A Lasting Empire: A TL

The Roman Empire. Founded 27 B.C, fallen in the year 1453. But with a slight twist of fortune, it would never have fallen...

Taurus Mountains, Cilicia

The cold wind blew heavily through the mountains, as the poisoned arrow flew toward the unsuspecting Ioannes II Komnenos, Emperor of the Romans. But the wind blew it off course, and it struck a rock and splintered. Ioannes examined it, not willing to venture too close as it was still poisoned. He had been so close to dying, a brush with certain death. Now, however, he was safe - if suddenly aware of his own mortality. He still had 10 to 15 years in him, but he could die for any reason - an accident, a sickness, or the vagaries of war. His attendant came rushing to him.

'Basileus!' the attendant yelled. 'Are you all right?'

'As fine as ever,' the Emperor replied.

'That is good, then, Basileus,' the attendant said.

----

Extracted from Romanus Castellanos' 'A Counterfactual Rhomania'. Foreword

It is a wonder what the smallest things can change. The flight of an arrow, a shoe-less horse, anything indeed can change history. It is the dedication of the discipline of counterfactual history to see 'what could have been', i.e the worlds that never were, but whose existence was possible. Many focus on wars, battles, et cetera, but I believe that the smallest things can influence world history. Indeed, I propose this - if an arrow had but flown true on April 8, 1143, the Roman Empire would never have lived to see the sixteenth century, let alone the 21st...
 
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Constantinople

The Emperor looked at his council of war. He planned another campaign against the Turks, another strike against their kingdom. He had the full support of the Crusader States, much as they did not share a religion. There were several Strategoi, his Megas Domestikos, and several Tourmarches. He was commanding this expedition personally.

They planned to strike at Ceasarea and Iconium, then advance into Central Anatolia, and God willing, be able to invade Mesopotamia. If all went well, they could recapture all of Anatolia. Then, there was the matter of the Hungarians. They had been making movements on the border, and the Emperor planned to teach them a much-needed lesson in humility. How could they dare to antagonise Rome itself! They were not called Rhomaioi for nothing...
 
Iconium

The Emperor stood proudly, holding his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun, looking over at Iconium's walls. They were battered, and damaged from the Trebuchets that were firing at them. His 60,000 men were winning the battle against the Turkish garrison - they were half-starved by now, running out of time and desperate to attack.

It had taken some time, about six months, to muster this army, and the siege itself had currently taken another two months. More Trebuchet shots pelted the walls, in truth a distraction, for the tunnelling efforts under way to collapse the wall. They had almost completed those efforts, then, with a satisfying thud, with the sound of a wall collapsing, they had made a breach.

The fighting for a breach was always bloody, and as such the Emperor had decided to send the spearmen and mercenaries in first, to soften the enemy up. Not that they had large numbers, most were dead from disease, starvation, and the numerous fires burning in the city itself.

After several bloody, brutal minutes of fighting, the way in was wide open, and with that, Iconium fell.
 
Cool...looking forward to seeing where this goes. Though I am generally a roman-wank enthusiast, I also like the idea of a Byzantium-wank or at least a surviving Byzantine state.
 
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