alternatehistory.com

AIMA: A saga of Rome’s Third Millenium, a counter-factual historical epic inspired by BG’s Issacs’ Empire, Elfwines’ The Eagle of the Bosporus and the Komneian dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire.


The Setting and PODs:

AIMA is a tale of the Empire of the East—that of Constantinople—that neither falls to crusaders in 1204 nor loses its position of central importance in the Mediterranean world as a whole. The timeframe will be set from 1176 AD to 1453 AD, a year remembered in this yarn as one of great change for three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia. The dynasties present shall be the Komnenoi, their immediate successors the Megas Komnenoi and the famed Makrodoukai, the dynasty that reclaims past glories and re-solidifies Constantinople’s claim to be the sole seat of the Roman Empire in a divided Mediterranean World wracked by Holy War, Mongol Hordes, the Black Death and Antipopes. Two PODs shall be allowed in the opening setting: A: Manual I Komnenos will have no biological son and B: he will accept the Sultan of Ikonion’s generous peace terms during his campaign of 1176 directed at the Turks. Manuel I will leave his Empire to his long designated heir; Bela-Alexios II, his son in law and husband to his purple-born daughter Maria Komnena. The Empire that Alexios II inherits faces great challenges yet also possesses enormous potential, the end of Manuel’s reign see’s a victory over Turkish raiders in Anatolia at the battle of Hyelion of Leimocheir in 1178 while in the west the writ of the Basileus still extends over the entirety of the Balkans, including Serbia. Bela-Alexios faces threats from all sides, however, and must take advantage of his blood relations to both the Komnenoi and Arpad dynasties to secure the legacy of his father in law and continue the reconquista of Anatolia inaugurated by the first crusade a century before. On Christmas day, 1180 AD, the Empire stands at a great turning point in its storied history. First though, Alexios must secure his own ascension against internal enemies.
Top