Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

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John's victory convinced some in Anatolia to join him, this further bolstering the numbers that he had , by now he had 60000 to 70000 men in the late summer of 884 John's forces had crossed into Europe Heraclonas had already sent some of his forces out of the city thus the imperial navy didn't contest the crossing unlike certain east which had divided feelings over Heraclonas actions the areas of Macedonia and Thrace had not forget all the effort the emperor did to save them from monetary crisis and the Bulgarian invasion knowing his popularity was still high Heraclonas ordered the fortresses and cities of these areas to be manded, upgraded this only strengthened the loyalty of the populace, John did not receive the warm welcome he had excepted still he ordered his troops to take taking the surrounding cities Heraclonas sent some forces to delay this action but he was outnumbered when his navy arrived did the siege start, John knew Constantinople had reserves he had given his father to much time to prepare and assaulting the Theodosian walls was a risk that he, for now, was not willing to make an assault on the city, in greece the armies gathered to deal with the rebel lead by Martiros and his sub commanders, Gregory and Basil along with the emperor second son Constantine.

John heard of this and knew he could not allow this he need something to either draw the army of the west or draw the garrison of the queen of cities out so he took a portion of his massive army 25000 strong to go to the west he made, the enemy army though this was a distraction and it was John asked for the people to surrender but many refused so he turned to terror sacking any town that did not help him, his main target was clear the city of Thessalonica the loyalist generals knew that they could not allow this for even if was a distraction if they showed themselves to not help their popularity would die down and they could join the rebel army due to the fear with some 35000 men they left Greece and moved to intercept them the armies would meet near Serres the rebels put their best forces in the sides with John leading them in the center along with a contingent of cavalry in reserve the loyalist put there strongest in the center and mix of cavalry and infantry in the flanks the battle commenced with the the loyalist center pushing back the center but they did not route John slew many Gregory wrote: the son of the emperor inflicted much damage on us and he began to terrify the men he fougth ahead of his own ranks for any blow he struck with his own hand cutting men in half or loosing his limbs, for his show of bravery some of the men acclaimed him emperor as some other fled.

how ever as he pushed back the wings were not doing so well as the numbers were against them and the rebel left was pushed back nearly all the way to camp it was here when the reserve entered attacking the flank even though later historians saw this as a feint retreat Gregory account makes it clear that the soldiers had panicked and had it not been for the reserve they would have been killed to the last man, with this the loyalist retreated with many casualties seeing this John sent a portion of his troops to attack them finally routing them from the field, it had been another victory and some in the area joined him how ever this stunning victory hid the truth of the battle John had lost about 8000 men on the battle numbers he could not easily replace while his number were still high he knew his father could still bring another army and winter was soon going to come and soon news reached him Vachagan had landed in the levant and was gathering with the locals ... he nearly entered panic another reason why he dragged out the army of greece and Macedonia out is that he wanted to harm so that Vachagan would have to use a smaller army but now he realsed why he went there, the occupation of syria and Mesopotamia had cut off a great number of tax revenue, the rebel leader sent word to his ally he told them to avoid battle at all cost and wear them down and said if he was gathering more forces pick them off they could not allow Vachagan to gather a large army for that would be a lost, finally John sent a letter to the shah to honor his agreement and give forces to his ally, as John returned to Constantinople he knew he need to take it quickly so he asked his friend Simeon to help him and so he did.

 

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Winter came Simeon hadn't yet promised to deliver his promise winter was just spent gathering forces Simeon quickly crossed near the end of winter with some 8000 men to support his friend's bid for the throne with these assaults began the first attack was sending some troops to probe the defenses John now brought the main assault with many men, siege engines and catapults, with this he hoped the citizens might give up or drag the garrison out, the catapults these began to bombard the city but was countered by the loyalist who pushed back the assault but while this failed John commander managed to trick part of the imperial navy to leave the golden horn after an engagement there the rebeld fleet destroyed it how after this their attack on the golden horn failed , more importantly John success made it seem like he had a great change to win with this and convincing from part of Siemon , the emperor of Bulgaria who had assured Heraclonas gathered sent a 12000 strong force to aid John to take the city with that Heraclonas quickly sent word to Constantine in Panonia and Slavomir to attack bulgaria the latter honored his alliance and joined Heraclonas .

The Bulgarian emperor now sent armies to deal with them, back in Constantinople another assault was launched and pushed back, Heraclonas wanted to end the siege as quickly as possible before the Bulgarians arrived, Nicetas and the emperor Himself with a cavalry contingent sallied out attacking their Valor was not matched except by John who reunited the men and chased his father to end the siege as the emperor pushed too far due to success then Nicetas said to his emperor to leave to which he said no, and the Assyrian replied: oh my Basileus do not waste the few moments we have left in pity go you must survive for as long as you are with them the cities defense will remain strong.

in the battle, Nicetas would fall but he would take many with them in his last charge, John again would show respect to the men who once saved the empire by sending the body back to have its rites in the queen of cities he also announced how if his father surrendered, all these death would stop, the victories also meant some cities in Greece began to support him and least give lukewarm support with new support John again attacked but was repulsed and this continued for months until news reached from the east, the year prior in October Vachagan had landed his force in the levant, but he didn't attack gathering his army till spring, the rebels attacked them sometimes but never truly engaged, and the morale of the soldiers were conflicted on the one had the man they proclaimed emperor had won every battle even against the mighty commanders that composed Heraclonas guard how ever Vachagan was on a league of his own so much so that the shah who was concentrating on invading to "help " most likely to take some cities for himself stopped in his tracks when he heard news Vachagan had arrived, with his arrival the king of the ghassanids now truly picked a side along with other Arabs under him, as he gathered his army some of the rebels attack using hit and run tactics but winter was spent planning when spring came Vachagan had bolstered his numbers to about 25000 as he didn't bring every troop from Sicily compared to Thedores 40 000 despite nearly being outnumbered 2 to 1 some soldiers in the rebel army had deserted or joined the general who offered clemency, Vachagan laid siege to Damascus which fell to him in three months even though he took he did take some loses with Thedore forces despite having a majority only a portion and hit an run tactics with this both armies would meet north of Damascus halfway between it and Hielopolis.

Both Theodore and Vachagan organized their infantry in 3 lines with cavalry in the back and a reserve, Vachagan was not going to attack first after a standoff Theodore sent his force which was met by the loyalist despite their numbers pushing them back the loyalist with their higher morale were trading well some sources go as far as to say 5 dead rebels for each of their own, but the rebel forces retired seeing this Vachagan ordered an attack which nearly broke the rebels but Theodore personal intervention managed to stabilize the line after another two hours of fighting and the day coming to an end Vachagan retreated back to his camp, the second day began with an arrow exchange which Theodore got the best of the exchange and then would attack the left of the loyalist troops as that is were the last days fighting had more fruit, the best rebel troops attacked it soon the loyalist was shoved back before killing many the push was so successful but gaps opened the ghassanids then tried use them but the rebel reserve covered them Vachagan would now sent part of his contigent to deep flanking maneuver who got behind the rebel line killing its commander as Vachagan attacked from the side how ever the being the best troops and despite taking some casualties they retreated well.

Before the third day, Vachagan gathered his ghassanid king, light cavalry, and a part of the heavy cavalry to the right, knowing that Theodore would most likely try to break his left he moved soldiers from the center towards it, Theodore did attack this confidence that it would break and they were pushed back it was then when ghassanid light cavalry moved to attack them from the rear and then Vachagan attacked them from the side, attacked by two sides the rebel left collapsed Theodore tried to form a defense but it was too late Vachagan routed them with most of the rebel cavalry routed, the general attacked the remaining forces now attacked from 3 sides they tried desperately to flee, around 1/4 of the rebel army was destroyed many scattered, Theodore, however, didn't give up he retreated to Emesa, Vachagan ignored him and focused on recovering most of the lost territory.

 

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As the siege continued Constantine in Pannonia kept the Bulgarians in check and Slavomir defeated a 6000-strong force sent against him, the siege of Constantinople continued but Heraclonas kept motivating his men his old guard gathered the forces and were told to go north and so they did, as the siege dragged on, to the east Vachagan forced Theodore to flee to Antioch he quickly chased him but Theodore hid behind the formidable walls, Vachagan knew that his actions of clemency had done little harm to the rich provinces, so he laid siege to the city as he took the last strongholds to consolidate his position with but merely a month to the siege after Theodore had sent many failed attempts to break the siege and with Vachagan still repeating he would give amnesty Theodore men would betray him and sent him over to Vachagan who killed him blaming him for the rebellion, unknown to most the fall Antioch in summer 885 would mark the turning point of the rebellion when news reached John panicked and tried and ordered desperate attacks in one of them the most of his fleet was destroyed by the loyalist with greek fire but was still strong enough to blockade the city.

