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Chapter 78: Komnenian Rhomania
Hello there, we are returning again to the hegemon of the Eastern Mediterranean, to the Rhomaic Empire. The realm to thirds of the Haemos[1] Peninsula, as well as Anatolia. Imperial possessions include also large parts of northwestern Syria; Cyrenaica and the southernmost tips of Italy, as well as parts of the Taurican [2] coastline.
With the Rhomaic Empire being Rhomaic Empire, unsurprisingly, new problems with heretics arise. These are the result of an earlier resettlement of Paulicians in Thrace. The Paulicians are a Gnostic denomination, originally from the regions of Roman Armenia and have caused quite a lot of trouble. Significant numbers of them have been deported to the Rhodope Mountains; however, dissatisfied Slavic inhabitants of Karvuna[3] or Paristrion rapidly adopting this new faith (also as a means of reasserting their own identity vis-à-vis the imperial Rhoman one.
View attachment 510165
Beige is Paulicianism
Paulician ideas continue to spread from here into Bosnia, where they become known as the Patarenes. Paulicians (Pavličani) were openly persecuted, and the Komnenian emperors had them burnt at the stake, as they considered them to be Manicheans.
The reign of John II. Komnenos was a relatively long one (1118-1143), and was distinguished by his lack of cruelty. He was nicknamed as John the Good, or the Second Marcus Aurelius. The northern frontiers, threatened by the Pechenegs, were fortified again.
During the reign of John II. Komnenos, the Rhomaics conquered the Beqaa Valley around the city of Zahle, as well as Damascus. Fruther fortifications were built on the Danube frontiers, while in the west, the Rhomaics conquered the Duchy of Salerno, thus consolidating their south Italian holdings.
Under the rule of the following Emperor, Manuel Komnenos, the Rhomaic Empire conquers Serbia and Croatia, as well as Bosnia. The northern limits of the Empire are thus found on the Kupa-Sava-Danube line; with Slavonia remaining as a Hungarian march.
View attachment 510167
A political map of the Empire
With a powerful and capable navy, Manuel launched an invasion on Sicily, seeking to restore Rhomaic rule on the island. The Tafircans, allied to Kemet, sought to halt any further Rhomaic expansion on the African soil. To counter the Copts, Manuel allied with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. While Rhomaic forces suffered defeat under the Libyan sun, the naval battle of Lampedusa proved the superiority of the Rhomaic navy, and opened up the path for a Rhomaic conquest of the island, which then offered little to no resistance.
Twelfth century Rhomania sees a period of prosperity and population growth, with new villages being founded in the rural regions of Anatolia. Furthermore, many cities, such as Thessaloniki and Antioch experience growth, multiplying their size two or even threefold.
Emperor Manuel Komnenos
Peoples of the Empire
The Rhomaic Empire remains a multi-ethnic state; however the Greeks form over a half of the population of the Empire. The Greeks live in the heartland of the Empire: in Thrace, peninsular Greece and Anatolia, as well as Cyrenaica and parts of southern Italy and Sicily. With Greek being the language of state administration, of the army and liturgy, it has made significant advances, surpassing other languages in favour of Greek. Apart from standard Greek, divergent Hellenic languages include Pontic Greek (to be found along the north Anatolian Coast, as well as on the Black Sea coast of Taurica), Cappadocian Greek (at the northern foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Anatolia) and Italiot Greek (in Calabria, Apulia and western Sicily). Furthermore, there is also Cypriot, which developed independently from the rest of the Empire, and then Cyrenaic Greek on the North African coast and Antiochian Greek in Syria. The mountainous Peloponnesus has also resulted in isolated Hellenophone populations of Maniots (in the southern tip of the peninsula) and Tsakonians (in the eastern coast). These two languages are thought to be the descendant of the ancient Doric language of Sparta.
View attachment 510166
Languages of the Empire
The Slavs form a considerable minority in the northern provinces. Primarily the Karvunians in the Diocese of Paristrion[4], who have faced severe persecution after adopting the Paulician heresy, and then the Croats and Serbs in the newly acquired regions of former Roman Dalmatia. By this time, any further Slavic presence in Anatolia or further southwards was assimilated into Greek, or Vlach, or perhaps living as isolated pockets in an otherwise Greek environment.
The Romance peoples living within the borders of the empire are usually classified as either “Latins” (to relate to southern Italians, Sicilians and Dalmatians) or Vlachs (the bluk of Peninsular East Romance speakers), who are sometimes divided into Moesian Vlachs, Dacian Vlachs and Macedonian Vlachs. While it is acknowledged that also the Vlachs speak a dialect of Latin, generally the Latins are considered to be civilized, but the Vlachs are viewed as tough shepherds, who are suited excellently for warfare in mountainous terrain.
Armenians living within the borders of the Empire have, for the gross part, come under the jurisdiction of the Rhomaic Church; and many, apart from those in the close proximity of the eastern borders, also assimilated into Rhomaic culture, with their names being sometimes the only memory of their Armenian heritage.
