Emerald Tides: My first TL, an alternate St. Patrick

Well having only recently joined I have been heavily impressed by this site and have so decided to make my own timeline. There are a few PODs here which I might go into at later stage. There are 2 parts which make up a Prologue and after that I'll start it properly. Here we go anyway,

Prologue
i

It is the year 410 AD and Roman rule is beginning to disintegrate in Britain although many families have chosen to stay. One of these is a family in Wales where the now father of the family is a deacon in the area. His wife has just given birth to a boy by the name of Patrick. Life is hard in Post-Roman Britain for everyone especially in areas near the coast due to on going raids by the Irish in Hibernia across the Irish sea and constant kidnappings. In 426 AD raiders from the east of Ireland storm into Patrick's village and take him from his home and put him to chains for the journey back to Hibernia. There, for 6 years or so, Patrick is forced to work for his masters in the hills somewhere in east Leinster tending to sheep. Although an Atheist at his time of arrival he turned to God in his hours alone in the hills after realising it was unlikely he see his family again. He began to feel a deep resentment towards what he called "Pagan Savages" who had treated him badly and mocked and tormented him because of his beliefs.

It was at this time he began to feel the God was calling him to return to Britain and then convert the Irish to Christianity. Patrick felt that there was nothing for him back in Britain and tried to convert his masters and other people around his area but to little or no avail. After much thought he returned to Britain where he tried to find like minded people who had been going by hard times in recent years and wanted a new start. To his surprise he was not the only one with designs on a fresh start away from what remained of Roman Britain. He began to talk with a power hunger leader of an army consisting or former mercenaries and Roman solders who were trying to keep the peace and at the same time trying to find some way of seizing power. He was impressed by them and together they hatched a plan to realise both their aims.

Patrick talked him into invading Ireland and with the help of a local chief with designs on power over all of Ireland, establish a kingdom of all Ireland and its colonies in Wales and Scotland. Patrick would be installed as a religious leader while Marcus Seius, The Roman Leader, would be head of the army and him and his army installed a the ruling elite class in the "3rd Rome" as they saw it while the Irish chief would be made High King for his rewards. In 443 AD, the Romans and Patrick set sail for the east coast of Ireland, armed to the teeth and ready to "civilise" the Irish.

Patrick and his men landed in south east Munster, in modern day Waterford and quickly set about trying to find suitable allies in the area. A scout was sent out to the king of the Dál gCais who agreed to help Patrick and convert to Christianity. Patrick, under the guidance of Marcus Seius, moved his troops to North Munster where the Dál gCais were strongest. Patrick's army boosted by the native Celts quickly concurred the whole of Cuige Mumhan within weeks, as the Irish would unable to stand up to the superior weapons and tactics of Patrick's forces and could not unite themselves in time.

This trend quickly repeated itself in CuigeLaighin and Cuige Connachta who were no match for Patrick's army who had began to pick up dissidents along the way who were eager to get their own back at the rulers of Hibernia at the time. The Kingdoms of Mide and Ulaid were next in Patrick's sights and knowing they would have to work together to stop him the tired to unite under one banner. this was soon stopped by a disagreement over who would lead the army and Mide ended up joining Patrick to get back at Ulaid who were quickly beaten back and subdued, and thus, the Roman Kingdom of Hibernia was born.

Feel free to comment, criticize and improve :)
 
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Winnabago

Banned
Why exactly is St. Patrick a warrior and not some kid kidnapped by Irish raiders?

I feel like there are better ways to get Roman Ireland.
 
Why exactly is St. Patrick a warrior and not some kid kidnapped by Irish raiders?

I feel like there are better ways to get Roman Ireland.

