Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

[Silver01]

757
Due to the defeat Constantine made a truce with the Berber emperor, favorable to him and prepared his troops against Bulgaria, as he would not have left, despite having superior troops by mid 758, Constantine moved his troops, he was at the head of a 40000 strong army, The khan got news of this and prepared, Telets at first fortified the mountain passes in the west, he would leave his capital but it was the best chance he got, with his troops and some ten thousand Slavic auxiliaries. But in his overconfidence, he changed his mind and led out his troops to a plain with some defenses some kilometers from his capital to lower advantage of the byzantine numbers.

The bloody battle of then began at mid-morning, as hours passed the emperor was fighting with his troops until he saw telets, Soon both men ignored their armies and began circling each other, Both men began to fight, the khan had the advantage of youth and raw strength While the emperor had experience and training, the duel was close and they would perry their strikes but no man would get the advantage here.

But as teltes was getting more desperate to kill the emperor he was getting sloppier and was opening himself more and more. The emperor noticed this and began to block and avoid the attacks, this got the khan to lose cohesion and he over swung, Constantine Cutting his neck but not the arteries so it was not instantly fatal, still, teltes let go of his weapon and covered his now sliced throat, Constantine began then pushed him and swinging his sword, slicing at the dying body of the khan, brutally disfiguring him, but he continued, his anger for the treason and defeat was poured out against a khan who could not react, but could feel the pain of his “execution”.

After killing him, the emperor then decapitated him, and showed his head to the army, the men who saw this, panicked, and moved, the word spread that the khan was dead, causing a massive route, still the Romans had 9 000, with the death of Teltes, Constantine now installed Sabin as a new khan in 760, Constantine stayed for a year but then the rebellion of the Serbs.

Prince Vlastimir of Serbia had died in the fight against the Bulgars, tensions existed before his death as he considered the tribute he was paying and the fact that the empire in his eyes did not do enough to deal with the other Slavic incursions, his son Mutimir also had these thoughts and when his father died he rebelled he sent word to the prince of Croatia to rebel as well but he remained loyal, Constantine 35 000 had to deal with a 20 000 Serbs with Slavs that crossed the Danube. Constantine used an inverted wedge, and the center retreated as the Slavs attacked.

Soon they were enveloped, Constantine killed the prince, the victory was total, Constantine also supported another candidate for the throne of Serbia as it was not the first time it rebelled and , which he won and continued the process of Serbia slowly became more Christian since the reign Constantine IV, and the first prince to covert was Radoslav in 725, this left Croatia as the only major Slavic territory south of the Danube to not convert after this Constantine with this he crossed the Danube and began attacking Slav- avar territory.

The khan also had to deal with them and won a victory against them in the Carpathian Mountains, this got him the support of the people, and soon they had a feast, in that night the new khan Sabin was strangled in his sleep by a member of the anti-roman faction.

Umor another member of the pro roman faction got the throne, but he was not as talented, and barely ruled for 45 days before he was deposed and killed by toktu and his supporters, as Toktu became the new khan, he was a member of the anti-roman faction and prepared his realm for a war against them, planning massive raids on the empire to get funds and to crush the pro roman faction, but unfortunately for him, Constantine returned from his campaign from the avar territory, Toku was surprised and reunited whatever force he had to fight, as many pro roman Bulgarian and even neutral Bulgarians joined Constantine as he gave part of what he gained from the raids to them.

Now the new khan was outnumbered and tried to flee, but it was no use, Constantine army began to chase him, Once they cough up, the khan took a defensive position, 30 kilometers north of his capital, but Constantine had learned many strategies, the send his force to attack and then retreated, the khan being desperate fell into the trap and chased the Romans. the Romans kept fleeing till a certain point, then the Romans back, and the Bulgars were surrounded. Tokyu was slain by Constantine and the sword of Heraclius had claimed the life of a fourth khan, after the battle, Constantine received a title, δολοφόνος των χαν, The khan slayer or the slayer of khans. Telerig became the new khan, a smart man, got the throne, while he was not 100% pro roman he recognized their state as being the power of the region. So Constantine installed telerig as khan by 762

 

[Silver01]

730s

After the battle of Tours, Charles Martel directed his attention to Septimania, In 737 the Frankish leader went on to attack Narbonne, the ruler there held firm, his city survived until. Duke Pelagius, Tariq, and king askel himself went to the north and defeated Charles at the battle of Narbonne, Charles had to go back north without subduing Narbonne, and had to pay a hefty ransom for his freedom and safe passage back to Frankia, This also bolster the wealth of Askel

746-752
The civil war was over, and reconstruction could begin, In this time In the great general Tariq died, His burial was attended by askel many Berber nobles, on his visit to Hispania the new Emperor thought that he could increase the taxes on this wealthy region. Hispania was still wealthy, despite losing most of their capable soldiers, the same was for the Berber empire as a whole, due to this and the new emperor respect for his uncle, he said that No new taxes were to be levied on Hispania, this allowed Askel to continue to spend his treasury on his kingdom, he had remade Hispania into a thriving province. Ever since his defeat at tours Askel dedicated more time to internal matters as he was getting old and became less worried about conquest and raids.

Roman aqueducts were being rebuilt alongside many construction projects, With the news that no new taxes were to be implemented, this was great news to the king, since Askel had a dream that Toledo would become a city that would rival Constantinople, so he ordered the construction of a massive cathedral as a sing of his wealth and to calm down the clergy, who had a distaste for him due to him limiting their powers and not allowing them to choose the king at least not directly anymore, but their new income was stronger than their "hate" of the invader, he also began construction on a new library and many other works around the whole kingdom.

To show that the Berbers were just as if not greater than the current Romans at building magnificent works of architecture, after some years of work. Askel would die in 752 leaving the throne to Askel II, luckily by his death both his cathedral and library were finished, the next year Do to him being busy in Bulgaria, emperor Constantine proposed to the Franks attack Hispania more specifically septemenia and Pippin son of Charles Martel and they did, as he headed south to Septimania when he did gothic nobles declared their loyalty to the Frankish king.

The Gothic nobles and the Franks then began to besiege Narbonne, however, the strong gothic Garrison of Narbonne survived the Carolingian assault, also his fears of an attack of a basque rearguard by a Basque army under the Aquitanian duke didn't make things easy for Pippin, by 754 as the city was being besieged, an anti-Frank reaction, led by Ermeniard, killed Ansemund, but the uprising was without success and Radulf was designated new count by the Frankish court.