Another assault continued but again was repulsed Heraclonas was livid about the events he told his men to spare as many Romans lives as they could but slaughter any Bulgarians they wanted for their treachery, and the rebels began to suffer more casualties this continued for some weeks until news reached John that the old guard and his brother were coming south with Constantine as they defeated the Bulgarians before John could move against them Heraclonas sallied with all his forces out the last battle was about to begin, but instead what followed was a stand-off John the bolder one was cautious as he knew his father could match him and Heraclonas hoped he could stop this but as time passed and knowing the stand-off could not go on Heraclonas closed his eyes him Theophilos, Demetrius and Romanus attacked the battle was slogging match until one of the rebels commanders attacked the loyalist right seeking its leaderTheophilos, who retreated but John had pushed too much seeing this Romanos grabbed part of his cavalry force to attack seeing John fought on looking for his father to capture him and end the battle but Heraclonas who had kept Demetrius in reserve now ordered a charge but they didn't break here the son and father faced off and like Tiberius, all those years before him he said the sword of heraclius was his , John was the first to swing as his father blocked , as both armies were cheering for their respective leaders, john was at the peak of his youth while Heraclonas had experience but he was getting tire as he went from a thurst the emperor blocked and managed to disarm him, this combined with the other charge the rebel force scattered .

John bearly escaped to the Adrianople while his supporters fled as the Bulgarians fled back to the north except Simeon who stayed with his friend soon Heraclonas forces arrived he again said to spare Christian blood he would forgive anyone who surrendered and so the men delivered up John as Simeon barely escaped after Adrianople fell many urged Heraclonas to kill his child but that was out of the question after the guilt he suffered for Tiberius he was not to do it, as the men gathered to deal with the small remnants of the rebellion Vachagan who had crushed the eastern rebels said my emperor you should know so long as he lives, the hatred he has to you will be a cause of revolt you must do something at least blind him

Heraclonas who had turned his back and then said quietly: Cut his nose off
my emperor?
Cut... his nose off I will not repeat myself!
Vachagan then ordered this to be done And so by October 885, he was exiled to the islands of princes the rebellion despite its scales had done little damage to the empire the same could not be said for its emperor who retreated to his palace not to be seen

 

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As Heraclonas was secluded for some months rumors soon spread about his death but the emperor was not he was commanding the empire from the palace until finally, he left while Heraclonas had declined from his youth he was still a very imposing man but Gregory mentioned:

One might wonder how time and tragedy break a man so it was with emperor Heraclonas if one compared him to when he got the throne nearly 30 years ago or merely five or even two, his golden hair with a few strands of grey was now fully grey, the tall erect noble he showed to lead his armies was now bent barely able to stand, his eyes that once inspired the men were now filled with sorrow baggy from the sleepless nights of sorrow

Heraclonas was known never to give up and even here he wouldn't despite wanting to resign he knew he could not do it not immediately, he gave more and more responsibilities to Constantine as he spent reading the holy book about the story of David and his own son but he also knew that Solomon ruled and was even the greatest ruler but...he also knew how god punished Solomon, he was truly afraid of what might happen but it was that fear that led to this but soon age came to take more of his friends, Romanus died at the age of 61, Heraclonas also got some peace of mind noting how Romanus at least died of old age hoping all his old friends would have a peaceful end,, however, he also was worried about them and told them if anyone wanted to retire they could but none did some did take fewer responsibilities but these men still remained highly loyal and he needed them, as the rebellion continued at first the Berber emperor did not attack until Vachagan left and news that John was going to Constantinople arrived knowing that he moved his armies against Butera , Enna the city the berbers only ignored it since it was considered impertable after 5 months of siege fell the exchart tried to send forces but failed now Heraclonas gave the tittle of exchart to the only man he could truly trust in Italy Tiberius was sent with an army he scatared the berber navy landed and met the berber force as they had not truly recovered from the last battle Tiberius force did deal a great damage to them but thanks to the berber prince he was defeated , while he could not take back Enna he limited berber expansion and forced the Cartheginians to sing a peace and the berber emperor left the island.

In 885 and 886 came the emperor celebrated many feasts but kept to himself spending more time trying to ask forgiveness had he done a great evil for god to punish him this way, not helped that Theophilos also died during May of that year but good news came to the emperor during the Dormition of the Mother of God Constantine told his father that Sophia was pregnant , the line of Heraclius would continue after his eldest son only had one daughter before the ordeal, heraclonas went to speak with his son and said :

When I was young I dreamed of my legacy being the one who restored the roman empire to all its former glory, while I have returned peace I was too naive I thought... those I had chosen to help me would what was right some did for no men were more loyal than those 14, but some did was right to them, I always wondered why Alexander became bitter and in the face of the betrayal and perversion here he saw he though brothers in arms would stand together I guess he to was naive, and in chains, he entered another prison one of regret and hopeless, one as I grew older I understood more.

However, even now I don't share his sentiment I still have hope, the empire might struggle for centuries to come all in vain but I know we will continue to fight to greet a merry or die under bitter end, as I grew older I learned that lord plans for me have not always followed what I wanted, and now I will not live to see my dream but i did the best I could yet I still have hope despite everything and my regrets because of you my son because the most important thing I learned that you are my true legacy .

 

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I heraclonas was born 62 years ago, for 37 years I have ruled as Rome's emperor but even in all these years I have seen and survived the chaos that nearly killed the line of mighty Heraclius I pray that if these are the closing days of this line may the republic be in the hands of those capable.

the emperor continued to write down his worries, especially if the child of Constantine was going to be a girl or boy he could only wait and pray which he did a lot to get some peace, the emperor left Constantinople more to the countryside to spend time outside the city in which he youth he loved for all its fun, now was a reminder of each voice that asked something of him but soon he became too weak for that and decided to walk in the garden of the mighty city.

it was may of 887 went to the gardens the air and the quiet helped him keep his mind calm but despite the trees of his mighty garden blooming the health of Heraclonas continued to decline he asked for his son to come because he was worried about his wife had entered labor some time ago he prayed that she and the baby would be fine his father told his son to keep calm and they both prayed with Heraclonas saying it with a lower voice and small coughs then he said.

My son my time is short I hope I get to hear the good news but I wanted to do this myself trembling as he got up he unfasted his sheath I think its time for you to have this, he said as he gave the sword of his forefathers the sword that he never departed from even when other men tried to take it from he gave with his sheath I hope you will not have to use it he said trembling.

It was then when a midwife arrived and said: sorry to interrupt Basileus, but lord Constantine lady Sophia birth she is fine and the boy is also fine, immediate relief and glee were seen on Constantine's face as Heraclonas gave a small smile

Before you, the emperor laid down near a tree he unfastened his cloak and gave it to Constantine he replied your old cloak but..

as he was interrupted his father said I know this might not be as grand as the sword but this cloak means a lot it has accompanied me for nearly twenty years since it was handed to me it has a long story to me, my..... Father gave this to me and so give to you, now go be with them.

As Constantine quickly left he saw how the old guard enter the gardens, Heraclonas had summoned them he said my comrades oh my friends it's good that you are here so uncertainty does not overcome me, I loved you as much as one can, the men replied that they would have died for him to his the emperor replied: take care of them both

Constantine spent time with Sophia and his newborn but then he returned despite his joy when He returned he heard his father's last words to those men who had always supported him Tell me my friends did I play my part well? he said with a smile as he passed away as in the gardens of Constantinople were blooming and new life was brought to his line, the men looked at Constantine and lowered their heads as they prostrated some spoke in both Latin and greek they said long live the emperor, the city celebrated the presentation and Baptism old little Basil and the departure of the hero that rivaled Heraclius.

Gregory would write of the late emperor: Having ruled rome for nearly 40 years, he defended rome from all its enemies, ended the terrible crisis, displayed great valor and patience, and gave back the honor to the line of Heraclius by being the embodiment of our virtue of perseverance this is why we shall never forget the name of Heraclonas the perseverant

Author note: and thus ends the chapters of Heraclonas I wanted to write him better but I liked the result he is the first true chapter where in detail one sees his growth and I particularly liked it so how would you rank Heraclonas as emperor?