Well actually Roman Ireland is not what I'm trying to get at all, it was simply Patricks goal in this TL. He is a Warrior of such but in reality he is more of a religious leader to this army he has convinced to join him on a sort of crusadeto convert Ireland. Basicly he thought it would be better to concur Ireland and then convert the population rather then just be a peaceful missionary. He was kidnapped and it said so in the first paragraph, his interpretation of his "vision" is the only thing that changed there.
 
ii

Patrick, in his new role of Holy Emperor, soon set about converting the local kings and chiefs to Christianity to enforce his rule upon the land. He formed the Holy Guards with the task of upholding the rule of Patrick and the High King of Hibernia, the force was to be overseen by General Marcus Seius who was also the head of the normal army as well as the elite and fully professional fighting force.At first it was made up of the best soldiers of the conquering army but also began to recruit the sons of the Irish chiefs to ensure the next generations loyalty and prevent rebellion. the members were encouraged to marry young into powerful Irish families and have as many children as they could while they were not fighting. Below this was a non-professional army made up of the native Irish who were given land in return and some of the older soldiers of Patrick's original army who were also given land in return for their service during the conquest of Hibernia. The army was set up to match that of the Roman Empire in its prime although with a number of things borrowed from Irish warfare as well as influences from Eastern Europe.
With his army set up and ready for action Patrick, now the religious figurehead of the country began to turn his sights towards his homeland in Wales were the now Sub-Kingdom of Cuige Laighin had two colonies. Patrick sent his army over to expand the colonies and enforce his rule over them. the did so with easy and handed over the southern end to Cuige Mumhan to prevent Laighin from becoming too strong. The army then travelled to the Isle of Man to host a trading and raiding post for the fledgling Irish navy commissioned by Patrick the previous year in AD 444. The island was given to Cuige Mide to balance out the new land controlled by the two more southern kingdoms. As the army went further north to the lands of the Pics they entered the colony of Cuige Ulaid which was situated in modern day Scotland and was still offering a bit of resistance against Patrick's rule. Patrick ordered his army to dispatch of any further discontent and begin the conversion to Christianity.

Many in the army were left to keep the peace and further expand the young empire across Britain and in AD 449 Cornwall fell to the forces of Cuige Mumhan further expanding Patrick's control. At this stage Hibernia was fairly united and Patrick set aside the rest of his days to converting the remainder of the population to Christianity and establishing links with neighbouring kingdoms in OTL Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Northern England where Mide had just set up a small colony from its base in the Isle of Man. In AD 455 a new king came to the throne who would be know to history as Caomh the Great. A great admirer of Patrick's success in uniting the island and establishing footholds in main land Britain, upon which he hoped to gain. His ultimate aim was, unlike that of Patrick's which was rebuilding a Roman Empire, to unite the lands of Celtic origin, OLT Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and to push back the Saxon invasion of Roman Britain to coastal areas and reduce their threat to this Celtic utopia he dreamed of creating.

In AD 461 his expansion was going along fine with lands being gained in Cornwall and Scotland particularly with small gains being made in Wales although in most cases it was little chiefdoms and kingdoms along coastal areas, which he had expected and was in the process of building up relations with various Chiefs and Princes and absorbing other, weaker Kingdoms near the border and the sea. He also commissioned raids by sea to other parts of Britain which he aimed to concur with time. His merry travels preaching with the sword were stopped dead in their tracks in 469 AD by his assassination by a Pagan fanatic, loyal to a deposed Chief from Cuige Laighin who claimed Patrick was destroying the soul of Ireland with his Christianity. Patrick was hung on the edge of death for a week before succumbing to his knife wounds in this temporary capital at the settlements on the east coast near OTL Dublin


King Caomh put his conquests on hold and stated that the all Pagan religions were to be outlawed and anyone caught practising them would be killed and made an example of. This rule was rarely if ever upholded although it did more or less kill the Pagan religions in Hibernia and the assassin was publicly executed and burned. This became known as an extremely dark time in Irish history and plunged Hibernia into deep inner strief

Map of Hibernia cira 470 AD with administrative divisions: (Key: Cuige Mumhan=Red, Cuige Laighin=Blue, Cuige Ulaid=Yellow, Cuige Mide=Pink and Cuige Connachta=Green)

British%2520Isles.PNG
 
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Belated happy St.Patrick's day!