Still, pippin abandoned his attacks and concentrated on internal matters as he was to make sure that no other Lord would rebel when he was attacking the Berbers. still by 759 the 5 years long "peace" was broken as Peppin marched against the Berbers for the second time. Narbonne was put under siege again and unlike the previous attack, the Frankish king had learned from his mistake Narbonne capitulated peacefully only after Pippin promised the defenders that he would keep the Roman law intact and the county was granted to Miló.

Still, the king of Hispania went with an army to recover it putting the army of the north under his direct command, he led the army to ....slaughter almost all the northern army was killed by the Franks with the army of the north defeated, the new king pleased to the emperor to help him. But the Berber army was not prepared, most of them had not seen battle as
they had to rebuild the army from almost nothing after their defeats and the civil war.

Timidity won the day the Berber emperor sent nearly 2000 troops not enough to deal with the Frankish menace seeing that he was alone and with his probability of winning lowered the king of Hispania surrender and the region of Roussillon was taken by the Franks in 760, these events made a further divide between the 2 Berber realms

 

[Silver01]

765

A new peace treaty was signed in addition to fulfilling most of his objectives Constantine also thought of preparing to attack him, but first, he needed it to take care of the northern problem, this peace finally allowed him to deal with them, Due to the avar -Slavic attacks, as the thematic armies and the principality of Croatia moved with Constantine leading them, as they attacked, the Italian army moved from the north of the peninsula to attack from the southwest.

After a year and half, the Avars avoided any confrontation limiting their armies to harass supply chains, pick off smaller groups, and in some cases night attacks, but now with the Romans pushing them back further, the Avars began to flee from roman armies heading to the north,despite not fully recovering from the civil war telerig moved against the Slavs and Avars, attacking from the southeast.

No one knows for certainty, but many say it was, to expand his territory and new subjects, to get booty and to show good sing of friendship and get good favor from the Romans when they attacked and the Romans pushed deeper. Tribal infighting began; this truly showed the weakness of the khaganate, by 768 Constantine captured a large, fortified encampment known as "the Ring", which contained many spoils of the khaganate, riches that he sent back to the capital.

After this many Slavic’s tribes rebelled or even joined the Romans and Bulgars, now the avar realm was torn apart, during this time Constantine sent the duke Spoleto to another campaign in the west, by late 769, the Romans had pushed deep and met the Bulgar army near the old Dacia. The 3 thematic armies, the principality of Croatia, the Italian army, telerig army and Slavic soldiers, which they had defeated Avars and Slavs, now with all armies combined they had 60 000 men, 40 000 Romans, with 15 000 Bulgars and 5000 Slavs that joined them, while the Avars had barely 25 000 with Slavic auxiliaries.


The battle rather than the slaughter lasted barely 30 minutes, the avar nobility was almost slaughter to a man and with the victory of the first and last pitched battle of the whole campaign. During the battle, the khan slayer had killed the avar khan, with the death of the khan and the nobility dead, the collapse of the khaganate was now imminent. In the next year, the Avar chieftains had surrendered, The avar khaganate was the scourge of the Balkans, the people who nearly killed Great Heraclius. Was reduced to nothing., soon the spoils were shared between the 2 powers, Bulgaria nearly doubled in size, but Constantine made sure the Bulgarian roman border in the Danube didn’t grow.

The Romans extended their territories to the north of the Danube, Also to balance power with the Bulgars and to have power north of the Danube, Constantine installed various Slavic principalities as client states, and tied them so that they were rivals, and therefore won’t unite against the empires, but also stayed with the empire due to the distrust of the Bulgarian empire.

Constantine also installed the remaining avar nobility into a smaller khanate. All these successes strengthen the Romans' military and financially, he also converted the nobility to the Romans under the duke of Spoleto also took Carantania as another client state. It’s a preparation of what was to come next.

 

[Silver01]

770

Leo son of Kosmo, exchart of Ravenna was visiting Rome; the city was in celebration due to Constantine victory over the scourge of the north the avar khaganate they arrived in the Flavian amphitheater, reconstructed by the great heraclian emperors, reconstruction began in 670 but did not finish until 690, But the biggest addition was a statue of Constans II were the colossus of Nero was with the sword of Heraclius and the orb of and cross To show that the conqueror, or liberator of Italy and the west along saving the church from the romans, The Column of Phocas was rededicated to Constantine IV.

One of the mosaics In the city showed Constans II bowing to Christ, outside of the theater people were debating on who would win in the many spectacles of today’s game, as performers were on the streets, while the markets of the city were busy and men were throwing bread to the poor of the city, also the stars of the games were outside, and many commented that they could not believe that the Romans or anyone could build.

As the exchart entered and went to his seat so did the other important rulers of Italy, the crowd of thousands cheered his name, the name of the duke of Spoleto and the name of the emperor, the celebration finally began with chariot races, Then performers came with marvelous spectacles. Then the next events where wrestlers and many fights occurred, as many people cheered and many laughed when they won their debates on who would win, like the Romans of old they debated on the minute details like speed vs strength, the final fight of the day would be an Italian vs an Anatolian, the fight was long but the Anatolian managed to win.

The announcer then said that he hoped the games were to everyone’s enjoyment as they ended for now.

Once the games were over, the exchart the duke and the important nobles left the place and Reunited in the old reconstructed Domitian’s palace. Everyone greeted each other

Leo spoke and said: I wish we could all have reunited just for the games, sadly we must reunite to speak of the danger that is coming, and most of you know what I am talking about the … franks.

It is clear that its new king Charles has an interest in Carantania and the lands of Pannonia some reports even say he even wants to attack Italy and go beyond the Po river.

All men knew that Charles had an interest in Carantania but not Italy. One noble said: this can’t be, no barbarian has ever attacked Italy south of the Po river for over 100 years.

Another noble said: Charles had inherited a kingdom with no real enemies as the Berbers were defeated and with them gone, the dukes of Aquitaine lost their ally

It was a matter of time before the Frankish king took the duchy. Now he is interested in the empire’s land

The duke of Spoleto Transamund III spoke: so with no real opposition in the west, he will turn to Pannonia, Italy, and Carantania.