 

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Constantine's rule began, and Basil now came back to the city of Constantinople to help his friend now the emperor. Still, soon another of the heroes died this time Paul, now only half of those 14 men who proclaimed his father, one of these men asked permission to aid someone Slavomir the ruler of Moravia, the ruler of Bulgaria had spent some time recovering and accepting peace with Heralconas in 885. Still, he did want to take action against some of the Moravians to take revenge for their defeat and also to later deprive an ally for future attacks on roman Panonia which the Bulgarians had an interest in so in mid-887 gathered a 30 000 strong force the ruler of Bulgaria marched towards Moravia.

Moravia had changed in the five years he gave more titles to the younger družina which augmented from 3000 to nearly 6000 as anyone who could afford it would be given the titles and they were to be called upon, the other part of the the pohotovos were not professional but levies but here he created a new unit that would be his guard by now it only had 1500 men the best elite troops but not only nobles but talented thepohotovos could join it was these actions that allowed him to field a better army when he heard the news that the Bulgarians were invading they decided to take the key fotress of Zvolen in the mountains as the bulgarians wished to take more of the northern carpathians, Slavomir force harrased the bulgarians as they marched in one instance Slavomir himself using a feint forced 3000 bulgarians to chase them once they had left the safety of their camp and were in distance were their commandres could not help they were surrender and killed to a man, but the bulgarians arrived with their siege engines they bombarded the fortress , Slavomir did some attacks against him but the numbers were still against him even if he brought more troops the best he could muster was less than half then the Bulgarian army seeing this the ruler of Moravian sent word to Constantine the governor of Panonia to aid him

Constantine quickly sent word to Constantinople and emperor Constantine which he accepted, meanwhile the siege dragged out with Slavomir attacking foraging parties and doing feint retreats to lure the Bulgarians from their camps but soon he was worried that the morale of his soldiers would not last, it was then were in October Constantine crossed Pannonia with a 15 000 strong force he avoided pest and his mostly cavalry force raided further up north, despite the emperor of the Bulgarians knowing the roman force was not there to conquer he could not allow this raiding much less so after Constantine defeated the local forces so he himself went to deal with them , with their numbers halved Slavomir laid out his traps he had been sending local soldiers disguised as peasants there to sell their products with this he had the intel to know which parts of the camp were the weakest especially now that the numbers were halved gathering his 7000 he targeted the weakest part as they stormed the camp there was little the Bulgarians could do in the panic .

It was not till the elite Bulgarian troops try to form a defensive line and soon they regrouped and pushed back the Moravians still they inflicted many casualties on the Bulgarians and morale began to fall but soon news reached that Constantine had been forced to retreat and defeated near Pest, Slavomir now was glad he didn't go south to join Constantine as the Moravian nobles convinced him to stay, the Bulgarian emperor came back angered at the news he ordered more attacks to the point he managed to make a breach but the Moravians with great effort pushed them back , knowing he had little option he told his men his plans, in November the Bulgarians attacked again to enter the breach and this time it broke as the Bulgarians entered, Slavomir attacked them form their rear causing a panic and the defenders then attacked in the confusion the Bulgarian emperor received an arrow to the shoulder, knowing that winter was soon arriving , being injured and seeing how the fortress was not close to falling they lifted the siege.

the emperor of Bulgaria would die from infection soon after, Slavomir was cheered by the Moravians for sending the large empire to a flight, the ruler also gained a new respect for the Romans despite him been raised there and learning things from them and Constantine was defeated he agreed wrote that without him victory would not have been possible and the two men began to speak in friendlier terms , in Bulgaria Simeon took power and he would make sure that this was not the last time Slavomir would deal with he bulgarian empire but for now he singed a peace

 

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Constantine's rule started well but he did have to inherit one problem from his father the religious controversy of the empire it had been 400 years since the council of Chalcedon and 200 years since Constantine IV declared his great grandfather's compromise as heresy feeling that Persian was to weak but the religious tensions didn't stop,Leo after his victory against the Berbers he appointed Monophysites and rumors were spread he was going to revive Heraclius compromise as emperor Tiberius did and for a while brought back the dynasty founder compromise but unlike Heraclius, he didn't have his popularity to attempt this and was ignored by the east and angered in the west.

Constantine V followed the persecution of the Monophysites by the first actual byzantine dabuyid war More areas of the levant over the years had become Chalcedonian, particularly the coastal towns the wars had some religious connotations as the regent alienated the Egyptians after the massacre of the copts and used and tried to use the split to discredit the heraclian revolts, Heraclonas tried to appease them both even though he was seen and wanted to present himself as the new Heraclius the great Scipio who had saved the empire from its lowest point he never tried to attempt a new compromise fine with appeasing them even though the emperor did consider it, Constantine VI would not try to compromise he would just appease both sides giving silent toleration and appointing both Chalcedonian and Monophysites to prominent positions even though he did appoint them not in predominant areas and he also settled people from the Balkans to the east not only do Deal with the casualties of the wars but also the last plague.

Despite this he did order the persecution of the Nestorians even to a higher degree than his father he also finished some of his father's works with the economic recovery as in the later rule of his father the solidus was reintroduced as 80% coin by the first two years of his rule it's value had gone up 87.5% and he focused on it finally getting it 94% a range for it would continue for many years to come to the new emperor also re-introduced the light weight solidus, the economy was stable than silver coins and copper coins were used Constantine would also continue the reforms with the new coins, his father left Constantine a treasury of 11.4 billion solidi compared to the debased coin and shambles of an economy Heraclonas encountered, while high it had not returned to the time of Constans III with his 21 billion solidi, Constantine would cut spendings and continue to reform the tax system.

Gregory wrote that household mosaics showed optimism for the future, with the crisis, a thing only remembered by the old like the few remaining men who saved the empire with his father the new emperor had an interest in reading and especially making his own works,

He tacked the issue of laws His father with Paul had begun now a way to update and simplify the law code of Justinian I to which Constantine VI would continue the work of his father but it would take time, for now, he strengthens his ties with the rulers of Moravia and the Rus as he tried to make a peace treaty of Bulgaria even given a small tribute so that Bulgaria might defend the northern border but Simeon didn't respond to it , in response Constantine finished both the colossus and column of Heraclonas the latter celebrating this great victory over the Bulgarians.

God and the people of Rome gave to its basileus son of the victor of Persia ( Heraclius II) his own victory in the 6th year of his rule he defeated the barbarian and 6 times he was claimed imperator, and he was hailed as Heraclius savior of Rome

Despite the time of peace heraclonas would prepare he having funds would upgrade the pay of the soldiers he fortified the eastern border and sent more troops to Sicily as well as prepared for the invasion of Crete, the good times had come with the crisis now been only a memory by the old, however despite the good start of his rule Constantine would have to deal with his own tribulations.

 

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In 889 came around Dadhburzmihr died leaving the throne to kavad III he made a peace with Constantine who was focused on internal matters this year he completed the repair of the aqueduct of Valens, again he told the old men of the empire those 6 still yet alive if they wanted to retire to which both Demetrius and Vachagan agreed to with the latter writing a new version of his manual of war, Basil been the most senior took his place, with Dachi still being Praefectus Urbi and Gregory was still writing but the emperor already told him to write the "official story" of his father rule to present him as the greatest ruler since Constans III and the savior of the empire however he allowed for the making of the secret history representing Heraclonas woes, but the secret history was only for its author and the emperor, the emperor also spent his first 3 years repairing the towns sacked from the Theodosian to Anastasian walls with this done he decided to tour the empire with his wife Sofia and son Basil, not for vacations but he did understand in this time in the steppe that things are always as they seemed that he left for the east despite the rebellion not harming much the empire and its tax revenue some cities had suffered his Theodores malice as he left he passed to anatolia giving acts of charity surprising people who were not accostumbed to an emperor been so close to them and even talking with him as indeed it was not a common sight not even for the citizens of Constantinople as he moved to antioch the base of Theodore after Vachagan had defeated him he did minor repairs to the city and moved to syria were he duged wells and built way stations he also built street lamps for syria this travel made him extremely popular when he entered gregory records a man shouting long and prosperous rule to the son of the great Heraclian, thus fulling one of his key purposes to win over the east who had been loyal to his brother.



