Just to interpret that, I assume this is "Roman Lation and Emilia, Sicilian Umbria, Arletian/League Lombardy, Free Genoa and Free Tuscany" correct? It's an interesting ideaAbout this, I made a very rough map to illustrate:
Just to interpret that, I assume this is "Roman Lation and Emilia, Sicilian Umbria, Arletian/League Lombardy, Free Genoa and Free Tuscany" correct? It's an interesting ideaAbout this, I made a very rough map to illustrate:
Almost. Lombardy isn't part of Arles or the League, but is an Accord member. (I didn't draw those borders - I was hit by a sudden bout of laziness.) Lation and Emilia would be Roman/Sicilian dependencies: Sicily mighn't take well to these places being absorbed in Rhomania proper.Just to interpret that, I assume this is "Roman Lation and Emilia, Sicilian Umbria, Arletian/League Lombardy, Free Genoa and Free Tuscany" correct? It's an interesting idea
No, because I have no idea what either of those are.I see your both a scp and re:zero fan (Am I correct?).
Interesting, I can see Lation being Rhomania proper, simply because its... Rome, but Emilia I think would probably be very closely tied to the authorities in Venice, not directly, but I can see them being very bound by common interests. I like it. Hopefully the rest of Europe likes itAlmost. Lombardy isn't part of Arles or the League, but is an Accord member. (I didn't draw those borders - I was hit by a sudden bout of laziness.) Lation and Emilia would be Roman/Sicilian dependencies: Sicily mighn't take well to these places being absorbed in Rhomania proper.
It seems inevitable that they will undergo reforms to tighten up the diplomatic bureaucracy and actually take the Latins as a serious threat towards their interests. There were Romans that were significantly more knowledgeable in Latin affairs in the Foreign Office but much of the higher ups were more experienced with Eastern matters, which is why Rhomania was very incompetent in dealing with the Italian Crisis. I suppose that any senior ambassador or envoy position within the Foreign Office to the West will be staffed by these Romans who have had experience with states like Arles, Spain, or the Triunes or perhaps even by Sicilians themselves, since they're more closely tied to the Latin sphere and are willing to work with the Spanish or the Arletians. I also agree that the diplomatic department could be drastically more structured than it is right now, with branches for the Latin West, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and East Asia respectively.I'm curious actually, off the back of this fiasco - would the Romans commit to a reform to prevent an accidental "Eastern Only" office happen again? It would be interesting to see if this led to a reform of the foreign office to make sure there were always regional departments that HAD to have specialties and competencies in their areas. I.e. A Western Department with a variety of sub-offices like an Arles Office, League Office, etc - and the equivalent for the Middle East, and via the Exarchate in the East (If that continues to be a thing...? I don't recall a new one being appointed but I've not gone back to check) for East Asia. I have no idea where Vijayanagar would fit under that (woo, spelt it right first time!) but I think the Italian affair and the need for a serious long-term policy for interacting with Latin Europe would warrant it, if only so it doesn't happen again.
I suspect that there'll be a new bicephalous position right beneath the level of Foreign Minister, so that there's always at least one high ranking member of the foreign ministry with their focus on Latin Europe.I'm curious actually, off the back of this fiasco - would the Romans commit to a reform to prevent an accidental "Eastern Only" office happen again? It would be interesting to see if this led to a reform of the foreign office to make sure there were always regional departments that HAD to have specialties and competencies in their areas. I.e. A Western Department with a variety of sub-offices like an Arles Office, League Office, etc - and the equivalent for the Middle East, and via the Exarchate in the East (If that continues to be a thing...? I don't recall a new one being appointed but I've not gone back to check) for East Asia. I have no idea where Vijayanagar would fit under that (woo, spelt it right first time!) but I think the Italian affair and the need for a serious long-term policy for interacting with Latin Europe would warrant it, if only so it doesn't happen again.
I dunno about people, but personally, I would like you skip the current update cycle, if only to know your opinion in your response posts (and some time to rest, we aren't that harsh taskmasters hehehe).Like I said earlier, I won’t be doing a regular response post(s) this cycle because I need the time those would take to write the actual next update in the writing series, which I’m sure people would prefer I prioritize.
You know what, I agree with this. I agree quite much with this. So...But speaking of glorious, there is another comment I feel needs to be made. I’m not picking on anyone here, nor do I think this thread is particularly bad in this area. I think it’s a societal issue (at least where I live, so your mileage may vary) and here is where I have a voice, and by having a voice, a responsibility.
The stories we tell are an important part of our culture, and as a storyteller I feel that I have a responsibility to use my stories responsibly. So we talk about glory, in this case in a martial aspect. There is that component. Speaking for myself, I enjoy reading lots of military history about wars and battles, I enjoy playing games around that, and I sure love my explosions in the films I watch. Certainly there’s been a lot of military stuff in this very TL. I’m probably being hypocritical but that is how I am.
But, and I’m speaking to myself just as much as everyone else here, we need to remember that there is another side of war, one far greater in scope, and that is the tragic side of war. There will be the glory aspect, but I dare not lose sight of the fact that war is a tragedy. That Rhomania gained a border territory and a general celebrated a triumph would be considered by most to be glorious, but that does nothing for the mother weeping for a son whose body was eaten by ravens on some foreign field or a traumatized veteran trying to return to his peacetime life.