If he intends to attack the area recently conquered by his majesty, we should worry as there are no real defenses there.

Maybe we can have possible allies to undermine that: said, Leo

We have, the Berbers but I doubt they would attack the franks, but the Slavs would join us

One count said: the Bulgars might help since if Charles conquers the lands of the north, they would attack them as well

Another count said: What about the other barbarians to the north, The Saxons and the other Germanic tribes.

I suggest that the emperor make an alliance with the Bulgars, they might betray the empire if the franks ask them to attack the Slavs, or if they feel that the emperor: said the duke of Spoleto

And to construct fortifications among the po and the Danube Rivers said a count.

Leo and most agreed, the next days the games continued, and when they ended they reunited to debate, after debates most agreed that conscription must be augmented to more people and that new forts shall be constructed, and that the emperor should sign a new treaty with the Bulgars, the council sent their decision to the emperor; He approved the idea since right now Constantine was overseeing internal policies. His biggest problem was that of succession he had no male heir, but someone caught his attention. Tiberius the old emperor's third son, Constants he was young barely 11, but he was intelligent. He would not choose him outright but he was going to test him if he was the best candidate.

 

[Silver01]

August 771

The Frankish king with his uncle invaded the Roman client state of Carantania, this surprised the Romans as they did not expect the invasion to occur so soon, news also came from the theme of Armenia that the Khazar army was raiding as well, Charles had proposed to them to split the provinces they wanted of the roman empire, the emperor before he moved the tagmata need to be sure that Persia would not attack as if his suspicion were true and the franks and the Khazar khaganate made a deal of sort who is to say that the franks didn't make a treaty with the Persians promising Mesopotamia, so Constantine wrote instruction to the themes and the exchart of Ravenna on how to deal with the franks, Unfortunately for him, the duke of Spoleto was visiting northern Italy, he and some governors moved against the franks.

Charles heard about this move and took half of his forces leaving his uncle to conquer the region, the duke and the northern Italian army had to cross the Alps, and do what they did.
Taking one of the routes that Hannibal used, he intended to scare the franks forcing them to leave the roman client state, but the Frankish scouts informed the king about this maneuver, when the duke finally got to the pass, the franks waited Charles put himself at the head of part of his forces.

Not wanting to retreat the duke charged the franks retreated but then they stood their ground, soon a signal was made The Frankish soldiers came out descending and surrounded the roman forces, despite having superior equipment, training and numbers, the tuff and battle harden franks would have been a good match in a normal battle, but in this spot the Romans stood no chance

In the chaos the duke of Spoleto was slain, alongside many other important officials like the governor of Pavia, alongside them, the northern Italian army was almost annihilated and only a few thousand me it back to Italy, after the victory Charles returned to carantania, where his uncle had taken most of the region except for the main fortress who was under siege, the franks intended to starve it out as they had no choice since they had no siege engines.

The rest of the Italian army was ready to move but the news of the slaughter was enough to deter them, Even so, they was busy and the excarch was not sure of what to do so it became a stalemate till winter.

 

[Silver01]

When Charles and the Khazars attacked, he was worried that the Persians might attack, Sha Khurshid was in the 25th year of his rule and he had no intention to break the peace while at peace with the tang he knew that the peace was weak and if Constantine desired he could call to them for aid , but the sha did want to scare the emperor , he had wasted much of the treasury on His projects and had neglected the payment of the army, so he said he would uphold the peace but in exchange, he wanted a payment he made it sure that this was not to be seen as a tribute but as assistance, as the emperor would assist him to pay his troops and he would assist him by sending soldiers to join the 3 Caucasian princes against the Khazars.

Both men heled their part of the agreement, With that settled, Constantine moved against the Khazars, the themes of Chaldea, to a lesser extent Armenia and the most attacked Albania, had been affected by raids, as the Khazar crossed the Alan Gates the main force moved to Albania they took this route since Derbent was too well fortified, despite this, the Albanians knew that they could also not attack their capital as the nomads moved it to Samadar if marching to Balajar to march to new capital was not an option, however, the princes and the strategos, learned from the previous war, the nomads did have greater mobility, but the mountains where perfect chokepoints here the themata, for attacks, picking of scouting parties, and small detachments, slowing down the Khazars advance to the empire.

Still, Constantine arrived in the region with the tagmata and more forces after some days of chasing the Khazars, the battle was near Tavush, and the first ones to charge were the 58-year-old prince Ashot and prince Javanshir II the roman force led by the strategos of Armenia and prince Stephen IV decided to attack the Khazar left and managed to inflict some casualties, but the left flank and even push it back, soon the Byzantine center and left by engaged, the Khazars with few options decided to retreat.

Constantine knew this trick all too well and told his troops to stop the pursuit, the Khazar commander seeing that the Romans did not follow him had two options when the feign retreat failed, return and face the roman force or retreat, he chose the latter.

Constantine retreated to his camp and waited for another day of fighting but it never came, his scouts told him that the Khazar force fled the victory took the pressure on the 2 themes, as the Khazars quickly retreated the later sources said Constantine chased them so fast that they barely had time to raid and soon they crossed the Alan gates, the victory and flight of the Khazar also took of pressure from the Bulgars who were also facing the Khazars but got defeated in some battles, Constantine in his pursuit handed some defeat to the nomads and was now in Phasis still winter had arrived, now he had time to think.

The emperor was left with a dilemma does he continue and like last time cross the Caucasus and attack the Khazars, letting the Slavs and romans take care of the Frankish king, or does he leave for the west and attack Charles, and leave the themes to defend against nomadic raids.

 

[Silver01]

When spring arrived The Khazar khagan got involved in the war and had a new war strategy, he was a capable commander himself he knew that facing Constantine was quite a risk, The emperor knew all the nomadic tactics, and as his name said it all, he was the slayer of khans.