He went south visiting the levant and meeting envoys of the break away promise he soon thought Egypt would fully return to the empire, the emperor now moved back after his two years only to receive news from the north the year before his return in 890, Simeon had sent his general to attack the same fortress his father tried to take and the smaller army even though Constantine the governor of Pannonia stopped them he did not cross into Bulgarian territory lucky but the ruler of Bulgaria managed to wear down the Bulgarian army and then attacked it forcing a retreat, Constantine wondered why Simeon was interested in Moravian but it soon became clear with one less ally and a new frontier an attack on roman Pannonia would be easier he sent funds to governor Constantine to fortified the Danube and it was in early 892 were he heard the worst news his brother had escaped he rushed back quickly sending word to them how? how? how? he asked himself the brother had some supporters and with well placed bribed he escaped as he was dressed as a fisherman they passed through the Bosphorus and soon he landed on the coast of Bulgaria when Constantine returned he was livid, how did this happen he called a council of his loyal followers and those who had saved the empire and even his wife which accompanied him in all things, after arresting those who they thought were responsible they debated on were he went.

I say he went south the pirates of Crete and to the land of "the Carthaginians" said Dachi

Basil said: "they had animosity with him as he was crucial for the victory that Vachagan dealt to them in Sicily "

Constantine also agreed and his wife said: that he has nothing to gain from the south, and in Pannonia, Thrace, and Macedonia he has no allies, and the emperor's current works have made it so that his support from the east has vanished however he knew Simeon since he was a child and he supported him against great emperor Heraclonas however I would not discard the intervention of the Carthaginians for a rat crawls in every hole he finds.

It was decided that they would move the troops to the border of Bulgaria and prepare the navy for an engagement with the Berbers it would only be slight alterations to his plan to invade Sicily how ever despite presenting himself as calm and collected like his father like him he also felt dread his wife asked what was wrong he answered: It's fear I fear that I may undo the work of my father she comforted him telling him that his father had worked for the empires sake and he would not even though being emperor would not be easy she assured if the lord willed it he would live a more peaceful reing.

 

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As Jonh escaped he dressed as a fisherman he escaped Sophia and Gregory wrote that a storm encountered them in the black sea and the men shouted to God that they would do anything to be spared some even suggesting to throw Jonh overboard some said that God would not allow his revenge as they asked Jonh to swear that he would not kill his brother when he took the throne but prison had hardened his heart against his brother and his allied and yelled to the storm: if god spares me I assure you I will not spare even one of them nd the storm went away half an hour after he uttered these words they arrived at the city Asprokastron Jonh noticed how well the barbarians were doing ever since the expansion of the state nearly 100 years ago Bulgaria despite some problems had been in an upward trend of expansion and wealth, they controlled fertile soil that made them a great producer of wheat but also had many rich materials and the towns produced many items traded with Rome as he moved towards the capital in a lake were he finally changed from his disguise.

Simeon greeted him and said: the Cesar has come to greet me.

Jonh replied: yes my friend but I'm not to be Cesar any longer I want to claim my title as basileus and take my throne

the Bulgarian ruler said: it shall be so but what of your father's allies will you spare them?

God has spared me so and I have sworn to leave not one alive who opposes me.

what of your brother?

You are my true bother and as I have said I have sworn to leave not one alive except for those who join me if my cousin David joins me he will be a valuable asset to my rule

Why didn't he join us?

He was in Armenia and refused to attack me probably looking who was going to win that is why he attacked only when Vachagan had arrived so his loyalty might still be split, my brother doesn't have my father's prestige and the old men would hardly be helpful for him, so he might switch sides if I come can make a show of strength I also know of a person not quite happy with the events that occurred after my arrest.

Who might that be?

A man from Italy who has much influence

Well for now I will continue to gather my forces I would be celebrating your crowning here but I don't have a patriarch he said half-jokingly and Jonh smiled back

But also I'll have my smiths take care of that he said pointing at this nose something worthy of the emperor of the Romans

Simeon ordered that a golden nose be made for him and held a feast for the true emperor where they agreed that for support in getting the throne Jonh would give great treasure, the title of Cesar, according to Gregory give her daughter Zoe and according to Sophia his sister Anna to be married to him, help him invade Moravia and grant his archbishop the rank of the patriarch as translating the liturgy to Bulgarian allowed to embrace the faith he wanted to make sure he would not be dependent on Constantinople.

Still, Jonh had given Simeon the perfect casus belli so after what seemed to be his months of perpetration even though he knew that the Bulgarian king had planned this for much more, however, he also knew that Constantine would make alliances he knew Moravia would join the romans as he would also invade the area but he didn't know about old Oleg's action he had expanded a little to the east and then to the west Simeon knew that a possible war between them that he, for now, need to avoid however there was the wildcard of the new arrival of the Pechenegs to the region over 10 years before Constantine had forced to migrate and then did settling in the northwest coast of the black to the east of the Dnieper, Simeon assumed that if they previous animosity a good bride could turn these nomads against Oleg, with this in late 893 Simeon crossed the empire with 25,000 troops and sent 15,000 to deal with Moravia he also sent a part of the force to attack more to the west, Simeon then gifts to Oleg to reject any alliance with the romans as they moved john and simeon would cross the danube.

 

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The Bulgarian army encamped some kilometers near the fortress of Durostolon however there would be no siege Jonh and Simeon knew how this worked Jonh couldn't due to his golden nose but Simeon disguised with some of his men moved up to the garrison in perfect Greek he said that the scouting/ raid ended in near disaster and Simeon had brought over thousands of men to invade the empire the garrison commander assuming this was high ranking official opened let him in there the garrison was quickly taken care of and the city fell, hen the Bulgarian armies began to attack the nearby towns but first asking for submission which some did do in fear of their massive army, when Constantine learned of this he sent word to the Pechenegs Simeon gold did very little for their Khan was one named Kuchug the same noble who Constantine asked for his friend and bother in christ to help him against the traitors and to sweeten the deal he gave gold to them with that in late 893 he attacked the lands of the Hungarians and the recent conquered Uliches raided with impunity Simeon general led an army to deal with them in the Buh river , here the armies met manage to route the main Pecheneg force but chased to the river unknown to him the Pechenegs had hidden in the nearby hills and they attacked the Bulgarian rear which caused a panic, with the victory the Pechenegs raided with impunity and rumors began that Oleg was to march against the bulgarians.

When news spread Simeon fearing the worst left John to complete his conquest alone, but luckily for him his ally revolted as they agreed on the 63-year-old roman hero Smaragdus revolted in the north of Italy he had fallen out of favor with the king of Lombardy as he did not respect him he also felt Heraclonas had become too weak as ruler in later years and finally he did not like that Tiberius had become exchart, especially after his failure to recapture the parts of Sicily lost to the Berbers, it didn't take much for John who he had a liking to convince to revolt, he convinced many franks and romans to join him then he marched to take Ravena with the intention to make Tiberius leave rome, of course, the older man knew and saw through this immediately and would give order to the duxes the governors of Italy who had that title due to the Lombard conquest with some of the duxes being actual dukes, he told them to shadow their force and not engage as he put it " no man can match his boldness" as winter was approaching Smaragdus did many assaults against the city of them he got struck in the eye as the defenders shouted they had killed them as they did the dux of Ravena sallied out to kill as many enemies concentrating 5000 to deal with them for a time it worked as the rebels were pushed back which lead to many deaths but according to some sources still with the arrow in his eye Smaragdus came with his men and attacked the flank forcing them to flee but the dux had done much damage feeling that he could end the siege in the following days he concentrated their forces and charged out a week after he crashed onto Smaragdus troops but these held the line enough for his cavalry to surround them killing the dux, with no leader they surrendered.

With the fall of Ravena, the many senators and duxes were angry at Tiberius and wanted to march to take the city back but Tiberius knew he had a base he was not going to march to him not know in the winter crossing the Po would not the ideal for him so he insisted that he would not fight him citing incoming winter as his reason and instead focused on harassing and hopefully destroying his supply, and he sent word to emperor Constantine who was preparing a force that would march before winter started, gathering 20,000 troops in Constantinople he sent Basil son Bardas out to meet John little is known about the battle that took place near Durostolon, what we do know is the elder Heraclian managed to nearly break Bardas center but he countered attack saving it with that he began his retreat as he had suffered many casualties despite Johns attempt to break his force, the loyalist general managed to retreat in good order, this stalemate would continue in the winter.

