AHC : Belisarius, Martial Emperor of the West

GdwnsnHo

Banned
Apologies, this is ENTIRELY inspired by The Last Roman DLC for Attila : Total War, but I have to admit, I was intrigued.

What if, after the capture of Carthage, Belisarius declares independence, or at the very least refuses to hand over control to Justinian (essentially the same).

How could this 'Kingdom of Rome'/'Kingdom of Africa' have completed the task of conquering/uniting the former territories of the Western Roman Empire, and have Belisarius declare himself the Western Roman Emperor.
 
Apologies, this is ENTIRELY inspired by The Last Roman DLC for Attila : Total War, but I have to admit, I was intrigued.

What if, after the capture of Carthage, Belisarius declares independence, or at the very least refuses to hand over control to Justinian (essentially the same).

How could this 'Kingdom of Rome'/'Kingdom of Africa' have completed the task of conquering/uniting the former territories of the Western Roman Empire, and have Belisarius declare himself the Western Roman Emperor.
He doesn't have the strength to unite anything.He would be lucky if his troops doesn't just cut off his head and present it to Justinian.Eventually,Justinian will send a larger army after him.There's a reason why Justinian never gave full resources to Belisarius.The man's just paranoid.
 
There's a reason why Justinian never gave full resources to Belisarius.The man's just paranoid.

Well, perhaps, but he didn't devote great resources to Italy after Belisarius withdrew, and he did put Belisarius at the head of a far larger army than anything in the West on the Iranian front in 541. I think this image of Justinian as a paranoid monster is probably rather coloured by the comic-book hostility of Procopius, to be honest.

As to the OP, there's no evidence that Belisarius was anything other than a loyal career soldier. Should he declare himself Western Emperor, I suspect it entirely depends on how the kingdoms respond to him, given he doesn't have the men to be able to bring about significant and lasting conquest without backup from Constantinople. They might happily acclaim him as a way of legitimating themselves or (more likely IMO) offer Justinian an alliance to off the pretender.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
As neat an idea as it is, it's hard enough in the Total War game and at least that lets you raise troops from out of thin air if you've got the money to pay for them... and doesn't really model loyalty accurately.
 

GdwnsnHo

Banned
Hmm, how about going about this a different way then? Forgive some of the vagueness, I don't have details as I'm at work.

Rather than independence outright from the start, we have Hilderic not be executed, be it through fleeing the Kingdom of the Vandals, or being imprisoned for longer rather than executed.

Upon Belisarius invading and defeating the Vandals (I see no reason the war would resolve differently) he releases Hilderic, who joins the Empire - offering the Vandals troops, fleets, and resources to Belisarius and his war.

I curiously think that despite the military support, his biggest gift is another ally to have to protect against Justinian stripping his power away.

Cue further warfare by inviting the Moors to invade the Berbers, and then intervening to crush both sides and take Africa, conscripting the prisoners into his army, and appointing various close Romans, Berber, Moorish and Vandals to act as governors/organisers to levy resources for the campaign. This might take some wrangling to prevent Justinian losing his rag, but with the additional assistance of Hildaric, it could be possible (especially if various bishops start setting up shop).

*shrug*
 
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