So the khan changed his strategy he would plunder cities take a portion of the loot and flee using the nomad’s superior nobility and make the Romans chase him, and then he could harass them as the themata did to his troops before with this he could send the brunt of his troops against the Bulgars this strategy worked in the Bulgarian front, the Khazar entered northeastern Bulgaria was raided, Telerig responded advancing to Khazar lands, here the details of the battle are shrouded but most sources agree that telerig forces advanced defeating Slavic and Khazar forces unit he reached the Dnieper river were they crossed

Here they engaged and routed the Khazar forces who fell and crossed the river losing many, despite this many Bulgars gave chase, the men were angry at these “hubs” that not only destroyed the land of their ancestors, but attacked them and had killed or sold their families to slavery, telerig tried to stop this, but even his brother moved, the disorganized troops where barely arriving at the other side of the river But seeing this the Khazarssreturned and massacred the one who crossed and rained arrows on those crossing, among them the brother of telerig, according to a later roman source, the khan saw his son corpse floating around the river, the same source said that the khan began to wept for his brother and had to be dragged out by his troops in fear that his death might lead to Bulgaria falling into the horrible civil war period that it just left 20 years ago.

Constantine heard the news, then bad news arrived from Italy after he read the letter, he knew now who the real enemies were, Constantine knew the decisive battle with the Khazars make take years as the khagan avoided any battle but that hit and run tactic made them just a nuisance to him, but he could not allow this raid counter raid, cat mouse chase going on. In late 772 Basileus Constantine v and Khazar khaganhagan Kaban II met, quickly peace treaty was enforced, the emperor would allow the khagan to take the wealth he plundered from and the emperor would further pay him for the next 5 years his orders were just to leave imperial territory including the Bulgarian territory that was considered a roman ally Constantine did say if he broke his promise he would hunt his army down.

And so while the peace treaty was not popular but Constantine saw it as a necessary evil . Since the emperor had to face the real threat that was Charles .

 

[Silver01]

Early 772

Charles had taken Carantania, then he moved and attack avar remnant and some of the Slavic principalities, taking the countryside but having trouble with the forts, this was because a part of the thematic armies and Slavs were harassing him and attacking the supply chain. The sieges dragged out, here the thematic forces harassed them, this continued for some during the siege of Keszthely the capital of the avar remnant, the avar khan had fled to join the southern armies, while the defenders with the help of the thematic force made a sortie killing at least a few hounded Franks, the avar khan had fled to join the southern armies, it seem like someone important officers died and rumors began to circle that Charles had died.

This news reached the bulk of The armies of the 3 themes which were marching to Italy, the franks heard this they began to abandon the siege and left the avar remanent, even though Constantine had given specific orders for them not to engage, strategos said to follow but the third said that we would not, he continued his march towards Italy, the 2 thematic armies, began to chase the Frankish force, The chase continued for 9 days, until they caught up near Wachau, on the last day of chase the Roman armies found the Franks finishing crossing the river, soon the Romans began to cross as well.

The franks waited that 1/3 of the Roman force to cross And then the franks attacked, the Romans tried to fight, and one strategos was given soon room and nearly turned the tide of battle, but he died by an enemy archer, soon the roman force routed, Charles then sent his archers, many were killed by them but most drowned, the defeat allowed Charles to escape and keep Carantania, some Slavic principalities sent secret promises of neutrality and some even wanted to join him, Even so now the Frankish king soon planed his raiding parties to attack into Bulgar and Roman territory.

But Charles set his eyes on northern Italy and so he crossed the Alps in September before winter arrived there he defeated a local force then in October Charles laid siege to Milan, however, the Heraclian walls were to be a great challenge to the king of the franks, around the same time The Peace was signed by the emperor with the Khazars and now he moved to deal with the Frankish king.

 

[Silver01]

Late 772

Constantine moved he would stick to the coast as the route of the Danube was a risk, he did not trust the Slavic principalities he even doubted to a certain extent the Bulgars , not telerig but his nobles still the khan had sent 2000 Bulgarian horsemen, who had done his best dealing the Frankish raid but he knew the emperor would need them more than him and this he showed that he still supported the emperor.

Charles then sent his uncle Bernard, they did not know this was the emperor and his excubitors, they thought it was imperial reinforcements to Italy, Charles strategy was to provoke the armies to attack him since he knew that he could not take Milan by assaults, but if he could provoke the imperial armies to attack him, and if he crushed them then the defenders would surrender and other forts would have fewer men , the idea was good but emperor Constantine prohibited any army to engage the franks, except for harassment and killing scouting and foraging party, so if he killed their reinforcements maybe it could provoke the battle he so desperately wanted.

After two weeks both armies encountered each other by this point the prince of Croatia had joined the Romans, the armies met near the river Sontig and the town Gorizia as Constantine had heard that the franks were near the forest knowing the risk he chose the place where they would meet The Frankish lord had 10 000 men compared to 9 000 as he told part his force to go to Italy he also knew that bigger numbers in the terrain with a narrow entrance would make his force in a worse position, The emperor placed infantry in the first line, archers in the second line in the flanks. With himself and the excubitors in the center of the second line, He also hid the cataphracts and Bulgarian cavalry in the forest nearby.

The Frankish lord sent their cavalry to break the roman center, but the Romans held the line and pushed them back, now it was time Constantine sent the signal.
The Bulgar cavalry moved, to an unsuspecting Frankish cavalry. By the time the Frankish infantry had entered most of the cavalry had been killed.

The reason why they took so long it’s because they had to pass their troops in a small area, here the Bulgarian cavalry tried to attack, but the Frankish lord already knew about the bulgars and managed to divert a force to stop them, as the Frankish infantry engaged the roman infantry and began to push them back.

It seemed like they were going to break, but the emperor maintained the discipline, but then Constantine gave another signal, now the cataphracts came and attacked from the right, this attacked crushed the Frankish lines, now Bernard retreaded before his whole army died, but still, the infantry and cavalry surrounded a Frankish pocket.

Still, the franks lost anywhere from 2000, while the emperor lost less than 500, Charles who was still besieging Milan, he heard the news but he was surprised and waited for his uncle when he returned he explained the events, When Charles heard the story, he did not rebuke his uncle rather he was surprised that he whole army had not died, he knew who was responsible for this, for only one could have committed this defeat with minimal casualties, Charles knew it was a matter of time would now face his biggest threat, the roman emperor Constantine V.