 

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Simeon arrived in Bulgaria and decided to march in the winter of 894 on the Pechenegs who had raided all the way to the Danube as he moved he began chasing them out with minor defeat for him but then the news was spread that Oleg had gathered an army to finally cross into the Bulgarian territory taking care of the Magyar and Slavic revolts due to the Pecheneg invasion with this Simeon knew they could not meet after another minor defeat for Simeon near the ruins of the ancient Greek colony of Olbia he began to retreat it's debated whether or not Simeon planned this but by may 894, he reached and crossed the Dniester it was then when the Khan of the Pechenegs chased him that the vanguard moved first as Simeon moving his heavy cavalry attacked and charged the light Pechenegs killing many, but they still resisted and were pushed to the river but another charge broke them, then attacking those Pechenegs who bearly had crossed the river Kuchug could nothing as his forces were killed 5000 were slain, despite that Kuchug managed to escape with the bulk of his forces and many treasures, Simeon had neutralized them and then quickly crushed the revolting slavs and Magyars and Oleg decided not to attack and to make sure Simeon sent a gift of gold to assure this, with this he quickly returned to the Balkans.

During this time again Constantine sent another force led by a commander named Domnicus but he was defeated near Marcianopolis the city was destroyed by the Avars and rebuilt by Constantine IV soon the city was put under siege but news came from the west in Pannonia Constantine defeated the Bulgarian army nearly slaughtering a man but soon he died as the men told him the old hero caught a strong fever and died, in Italy Tiberius gathered a 25,000 strong to deal with the 18,000 as Smaragdus had suffered some casualties due to Tiberius' fabian tactics, he marched to the northeast with Smaragdus they met in the river Cremona where the loyalist crossed the bridge, Tiberius knew he could expect something drastic and Smaragdus who was on the left charged against the loyalist as the center met with no sight giving an inch, but slowly the weight of numbers pushed back soon the rest engaged Tiberius was still in reserve as now Smaragdus concentrated his reserve cavalry and broke the loyalist position forcing them to flee then Smaragdus moved to attack the loyalist center from the side but Tiberius joined the battle and pushed the rebels back in mid of heavy fighting Tiberius was injured and had to retreat the men that he commanded who loved the general went wild they inspired the men and they all pushed back causing many casualties to Smaragdus troops but they overextended and Smaragdus troops detached his cavalry and attacked them from the rear it was soon the end of the battle, Tiberius would not recover and died 5 days later.

Despite this looking like an absolute victory in reality Smaragdus had lost many troops it was then he debated whether or not to invite the Berbers John had no issue doing it, the Berber emperor was glad to hear this Alypius had died assassinated in Carthage after his return, Stotaz had become emperor and claimed the assassin came from a pro roman Coptic trader and now he would attack the romans and his allies with that, he sent a minor force to deal with Sicily as he gathered his mighty force from his empire of 50,000 and 1000 ships to finally complete where all Berber's emperors had failed and finally conquer Egypt, John also contacted Kavad sending him a letter to join him to complete his father's promise to support him promising many riches, but he also sent another letter that was purposefully caught saying that he was offered him friendship by the shah, Constantine didn't believe it but then again the Dabuyids could get confident and try to attack so he sent one of his commanders east to gather troops as he gathered a large army to crush his brother he in July an army 35,000 strong to deal with his brother who had moved to the Balkans with Simeon not returning and having an inferior force which his Bulgarian armies call the Vărbitsa Pass they were ambushed and lost 15,000 men while the elder Heraclian had lost a couple of thousands now, with the situation of Italy from what he knew was total defeat, Panonia was secure, the east could erupt in war and his brother had defeated a major army was this the start of new crisis?.

 

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It was around this time that the news from the east came to this day it's debated what occurred but both Persian and Roman sources mention the governor of Mesopotamia sacked some towns before Kavad could react the romans countered the attack, and with this Kavad III sent his best general, Azarethes along with his son Hormizd moved with 30,000 to force peace to Constantine, the emperor was considering giving the throne to his brother even though he at this point did not know his brother had the intention to kill him until Sophia came.

Does the emperor of rome look for safety or mercy from the unworthy, I think flight is not in our interest for life in exile I will not bear, and to ask mercy is akin to sentencing out death, if you wish for safety my Basileus there is the sea, and old allies but consider who you leave the empire to and you might then wish that you had chosen to stay. If you wish for mercy consider that you may find out the butcher will not give any, For me, I think what the great emperors ( Heraclius and Heraclonas) did in times of trouble and what he would do now.

Constantine stood up and told his men to get him, Gregory, and Basil who were in the city, and it was here where Heraclonas reforms would save him as the emperor did not commit of his new Hikanatoi while only 12,000 were in the city and the surrounding region these were the best troops in the empire, by now knowing he could not take Constantinople John needed to drag his brother out of the theodosian walls, so he marched away from Adrianople to Thassesolonica hearing also hoping that if Macedonia fell he could link up with the Italian rebels which had taken some territory south of the Po river, finally by October Simeon who had come back and John laid siege to the city, but Constantine waited and kept gathering a large army it was also then he received pleasant news from the east he had asked Vachagan out from retirement when news spread that he was gathering the army the Persians avoided any deep attacks and only sacked frontier towns, the winter also was harsh for the Italian rebels, as Bardas who was sent there by Constantine kept attacking the countryside and the supplies of the captured territory, he also incited a revolt in his base of power in the kingdom of Pavia which some of them wanted to restore, but the rebels in the Balkans did not suffer this problem, it was the spring of 895 when Constantine and his earlier attempts at diplomacy worked while Oleg had not joined the war but he had sent 5000 rus warriors to Constantinople to join Constantine with that and take some Anatolian forces he managed to make a 30,000-strong army with led by the old Basil and Gregory.

They met near Thessalonica in late May, the armies had a similar composition with two lines of infantry and cavalry in the back the emperor was on the left with half elite troops alongside Gregory, Basil was in the center also with the other half, and John the Macedonian was the commander on the right, the Bulgarians had Simeon in the center and John on the right the battle started with Jonh the Macedonian which pushed the Bulgarians back soon all the armies met the morale was high on both sides, the battle was slogging match but the numbers of the romans made them step by step fall back as John the Macedonian pushed more the Bulgarians with the rus killing many, as the center bearly moved with Simeon force been more than a match for Basil forces, it was here were john the Heraclian looked for his brother he did before his aim was to injure him or kill him they saw each other and charged against each other, the sword of Heraclius made contact first and cut his face but not enough to be lethal thanks to his helmet, soon the troops of the emperor surrounded and captured the injured John this caused some soldiers to flee the kavkhan tried to organize his troops but he too was captured causing the line to collapse.

With this, the emperor's soldiers quickly surrender him and captured him, soon part of the troops began to fall back and the kavkhan of the Bulgarian troops was also captured causing even more panic odds had shifted Simeon saw the change, and began to retreat as Basil ordered a counter charge killing many as John the Macedonian stopped his troops from pushing to much both armies had lost about 5000 with the Bulgarians losing a couple hundred more in the flight, however john along with the second in command the cousin of Simeon the kavkhan and two other important boyars had been captured Constantine pushed this victory he had won a victory were his father had won nearly 40 years ago, with that Simeon retreated back, Constantine moved to quick him out, Simeon sent an offer of peace which he rejected, with that he sent John the Macedonian to aid Bardas Smaragdus who never recovered from the pyrrhic victory soon he was met near Perugia and was defeated and sent to Constantinople in chains but despite his own victories this wasn't the end from the east news came that in September 895 Vachagan had died with that the persians marched their army.

 

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Constantine learned of the Persian attack but he learned about the Berber army marching to Egypt he made a quick peace with Simeon giving him the title of Cesar and some tribute that he excused as protecting the Danube frontier in exchange Simeon would hand him 5000 men as he needed to march east during winter 896, he also sent Jonh the Macedonian with the Rus mercenaries to Alexandria fearing a siege the Coptic king had already accepted any aid from the Romans.

As spring came the emperor marched to the east with his army they managed to force the Persians from their camp near Edessa till the Romans chased them till they reach firaz Constantine was content with just chasing them out of the empire and forcing peace but instead it seemed the Persians had left as he tried to wait for the reply to the peace message he sent kavad , the emperor waited 3 days and then moved his troops away from the border it was here were the Persian general sprung his trap hidden nearby the Persians had laid an ambush as part of the army had stayed and attacked the roman rearguard the Romans forced to flee went to their fortified camp which the Persians soon surrounded soon the main Persian force came back and then began to shower then with arrows.

