An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Ah yes, the War of the First Coalition. Where a young naval upstart Leo Kalomeros astounds the world and begins his Army career.
But I reckon a more likely outcome of the Triunes gobbling the Western half of the HRE is a TTL Grand Alliance, if we’re going to go with OTL Louis XIV parallels.
Thus ends another plot arc for this timeline and for another to begin in the next updates to come. The old guard has been shifted and the new blood will enter the fray. It's gonna be hell for Rhome's enemies shpuld this War of Wrath occur.
Yeah she's married to Alexandros Drakos to tie up that loose dynastic end. They already have a kid, too. I'm afraid Kalomeros will have to look for love elsewhere.
Wonder if he can marry into Mexican nobility. Is there a spare daughter of the king of Mexico we can ship him with?
Cryostorm
Monthly Donor
Honestly, even if they lose TTL South America I think they should focus on dominating the Pacific coast of Terranova and the Rockies. Maybe support some of the plains peoples to keep the Triunes from going too far past the Mississippi.I hope to see a map of Terranova soon (I forgot the name of the southern part) Mexico should be huge at this point, didn't they annex the Incans? If they keep it together they'll be a force to be reckon with even beyond their continent.
Have the Mexicans expanded North to the OTL 1835 borders yet? Are they gonna become like TTL's equivalent of Russia? Is a descendant of Andreas I still on the throne?
I also forget what form the initial conquest took. Was it similar to the Norman conquest of England (with the conquerors becoming the ruling class rather than destroying the culture almost entirely)?
I also forget what form the initial conquest took. Was it similar to the Norman conquest of England (with the conquerors becoming the ruling class rather than destroying the culture almost entirely)?
@Execubitor168: That’s a big question that I think I’ll cover in more detail as part of or as one of the upcoming topical updates, since the topical ones are focused on internal Roman workings.
@Cryostorm: The War of the Roman Succession is over, the War of the (Holy) Roman Succession is about to begin…
Agreed. This is the point where ‘breaking the cycle’ starts seriously conflicting with the demands of realpolitik.
That’s far in the future, and Mexico IOTL was fighting nomadic tribes well before the US got involved. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was fighting the Apache before the Thirteen Colonies even numbered thirteen.
@HanEmpire: Yeah, Elizabeth is not in a happy place right now. The EAN is planning to get in on the action. Schleswig-Holstein is a Wittelsbach holding and the Danes want it back. And wouldn’t mind a little resurrection of Valdemar II’s realm while they’re at it.
@catconqueror: There will be burning.
@InMediasRes: The HRE+Lotharingia in 1630 would’ve been enough to hold back even this big of a Triune army. But now…only a serious coalition could.
@Antony444: Yeah, this whole thing is turning into a mess of epic proportions.
Such maps may be possible, although I’d recommend buttering up @DracoLazarus. He made the recent maps. I’m speculating on regional updates on both India and Island Asia so those would be good places for said maps.
@Βοανηργές: After? Why have a revolution after the war when one can have one during? It saves time…
@Grammar Kaiser: This wasn’t planned when I set out on this plot arc, but it is fun to look at see that both Italy and Germany are now playing with the OTL Byzantine idiot ball of making power plays with each other while foreign invaders burn down the provinces.
Triumphs are certainly possible. There was a big one ways back when Venice fell to Andreas I.
The Mexicans aren’t even close to the 1835 borders; the OTL state of Durango is roughly the northern outpost of the Empire of Mexico. I have big plans for future Mexican history but don’t want to spoil them. The current Emperor of Mexico, David III Komnenos, is a direct male descendant of Andreas Niketas via his youngest son David ‘the Great’.
It was an invasion that whacked the ruling class (the Aztecs) and took their place, but didn’t destroy the underlying society. In Mexico, the descendants of the conquistadors are the upper tier of Mexican society, with substantial intermarriage with the native nobility. Note how the Mexican admiral commanding the fleet that attacked Jamaica was the descendant of a conquistador and Tlaxcallan nobility.