 

[Silver01]

November 772

After the victory, the emperor continued his march, and regrouped with the strategos , alongside Slavic, Avars, and Bulgars loyalists to the Romans, now moving to Italy, By this time Milan was still been under siege, Charles was then informed of the emperor crossing, but was not sure if he wanted to attack the emperor or not, some argued that the emperor would most likely not attack and met the armies to the south and that the emperor would inspire those troops and with his leadership, they might win. But if Charles captured or killed the emperor, the war could be over, the king of the franks was convinced by these words and marched his armies to meet Constantine, leaving a force to make sure that the defenders of the city do not join the emperor.

Constantine was marching to the south; here his scouts told him that the Frankish army was near, he put his army in a box formation where the most armored forces were on the exterior and the light armor wherein the interior, not far from the city of Verona, the Frankish army descended upon the Romans. The nomads allied to Charles, began to shower them with arrows, especially in the left flank where they got closer and closer, the Romans set up a shield wall with the interior forces, and the cataphracts and the exterior were saved by their armor, many of them were eager to fight, but Constantine denied any order to do so.

It took the khan slayer immense will to keep some of his troops especially the non-Romans to keep marching under arrow fire, any break in the gap or anything that would give the franks an advantage would be fatal.

Still, Many Romans thought this would be a great defeat, but the tagmata and the troops that were in the battle before it trusted the emperor and continued marching, for the franks it seemed like the Romans tried to get to the city, so they ordered the nomads and foot archers to get closer and deal more damage to the Roman army and they did inflict more casualties.

But then when all hope seemed lost, The nomads had run out of arrows, the Frankish cavalry now began to move, but Constantine was quick and in the right flank the emperor order to charge and the emperor himself charged with them, the nomads and franks where incredible close to the roman lines due to this, they were smashed by the cataphracts and began to route, the emperor despite his age killed many, filling the sword of Heraclius with avar , bulgar and Frankish blood.

In the left under the command of the strategos of western mosesia , something similar happened but not as large scale, as they were not as close, In both flanks bulgar riders attacked these sides and avar horse archers fired on the retreating soldiers, Still, Charles had reunited many into a defensive formation and after retreating they soon fled, despite some debate Constantine the emperor stopped his army before they got to close as he feared an ambush, Still it was a victory, the emperor had lost 3 000 men of his 20 000 while Charles had lost 4500 of his 22 000.

The victory lifted morale, and the Frankish king was surprised, But Charles numerical losses were recoupable and he began to send messages to his territories requesting reinforcements, the Romans finally saw victory, as they saw how this barbarian king tried to destroy the emperor's army and failed, But Constantine knew this was not the end, as the Romans moved Milan waited for their arrival.

 

[Silver01]

November 772
With the victory many implored the emperor to March towards Milan, Constantine knew that punting the faith of this campaign that marching there might not be the best idea, the emperor did not have overwhelming numbers and some rumors began that the franks were preparing defensive positions, in reality, this was just a debate as the franks decided to leave to Asti a city that along with Ivrea, had been captured by Charles to a surprise night attack, as Constantine moved to the coast where he continued his March towards Ravenna. But this affected the morale of his troops, they had just won only to flee in complete disgrace, Even so, winter had arrived, Constantine waited and later he moved from Ravenna to Rome.

May 773

Charles received 9000 reinforcements, as some Avars joined him and he also got reinforcements from Frankia and Aquitaine, in march the laid siege to Pavia dragged on and the emperor was ready to move with an army of 50 000 from Italy however he only took 35000 he could not take more just in case the Berbers who he also did not trust attacked Sicily or worse yet the very south of Italy, then Constantine left Rome in late of march arriving on late April. But Charles has taken the precaution, putting wooden spikes and put carts in a defensive formation while some other areas had a wall to cover the Frankish camp, in addition to this reinforcement came from Frankia combined with his other Slavic, Avar and other troops put his strength at 28 000, Constantine was not willing to attack such a fortified position, so a double siege Began with the Frankish forces besieging Pavia while the emperor besieged their camp.
Now they both waited.

Early August
As the months passed Food remained limited, epidemics broke out and many Franks died, Charles himself got sick, yet the siege continued, Charles wonders why the city didn't stink of the starved or not shown any signs of disease, the king discovered why, the Byzantine navy in the midst of night were resupplying the defenders with he rivers, The emperor intention was to starve them out, those attacks into the camps where a diversion and Charles had wasted months on nothing. Now the Franks began to assault the walls.

September
Due to the attacks on the city, the military commanders urged the emperor to attack, at first he didn't want to but Fearing the worst and convinced by these commanders, they attacked, in a matter of half a month the defenses of the Frankish camp were severely damaged, the Roman army then charged the camp, the franks tried to fight but their situation became more and more hopeless, during the battle Constantine was struck by an arrow but his armor absorbed most of the impact.

As rumors spread that the emperor had been taken away from the battlefield as he was wounded, many feared a collapse would occur, Surprisingly, the Roman discipline was not shattered, and they continued to press the advantage. Then the franks fled the battlefield, but after a quarter of an hour passed the Roman discipline expired as they were convinced they had won and so began to raid the camp.

Charles then returned and a massacre began, The emperor had to flee crossing the Po river, where many drowned but some franks attacked crossing the river once they crossed the river Constantine force killed the hasty Franks dealing massive casualties and then fled.

Still, Charles had won, out of the 35 000 armies the Romans suffered 10 000 casualties, despite his success It was not a total victory for Charles as he lost more than 9000 to hunger disease, and the fighting, but he had regained the initiative with the slaughter of the imperial troops, the siege engines he captured and Charles convincing them that more reinforcement where coming they surrendered.

 

[Silver01]

As winter arrived, Charles went to take the rest of northern Italy, Constantine would ignore his commanders, and He brought the navy to the Po river. Charles ignored this and kept this campaign in conquering northern Italy, instead of attacking, Constantine began to construct more forts, in the crossings of Po river. By late January Charles knew what Constantine was doing

But in the midst of winter, the conditions were not optimal, Charles army suffered from malnutrition and in some cases starvation, and not having enough reinforcements, and with no navy, he had no choice the biggest thing he could do was sending his nomadic warriors to harass the constructors.

In these attacks, Constantine would throw himself in the midst of the fighting, despite the caution of his officials, Who worried that if he were to die, the whole of Italy would fall, When spring arrived, Charles received more reinforcements; he was not the only one as the navy began to bring more troops from the imperial territories especially Anatolia.