After some 4 days Constantine would surrender But he only asked for a truce himself to this day it's debated what Constantine wanted out of this but it's likely he wanted to gain time to reunite his forces but kavad arrived he made his terms quick and clear the Romans would have to give the key fortress of Nisibis and give territories in Armenia and Iberia essentially returning to the borders Maurice received from khosrow II, 305 years ago, Kavad ambitions were to return to the Border before Maurice time but he despite having won a great victory knew that Constantine would find any opportunity to attack, also he still had his allies from the east, hence why the shah offered a smaller peace , Constantine knew this would essentially kill the popularity he had won but in the east but he had little options with that he during this time also sent word to Constantinople to kill his brother he was blinded to make sure he couldn't revolt again and Gregory talked to him but aside from saying his escape and how better of an emperor he would have been he didn't talk too much.

some minor revolts occured in the east in the name of his brother but the emperor crushed it was then were he sent forces to Egypt with he himself returning to Constantinople when the Berber emperor got into Egypt in 896 he avoided attempting to besiege Alexandria and avoid or delay a potential aid from the Romans he moved with his might elephant waited till the river flooding passed when December arrived and it had passed he wanted to cross the river but the Romans forces prevented a crossing near the gate of iron so the emperor waited in night and moved upstream there he attempted to cross the stripped his elephant from his armour the current was so strong men were swept by it never to be seen again as a beber historian said : it was there on the banks of the Nile were the armies of Stotaz met resistance unseen since the campaigns of the failed siege of Alexandria taking his army north he found a place suitable to cross with the small islands sending them in small groups fearing that the size of his army might collapse the islands he was using to cross still many men , some horses and the beast along with supplies were washed away by the current , he was among the last to cross but the current got stronger Tagwizult faltered and Stotaz fell in to the water despite his strength and that he as child swam in the sea the weight of armour dragged him down fighting to maintain his head of above water it was exhaustion and soon his head went under water not to come out again if we're not for Tagwizult who grabbed him , the beast swam to shore wee the Stotaz expelled water and praised god for having mercy on him on that night the beast would be given an entire feast .

Having crossed before He moved south he said: "men god has spared me from the same river which he used to spare Moses, so by his grace I swear so soon ..I will use Mercy or steel to free Egypt from Its bondage to Rome"

With that, his army moved to the northern side and the siege of Babylon fortress began

 

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Expansion of the Dabuyid empire

 

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Babylon was among the most fortified garrison in Egypt and one of the reasons why the great Tariq had failed to subdue the province, worse yet the berbers lost many siege engines in the river crossing still the great emperor knew that the roman force might arrive and might use the nearby city of Heliopolis so he divided his mighty force, and sent them to besiege the city, the coptic defense of Babylon was 7000 strong with added defenses like spikes and a ditch and undug sections allow them to sally but also funneling points for the Berber army, despite this Stotaz ordered part his army to attack and probe the defenses ordered an attack despite outnumbering the defenders, the fighting was brutal as the defender's resistance and defenses made their numbers and cavalry null and easily repulsed the Berber attack with this the emperor waited, he could not afford to lose many men if he was going to take the whole of Egypt, limiting himself to daily raids and hoping that they would starve or he could drag out the force out of Alexandria, six weeks had passed and the force never came the emperor realized the fortressed had many reserves so three months in to the siege he renounced the assults killing many but the defenses still stood strong, the emperor continued the daily raids looking for any opportunity to take the city one time making a failed night attack on the fortified position , it was now 4 months in to the siege were he received news that his second in command had reciveded news that not only he had also received substantial casualties but news came that an army was gathering in palestine.

Stotaz ordered that no further assaults would occur for a while it was a month later were the force of 15,000 romans including contingents from the ghassanid kingdom and 7000 copts gathered, and Stotaz left 12,000 men both in Babylon and Heliopolis and they moved east to Heliopolis, the armies gathered in an open field with the battle began with their light cavalry engaging and retreated then both armies met the center saw the heaviest of the fighting as both sides tried to outflank each other but could not this continued for four days on the fourth the emperor tried to use his elephants to break the center but failed he planned to concentrate more forces on the left were he gained more ground but a deserted showed up to his camp he told them that the roman commander was due to his injuries was sending orders from the camp and said the camp was unguarded sending his second in command with the cavalry he sent this great contingent as the fifth day of the battle begin the emperor moved more of his beast to the wings to try to counter the lack of cavalry this held the line but the flanks were pushed back, as the berber cavalry moved as Stotaz moved to the left who was about to collapse the berbers arrived to the camp, the romans realized this too late the camp Peter was killed the army soon realized and lost their morale the Berbers wheeled around striking the force from its rear with that their formation collapsed, the Berber was near total but the few thousand who were not captured or killed still the survivors went to Heliopolis or Babylon, despite their morale plummeting the fortresses resisted with that the emperor concentrated most of his forces to Heliopolis and by august a contingent scaled the walls and opened the gates, as the city fell that the gathered back in Babylon when the emperor had left the forces of Babylon sallied out attempting to break the force they left behind, causing many casualties but could not break the siege as news came from the king to hold out as much as they could.

The defenders stayed resisting as supplies were running out the Berbers crossed the river again taking the fertile oasis of Crocodilopolis, and with that, he solved his issue but as part of his force went away, on the 2nd of October the defenders tried to attack during the night they did manage to surprise causing casualties as they were pushed back but the Berbers recognized as the defenders pushed back many died but enough managed to get back to the city the copts tried to negotiate but many did not as they were coming to terms and by the first of November the city surrendered since it was starving it was agreed the survivors would be let go and 5-day truce occurred the emperor even gave them provisions so they would march to Alexandria and not die, while they had taken more casualties the Berbers had managed to take the fortress and destroy one army soon Egypt was to fall to them.

 

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With the fall of the city, Stotaz waited till spring 897 as they did some attacks in the west he moved his massive force and ordered his navy to move from Sozusa where the romans tried to attack them during their stay but failed by may 897 the armies gathered giving the berber emperor an extra 10,000 men , and the siege began the romans had sent 15000 to add to the 8000, the city was well defended and well supplied, and the romans had tried to send more however there were slow as the Cretan pirates had harassed part of the imperial and raided to delay any reinforcements from Constantinople, and some of the pirates sent their ships that joined their emperor to take the city,the siege began as Stotaz send his forces to probe the defenses and was met by arrows and stones from the roman artillery so he did not commit any major assault which was what condemned Yedder II's attempt to take the c ity, the emperor would only send minor attacks as the romans and copts got bolder sallying out a month passed of this with the attacks becoming more common as they were desperate to break the siege, despite their increasing ferocity they failed to do so, 6 weeks into the sieges the defender cavalry sallied out as the Berbers were retreating Gwafa the grandson of yedder II one of the most capable commanders of Stotaz attacked noticed this and made the rear turn and face them the fighting was fierce as the defenders slowly pushed back in the figthing Gwafa was slain and his head was put on pike demoralized the troops were pushed back with many casualties but Stotaz had reformed his groups on top of Tagwizult he led the countercharge that pushed them back till he was on the range on the defender's artillery.

The siege continued as news reached that Constantine was gathering a force so the emperor sent word to Cretan pirates to raid as much as they could and they did raiding western Anatolia and Greece it worked to delay Constantine but only because he gathered more forces not only was he sending forces to finally crush them, knowing the romans would come but his reinforcements were also near he ordered the first massive assault on the city the full weight of his siege engines and men crashed, the men who managed to reach the walls were met by the defenders and heavy fighting ensued for hours with many casualties from fighting and heat exhaustion in the July sun the Berbers retreated, another attack was done some days later as more Berbers ships and further 10,000 arrived in August and the attacks continued with a contingent even entering the city but getting killed to a man, finally in September Constantine gather his forces 35,000 men and 800 ships were sent and led by Andronikos while a 20,000 army gathered in Syria, the massive navy fleet forced the Carthaginian raiders to flee after a minor encounter and soon they arrived finally landing on the islands and laying siege to the capital Gregory wrote: it was here were he ( Andronikos ) convinced of an easy victory and with his commanders fearing the fall of Alexandria and the reprecussion it might had including the anger of the our Basileus, encouraged him to send the fleet ahead.

