to make up for the ease in the tax burden in the long run. And in this case, it worked out. Rising grain prices, shrinking poverty, a tightening of legal loopholes and tax exemptions, and the increase in trade both in the empire and outside it allowed the empire to managed to obtain much needed funds in ways that did not involve brutalizing the lower classes. And with the government placated for the time being (and still fearful of revolution against the new boss) the lower classes were left alone to prosper. And slowly yet surely they did. These effects would take decades to be fully realized, but every year led to more and more growth, and therefore more and more wealth piling up.

The government on the other hand was a bit less enthusiastic. The simple reason for that is despite all of the new laws and strategies and government actions, there simply wasn’t as much of a gain for the empire as originally expected. While yes, the initial phase of the Renovation did great with land reform and establishing the navy, as well as increasing the amount of troops these things didn’t give the government what it really wanted: a larger treasury. State funds were indeed higher, but due to a myriad of factors (mainly rising costs in supporting the navy and attempting to refortify) they weren’t that much higher than the last days of Andronikos II, and therefore, criminally underfunded. The Black Death and its robbing of taxpayers would see to that. Combined with all the other projects that the state had in mind meant that the Roman state was increasingly desperate for cash and had to resort to more... unorthodox methods of obtaining wealth. Mainly, this was done through looting; either from attacking shipping, or raiding someone else like a beylik or Latin crusader states.

This does in turn raise of could the empire get away with that? The answer is with some ingenious diplomacy and underhanded tactics. Recall that after the Smyrniote Crusade, the Beylik of Aydin had once more regained control of Smyrna thanks to Roman aid. In exchange for this, the alliance between the two powers was renewed and trading rights were obtained. Thanks to this, Roman sailors and ships would be able to join in on Aydinid raids all across the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, bringing in some much needed coin to the coffers back in Constantinople. Even better, thanks to often joining in the Aydinids, Byzantine sailors were able to walk away from the raids without Constantinople being suspected of involvement in many cases. This of course was a highly risky proposition and at several times inflicted retribution from other powers, but the Romans managed to stay under the radar most of the time. Thanks to the combination of all the above factors, imperial finances managed to be *relatively* stable for the next decade.


[1] The Roman Empire had a disdain for capitalism in general, but overall it seemed to have an avid distaste for what we would call corporations; judging on how hostile writers were to the Genoese, who ran their trading as private enterprise. This, combined with a government that is paranoid on keeping its monopoly on wealth and power, stands to reason that should they try to expand into the realm of capitalism, would do so in a manner they’d feel safest about.

[2]: Happened in OTL and yes the Venetians did start buying from the Empire. Also ITTL, the rather brutal purge of nobility, their drastic weakening in terms of monetary assets and general population loss means people in the empire just aren’t spending as much money on Venetian luxury goods such as cloth and spices (a major source of income for Venice OTL). This means that in addition to having to spend more money on their enemies, the Venetians are making less of a profit from the Romans. Not a favorable trade balance and not one they can really rectify with war.

[3] This also has the wonderful effect of slowing down old displaced nobles from bouncing back so quickly as their would be serfs and tenants now have much more bargaining power.
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