By early June, both armies had 30 000 men, But for Charles, the lack of a navy meant that he could still not cross the river and Constantine did not only bring soldiers but more engineers and did a herculean task to build these forts.

As autumn came Charles sent part of his force to take more of the countryside as his troops still laid siege to Pavia, while Constantine would know to ignore his commanders and he brought the navy to the Po river, Charles ignored this and kept this campaign in conquering northern Italy, instead of attacking, Constantine began to construct more forts, in the Po river among the forts and bridge not far from Testona and many more, by late January Charles knew what Constantine was doing, but in the midst of winter, the conditions were not optimal.

Charles army suffered from malnutrition and in some cases starvation and not having enough reinforcements, and with no navy, he had no choice the biggest thing he could do was sending his nomadic warriors to harass the constructors, In these attacks in the section where he was Constantine would throw himself in the midst of the fighting, despite the caution of his officials, Who worried that if he were to die, the whole of Italy would fall.

When spring arrived, Charles received more reinforcements; he was not the only one as the navy began to bring more troops from the imperial territories especially Anatolia, by early June, both armies had more than 20 000 men, with the Romans having some 30 000 men and the franks having 25 000, but for Charles, the lack of a navy meant that he could still not cross the river and Constantine did not only bring soldiers but more engineers and did a herculean task to build these forts.

By late November, the engineers and workers had made a line of key forts alongside the po river, Then winter arrived again And conditions became worst, the byzantine navy kept the byzantine army well, but Charles army was not doing so well and some deserted others starved, not only that but from the west bulgar and avar cavalry had burned the fields of northern Italy and then harassed their troops, Charles knew he could not win a war of attrition, against the Romans, he needs it his decisive victory

Mid-April 774

The western part of the navy left their post and the emperor ordered the forts and local forces to not attack the franks, which allowed them to cross, in normal circumstances Charles would have hesitated but was desperate and crossed to move against the Romans, by late April both armies met near the emperor organized his troops in standard formation with archers and cavalry behind and roman and spoletan infantry in the center

While Charles organized his troops, in a weird way, with the strongest forces to the Frankish right and the weaker troops in the left, since he did because he did not want to put the strongest near the trees, since he suspected, that in that forest had a roman reserve but his scouts found nothing

the battle began with benard and the heavy cavalry charging, this was effective and pushed the roman right back and caused massive casualties but as the cavalry momentum died and with the attack of the archers the franks suffered many casualties as well, seeing this , Charles sent his infantry but told them to stop in a designated location, Charles then sent the rest of his infantry to the byzantine left and Constantine cavalry had to move to prevent a flanking maneuver, while Benard kept pushing under heavy fire.

Then Charles charged, killing the spolotean center and reaching the emperor and his force, while this happened the Frankish infantry moved closer to the forest

After some fighting Then Frankish king and the Roman emperor saw each other eye to eye, both got of their horses and slowly walked to each other, many people were still fighting but in a matter of minutes, the fighting had stopped, as both watched the emperor and the king who were still circling each other. Charles was the first to swing, as Constantine responded, and they both could hear, the cheers of both armies, while Constantine had experience, Charles was more athletic, just as Charles was preparing a stab to the face, Constantine used his shield to knock him off, it failed but it did Send him stumbling back.

Around the same time, the roman cavalry came out of the forest but was stopped by the Frankish infantry, minutes passed but no one was winning as they were both Evenly matched the emperor and the king tried desperately to end their duel, the emperor nearly made a cut to his throat, but the Frankish king moved, after nearly 6 minutes of the duel, both men were exhausted especially the emperor, and both got more desperate to kill each other.

Then the emperor saw an opening and managed to cut Charles knee, the king fell in pain, as Constantine raised the sword of Heraclius to end the duel, he dropped his sword and then collapsed from exhaustion, but Charles was in no condition to finish him off, as he was reeling from the pain. Seeing this both excubitors and Charles guard, launched each other to save their respective lords, but for Charles, he knew he had to treat his wound, but rumors then began to circle on both sides that both emperor and king were dead.

But when the franks saw that Charles leaving the battlefield, they began to fear the worse do the Romans but the center made sure to inform that the emperor was still alive, now the second in command being the exarch of Ravenna gave the signal, to the duke of Spoleto in couple minutes bulgar horseman and avar horse archers attacked from the forest surprising the franks. The navy had transported them near and then they waited for this moment.

seeing this the burglars and Avars who were fighting for the franks left the field, seeing this and believing that their kings had left them or was dead, the franks fled, then the bulgar, Roman cavalry, and the Avars horse archers perused them, the battle became a slaughter the roman casualties where high but the franks had lost more than 1/3 of their force. Charles managed to survive as no artery was cut, but he fled towards the north again, with the situation getting worse, the local Frankish lords especially the duke of Aquitaine rebelled against Charles and he had to send part of his forces to subdue these, having no real options Charles then sued for peace, the 3 years long Frankish roman war was over.

 

[Silver01]

The peace treaty was done in Milan, concluded that the Romans would have Carinthia and Bavaria a buffer zone, but like the Bulgars, Constantine saw a potential ally and he was proven right after all the Bulgars have proven their worth as friends of Rome, so in return for the peace, the emperor would not cover a war indemnity, and as a sign of goodwill Constantine recognized Charles rule as the legitimate ruler of the west, Charles biggest problems were he was not seen as legitimate and some say that he killed his brothers, who only ruled because he was the strongest, but this was a shaky foundation.

But with this new imperial title been the one of patrikios and by the emperor seen as his representative as the emperor, now Charles rule was seen as legitimate, as he was to be lord protector and emperors enforcer in the west and like Odoacer and Theodoric, Charles recognized the authority of the Roman emperor and as the last gift, Constantine gave her daughter to be married to the Frankish king. So that all parties would benefit, Charles would gain the legitimacy that he needs and some other things, while Constantine would gain. A powerful ally to help him against the Berbers.

775
Constantine made it back to Constantinople where he was seen as a hero, then he reunited with his wife and daughters, then he revived the news that Tiberius was dead. Constans was now 16, then the emperor and his family had a diner. Constantine then asked, how would you deal with the grain shortages that the empire had suffered ever since the 700 AD when they had lost west of north Africa, constans replied I would exploit the grain source found in Anatolia to compensate and use it more so that we don’t rely too much on in Egypt just in case the Berbers take most of the countryside as they did in 740.