Right, drawing OTL quarrels in here really won't end well for anyone.This isn’t one of those themes, but a comment was made which I think should be repeated, regarding genocide and/or ethnic cleansing. I’m not going to ban discussion on that, which would be hypocritical because I’ve had it and I’m going to have it in the TL. It’s ugly, but it’s a part of history. But let all of us make sure we treat these topics with respect and sensitivity, especially since there are a lot of easily-drawn OTL parallels.
Demetrios III the Forgotten does have a nice ring to it, though, as does Odysseus the Magnificent. It'll be interesting to see how Odysseus and Athena will reverse the fortunes of the Roman Empire, so I can't wait until we get to see how they'll perform once Ody takes up the purple.There were some remarks about Roman glory (or lack thereof). When Demetrios III dies, there’s going to be a retrospective of his reign and why he is the Forgotten Emperor. A large part of that is going to be because while his reign was significant and eventful, it was very much not fun for the Romans. The 1630s were an important decade, but one the Romans endured.
In contrast the reign of Odysseus the Magnificent will be the poster child of ‘glorious’, the brilliant sunrise to follow the grim night. Odysseus will effectively blot out his father in historical memory. It’s Alexander and Philip, to an even greater extent. That was part of my plan, going to even the earliest years of Demetrios III’s reign.
I always commend this timeline for doing the nitty gritty of war at such an amazing level, as well as the emotional reactions of the different characters or the normal soldiers on the frontlines. For us living in a time of relative peace compared to those that had to deal with the horrors of war, we often take that for granted and sometimes romanticize conflict in a disturbing manner. It's good to be reminded of the terrible experiences that people had to go through during such chaotic times, so we can appreciate peace a lot more.There will be the glory aspect, but I dare not lose sight of the fact that war is a tragedy. That Rhomania gained a border territory and a general celebrated a triumph would be considered by most to be glorious, but that does nothing for the mother weeping for a son whose body was eaten by ravens on some foreign field or a traumatized veteran trying to return to his peacetime life.
The Romans have crossed over the moral event horizon many times before, and it's fair to say that they certainly have the capacity to do it again on a much larger scale. I think the darkest part about Rhomania right now is how deeply embedded hatred of other people is within their society, which is kinda abnormal even for the Early Modern Period. You can arguably say that it is justified given the Latins near-equivalent hatred for the Romans but it still doesn't justify their behavior in the slightest. IIRC, I'm pretty sure that even the peasants treat Latins as less than human and a Roman scientist offered to literally wipe out Arabs with primitive poison gas Holocaust-style before D3 rightfully shut that Pandora's Box and put it into the void. I hope that the 1630s is arguably the Romans' lowest point in terms of how they actually treat other people because it's gonna be terrifying at what they could do at an industrial level.Also, I'm still curious as to how exactly the Romans will carry this deed out. I don't think many people have the stomach to stand there and just... kill, even if they hate the people they're killing.
That's the thing: I don't think that there are many Romans willing or able to just kill.The Romans have crossed over the moral event horizon many times before, and it's fair to say that they certainly have the capacity to do it again on a much larger scale. I think the darkest part about Rhomania right now is how deeply embedded hatred of other people is within their society, which is kinda abnormal even for the Early Modern Period. You can arguably say that it is justified given the Latins near-equivalent hatred for the Romans but it still doesn't justify their behavior in the slightest. IIRC, I'm pretty sure that even the peasants treat Latins as less than human and a Roman scientist offered to literally wipe out Arabs with primitive poison gas Holocaust-style before D3 rightfully shut that Pandora's Box and put it into the void. I hope that the 1630s is arguably the Romans' lowest point in terms of how they actually treat other people because it's gonna be terrifying at what they could do at an industrial level.
Sadly that is not true. The Armenian Genocide didn't happen because of trains and the same is true also of the Pontic Greeks Genogide (there were no railways in Pontus at that time.)It's just unfeasible to commit to wholesale massacre at such a scale, at least before trains become a thing.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't most Greeks in the Ottoman Empire by population live in cities and large towns? It would be easier to round them up and... take care, so to speak, of them when most of them live in the most developed regions of the Empire and are often the most visibly prosperous people living there?Sadly that is not true. The Armenian Genocide didn't happen because of trains and the same is true also of the Pontic Greeks Genogide (there were no railways in Pontus at that time.)
OTL Timur had one advantage in this: the Assyrians were concentrated in one small geographical region, and where they weren't, they were a small minority.And of course, the actions of Timur could probably be described as genocidal .
That is true, that the Romans at this point aren't capable of doing systematic genocide, because the Romans lack the means neither the will to do so, but I still believe that the Romans are flying way too close to that state of mind as a people, and they're getting closer to developing the methods to do it as technology advances. The warhawk faction and their ideology is real and given enough time, perhaps that kind of mind virus from those warhawks will make their way to the people in the far future, where they get to use that kind of technology for real. Hopefully that never happens, but the possibility is always a dark spectre for a future Rhomania.I simply don't think it feasible that most soldiers will actually follow through with this, or that anyone would have the stomach to order the general massacre of a whole region and follow through with that.
That scientist you mentioned? That is a rarity, both then and now. It's just unfeasible to commit to wholesale massacre at such a scale, at least before trains become a thing.