Constantine IV doesn't fall ill in 680

In an era of almost uninterrupted Arab expansion the Emperor Constantine IV put a check on the expansion of the Caliphate. The Emperor died at the age of 33, but what if he hadn't fallen ill and ruled for another 25 years. The basic idea is that Constantine doesn't leave before the Battle of Ongal and the army doesn't think that the emperor has fled and doesn't panic. The Romans manage to defeat the the Bulgars causing the break up of the Seven Slavic tribes and preventing the creation of the Bulgarian Empire before it could even form. This butterflies the dysentery that killed him and in 685 and instead he goes on to rule the empire for another twenty years.

So what does Constantine's continued rule and the prevention of the formation of the Bulgarian Empire mean for the Roman Empire? What does his continued rule and the lack of an organized enemy in the Balkans mean for the empire's dealings with the Caliphate? Can Constantine be an early Basil II? What happens to Roman Italy and North Africa in this situation?
 
Asparukh could simply prod the Seven Slavic tribes and the Severis to move into the Pannonian Plains before the Byzantines could do some more damage, if the Bulgar Khan stays alive, that is.
 
Asparukh could simply prod the Seven Slavic tribes and the Severis to move into the Pannonian Plains before the Byzantines could do some more damage, if the Bulgar Khan stays alive, that is.

If they move into the Pannonian Plains how would this effect the Slavic tribes and the Avars already in the region? Would they in turn be pushed further westwards by the Bulgars?
 
My mate says things would probably not have been better, because wasn't he a bit of a tyrant?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
More like northwards.

Like into Poland and Bohemia?

Why not into the Po valley in Italy ?
This would be interesting, a Slavic Northern Italy would create a much more concrete divide between Northern and Southern Italy.

My mate says things would probably not have been better, because wasn't he a bit of a tyrant?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Source? I understand that his attempt to get rid of his co-emperor brothers wasn't popular and some troops actually rose to stop his first attempt, but is is there anything to indicate that thing wouldn't have been better? He clearly wasn't as despotic as his son Justinian II and twenty more years of Constantine IV means that there won't be the "Twenty Years' Anarchy" that led to a game of Imperial musical chairs, a series of crushing defeats by the Bulgars, a second siege of Constantinople, and a seemingly bipolar attitude about Monothelitism which alienated Rome.
 
The Pannonian Plains might be the best place for the Bulgars and their Slav allies to settle in. IOTL, I think it was one of the Bulgars under Khan Kuber's control that ended up there.
 
The Pannonian Plains might be the best place for the Bulgars and their Slav allies to settle in. IOTL, I think it was one of the Bulgars under Khan Kuber's control that ended up there.

indeed, but their movement in to the Pannonian Plains would probably push the Slavic tribes and the Avars already in the region outwards similar to how the Huns pushed the Goths westwards. If the Slavic tribes move into the Po Valley, Bavaria, or Poland it will have a significant effect on those regions. A heavily Slavic Northern Italy will be very very different from OTL and would have some very interesting consequences on the region.
 
There are several ways Asparukh could have died though, but as he was mostly commanding the troops from inside the fortress, how can he? If he does die, then there's Tervel, his son, who can take over.
 
The Huns pushed the Goths south. But I get what you are saying.

Perhaps a better analogy would have been comparing it to how the Avars incursion into the Pannonian Plain lead to the Lombards pushing into Italy?

If the Slavic tribes and the Avars are pushed into Italy by the Bulgars what might Slavic Italy look like and how might this effect Slavic language?
 
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