@Arrix85: It’s a combination of using what he has, but it is also a message to Demetrios III. The Flanders army is the one facing the biggest challenges and is also the high priority. Flanders is worth a lot more than Lorraine or the Franche-Comte.
A map of Terranova may be possible (the existence of maps is predicated on me convincing somebody to make them for me). The south part is just South Terranova, much as it’s just North and South Terranova, although I don’t think I ever specified that.
And they did annex the Incans, although they’re still in the process of securing and pacifying all that territory.
@Duke of Nova Scotia: Yeah, Demetrios III would be an absolutely terrible warrior-Emperor, but as an administrator-Emperor, he’s one of the best.
Elizabeth is going to be extremely important going forward.
@Evilprodigy: The Rhine basin is definitely a big deal ITTL. It’s been prominent as far back as pre-POD days. ITTL this is the third go the Triunes have taken at Lotharingia with the lower Rhine as their primary focus. The first was in the latter 1500s and the second is only 15-20 years ago. In both cases it was the Holy Roman Emperors who eventually smacked the Triunes back and that’s been a key factor in the Lotharingian defense planning. Obviously there are serious issues with that strategy now.
Getting his hands on the Lower Rhine is Henri’s primary item on his wish list. It supersedes absolutely everything else, and even if that’s the only thing he gets out of this, it’ll be worth it.
@ImperatorAlexander: The Triunes are well developed in terms of logistics, organization, and finances too. They have the tour system (based on the tourmai) for recruiting soldiers. The Triune armies now look a lot like the Roman armies in late 1632/early 1633. There are long term professional soldiers acting as the core for much newer recruits that are green but have at least some training. The Triunes are using their tours exactly as the Romans use their sleeping tourmai. Some tours are kept at full strength but the bulk have a fraction manned with professional soldiers. When the time comes, the tour fills up with recruits from its district with the professionals drilling and corseting the new recruits.
The Romans don’t have a generic ‘Marshal’ equivalent. There are the Strategoi and Domestikoi but the ranks are tied to specific commands. Monomakos was promoted to ‘Master of Sieges’, which is the highest rank an artillery officer can make, but it is a specialized rank. That may change in the future though as Rhomania gets used to fielding larger army; the widespread use of brevet ranks because of the expanded tagmata and multiple detached forces is a step in that direction.
@Lascaris: Yeah, the Triunes are entering ‘Louis XIV’ level territory in terms of capabilities.
@HanEmpire: There’s the 150,000 in the three field armies as of now, but there’s also the Army of the Center. Just like the Romans who were gradually adding new tourmai even after the big surge, the Triunes will be drawing in more men. But the 150,000 men have to be paid and fed even if they’re just sitting around and they’re more than enough to get started.
She’s married to Alexandros Drakos with a daughter by him (who is currently planned to be engaged to her first cousin, the son of Odysseus by Maria of Agra). Hitching Alexandros Drakos with his superb blood claim to the Roman throne to the Sideros family was a necessity.
@Babyrage: No, Leo Kalomeros will lead a combined Roman-Spanish Armada that will invade England in an operation dubbed ‘Sea Lion’ by Demetrios III…
So positively anti-sorry…
@TheWanderingReader: It’s going to be very messy.
@JohnSmith: I think they’d have a hard time mustering up the patriotic impetus to make that work. The peasants have had just about enough of all this.
@Bergioyn: Pretty much.
@Curtain Jerker: Possibly. Although at this point he’s still just a rather successful and promising naval lieutenant, so he’s not going to be marrying into royalty anytime soon.
@andry2806: They did, back in 1618.
FYI, I was going through my notes for the TL (for a different topic) and while doing so noticed my 16th century population figures for Russia. Based on that, I’m going to be ret-conning Russian population figures for now (1635). The exact new figures won’t be stated until the planned geographical episode on Russia, but they will be going up substantially.
