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. This is the third and last iteration of POD in which Bela III of Hungary remains heir of Manuel Komnenos’ vast Empire.
The Setting and POD:
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. One PODs shall be allowed in the opening setting: Manual I Komnenos will have no biological son and 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. In this third (and hopefully final) version of this TL the Battle of Myriokephalon will still happen in 1176, but the final years of Manuel’s reign shall see his son and law and heir Alexios II defeat Turkish attempts to break the eastern frontiers. Dorylaeum is still in Roman hands.
Chapter I: The Ascension of Alexios II Megas Komnenos
Bela-Alexios II was crowned on Christmas day, 1180 AD to subdued fanfare in the Queen of Cities, Constantinople. Although he still had many enemies in the capital and provinces who detested his Hungarian origins, he had spent over 12 years in the Eastern Empire both at the resplendent court of his father in law and in the field as a leader of the imperial armies, the Tagmata. Alexios had been present in Manuel’s council (or synod) at 1176 in the Thrackesion Thema that had received emissaries from the Sultan of Konya…and had been amongst those in support of peace with the Sultan, who offered Rhomania generous terms including tribute and an (often unenforceable) promise to curb Turkoman raiders in Anatolia. Sadly, Manuel was not swayed by the sound arguments of his talented heir presumptive Alexios, and, although both Basileus and Sultan suffered great losses in the battle that followed, was forced to abandon his assault on Ikonion in failure. Manuel’s treaty of peace with the Sultan ensured the destruction of the new imperial castles of Dorylaeum and Soubaeleum—castles erected to ensure an imperial presence on the edge of the Anatolian plateau. Manuel, however, refused to give up the gains he had made in Anatolia, and retained Dorylaeum as an imperial foothold on the Anatolian plateau…a move his heir would be grateful for in the future.
Concerned by the continued Roman threat to their capital, the Seljuqs continued probing the imperial frontier even after the treaty, which quickly became a dead letter (much like the treaty of Devol a century before). Raids escalated into pitched battles near Claudiopolis and Nicaea, yet the Turks were again driven out due to the timely arrival of Bela-Alexios—who lead the imperial household troops of the Oikos in the ageing Manuel’s stead. In 1178 a great victory, the last of Manuel’s reign, was won over the Turks at Hyleion and Leimocheir in the Maenander River valley when the Eastern Tagmata under the command of John Komnenos Vatzates ambushed the main Seljuq field army, laden with booty from raiding, and annihilated it. Myriokephalon had had virtually no impact on the staus quo between the warring parties in Anatolia.
Thus by 1180 and Alexios’ ascension Roman fortunes were looking up in Anatolia despite Manuel’s apparent failure in 1176. Dorylaeum and the forts of Neokastra remained under Roman rule while Alexios had already displayed a willingness to focus upon campaigning in Anatolia due to his (natural) alliance to the west with the Hungarian realm. The first two years of Alexios II’s reign saw a series of Turkish raids into the Opsikon Thema, but in 1181 the new Basileus defeated one of these sharply near the fort of Malagnia south of Nicaea, and in 1183 Alexios led an expedition towards Trebizond that secured the route from Constantinople to that Pontic seaport. While on these expeditions in the opening phases of his reign, Alexios dealt with many loose ends on the Empire’s eastern frontier, including the troubled existence of the exiled (and ageing) Andronicus Komnenos in Paphlagonia—an existence that ended due to an “accident” on a hunting trip with his companions in arms . This accident was eerily reminiscent of the death of John II 40 years before insofar as it involved a wound from a poisoned arrow. Foul play on the part of the new Basileus, whose army was present in Paphlagonia at the time securing that region against Turkoman raiders, was of course suspected by many yet could never be conclusively proven. Whatever the case, Alexios II feared the plotting Andronicus despite the latter’s advanced age and certainly wanted to secure his still recent claim to the throne of Megas Komnenoi of the Roman Empire.
