An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Osman is ambitious, but given that Ibrahim is already well entrenched with a rich province and a powerful army (plus god knows how many other brothers and claimants) any path to the throne will be tough and bloody. But given that Iskander's years of warfare and catching up to him Osman may not have much time to build up his own power base, has he been assigned anything?
She's not an assasin, she's the woman Taj Mahal was built for.
Holy moley mother of mercy.
That is a nice touch.
Why do I have the feeling that a Roman Southern India is a poisoned chalice? Don't get me wrong, its going to lead to fantastic jewelry, but... I thought the Deccan was completely united atm ITTL?
Although, having a Roman-Persian Alliance, even for a generation, combined with the conquest of S.India - that is the sort of deal that great plans are made from. Terrifying, world shaping plans.
Doesn't Andreas already have a wife? One that won't look too kindly on such a prominent mistress? One that is just as capable and intelligent as he is? One who is daughter to the German Kaiser? If this woman has a monument building inducing effect on the soon to be Roman Emperor this won't end well.
Well, she was not just described as the most beautiful woman born to the world for ten generations, with a gentle and compassionate demeanor that made everyone she met fall in love with her, she was also very learned and intelligent. She traveled with her husband everywhere he went, including on campaign. Shah Jahan gave her his imperial seal, allowing her to sign things in his name, and reportedly she proceeded to help manage his empire for him whenever he was busy.
... Not exactly a pushover, so yep.
As to the plans for the partition of India, we'll have to see how the soon-to-be Persian emperor manages his own house first.
I'm calling the child of such a woman the future Despotes of India. Half-Roman, Half-Indian, and reunites India after his father dies. It'd be both a beautiful way to exile the Emperors Mistress, but also keep her important, and have her be regent to the rise of a Roman India. Excuse me, the idea has left me a bit faint.
Pretty sure the idea of dividing India wont end that well. Its more like 2 teenagers daydream than and actual plan.
But of course it wont be the first time a dream becomes reality.
But of course it wont be the first time a dream becomes reality.
First he has to become emperor. A civil war in Persia will be all too convenient. If Osman wins with Byzantine help he's indebted to Constantinople. If he losses and escapes to Constantinople he can be used to pottentialy threaten the shah any time he gets ideas of marching west. Either way the Ottomans get weakened by the civil war. And as for India the empire cannot let the Ottomans gobble it up. Too dangerous in the long run. A Byzantine South India is a possible way to solve this...
Osman is the ambitious son, Ibrahim, the dutiful one. Like that has never been a recipe for disaster.
Wait so did Leo get rescued? Or is just not important enough to bring to court?
The Ottomans took over 54,000 casualties, and Iskander has been at war for pretty much his entire life. Combined with the constant ravaging of Mesopotamia by the Romans surely the Ottoman manpower pool is starting to strain.
A quick glance on Google Maps makes it look like Iskander almost doubled the size of his empire if the Ottomans were roughly present day Iraq + Iran, that's a lot mountainous terrain and subjects with suspect loyalty to control (the distance from Mosul to Delhi is even further than Lisbon to Vienna!). Surely it's a logistical nightmare for the Ottomans to move troops from one end of the empire to the other.
Also, just out of curiosity why was Gabras chosen to lead the campaign instead of the megas domestikos? He was commanding the Hungarian campaign and I would assume fighting the Shah is much more important.
Iskander attacked people who were in civil war or some form of disarray, that probably helped.
oh boy, that is not going to end well i think. though i guess it would depend on wether andreas is stupid enough to bring both mistresses to the palace and how angry his wife turns out to be... i'm kind of seeing a lot of headslaps going around in his future.
anyway, another great chapter @Basileus444, can't wait to see what shape the "peace" negotiations are foing to take.
anyway, another great chapter @Basileus444, can't wait to see what shape the "peace" negotiations are foing to take.
My opinion of Osman would go up considerably if she was an assassin.
Mine would go down. Murdering your friend with the girl you gave him (this sounded all kinds of weird) is a bit too treacherous for me.
I agree with it being treacherous, but as was raised, it is realpolitik. However I am also of the mind that Andreas is a McGuffin, as in he really is not that important, but is a mover in simply being. If I were Osman, she would be an assassin, but with orders to kill if war arises between Rome and the Ottomans, or if Andreas doesn't support me in the civil war. I am Osman and I am ambitious. Call it a warranty on the friendship, call it being a sneaky underhanded rogue. The game of empires is one where only one can win. Don't be idealistic, tell me about the list of Doges of Genoa, after Andreas I died.
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