The Syriacs are still a considerable minority in the Empire; apart from the newly acquired city of Damascus, the gross majority of Syriac-speaking subjects of the Empire are now under the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, rather than the Syriac Jacobite Church. The area has been considerably depopulated during the wars of the Seljuk invasion and then again during the Rhomaic reconquest.
The Arnautes[5] continue to inhabit the northern parts of Epirus; with a lifestyle very similar to the Vlachs. Other groups which do appear in demographic surveys are “Iberians”, that is Kartvelian-speaking Lazes, living to the east of Trebizond; and occasionally there are mentions of peculiar transhumance shepherds and nomads in Anatolia, who speak a peculiar tongue, thought once to have been around in the area. In general, these tribes are on the margin of extinction. Their differing religious identity (Paulicianism), means that they are likely to resist assimilation for quite some time. But will they escape eprsecution from the Patriarch of Constantinople?
The Jews are no longer regarded as an ethnic group, but are rather viewed as a religious group; and usually, four different Jewish peoples are described. Firstly, the Rhomaniote Jews, who have integrated into Rhomaic (Greek) society, speak a variant of the Greek language and can be found in the core areas of the Empire. Then, secondly, we have the Syrian Jews (mainly in Aleppo and Damascus), speaking a form of Aramaic. Thirdly, there are Italiot Jews from southern Italy, and finally Moesian Jews living Paristrion, who have adopted the Vlach language for everyday communication.
Rhomaic Military
The Empire has managed to greatly reorganize its army. The elite units of the army include the Varangian Guard (originally recruited from Vikings and Russians, now perhaps considered to be the successor of the Praetorian Guard in imperial Rome), the Immortals heavy cavalry, and the Archontoupouli (consisting of the sons of dead officers). Also famous are Kataphraktoi heavy cavalry, recruited mainly from Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly and the Marmarian provinces in Anatolia, then the Trebizond Archers and Vardariotes (horse archers from among the Steppe peoples stationed in Macedonia, but also from Paristrion). Another cavalry type were the koursores, roughly corresponding to central European Hussars.
View attachment 510168
Rhomaic cataphracts
Standard infantry units would include hoplites (heavy infantry), peltasts (javelin throwers), and the psiloi (unarmoured light infantry).
The top commander bore the title of Megas Domestikos, next inline was the Protostrator. Individual field armies were led by the strategos. The smallest tactical unit was the allagion, perhaps some 400 men strong, led by an allagator (not an alligator).
[1] Balkan
[2] Crimea
[3] Bulgarians living in the Paristrion region (Lower Moesia)
[4] The rump of the Bulgarian nation
[5] Albanians
With the Rhomaic Empire being Rhomaic Empire, unsurprisingly, new problems with heretics arise. These are the result of an earlier resettlement of Paulicians in Thrace. The Paulicians are a Gnostic denomination, originally from the regions of Roman Armenia and have caused quite a lot of trouble. Significant numbers of them have been deported to the Rhodope Mountains; however, dissatisfied Slavic inhabitants of Karvuna[3] or Paristrion rapidly adopting this new faith (also as a means of reasserting their own identity vis-à-vis the imperial Rhoman one.
View attachment 510165
Beige is Paulicianism
Paulician ideas continue to spread from here into Bosnia, where they become known as the Patarenes. Paulicians (Pavličani) were openly persecuted, and the Komnenian emperors had them burnt at the stake, as they considered them to be Manicheans.
The reign of John II. Komnenos was a relatively long one (1118-1143), and was distinguished by his lack of cruelty. He was nicknamed as John the Good, or the Second Marcus Aurelius. The northern frontiers, threatened by the Pechenegs, were fortified again.
During the reign of John II. Komnenos, the Rhomaics conquered the Beqaa Valley around the city of Zahle, as well as Damascus. Fruther fortifications were built on the Danube frontiers, while in the west, the Rhomaics conquered the Duchy of Salerno, thus consolidating their south Italian holdings.
Under the rule of the following Emperor, Manuel Komnenos, the Rhomaic Empire conquers Serbia and Croatia, as well as Bosnia. The northern limits of the Empire are thus found on the Kupa-Sava-Danube line; with Slavonia remaining as a Hungarian march.
View attachment 510167
A political map of the Empire
With a powerful and capable navy, Manuel launched an invasion on Sicily, seeking to restore Rhomaic rule on the island. The Tafircans, allied to Kemet, sought to halt any further Rhomaic expansion on the African soil. To counter the Copts, Manuel allied with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. While Rhomaic forces suffered defeat under the Libyan sun, the naval battle of Lampedusa proved the superiority of the Rhomaic navy, and opened up the path for a Rhomaic conquest of the island, which then offered little to no resistance.
Twelfth century Rhomania sees a period of prosperity and population growth, with new villages being founded in the rural regions of Anatolia. Furthermore, many cities, such as Thessaloniki and Antioch experience growth, multiplying their size two or even threefold.