Sophia was not so kind to him and said: it was then that he boasted that "these pirates only know how to raid they are not warriors we shall eat a feast over their capital in a week" with these and great foolishness he ordered half of the fleet to go to save the city of Alexandria

as the fleet went south the Berbers did not surrender in a week their capital held out as they attacked the roman's supplies from the mountains, finally, in mid-September, the roman fleet was close to the city as the roman army moved to Egypt, so the emperor following the recommendation of his admiral, he ordered his navy to attack the harbor and keep attacking it, this had the desired effect as the romans lowered their gather expecting they were going to surprised them when in the night as they were 50 kilometers from Alexandria the Berber fleet attacked the roman burning many ships the rest were attacked by the Berbers it was here that Andronikos bravely resisted the Berbers killing many but he was slain, and the survivors fled to Cyprus and Syria , with the destruction of a large part of the fleet by October the first attack on the harbor occurred this time there was not to be a miraculous victory the Berbers kept their distance and dealt many casualties to the defender fleet when they tried to leave and close the distance they were destroyed, still, most ships survived, Stotaz know stopped any land and sea assault with the roman navy destroyed and news that the roman army was retreating he now intended to starve the city out hoping the city would fall it still resisted through winter, even though this winter had forced the romans to flee Crete rumors were spreading that Constantine was gathering a new force, so the emperor himself joined an attack in the night by now the defenders were demoralized and tired he stormed the gate near the church of gold but he was pushed back however he inflicted to many casualties with no sing of another roman fleet, the city surrendered.

Finally, in February 898, Stotaz agreed to spare the garrison and allowed anyone who wanted to leave for a time of 3 years to do so even allowing the current Coptic king to maintain a good life , the terms were agreed upon and the garrison boarded their ships and left soon after the fall of the city all of Egypt submitted to him, now Stotaz was the emperor of the Berbers and supreme ruler Africa, but even though he knew the strains of his empire, he did not dissolve the kingdom instead Stotaz installed his cousin Cyprian grandson of the late Yedder II, even though he wanted his other cousin to take the throne, but unlike Askel of Hispania who had enough power to challenge him, he made sure Cyrprian would only remain one of his many vassals and that he could never challenge him, he also entrusted him to deal with the Cretan pirates, as the lord of Africa retreated back to Carthage when he entered a top his beast he was by received honors and praise as the conqueror of Egypt, lord of all Africa, greater than Gwafa with this victory he ordered many celebrations and distributed the riches he had gotten from Egypt, but soon he was planning he need to fix a vassals oath.

 

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the great Berber empire circa 900 ad

 

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After his loss in the east Constantine returned he had delayed the death of his brother and he talked to him he did not say much except how his bad judgment would ruin Heraclonas works the emperor then had to deal with the Berber invasion and the destruction of his fleet still he offered at least a five-year truce to form between the two empires Constantine now began to prepare for another attack and began his preparations for another naval assault problems with Persia would not continue as kavad had no interest in war how ever his norther frontier has another issue, Simeon was also a worry especially since after his alliance with Moravia but that would give the talented ruler more money and men also he didn't want the Moravians raiding his territory this alliance immediately bore fruit as when Simeon was defeated in Thessalonica Slavomir attacked the key fortress Nitra Simeon rushed to save the fortress Slavomir left his commander as his he began to harras the Bulgarian force coming in the aid of them he delayed them enough for the Moravians to take the fortress a siege followed but in the end Simeon accepted peace, giving him this still the campaign wasn't a total loss he kept plunder from roman cities, and got paid by Constantine to leave even for a while he left Moravia alone and began focusing on Bulgaria expanding his capital city, upgrading his defenses against the Pechenegs.

For Moravians, it was a need for peace the wars and their tactics had caused some famines and Slavomir began to demand more from his lords to expand the army he also began to circulate more coins, and for a time he began to resolve the issues with his kingdom, but the events in Germany would change things in 886 after some on and off conflict Charles of Swabia died also succeded by his son Carloman and Charles, Louis of Bavaria would challenge them on occasion, occupying the territory of Carloman in Swabia including Alsace, Louis would die in 891 living the throne to Charles of Bavaria, and Carloman died in 895 uniting all of east Frankia after consolidating his rule in 898 were his invasion force against Moravia was ready, ever since its independence and Louis's campaign against them more than 20 years prior no serious attempt was made by the franks to subjugate Moravia only major raids like that of Louis of Bavaria in 884 and 889, Charles of Bavaria reunited an army of 15,000 Simeon heard of this and sent his second in command with 20,000 men to march towards Moravia, Slavomir knew that his kingdom was in existential danger the king mustered every soldier he could but even then people do to fear, and gold some powerful nobles were dealing with franks and Bulgarians among them the king's brother Svatopluk, Slavomir desperately sent word to Constantinople asking for anything from Constantine, the emperor of the romans sent a mix of 5000 heavy and light cavalry from Pannonia, Slavomir divided had no choice he divided his army taking 10,000 to deal with the franks and 13,000 under Svatopluk to deal with the Bulgarians, for he knew if they reunited he could not win.

The franks marched sacking towns hastily marching knowing that the Moravians would attack if they marched slowly they pillaged the area, how ever unlike what the moravians excepted as in a quick attack on the south to meet the bulgarians near Nitra , they instead marched to Prague to force the Moravians out to battle, however, the Bulgarians marched slowly, it was then where the germans met the forces near the river Moldau the germanic king sends his forces to clash a fierce melee ensued as the Moravians resisted the charge but were pushed the center saw the heaviest of the fighting the Frankish writers note the ferocity of the elite troops how he split the skulls of men and they terrified both man and horse, the left was the last to engage but then again the slavs didn't break but as the hours passed attrition favored the germans seeing this the Moravian leader sacrificed the rearguard of 1000 men allowing them to cross the river, as they retreated the franks moved to the take Prague and its castles as the days passed the germans how grew confident that Slavomir had lost resolve or was dead.

The Moravians spread these rumors five days in they sprung their trap so overconfident were the germans that they had not bothered to send any more scouts not installed scouting posts, the Moravians concentrated their attack in the weakest sector but told the others to make loud noises as they had more men a rain of arrows showered the camp and soon panic spread as the Moravian cavalry the eastern franks tried to counter but failed and soon any resistance collapse those who escaped the camp were captured or killed but not the king of east Frankia who bearly escaped most of his army didn't share the same luck and were captured the nobles were ransomed while the Moravians had lost 2000 men, still, the victory was complete and Prague would become one of the greatest victories of great Moravia and rally cry for centuries to come when news spread to the east the Moravian king moved east were the Bulgarians again were laying siege Nitra when Slavomir arrived Svatopluk betrayed the Bulgarians inflicting heavy casualties on them and forcing them to flee, Svatopluk would remain loyal till the end of his life, the victory here the Moravian morale was strengthened, and afterward, desertions rarely occurred, even though its painted a master stroke of Slavomir the failure of Frankish Bulgarian coordination played a big role in the failure of the campaign, still the new truce made the king expand his army more as he knows would have to deal with two empires trying to destroy his kingdom he also sent to emperor Constantine what he looted from the camps and his raids into eastern Frankia sending gold, slaves and key hostages to the imperial court.

 

[Silver01]

As the Berber emperor made peace with the romans the truce was made the emperor had no wish to march into the holy land he would expose himself too much he first need to prepare for as we returned to his capital he continued to pass his taxes to the rich to fund his war effort and to limit their power however as the new century arrived news finally arrived in June of 900 after ruling Hispania in one of its greatest periods Alfonso was sick, the throne to his only surviving son who would Alfonso II he was a harmless man and may in another life he would have pursued his days as an academic, however, he was also not a great emperor if he lived in a time of peace this wouldn't have been an issue however the Berber emperor who was just now sending the part of the treasure to the king of Hispania who sent forces to aid him however He said his debt to him was about to be over and he refused to give the treasure until so he marched his army to Hispania, Alfonso II on the advice of his father tried to negotiate as he quickly gathered forces but it was too late, the emperor the Berber emperor had prepared weeks.