Well seeing as St.Patrick's day has just past heres the next (short) update, more trouble is brewing. :p

A.D. 463

King Caomh was determined to continue with Patrick's goal of forming a new Christian Empire in Europe, being heavily influenced by Patrick and the other Romans at court he set about expanding his empire across the British Isles and beyond. Although growing up being surrounded by Roman influence Caomh wanted more of a Celtic Empire rather then a Roman one. Despite this he enforced Roman values and laws as well as fitting the Irish language to the Latin alphabet. He was rather obsessed with becoming the most powerful man since the height of Romans and would probably be seen as being slightly insane and power crazed were he to be around today, this said he was quite reasonable at times and a great tactician. He increased the army size and established a colony in Brittany with limited success, in reality in was just a trading post with 200 soldiers and some farmers, that said it was a foothold on the continent. Although many people had benefited from the new rulers not everyone was pleased, many parts of Cuige Connachta were never brought under control and many Chieftains there and in Cuige Laighin were opposed to him and wanted the throne for themselves. In the depth of what is today Galway, most the these leaders meet in secret in the lands of Breandán Ó Sé, a prominent landowner in the area.

"Thank you all for coming in these less then suitable conditions, seeing as many of us do not have the best histories with each other I will get straight to the point, something needs to be done about the Romans and quickly, some enough we will all be powerless and lowly subjects to the scum that calls itself the King."Spat Breandán Ó Sé.

Many of the leaders and their bodyguards shifted uncomfortably at this wordings, Ó Sé was not liked at all by the others but he had powerful warriors at his disposal and he offered a safe location to meet, far away from the nearest army fort. There wouldn't be much said at this meeting, they all had already agreed to their plan, to overthrow King Caomh.

"How many men do we have?" Questioned a young man from Munster, his eagerness to start the rebellion clear for all to see.

"5,000 by most accounts, considering alot of the non-Roman soldiers will join us soon after the fighting begins it should be more then enough seeing as the Romans are aging at this stage and their sons do not have the same loyalty towards King Caomh . . . " Ó Sé's voice trailed of as a Chief from Ulaid asked who would lead the army, "I for one do not wish to see you as the leader!"

This was not as welcomed as he would have thought, although Ó Sé was not liked, everyone knew he was a capable leader on the battlefield and later that evening he was voted as the leader of their army.

The next morning the various Chiefs set off back to their homes to organise their parts of the army and to march on the Capital
 
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Royal City, 26th of Febuary A.D. 463

Many of King Caomh's troops were stationed in Britain involved in the conquest and order keeping in the new lands, something which would turn out to be a crucial error with hindsight. The inexperienced King had not anticipated much trouble at home and with the worsening health of his military adviser, Marcus Seius, he had little or no guidance with most of his generals not on the island. Only around 20,000 troops remained and these were very much spread around the country and only 8,500 troops guarded the capital, which was still under construction as a royal, trade and military headquarters. In the early hours of the morning on the 24th of February a scout rushed into the royal estate having been stationed on the east bank of the River Shannon where he witnessed the crossing of the river by the Army under the control of the notorious Chieftain Breandán Ó Sé. There had been some debate in the previous few years as to arrest Ó Sé due to his history of waring with just about everyone he had a problem with. In the end it was decided it was not worth the hassle due to him keeping his head down since Patrick's death. Big mistake...

The young man who called himself Eógan took a deep breath as he prepared to enter the throne room, a meeting with the king was something royal scouts usually tryed to avoid due to its normally fatal outcome. He just hoped to God the King was in a good mood.

"Enter!" The call came for him to take the daunting walk up the long white marble corridor leading to the throne room. He hadn't been given any instructions as how to treat the king but he kept his head bowed as he walked up, this was definitely not what he had signed up for.

"Your Majesty" Eógan said, rather anxiously. "As you may have heard I witnessed an army under the control of..."

"Yes yes I know why your here, and I know what you have said the the guards outside, what I want to know is are they going to be a threat to me?" Cut in the king,even if he did it politely it still was scarring Eógan lifeless, for what of a better word.

Eógan stood flustered for a moment before composing himself, " Well by the looks of things Your Majesty, they number over 5,000, alot less then the troops we have but albeit they are hellbent on removing you to suit their own ends."

"No chance of negotiations so?"

"I believe not sire."

"Right, my friends, I believe it is time to call the troops from everywhere we can, we march at dawn." He shifted his gaze to Eógan, " If it is not a problem you would serve your king greatly in coming along, we will need you to help with tactics"

"It would be an honour your Majesty" said Eógan, suspecting it was more an order then a invention.

"Good, you may leave" motioned the king, much to Eógan's relief.