Constantine then asked and how would he keep peace with the Persians?

he replied, keep a good relationship with them, and giving some sort of preferential trade agreement, if the Persians get too aggressive then, speak with the Chinese,
and make them look like we want to be their ally, this would scare the Persians to keep our alliance.

The exchar of Mesopotamia died recently did he not ? said Constantine to one of his advisors, He replied Yes he just died a couple of days ago, Why do you ask my Lord.

I am making constans exchar of Mesopotamia said the emperor

The advisor replied but sir an Exchart at such a young age?

Constantine said: I was not that older when I became emperor
The advisor tried to insist that he had no experience to govern a province much less the hardest province in the empire.

Constantine with an annoyed tone said :
I believe I have the authority to point Whomever I see fit to rule.

Constans replied am grateful but I would make a horrible exchart.
Her mother quickly rebuked him and Constantine smiled, he trusted the boy but here he would prove if we were to be or not.

 

[Silver01]

It was the 30th year of the rule of Aderfi II, After the death of emperor Gwfa in 745, the 22-year-old aderfi was crowned.

This emperor was more politician and made a preferable peace treaty in 750s with Romans, and then used his wealth to recover the Berber empire and make it much better, they were more, he began to style himself and his empire as a Christian Berber Romanic and while other writers saw them as the new Carthaginian empire

By 778 he made The Harbor installer was upgraded by the emperor and where amplified.

Writing from this time an important chronicler and trader named Idder

“It was not the first time I would visit the ancient city of Carthage, but rarely did ever leave the harbor and the marketplace

I got off in the civilian harbor, where we got inspected for weapons. Then I saw again after some months, the great marketplace which Romans called agora

The markets were overflowing with jewels, gold that came from the south of the great desert silver that only surpassed the shining of the moon

While others sold, grain, wine, oils, and many species, and luxuries from all Africa like ivory from the south and east, tortoise shell from Axum, and even iron and steel as far away from India.

Others sold food, like all kinds of fish including deep-sea sea, fish, and luxurious meat.

While in some other parts exotic animals like giraffes, leopards, lions, zebras were been sold

And one of the most important was the selling of camels for travelers who went to cross the desert to a place they called Ghana

As always like every other market, there was people bargaining and arguing over the price and some others nearly fighting over it.

Of course, the emperor put guards here; to calm these fights and to take care of thieves here one would be hanged if caught

This I had seen many times, we made our deals and some guards escorted us to the interior of the city ..

Then we went to the baths of the city , There was dry baths, baths with hot water heated up by amazing work of human ingenuity, temperate and cold baths since we had come so far in summer, I and my fellow traders got over the cold water.

There we stayed until it was nearly night and went to our designated area where we were to spend the night.

The next day I was walking in the city, Then I saw the aqueduct of Carthage, I have seen it before, but this one was bigger. I was told that this bigger aqueduct was diverted into 3 parts.

One was for the heater that kept the baths warm, one for the public, and the last one who went to the homes.

Just as passed by, the constructor workers had just finished and put the vein (the tubes that connected the aqueduct to the fountain) to the fountain which had the lion and the swan as a symbol, sounds of moving water could be heard, and then dust came out of the mouth of the swan and lion, then water, as both workers engineers and the people cheered.

A celebration occurred which we took part in, where I was gifted some expensive items by the locals

Then I moved back to our place to sleep .

The next day I entered the grand library of the city , some of my companions do not know the language of the Berbers , but they did know Greek and there were a lot of Greek writings like Plato , Aristotle, Galen , Eratosthenes , after I finished in another rooms I saw how people where being thought philosophy , mathematics and science , another thing struck me was the scribes transcribing the Greek texts to Latin , Berber and the Punic language .

I left a little nervous since today I and my party would meet the emperor . I was known in the citadel where only the rich, nobles and the emperor lived.

But many came since the was here as well where the amphitheater was , where people loved to watch chariot races and wrestling matches

I passed then the old roman amphitheater west of the imperial palace where a great church was constructed, to honor the martyrs who were killed here in the days where Rome controlled the city as cartago nova .

There I saw the Hill of Byrsa beside the church, the imperial palace built on the ruins of a temple where the old Carthaginians in their pagan ways sacrificed to their children to their false god Moloch like the Canaanites whom both sacrificed their children to Satan , I suspect that god used the romans to destroy the Carthaginians of old for this sin.

Despite the last emperors styling themselves as in the roman ways he was also presented as the successors of Carthage for Hannibal had failed to crush Rome this empire was to be just as great as it , they also recognized that the values left by the romans like Christianity must be upheld

We entered the palace, where we saw golden cheetahs in reference to the first emperor askel, with many colors , statues and mosaics representing the life of our lord.

The palace was a combination of roman architecture with the description of the building of the Carthaginian senate.

A beautiful place I in my decade of travel in north Africa, have not seen anything like it,I never though the sons of a minor king and could do this .

The man was taller than all of us , With a long beard reaching his collar bones, a pale man with a black beard and wavy hair.

He greets it us, as we paid our respects, and we offered him gifts. As we were invited to eat, we feasted on fruits where coming to us by an from an indoor stream.

The emperor, where he showed us the city and explained in great detail, I was surprised by the personal kindness of the emperor.

After 2 weeks we stayed in his court, The emperor was not only a great gifted leader of man, but was also a poet and artist.

After 2 more weeks there we moved, the emperor told us to deliver this to his cousin in Hispania I knew the was referring to the king, he also gave us precious gifts.

Now I go to Hispania, to go to the first time to their capital in Toledo.

 

[Silver01]

I had arrived in the city after 3 weeks of travel from Carthage to septa then went inland
We did not despite being peaceful now these islands were used by the Romans to disrupt trade and some of us still fear the place, despite acts of piracy being low ........
As we arrived in the city.
Fist seem that struck me where the 2 aqueducts, I wonder why would a city so near a river need this?
I was told that the aqueducts it was used
For more than just bringing water.
The water was to power mills, but this structure functioned as a water energy dissipator. The water entered the tower via an arcade. The tower firstly facilitated the aqueduct a less steep path towards Toledo; secondly, it allowed the aqueduct to lose height without excessive slope.