Before as tensions between Hispania and the empire were not great after his great victory in Egypt and rumors ran on both sides, the Berber emperor crossed to Hispania with his 20.000 strong army and marched to Corduba, the king of Hispania didn't want to face him his father had just died he had ordered his war council to be convened and most assured him that the emperor was showing off to scare him in reality the emperor did wish to resolve this without bloodshed as he had nothing against Alfonso II but his nobles pressed on to battle this would be a mistake on the day of battle like Presentation and Composition on Warfare, his priest and he prayed so that he might be absolved of sin before the battle that he had like in Vachagan's book he had also tried to conceal the true size of his army, the battle was short and nearly bloodless the archers and slingers pinned down the army as the emperor feint retreat made the Hispanic center move too quickly and soon Alfonso has captured the battle did not take many lives, Alfonso in captivity spoke to Stotaz told him how was he achieved a victory so quickly he replied: you are man who loves to read I do too especially as young boy reading great battles like that of Alexander i believed I could achieve something similar when battling the romans like he did at gaugamela but and i though i had won the day but he managed to counter when I knew about his life deeds and read this words I knew this only great minds could achieve I some times cant help but to smile at the day of my greatest defeat for he was truly magnificent

The emperor stayed some time in Hispania many of the freedoms of the kingdom were taken away but it still had many Stotaz just took enough so that he wouldn't be challenged it was during this time that news arrived from the east, Constantine had broken their truce and had sent a force in august 900 to reconquer Egypt Alexandria and the ghassanids with the romans began to attack from land among them accompanying them was one of the last companions of Heraclonas, Gregory, Alexandria quickly fell and so did Pelisuim, however, it was enough for Cyprian to gather forces in the other bank preventing the romans ghassanid force they tried to cross further to the south but didn't, so the romans ghassanid force marched south hoping to cross

the river to the south the armies met at Sulteis both armies didn't use their navy so both armies decided to send their missile troops while the navies also fought in the river both armies met for a melee with them pushing them back and forth but the Berber emperor had gathered more forces to the navy so they won with these moved their missile troops to the flank of the romans despite these new attacks the romans held but the counter charge of the Berbers soon broke them and the emperor chased them back north to Alexandria, the battle was again a victory but the Berber emperor was not done the roman ghassanid force had been laying siege to Babylon fortress but soon retreated the emperor chased them the son of the ghassanid king asked for a truce so they could have free passage now whether due to a misunderstanding or if these were his true intentions the emperor arrested him for an attempt on his life the ghassanid prince either wanting to commit to his job or not understanding why they were detaining him fought back nearly killed a guard and attacked Stotaz with great anger he executed him and chased the roman force out of Egypt.

Gregory wrote his lament: oh Farwell Egypt I will you are truly in the hands of the Carthaginian, oh fair well Alexandria what a beauty you will be in the hands of the enemy, farewell to you my home may my bones not rest in your sands.

Stotaz gathered his lightest troops with the exception of some heavy cavalry and his personal elephant Tagwizult and marched towards the levant with 18,000 men what he was about to do was to punish them but this would not be an easy task, the early Heraclian emperors to Justinian II fortified the frontier how ever centuries had passed since the great Arab migrations and while some fortifications stood strong others not so much and others had small garrisons with that he marched till they crossed the Jordan, the roman force retreated back north and they met the roman Arab force in the Yarmouk river outnumbered nearly 2 to 1 the romans began their attack the men were worried these were veterans of his great conquest of Egypt but they had left most of their heavy infantry for speed even Stotaz who was usually on top of his beast calm looking at the battlefield hawk was not with a look of some worry,

the romans crashed into them they wanted to tie down the enemy center and their numbers to overwhelm their foe in the flanks the romans didn't break at the moment of the first attack the Berbers left however nearly broke into the second but they managed to reform however in the Berber right the romans the second attack was strong enough to nearly push them all the way to the camp seeing this the Berber emperor made a gamble he concentrated his reserve cavalry on attacking the Berber roman right as it seemed the romans wanted to destroy his right with sweat dripping off him but trying not to show his worry the reserves attacked the romans in their flank the romans didn't not except this and were forced to retreat than he moved back to attack the other flank however these were already expecting this and retreated in good order seeing how the flanks were retreating the roman center retreated, the night was a bleak one as the Berbers had suffered just as many casualties and each day that passed is a day were any reinforcement that Constantine could be sent, and the roman commander named Sophronius was content to repeat the same strategy this time he gathered his forces to attack this made the fighting on the Berber left more equal but on the right, they were shoved back the Berbers wanted to attack the gaps but the ghassanids entered seeing this the emperor would not gamble this time he pondered if a feint retreat would help the left but he worried about this turning to a real route so he sent word telling them to hold the line the Berber emperor charged the romans moved his reserves and stabilized the situation a stalemate continued with many falling but with their emperor supporting them and the romans losing their depth and were pushed back soon night stopped the fighting.

Stotazs was getting frustrated what worse is that he was feeling sick so he ordered that 1000 of his cavalry go to the nearby bridge the battle on the third day slowly but surely the Berbers were pushed back once the detached force took the bridge half them went to their rear soon killing the roman commander this spread fear thinking there was another army in the panic many were slain, captured or drowned the casualties for the romans were half of their army while he had only lost 3500, the victory was complete but Stotaz's health deteriorated

knowing the empire would send reinforcement he actually began to retreat however rumors spread that the Persians were going to attack the romans with this Stotaz retreated but left his army by the time he was entering Egypt he was getting worse he sent word to them either due to his sickness or his final revenge he gave an order destroy them and so his loyal army did they quickly moved to the ghassanid territories burning some minor roman ghassanid settlements until they reached their capital at Jabiyah following the word of Stotaz every single building was razed to the ground, and every single living thing they found in the city was killed men, children, women
Gregory wrote: not even the dogs survived the massacre, every single record were destroyed the capital along with some other towns were wiped from the face of the earth what remains today in some archeological remains to prove a city once existed.

Stotaz would not long outlive the massacre desperately trying to get to Alexandria he would die on top of his elephant some sources said when he died she refused to leave him getting violent and refusing to leave allow any one near him, when he was buried back in Carthage it was the beast that stood near him many of the people there were surprised by the animal mourning, and thus did the life of the lord of Africa end, but while his army retuned to Egypt they would have to fulfill another wish of their late emperor

 

[Silver01]

So I decided to make a map of the evolution of the near east since I retconned things and did a summary

https://flic.kr/p/2nYwdKP

Heraclius won the war in 628 and installed Adarnase I as prince of Iberia and gave some lands to Theodore as prince of Armenia after the Sassanid situation continued to decline and Turkic raids reached calmed down the Sassanid empire was not recovering so the king of Caucasian Albania Javanshir revolted and attacked northern Iran and portions of Sassanid Armenia taking key fortresses and asked Heraclius to intervene while Heraclius recognized his claim the state was busy with the Balkan campaign against the slavs so Heraclius never sent much aside from some raids against Sassanid Persia.

https://flic.kr/p/2nYPZ6B

Nearly 20 years after the wars end the roman empire had begun its recovery under Heraclius and Constans II despite Gregory's rebellion the new emperor's skill for management and administration allowed him to intervene in Persia where he supported Gil Gavbara, now he was not the first military commander related to the house of Sasan to attempt to overthrow him many others just carved the realm and had become defacto independent rulers, however, none could take the throne since despite the bickering of the nobles Yazdegered III served as a great puppet and emperor that could not challenge the nobles, with Turkish and Arab raids increasing Gil Gavbara asked Constans for help and he did he took all of Persian Armenia and gave it to Theodore for his service and the Dabuyids would give up all claims to Caucasian Albania, while the empire had recovered Constans II kept the vassals as managing against Khazar raids would be to costly and just set up garrisons while giving the royals of these lands titles prestige in the roman court with a lot of freedom, as for the Persians while we call them the Dabuyids Gil Gavbara claimed he restored the sasanid dynasty who had gone astray

https://flic.kr/p/2nYK6Zy

during the reign of Constantine IV, the Dabuyid empire entered into a series of crises as shah Dabuya tried to wrestle power from the great houses Turkic raids after tang victories and the increase of Arab migrations caused the shah to surrender Mesopotamia which was been devastated by raids going so far as near the capital that he offered emperor Constantine the province the romans had also dealt with the Arabs but in a better matter than the Persians with that area of Mesopotamia were annex while Constantine found one of the few direct members of the house of Sasan the son of Yazdegerd III, Peroz who became king of Mesopotamia, his son Bahram tried to betray the romans were Justinian was presumed dead and the civil war of the late 7th early 8th century began, however as the great norther confederation arrived he joined Justinian II defeated them and thus ending the era of massive Arab migrations to the north, Bahram would also later convert to Christianity but keep Zoroastrianism and Judaism as respected regions as time progressed and the romans continued to ascends, events in the east with the tang expansion made it so that the Dabuyids didn't declare war an era of peace continued were Constantine V took the the throne defeated the expanding berbers and 100 years after their establishment fought the khazars who up until then were content with just raiding the empire but now seeked souther expansion, during this time greek again began to spread from the gulf to the Caucasus it would not be until the middle of the 9th century nearly 200 years after the era of Constantine that the Dabuyids after there second great war with the romans would destroy the kingdom of Mesopotamia and take Albania back