King Caomh's advisers were quietly excusing themselves, knowing the King would seek to blame them for this. The King meanwhile meet with his Generals to discuss their battle plan, he knew this day would come at some stage but it had happen at the precise stage he happened to have 3/4 of his army in Britain, just his lucky day.

Edit: Changed the names, hopefully a bit better:)
 
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Royal City of Dubh Linn, 26th of Febuary A.D. 463

Many of King Caoimhghin's troops were stationed in Britain involved in the conquest and order keeping in the new lands, something which would turn out to be a crucial error with hindsight. The inexperienced King had not anticipated much trouble at home and with the worsening health of his military adviser, Marcus Seius, he had little or no guidance with most of his generals not on the island. Only around 20,000 troops remained and these were very much spread around the country and only 8,500 troops guarded the capital, Dubh Linn which was still under construction as a royal, trade and military headquarters. In the early hours of the morning on the 24th of February a scout rushed into the royal estate having been stationed on the east bank of the River Shannon where he witnessed the crossing of the river by the Army under the control of the notorious Chieftain Breandán Ó Sé. There had been some debate in the previous few years as to arrest Ó Sé due to his history of waring with just about everyone he had a problem with. In the end it was decided it was not worth the hassle due to him keeping his head down since Patrick's death. Big mistake...

The young man who called himself Séan took a deep breath as he prepared to enter the throne room, a meeting with the king was something royal scouts usually tryed to avoid due to its normally fatal outcome. Séan just hoped to God the King was in a good mood.

"Enter!" The call came for him to take the daunting walk up the long white marble corridor leading to the throne room. He hadn't been given any instructions as how to treat the king but he kept his head bowed as he walked up, this was definitely not what he had signed up for.

"Your Majesty" said Séan, rather anxiously. "As you may have heard I witnessed an army under the control of..."

"Yes yes I know why your here, and I know what you have said the the guards outside, what I want to know is are they going to be a threat to me?" Cut in the king,even if he did it politely it still was scarring Séan lifeless, for what of a better word.

Sean stood flustered for a moment before composing himself, " Well by the looks of things Your Majesty, they number over 5,000, alot less then the troops we have but albeit they are hellbent on removing you to suit their own ends."

"No chance of negotiations so?"

"I believe not sire."

" Right, my friends, I believe it is time to call the troops from everywhere we can, we march at dawn." He shifted his gaze to Séan " If it is not a problem you would serve your king greatly in coming along, we will need you to help with tactics"

"It would be an honour your Majesty" said Séan, suspecting it was more an order then a invention.

"Good, you may leave" motioned the king, much to Séan's relief.

King Caoimhghin'sadvisers were quietly excusing themselves, knowing the King would seek to blame them for this. The King meanwhile meet with his Generals to discuss their battle plan, he knew this day would come at some stage but it had happen at the precise stage he happened to have 3/4 of his army in Britain, just his lucky day.

2 name comments.
1) Sean (in its various spellings) is a Gaelic spelling of the Anglo-Norman Jehan, and thus doesn't appear until after the Norman conquest, specifically until after the Normans invaded Ireland thereafter. The native form of "John" is "Eoin" in various spellings. Later anglicized as "Ian".

2) Caoimhghin is a Middle Irish (~1000-1200) form. You want something like "Cóemgein" or possibly "Comgán"

You've got the same problem with "Dubh Linn", etc. Any form with the lenition is going to be Middle Irish or later...
Edit: besides which, Dublin as a settlement was founded by the Vikings a couple of hundred years later.
 
Very interesting TL... I can't really see the capital being moved to Dubh Linn that quickly though... a. It was built as a Viking settlement OTL. b. Tara was still very powerful both symbolically and as a milliatary/political seat... Even in modern times, Tara is a potent symbol of Irish unity and independence. OTL, it wasn't until Strongbow that Dublin really rose as a political center... I'll deffinately be watching this though...

Edit: and what Dathi said... I should really refressh the page if I'm going to wait this long to comment...
 
2 name comments.
1) Sean (in its various spellings) is a Gaelic spelling of the Anglo-Norman Jehan, and thus doesn't appear until after the Norman conquest, specifically until after the Normans invaded Ireland thereafter. The native form of "John" is "Eoin" in various spellings. Later anglicized as "Ian".

