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The Rhomaic Empire had been the hegemonic powerhouse controlling practically the entirety of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. However, in the thirteenth century it has found itself to be on the defensive, unable to truly compete with superior Naiman military

The defeat of the Rhomaic army at Kelezene (1) and the direct casualties of the army may not have been that destructive as one may think, but the real Rhomaic military as it was, was unprepared for the lightning speed under which the Naiman forces were able to penetrate into the Anatolian Plateau. Right after having received new from the major defeat, the Rhomaic army has had little time to reorganize itself and strengthen garrisons along the eastern border. In fact, as the threat of the Naimans has been perceived as urgent, over a half of the campaign forces has come from the eastern Anatolian dioceses, which after the defeat were left practically defenceless. True enough, additional forces were pulled from Thrace, Macedonia and Moesia to support the eastern provinces, but the Naimans were able to plunder much of the Anatolian plateau before these troops were able to enter their new positions.

The inland Anatolian plateau has been raided and plundered to such an extent, that waves of refugees from the plateau were pouring towards the coast. The Rhomaic Empire had to pull its forces back to the “Lydian Spine”, the divided between the basin of the Aegean Sea and inner Anatolia.

The Empire has thus shrinked considerably on the Asian continent, now consisting of the Pontic Coast, Bithynia, former Roman province of Asia, Lycia, Pisidia, Pamphylia and Cilicia and the Syrian Coast, as well as Cyprus. These coastal regions protected by mountains to shield them of from the interior regions, which are occupied by the Ilkhanate.
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The Pontic Alps are settled by being colonized by Kartvelian-speaking peoples
In the north, the Pontic Alps provide a natural barrier to protect the coast of Trebizond and Sinope from Naiman raids. The Rhomaic emperors allowed “Iberian” (2), mostly Lazic and east Georgian refugees to settle the slopes of the Pontic Alps. The areas settled by these Kartvelians were in the rugged mountain terrain, in the higher altitudes, which had been unsettled by the Greeks at the time. The Kartvelian mountaineers took up a similar role like the Vlachs – taking up the role of mountain shepherds, herding mainly sheep, but also cattle and goats, these highlanders are also noted for their formidable battle skills. Indeed, they are given exemptions from taxation, rather paying tribute by supplying the coastal cities on the Pontic coast with fresh milk, cheese and other produce, as well as acting as border guards, keeping the mountain passes secure for those coming from the “right” side of the borders, and deadly from invaders coming from the wrong side.
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The borders of the Rhomaic Empire have shrinked substantially, as the Slavic peoples of the Balkans affirmed independence
Unfortunately for the Empire, the Haemos Peninsula did not provide a safe hinterland, and the hour of weakness was taken advantage of by the Slavic inhabitants of western part of the peninsula. The Croatian state expands southwards, to take control of Lika, the Una Valley and Usora, as well as northern Dalmatia to include Iadera (3), Šibenik and Knin; the southern regions of Dalmatia, from Spalato southwards to Cattaro in the south become the domain of Ragusa, a city-state and merchant republic prospering on the Dalmatian coast.
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Bosnia has assumed independence as well, and this mountain Duchy has become an important centre of the Bogomilist (Sometimes also known as Patarenist) faith, which has become institutionalized with its own hierarchy, having its seat in the town of Visoko. Bosnia is located in the largely inaccessible mountain valleys of the Dinaric Alps. The area has found itself on borders between the Catholic and Orthodox; and nominally was within the jurisdiction of Rome; however the Croatian bishops have not send missions so far inland and administered de facto only the coastal strip.
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Pavlikian faith, also known as Bogomilim is rather popular among the southern Slavs.
Unfortunately for the Rhomaic Empire, the balkanization process does not end here. The Serbs, a proud South Slavic people seize the moment of opportunity and rise against the Empire to restore their independence. There appear two Serbian state: Rascia located between the Drina and the Morava rivers, and Zeta in the coastal regions, around lake Skadar. They were joined the some Gegarian clans of the northern Albanians.

In Paristrion, the Rhomaic Empire has to counter Kipchak raids from the north, with the Haemos Mountains the heavily fortified Haemos Mountains serving as their primary defences. The Danube proves to not be a sufficiently strong border, and the Karvunans, at first fleeing Naiman attacks to the safety of the Rhomaic Empire, now join the Kipchak raiders and ultimately carve their own state in Paristrion, in the province that was once Moesia Inferior.

The Karvunian Kingdom, squeezed between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains is thus the logical result of Rhomaic retreat to the south. This realms is repopulated by Karvunian (4) who had fled north of the Danube in the past century. The Karvunians are a Slavic ethnic group, who are the descendants of the Slavic tribes intermixed with Danube Bulgarians. They as well have picked up the Bogomilist faith, which is deemed as heretical in Constantinople. This expresses their disdain for Rhomaic rule after all.

Most likely any remaining Orthodox Karvunians living in the cities and the lower altitudes would have come to be assimilated into the Greeks; those living in the higher altitudes have become assimilated into the Vlachs. The Jewish community in Karvuna has enjoyed
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Anatolia is populated by a mix of Armenians, Truks and Cappadocian Greeks having retreated to the mountains. The Isaurian language is fightin for its survival, and likely to become assimilated by the Armenians
The Vlachs are the dmoninating ethnic group in the Margos valley (5) and the lands to its east. The Vlachs are known for their Hillman culture and being the Empire´s chief source of recruits. Ultimately, it is the last loyal ethnic minority of the empire in the Balkans, apart from the Tosk Albanians. The Vlachs are Orthodox, and after seeing the Bogomilist heresy spread among the Slavic peoples of the Balkans like wildfire, the Patriarch of Constantinople has commissioned “all monks and hermits who are able to speak the tongue of the Balaxoi, also called Moisian or Dakian to arrive to Mount Athos, and to bring the Word of the Lord to them in their own tongue”.

The translation of the Gospel and the liturgical texts meant that “Church Vlach”, also known as Old Vlach, has become the liturgical language in large parts of the Balkans. Church Vlach is interesting, because it was not written neither in Greek, nor in Cyrillic nor in Latin, but the Vlach alphabet has combined letters from all of these, although the largest number of letter, especially the consonant sound such as “l”, “m” “p” are directly copied from Cyrillic.
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The Theodosian Walls are the limits of the authority of the Magistrate of Constantinople
As for the core regions of the Empire, the cities have grown substantially. The city of Constantinople, flooded with refugees reaches a stunning 350 000 people (6). The cities of Thessaloniki, Adrianople, and Smyrna number over 100 000 each. Important cities, although not as populous, include Trebizond, Tarsus and Antioch, numbering over 40 000 each. As a result of the transformation of the society, mainly with the countryside ravaged, and many former provinces (7) lost, the administrative divisions are again reorganized. Magistrates are established in Thessaloniki and Smyrna as well, and these cities are not part of any province. The remaining provinces are as follows: Thrace, Macedonia, Dacia, Epirus, Morea, Pontus, Bithynia, Asiana, Cilicia, Cyprus, Syria and Creta et Cyrenaica.

Being now a more urbanized society, the role of the Senate, a longly neglected institution, begins to take a greater importance. Different factions gradually emerge, which articulate the interests of different groups:​

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