The 1180s saw the defeat of Jerusalem ( at the Battle of Hattin in 1187) to the dreaded armies Saladin Ayyub, Sultan of Egypt and all Syria, an event which convulsed all of Christendom and which of course eventually triggered the 3rd Crusade—that of the Kings—and which actually ended up aiding the Christians of the East far more than its predecessors had. Alexios II, finally feeling more secure upon his throne (he had also led a punitive expedition against the Serbs of Rascia in alliance with his blood relations of Arpad Hungary, but had spent the majority of his first 4 years upon the throne close to the Queen of Cities), marched to Cilicia in response to this and did much to restore the shaky Roman rule in that region, seeing as though the local Muslim and Christian powers were far more interested in the high drama occurring in the Holy Lands to the south. Having restored a pro-Roman Hetumid Armenian to the position of Doux of Adana, Alexios returned to his capital slowly, and stopped near Attalia to restore a number of castles north of that town in order to begin the process of rebuilding the Cibyrrhaeot Thema that connected Cilicia and the Roman lands of Western Anatolia. Alexios erected a great castle known as “Alexiokastron” north of Attalia and garrisoned it with locals and Latin mercenaries in a manner similar to his father in laws’ foundations of Neokastra and Dorylaeum. After parceling out some of the fertile lands surrounding Attalia to Pronoia soldiers whose lands were theoretically made profitable by the emperors’ policy of castle building to deter the Turkomen, Alexios returned to Constantinople in time to celebrate Christmas in grand style.
1185 to 1187 were peaceful years, Alexios had thus far been free to campaign against his foes in Anatolia due to blood relation to crown of Hungary to his west and his judicious surrendering of many of Manuel I’s western conquests to local powers: The Banate of Bosnia was once again under Magyar rule, upper Dalmatia was fully restored to the Venetians as compensation for past “Greek” aggression, and the Serbs of Ras had thus far been cowed by the apparently improved relations between the Arpads’ and Constantinople. Alexios was certainly criticized by many in his young court for retreating the western frontiers so drastically, yet he had little choice in reality. The Empire’s most pressing enemies lay to the East, and her most likely allies against those enemies lay to the West, as long as the Balkan Peninsula was dominated by his crown, Alexios saw no need to antagonize Venice, Sicily and potentially the German Emperors’ in the same way that his father in law had. In any case, Alexios wanted to join the crusading movement (ostensibly against Saladin) in order to weaken the Seljuqs of Konya, a desire that the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 and the following calling of the 3rd Crusade made a reality.
Alexios had raised his eldest son Theodoros Megas Komnenos to the throne as his heir presumptive in 1186—another step in securing his position, things were looking up for the Empire, despite the loss of some of Manuels’ conquests. The arrival of armies of the 3rd Crusade however, shattered this brief reprieve for the New Rome and brought the “guardsmen of Ares”, as Anna Komnena would call them, back to the fore of Alexios’ foreign policy.
Much more to come, this time I wrote the whole TL out ahead of time, Bela-Alexios means business guys!
The Setting and POD:
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. One PODs shall be allowed in the opening setting: Manual I Komnenos will have no biological son and 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. In this third (and hopefully final) version of this TL the Battle of Myriokephalon will still happen in 1176, but the final years of Manuel’s reign shall see his son and law and heir Alexios II defeat Turkish attempts to break the eastern frontiers. Dorylaeum is still in Roman hands.
Chapter I: The Ascension of Alexios II Megas Komnenos
Bela-Alexios II was crowned on Christmas day, 1180 AD to subdued fanfare in the Queen of Cities, Constantinople. Although he still had many enemies in the capital and provinces who detested his Hungarian origins, he had spent over 12 years in the Eastern Empire both at the resplendent court of his father in law and in the field as a leader of the imperial armies, the Tagmata. Alexios had been present in Manuel’s council (or synod) at 1176 in the Thrackesion Thema that had received emissaries from the Sultan of Konya…and had been amongst those in support of peace with the Sultan, who offered Rhomania generous terms including tribute and an (often unenforceable) promise to curb Turkoman raiders in Anatolia. Sadly, Manuel was not swayed by the sound arguments of his talented heir presumptive Alexios, and, although both Basileus and Sultan suffered great losses in the battle that followed, was forced to abandon his assault on Ikonion in failure. Manuel’s treaty of peace with the Sultan ensured the destruction of the new imperial castles of Dorylaeum and Soubaeleum—castles erected to ensure an imperial presence on the edge of the Anatolian plateau. Manuel, however, refused to give up the gains he had made in Anatolia, and retained Dorylaeum as an imperial foothold on the Anatolian plateau…a move his heir would be grateful for in the future.
Concerned by the continued Roman threat to their capital, the Seljuqs continued probing the imperial frontier even after the treaty, which quickly became a dead letter (much like the treaty of Devol a century before). Raids escalated into pitched battles near Claudiopolis and Nicaea, yet the Turks were again driven out due to the timely arrival of Bela-Alexios—who lead the imperial household troops of the Oikos in the ageing Manuel’s stead. In 1178 a great victory, the last of Manuel’s reign, was won over the Turks at Hyleion and Leimocheir in the Maenander River valley when the Eastern Tagmata under the command of John Komnenos Vatzates ambushed the main Seljuq field army, laden with booty from raiding, and annihilated it. Myriokephalon had had virtually no impact on the staus quo between the warring parties in Anatolia.