2) Caoimhghin is a Middle Irish (~1000-1200) form. You want something like "Cóemgein" or possibly "Comgán"

You've got the same problem with "Dubh Linn", etc. Any form with the lenition is going to be Middle Irish or later...
Edit: besides which, Dublin as a settlement was founded by the Vikings a couple of hundred years later.

In my defense I am utterly useless at Irish but I suppose I should change those things:p In regards to Dublin despite the name it is the logical place to build the capital, right next to Britain where most of the islands foreign trade takes place and where a conquest is currently in progess, as well as possibly the most fertile land on the island surrounding the river. Thanks for the corrections though.:)

I will say though that Dublin isn't necessarily going to be the center of everything, I haven't fully decided what to do with it power wise but it won't dominate the country as it does in present day.
 
After doing a bit of research it seems that there were settlements on the Liffey before the Vikings, most notably at the easiest crossing points. Its unclear what the main one was called so I'm kind of stuck for a name. Something in Latin to symbolise new leadership possibly. Anyone have any ideas??:confused:
 
After doing a bit of research it seems that there were settlements on the Liffey before the Vikings, most notably at the easiest crossing points. Its unclear what the main one was called so I'm kind of stuck for a name. Something in Latin to symbolise new leadership possibly. Anyone have any ideas??:confused:

Possibly the Irish equivalent of Christianopolis? To trump Tara's 'Hall of Kings', 'Hall of Gods'? And kings always like naming new cities after themselves.

Still, the farmers might be calling it the best ford for getting your oxen accross, and you'd be stuck with that.
 
Possibly the Irish equivalent of Christianopolis? To trump Tara's 'Hall of Kings', 'Hall of Gods'? And kings always like naming new cities after themselves.

Still, the farmers might be calling it the best ford for getting your oxen accross, and you'd be stuck with that.

Yes, thats somethings I've been toying with althought without much serious thought. In the current situation I think King Caomh/whatever his next name will be:p would avoid naming it after himself as it will piss people off more. I think I'm going to leave it nameless until after this battle and what have you and then pick something.

'Hall of Gods', now thats something I think I could use at some point:p
 
One problem with the banks of the Liffey is that I don't remember there being any good high ground to command the surrounding area. In a society that is as militarily based as the societies of most of ancient and early mediaeval Europe, command of the surrounding country is an important (but not necessarily make or break) feature for a primary capital.

Dublin rose to prominence OTL, because the pale was ruled by a kingdom based in Britain, and was dependant on occasional reinforcements from Norman England. Therefore, control of the port to receive those reinforcements was top priority.
ITTL, you have a primarily Irish based empire that in theory isn't going to place as high of priority on bringing troops in...

An idea you might want to consider having your capital near the Liffey, but a little bit farther back from the water on high ground and having a second city on the banks of the Liffey. Somewhere along the lines of Rome and Ostia.
 
One problem with the banks of the Liffey is that I don't remember there being any good high ground to command the surrounding area. In a society that is as militarily based as the societies of most of ancient and early mediaeval Europe, command of the surrounding country is an important (but not necessarily make or break) feature for a primary capital.

Dublin rose to prominence OTL, because the pale was ruled by a kingdom based in Britain, and was dependant on occasional reinforcements from Norman England. Therefore, control of the port to receive those reinforcements was top priority.
ITTL, you have a primarily Irish based empire that in theory isn't going to place as high of priority on bringing troops in...

An idea you might want to consider having your capital near the Liffey, but a little bit farther back from the water on high ground and having a second city on the banks of the Liffey. Somewhere along the lines of Rome and Ostia.


Yeah of been thinking about that, in the mean time before I decide on what to do I've scraped the name and changed it to the 'temperary' capital. A more defencable postion might be better alright. An update will come hopefully tomorrow (I think Saturday is more realistic though) and after that I'll make a choice. Thanks for the ideas though:rolleyes:
 
Update:

West bank of the River Boann (Boyne)

King Caomh sat, looking rather disheveled, on his horse on a hill somewhere in the middle of the country in the pouring rain, his father had always kept him away from fighting, thinking someone would use the chance to kill the heir to the throne. Oh how he wished his father hadn't done that. Despite this he knew the basics of tactics and this hill was the highest in sight. In the distance he could see a black mass approaching which he knew was the army of Breandán Ó'Sé. Eógan, the royal scout, as his new title read was beside on a sightly smaller horse which has on the hallmarks of a life of hard work, much unlike the King's horse. The King's army stood at 12,000, all the troops available in the capital and a few hundred picked up along the way. The numbers were also bolstered by a number of loyal Chieftains and the soldiers they had on offer. They army had only 2,000 cavalry but the King suspected the enemy had little or none of their own.