Those interested in TTL Mexico should take a look at the special Megas Kyr update on Patreon ‘A Samurai in the Sunset Lands’. It goes into more detail regarding the nature of the Empire of Mexico at this point in the TL.
Speaking of Megas Kyr, Chapter 3 of A New and Ancient World has been posted, in which the Roman expedition begins learning a bit more of this new world they’ve entered. The next special update will return to the ‘real’ Age of Miracles world, with a look at one of the women who dressed up as men to fight for the Empire in the Great Latin War.
@Cryostorm: The War of the Roman Succession is over, the War of the (Holy) Roman Succession is about to begin…
Agreed. This is the point where ‘breaking the cycle’ starts seriously conflicting with the demands of realpolitik.
That’s far in the future, and Mexico IOTL was fighting nomadic tribes well before the US got involved. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was fighting the Apache before the Thirteen Colonies even numbered thirteen.
@HanEmpire: Yeah, Elizabeth is not in a happy place right now. The EAN is planning to get in on the action. Schleswig-Holstein is a Wittelsbach holding and the Danes want it back. And wouldn’t mind a little resurrection of Valdemar II’s realm while they’re at it.
@catconqueror: There will be burning.
@InMediasRes: The HRE+Lotharingia in 1630 would’ve been enough to hold back even this big of a Triune army. But now…only a serious coalition could.
@Antony444: Yeah, this whole thing is turning into a mess of epic proportions.
Such maps may be possible, although I’d recommend buttering up @DracoLazarus. He made the recent maps. I’m speculating on regional updates on both India and Island Asia so those would be good places for said maps.
@Βοανηργές: After? Why have a revolution after the war when one can have one during? It saves time…
@Grammar Kaiser: This wasn’t planned when I set out on this plot arc, but it is fun to look at see that both Italy and Germany are now playing with the OTL Byzantine idiot ball of making power plays with each other while foreign invaders burn down the provinces.
Triumphs are certainly possible. There was a big one ways back when Venice fell to Andreas I.
The Mexicans aren’t even close to the 1835 borders; the OTL state of Durango is roughly the northern outpost of the Empire of Mexico. I have big plans for future Mexican history but don’t want to spoil them. The current Emperor of Mexico, David III Komnenos, is a direct male descendant of Andreas Niketas via his youngest son David ‘the Great’.
It was an invasion that whacked the ruling class (the Aztecs) and took their place, but didn’t destroy the underlying society. In Mexico, the descendants of the conquistadors are the upper tier of Mexican society, with substantial intermarriage with the native nobility. Note how the Mexican admiral commanding the fleet that attacked Jamaica was the descendant of a conquistador and Tlaxcallan nobility.
@Arrix85: It’s a combination of using what he has, but it is also a message to Demetrios III. The Flanders army is the one facing the biggest challenges and is also the high priority. Flanders is worth a lot more than Lorraine or the Franche-Comte.
A map of Terranova may be possible (the existence of maps is predicated on me convincing somebody to make them for me). The south part is just South Terranova, much as it’s just North and South Terranova, although I don’t think I ever specified that.
And they did annex the Incans, although they’re still in the process of securing and pacifying all that territory.
@Duke of Nova Scotia: Yeah, Demetrios III would be an absolutely terrible warrior-Emperor, but as an administrator-Emperor, he’s one of the best.
Elizabeth is going to be extremely important going forward.
@Evilprodigy: The Rhine basin is definitely a big deal ITTL. It’s been prominent as far back as pre-POD days. ITTL this is the third go the Triunes have taken at Lotharingia with the lower Rhine as their primary focus. The first was in the latter 1500s and the second is only 15-20 years ago. In both cases it was the Holy Roman Emperors who eventually smacked the Triunes back and that’s been a key factor in the Lotharingian defense planning. Obviously there are serious issues with that strategy now.
Getting his hands on the Lower Rhine is Henri’s primary item on his wish list. It supersedes absolutely everything else, and even if that’s the only thing he gets out of this, it’ll be worth it.