Thus by 1180 and Alexios’ ascension Roman fortunes were looking up in Anatolia despite Manuel’s apparent failure in 1176. Dorylaeum and the forts of Neokastra remained under Roman rule while Alexios had already displayed a willingness to focus upon campaigning in Anatolia due to his (natural) alliance to the west with the Hungarian realm. The first two years of Alexios II’s reign saw a series of Turkish raids into the Opsikon Thema, but in 1181 the new Basileus defeated one of these sharply near the fort of Malagnia south of Nicaea, and in 1183 Alexios led an expedition towards Trebizond that secured the route from Constantinople to that Pontic seaport. While on these expeditions in the opening phases of his reign, Alexios dealt with many loose ends on the Empire’s eastern frontier, including the troubled existence of the exiled (and ageing) Andronicus Komnenos in Paphlagonia—an existence that ended due to an “accident” on a hunting trip with his companions in arms . This accident was eerily reminiscent of the death of John II 40 years before insofar as it involved a wound from a poisoned arrow. Foul play on the part of the new Basileus, whose army was present in Paphlagonia at the time securing that region against Turkoman raiders, was of course suspected by many yet could never be conclusively proven. Whatever the case, Alexios II feared the plotting Andronicus despite the latter’s advanced age and certainly wanted to secure his still recent claim to the throne of Megas Komnenoi of the Roman Empire.
The 1180s saw the defeat of Jerusalem ( at the Battle of Hattin in 1187) to the dreaded armies Saladin Ayyub, Sultan of Egypt and all Syria, an event which convulsed all of Christendom and which of course eventually triggered the 3rd Crusade—that of the Kings—and which actually ended up aiding the Christians of the East far more than its predecessors had. Alexios II, finally feeling more secure upon his throne (he had also led a punitive expedition against the Serbs of Rascia in alliance with his blood relations of Arpad Hungary, but had spent the majority of his first 4 years upon the throne close to the Queen of Cities), marched to Cilicia in response to this and did much to restore the shaky Roman rule in that region, seeing as though the local Muslim and Christian powers were far more interested in the high drama occurring in the Holy Lands to the south. Having restored a pro-Roman Hetumid Armenian to the position of Doux of Adana, Alexios returned to his capital slowly, and stopped near Attalia to restore a number of castles north of that town in order to begin the process of rebuilding the Cibyrrhaeot Thema that connected Cilicia and the Roman lands of Western Anatolia. Alexios erected a great castle known as “Alexiokastron” north of Attalia and garrisoned it with locals and Latin mercenaries in a manner similar to his father in laws’ foundations of Neokastra and Dorylaeum. After parceling out some of the fertile lands surrounding Attalia to Pronoia soldiers whose lands were theoretically made profitable by the emperors’ policy of castle building to deter the Turkomen, Alexios returned to Constantinople in time to celebrate Christmas in grand style.
1185 to 1187 were peaceful years, Alexios had thus far been free to campaign against his foes in Anatolia due to blood relation to crown of Hungary to his west and his judicious surrendering of many of Manuel I’s western conquests to local powers: The Banate of Bosnia was once again under Magyar rule, upper Dalmatia was fully restored to the Venetians as compensation for past “Greek” aggression, and the Serbs of Ras had thus far been cowed by the apparently improved relations between the Arpads’ and Constantinople. Alexios was certainly criticized by many in his young court for retreating the western frontiers so drastically, yet he had little choice in reality. The Empire’s most pressing enemies lay to the East, and her most likely allies against those enemies lay to the West, as long as the Balkan Peninsula was dominated by his crown, Alexios saw no need to antagonize Venice, Sicily and potentially the German Emperors’ in the same way that his father in law had. In any case, Alexios wanted to join the crusading movement (ostensibly against Saladin) in order to weaken the Seljuqs of Konya, a desire that the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 and the following calling of the 3rd Crusade made a reality.
Alexios had raised his eldest son Theodoros Megas Komnenos to the throne as his heir presumptive in 1186—another step in securing his position, things were looking up for the Empire, despite the loss of some of Manuels’ conquests. The arrival of armies of the 3rd Crusade however, shattered this brief reprieve for the New Rome and brought the “guardsmen of Ares”, as Anna Komnena would call them, back to the fore of Alexios’ foreign policy.
Much more to come, this time I wrote the whole TL out ahead of time, Bela-Alexios means business guys!