"Nervous?" The King glanced at Eógan, who wasn't looking to comfortable.

"Doesn't even start to cover it." Remarked the young scout, to his surprise the King cracked a smile, something he had not yet seen him do in his time knowing him.

As the opposing army came closer it became clear that there were more then 5,000 of them and that this battle would actually be a test for Hibernia's king.


Army of Breandán Ó'Sé, 1 Km West.


"We're blessed that we have been joined by more soldiers along the way, otherwise we would be massacred!" The voice of Ó'Sé rattled slightly as he made this observation, although their army had basically quadrupled in size since they crossed the Shannon the air was very tense. Many local leaders and chiefs had decided to join the force as well as many lone warriors due to either the rush riches Breandán promised them or the fact they resented what they saw as a foreign regime.

"Indeed." Observed his right hand man, a man in his mid twenties known as Fedelmid, a powerful chief from a family in Ulaid which would OTL become the Uí Neill's, " With a 20,000 strong army I fail to see how we can lose this, the only matter of debate among the warriors is who will kill the mockery of a man that calls himself king." The disdain in his voice was clear, and Ó'Sé knew that, such was the power of his family, he would look to fill the power vacuum with himself, something that would need to be dealt with.

Breandán cleared his mind for his idle wanderings and concentrated on the task at hand. He was confident of victory due to his superior numbers and what he believed were superior warriors but had slight worries over his lack of cavalry, numbering only about 500 or so due to the new additions. His tactics revolved around his 1,000 or so archers who were mercenaries from Gaul, his plan was to launch volleys of arrows toward the King's infantry at which point his own warriors would clean up the rest. He was further pleased when he saw that the numbers of his opposing army were not as big as had been reported, not once did it strike him that the 'missing' soldiers were simply somewhere else...

Caomh had realised he was screwed early on had had quickly made a very risky move, he ordered about 2,500 of his men including some of his best and most trusted soldiers to sweep in behind Breandán's archers and take them out before they could do much damage, if they were noticed then it could possibly be game over for the 27 year old King who's army would be at a 2:1 disadvantage against an enemy running on raw hatred. Not something on his to do list.

"Tell the men to read themselves and get the cavalry ready to change" His right hand man,Tiberius Rabirius, a charismatic 23 year old of Roman origin, quickly dispatched the word among the man. Caomh had big plans and this man was centrally involved in, a general already Rabirius had shown immense talent in his campaigns in Britain and was back in Hibernia to discuss planning and various other war related things, just as well as it happened as his knowledge of battle was crucial to winning the battle.

The battle seemed a blur to Caomh, he avoided the fighting and over looked the action from a hill behind his army. His plan had work beautifully due to the enemy's archers being very lightly armed and were therefor cut down with easy by his better armed and skilled soldiers. The battle was very drawn out and it lasted most of the day, both sides took heavy loses in the frenzied fighting. A major breakthrough came in the late afternoon when, due to pure exhaustion, the rag-tag that was Breandán's forces collapsed in many places and were massacred without orders, when asked for further orders Caomh simply remarked "Let the traitors part with their life as quickly as they parted with their King"

By the time the sun set there was 6,500 soldiers left standing on the field, all of them from King Caomh's army, all searching for the body of one man, one enemy.
 
Looks good! I nearly share a last name with your kings Roman general.
Overall I'm enjoying the work, I love your POD. It's so easy, just thinking what a dream meant differently. Very nice TL.
 
*I've changed the font the TL is written in so if its any better/worse I would like to hear it. But here it is anyway....