Emperor Manuel Komnenos
Peoples of the Empire
The Rhomaic Empire remains a multi-ethnic state; however the Greeks form over a half of the population of the Empire. The Greeks live in the heartland of the Empire: in Thrace, peninsular Greece and Anatolia, as well as Cyrenaica and parts of southern Italy and Sicily. With Greek being the language of state administration, of the army and liturgy, it has made significant advances, surpassing other languages in favour of Greek. Apart from standard Greek, divergent Hellenic languages include Pontic Greek (to be found along the north Anatolian Coast, as well as on the Black Sea coast of Taurica), Cappadocian Greek (at the northern foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Anatolia) and Italiot Greek (in Calabria, Apulia and western Sicily). Furthermore, there is also Cypriot, which developed independently from the rest of the Empire, and then Cyrenaic Greek on the North African coast and Antiochian Greek in Syria. The mountainous Peloponnesus has also resulted in isolated Hellenophone populations of Maniots (in the southern tip of the peninsula) and Tsakonians (in the eastern coast). These two languages are thought to be the descendant of the ancient Doric language of Sparta.
View attachment 510166
Languages of the Empire
The Slavs form a considerable minority in the northern provinces. Primarily the Karvunians in the Diocese of Paristrion[4], who have faced severe persecution after adopting the Paulician heresy, and then the Croats and Serbs in the newly acquired regions of former Roman Dalmatia. By this time, any further Slavic presence in Anatolia or further southwards was assimilated into Greek, or Vlach, or perhaps living as isolated pockets in an otherwise Greek environment.
The Romance peoples living within the borders of the empire are usually classified as either “Latins” (to relate to southern Italians, Sicilians and Dalmatians) or Vlachs (the bluk of Peninsular East Romance speakers), who are sometimes divided into Moesian Vlachs, Dacian Vlachs and Macedonian Vlachs. While it is acknowledged that also the Vlachs speak a dialect of Latin, generally the Latins are considered to be civilized, but the Vlachs are viewed as tough shepherds, who are suited excellently for warfare in mountainous terrain.
Armenians living within the borders of the Empire have, for the gross part, come under the jurisdiction of the Rhomaic Church; and many, apart from those in the close proximity of the eastern borders, also assimilated into Rhomaic culture, with their names being sometimes the only memory of their Armenian heritage.
The Syriacs are still a considerable minority in the Empire; apart from the newly acquired city of Damascus, the gross majority of Syriac-speaking subjects of the Empire are now under the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, rather than the Syriac Jacobite Church. The area has been considerably depopulated during the wars of the Seljuk invasion and then again during the Rhomaic reconquest.
The Arnautes[5] continue to inhabit the northern parts of Epirus; with a lifestyle very similar to the Vlachs. Other groups which do appear in demographic surveys are “Iberians”, that is Kartvelian-speaking Lazes, living to the east of Trebizond; and occasionally there are mentions of peculiar transhumance shepherds and nomads in Anatolia, who speak a peculiar tongue, thought once to have been around in the area. In general, these tribes are on the margin of extinction. Their differing religious identity (Paulicianism), means that they are likely to resist assimilation for quite some time. But will they escape eprsecution from the Patriarch of Constantinople?
The Jews are no longer regarded as an ethnic group, but are rather viewed as a religious group; and usually, four different Jewish peoples are described. Firstly, the Rhomaniote Jews, who have integrated into Rhomaic (Greek) society, speak a variant of the Greek language and can be found in the core areas of the Empire. Then, secondly, we have the Syrian Jews (mainly in Aleppo and Damascus), speaking a form of Aramaic. Thirdly, there are Italiot Jews from southern Italy, and finally Moesian Jews living Paristrion, who have adopted the Vlach language for everyday communication.
Rhomaic Military
The Empire has managed to greatly reorganize its army. The elite units of the army include the Varangian Guard (originally recruited from Vikings and Russians, now perhaps considered to be the successor of the Praetorian Guard in imperial Rome), the Immortals heavy cavalry, and the Archontoupouli (consisting of the sons of dead officers). Also famous are Kataphraktoi heavy cavalry, recruited mainly from Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly and the Marmarian provinces in Anatolia, then the Trebizond Archers and Vardariotes (horse archers from among the Steppe peoples stationed in Macedonia, but also from Paristrion). Another cavalry type were the koursores, roughly corresponding to central European Hussars.
View attachment 510168
Rhomaic cataphracts
Standard infantry units would include hoplites (heavy infantry), peltasts (javelin throwers), and the psiloi (unarmoured light infantry).
The top commander bore the title of Megas Domestikos, next inline was the Protostrator. Individual field armies were led by the strategos. The smallest tactical unit was the allagion, perhaps some 400 men strong, led by an allagator (not an alligator).
[1] Balkan
[2] Crimea
[3] Bulgarians living in the Paristrion region (Lower Moesia)
[4] The rump of the Bulgarian nation
[5] Albanians
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.3k