@ImperatorAlexander: The Triunes are well developed in terms of logistics, organization, and finances too. They have the tour system (based on the tourmai) for recruiting soldiers. The Triune armies now look a lot like the Roman armies in late 1632/early 1633. There are long term professional soldiers acting as the core for much newer recruits that are green but have at least some training. The Triunes are using their tours exactly as the Romans use their sleeping tourmai. Some tours are kept at full strength but the bulk have a fraction manned with professional soldiers. When the time comes, the tour fills up with recruits from its district with the professionals drilling and corseting the new recruits.
The Romans don’t have a generic ‘Marshal’ equivalent. There are the Strategoi and Domestikoi but the ranks are tied to specific commands. Monomakos was promoted to ‘Master of Sieges’, which is the highest rank an artillery officer can make, but it is a specialized rank. That may change in the future though as Rhomania gets used to fielding larger army; the widespread use of brevet ranks because of the expanded tagmata and multiple detached forces is a step in that direction.
@Lascaris: Yeah, the Triunes are entering ‘Louis XIV’ level territory in terms of capabilities.
@HanEmpire: There’s the 150,000 in the three field armies as of now, but there’s also the Army of the Center. Just like the Romans who were gradually adding new tourmai even after the big surge, the Triunes will be drawing in more men. But the 150,000 men have to be paid and fed even if they’re just sitting around and they’re more than enough to get started.
She’s married to Alexandros Drakos with a daughter by him (who is currently planned to be engaged to her first cousin, the son of Odysseus by Maria of Agra). Hitching Alexandros Drakos with his superb blood claim to the Roman throne to the Sideros family was a necessity.
@Babyrage: No, Leo Kalomeros will lead a combined Roman-Spanish Armada that will invade England in an operation dubbed ‘Sea Lion’ by Demetrios III…
So positively anti-sorry…
@TheWanderingReader: It’s going to be very messy.
@JohnSmith: I think they’d have a hard time mustering up the patriotic impetus to make that work. The peasants have had just about enough of all this.
@Bergioyn: Pretty much.
@Curtain Jerker: Possibly. Although at this point he’s still just a rather successful and promising naval lieutenant, so he’s not going to be marrying into royalty anytime soon.
@andry2806: They did, back in 1618.
FYI, I was going through my notes for the TL (for a different topic) and while doing so noticed my 16th century population figures for Russia. Based on that, I’m going to be ret-conning Russian population figures for now (1635). The exact new figures won’t be stated until the planned geographical episode on Russia, but they will be going up substantially.
Those interested in TTL Mexico should take a look at the special Megas Kyr update on Patreon ‘A Samurai in the Sunset Lands’. It goes into more detail regarding the nature of the Empire of Mexico at this point in the TL.
Speaking of Megas Kyr, Chapter 3 of A New and Ancient World has been posted, in which the Roman expedition begins learning a bit more of this new world they’ve entered. The next special update will return to the ‘real’ Age of Miracles world, with a look at one of the women who dressed up as men to fight for the Empire in the Great Latin War.
I wonder how economic theory would develop in Rhomania, with their general distrust of foreigners, and seemingly great need to keep the rich on a leash, I'm having the thought that Rhomania is probably gonna develop an economic theory similar to dirigisme, where the state has heavy interventions in the market, correcting market failures and all that.
Cryostorm
Monthly Donor
Not to mention extensive welfare systems. This is a nation that is descended from "Bread and Circuses" Rome, they know the value of giving a minimum of support to keep the populace happy and productive. I could easily see them being a mix of modern Sweden and China when it comes to social and economic policies.
I wonder if the Egyptians have reached aswan yet.
Then again, their reputation for incompetence is second to none (would be a funny stereotype if it remains to present day).
Then again, their reputation for incompetence is second to none (would be a funny stereotype if it remains to present day).
I meant for the entire TL (both the first thread and this one).