A.D. 465


In the aftermath of the battle of the Boann King Caomh made many changes to the day to day running of the Empire, mainly to give more stability and also to facilitate the expansion of the empire which Caomh envisioned. To do this he made a few changes to the boundaries of the provinces (See map) and invested more time, money and troops to the more westerly areas of Hibernia as well as the borders in Britain which were constantly expanding, albeit at a slower pace as time went by, expanding beyond rivers and coastline was proving a challenge. Knowing this Caomh massively expanded his army to 75,000 and split it 2:1 between Britain and Hibernia. He also invested in getting better equipment for the army and hired many of the greatest minds from across Europe to come up with new ideas for the army and various other projects across the Empire. He also decided to give the majority of the citizens some sort of weapons training to back up the army in case of them being outnumbered.

Caomh's revenge against the leaders of the rebellion was swift and merciless, although many were killed in the fight, Breandán Ó'Sé being one, those that survived sent to labour camps building the new cites that Caomh was planning. Much of their land was also confiscated and given to chiefs who were loyal the the crown. Caomh decided that his planned capital on the east coast was too far away from the rest of the country and instead changed his plans so that it would reside on the River Shannon. No name was chosen immediately but it eventually became known as Sionna, after the river, although the city was dubbed "New Rome" by the locals for some time. While the the old capital was renamed, against the advice of those in his royal court, as Caomhinium (Cheesy I know) after Londinium which Caomh, most of the new towns and cites had names of Irish origin, with one or two exceptions, Paludem Insula, OTL Cork, was an army barracks around which a town had sprung up. This was further aided by the construction of Hibernia's navy in the harbour just beyond the town. This navy was to be used to raid the coast of Britain where natives were still in control, to move supplies across and to increase influence in Brittany to fill the power vacuum left by the Romans.

This became another goal of Caomh's and in the end it, and his realisation that he needed at least one son to carry on his dynasty, would be solved in one foul swoop when he married the daughter, and most importantly the only child, of a powerful Chief in the area who was in the process being at war with everyone around him in the hopes of craving out a kingdom for himself. Caomh sent over 3,000 troop to assist him as marriage gift and to endear him to the locals. As well as bringing Caomh a son, Brian, it proved to be a success and it set a precedent to how Caomh and subsequent Kings would handle the conquest of other countries in the future. Caomh also realised that if he left the day to day running of the provinces to others he would have more time to concentrate on more pressing matters. This resulted in 'Princes', who were either trusted friends of Caomh or his cousins being put on the thrones of the 5 provinces. An indirect result of this was a further handing over of power to local chiefs who were loyal to the crown and the establishment of the first unplanned towns and villages which were encouraged as a method of decentralising power with to tax brakes to the controlling Chief.

Meanwhile in Britain the rate of conquest was beginning to slow with princedoms springing up along the borders as a means for the natives to resist Hibernian rule. Aware of Britain's brutal past with the Romans, General Tiberius Rabirius, the kings right hand man and the man who was de facto in charge of affairs in Britain, tryed to make life in the empire was attractive as possible and gave generous tax brakes to the natives as well as well as giving a limited amount of power to the local rulers. He also signed many alliances and married off the sons of the Princes of the Province's to the daughters of the most powerful nations on the border, meaning expansion would continue with only "a convenient fall" for competitors to the crowns of them as he is alleged to have put it in correspondence with the King. He embarked on a rigorous training regime for his troops and went up and down the island inspecting and improving them so that they would be ready for the next phase of expansion. One thing that did worry him though was the invasion by the Saxons in the east, something that, he reasoned, would halt the eastward expansion of the Empire at some stage in the future.

On the continent the Roman Empire was falling apart increasingly quickly and many of it's soldiers decided it would be better for them and their families to move to Brittany and seek employment there, where they were welcomed in open arms to add to the growing army in the area was Hibernia's influence expanded in the wake of the King's deteriorating health and the imminent prospect of Caomh being crowned king there. Many traders began to organise and set up trading posts along the Iberian Peninsula. Most of these were declared property of the King although some went it alone with varying success.

Overall it had been a very profitable two years since the rebellion which had, as history would show, strengthened the Empire and had forced it to learn from its mistakes, something which Caomh would be sure to tell his son.



Map of the Hibernian Empire, A.D. 465 :

Lime green is Celtic Kingdoms, brown is Saxons, lime green surrounded by a colour of one of the provinces (e.g. Red) is either a vassle or Caomh/ a Prince of a Province is next in line for the throne. As you can see the borders of the provinces have been somewhat changed to give greater balance, and to help the growth of Mide's colenies which had been hampered by lack of resources.

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