I was stunned by the Roman engineers were truly geniuses only to be equal by the men who reconstructed these fine works of architecture.

Then we passed by the baths, and we entered the market.

Toledo had manufactured goods including leather, metalwork, glazed tiles and textiles, and agricultural produce including a range of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices, and materials such as cottonwood, flax, and silk.

I spoke to a local trying to buy some silk
When he spoke it was rather odd, I had some difficulty understanding, What he was saying the Hispanics among us explained.
I was told that long before askel conquered Hispania, and even before constans II and Constantine IV reconquest of the south

The inhabitants of Hispania spoke the Sermo Vulgaris, by the time Justinian was fighting in reconquering Italy, the Visigoths were speaking their dialect

By the time of Heraclius the Visigoth's dialect evolve more (Ibero romance), askel introduced romance Berber and it became popular in the south, but not so much here.

He said in the north I would find other dialects like that of the Basque people, and dialects similar to the man who was speaking to me but more Germanic influence.

Even so, I could still understand the man but I was puzzled, maybe someday I would go to the north to speak with the men who spoke like this man.

But today I have not visited the emperor I bought the silk and moved on there we passed by the great cathedral and the great library both made by the first Berber king of Hispania.
Now we arrived in the palace

It was different than the one in Carthage, it did have Roman influence but it had a Germanic touch to it.
The decorations were also different showing golden lions instead of cheetahs
more realistic statues, and I different style of mosaics.

As we passed we saw the king we showed our respects
The king was actually to my surprise was red-haired and had a shorter beard compared to that of his cousin, he was surprisingly also taller than him.
He was named Tariq after the great general.

He treated us with kindness even though he first suspected that we were spies from his cousin, but after we said he was not and proved it we were treated well, we dined fine meals then he told us to stay and so we did.

Compared to the emperor back in Carthage, we stayed in the court of the king of Hispania for 3 months.

We learned that the system of The court and public officials were taken by the Visigothic system which was model after the roman system

Main public officials were the comes notariorum (royal secretary), comes thesaurorum (aerarii custos, Treasurer) and the comes patrimonii (master of the private purse). The main private officials were the comes spathariorum (dux militium regis (commander of the royal guard)), comes scanciarum (steward), comes stabuli (master of the stables / connétable) and the comes cubiculi (great chamberlain).

By our 6th month there we left.
many things have I seen but now seeing this I wish to see more and how similar and different the land of the Romans is, I now prepare to go to their lands of Italy, not the south which I have been to, no I wish to see the birthplace of Scipio Cesar and the empire.

and I want to see with my own eyes the birthplace of the great heraclians I wish to go to the mighty city of Constantinople.

 

[Silver01]

In 775 Charles attacked the Saxons, It began with a Frankish invasion of Saxon territory and the subjugation of the Engrians, and destruction of their sacred symbol Irminsul near Paderborn in mid-775. Charles's campaign led to the Weser River and destroyed several major Saxon strongholds. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages. By winter 776 what was left was Led by Widukind and continued to resist he even raided Frankish lands in the Rhine region. Armed confrontations continued for the winter months

In spring Charles received 5000 Roman reinforcements a sing of good will from Constantine, for his second campaign, under the command of Constantine's best general Nicephorus, the Frankish roman force-marched through Westphalia, conquering the fort of Sigiburg, and crossed Engria, where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, they defeated the Saxons, and their leader Hessi converted to Christianity. Charles and returned through Westphalia, leaving encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg. All of Saxony except Nordalbingia was under his control,

Then bitj returned to the region, where a rebellion destroyed his fortress at Eresburg. The Saxons were once again brought to heel, though Widukind fled to the Danes. Charles built a new camp at Karlstadt. The same year, he called a national diet at Paderborn to integrate Saxony fully into the Frankish kingdom. Many Saxons were baptized.

Charles then returned in 777 to Saxony and instituted a code of law and appointed counts, both Saxon and Frank. The laws were severe on religious issues, namely the native paganism of the Saxons. This stirred a renewal of the old conflict. That year, in autumn, Widukind returned and led a revolt that resulted in many assaults on the church. The Saxons invaded the area of the Chatti, a Germanic tribe already converted by Saint Boniface and firmly in Charles kingdom. Widukind nearly scored a victory over a Frankish army at the Battle of Süntel, but the Romans saved the left flank and the cataphracts rode down the Saxons, after the battle Widukind had himself baptized and swore fealty to Charles and by some roman sources as well as emperor Constantine.

After this Charlemagne organized a diet, the chief purpose of the diet was to bring Saxony closer to Christianity. Missionaries, mainly Anglo-Saxons from England, were recruited to carry out this task, Charlegmane issued several decrees designed to break Saxon resistance and to inflict capital punishment on anyone observing heathen practices or disrespecting the king's peace, his severe and uncompromising position, which earned him the title "butcher of Saxons", caused his close adviser Alcuin of York, later abbot of Marmoutier Abbey, Tours at Tours, to urge leniency, as God's word should be spread not by the sword but by persuasion; he continues this until the pope and emperor Constantine order him to stop.

In summer 779, Charlemagne again went into Saxony and conquered Eastphalia, Engria, and Westphalia. At a diet near Lippspringe, he divided the land into missionary districts and Frankish countships. He himself assisted in several mass baptisms, he had done enough , Saxony was conquered and was being pacified , he intended to go back to frankia but soon he received a letter from Constantine to meet him in Italy

 

[Silver01]

Mid 779
The Frankish king went to meet the Roman emperor in Rome, they greeted themselves as friends, Here Constantine saw his daughter, and met his 5-year-old grandson Louis.
They discussed their plans.

So I attack first said the Frankish king
Constantine said: my force will take time to assemble also if they think and if they when you attack first they will send reinforcement to there and I when I attack they will return to face me allowing us to win
It is decided I will attack first said the Frankish king, after their short discussion Charles left with many gifts including gold, slaves, and scribes.

Late 779
Charlemagne steps out with a 30 000 strong army across the Pyrenees Charlemagne led his army to Catalonia. His troops were welcomed in Gironaby
As he moved towards Barcelona, his troops put the city under siege, and the Roman siege engines that were given to him were put to use, the king of Hispania sent his most trusted general to take control of the possibly rebellious city and to prevent the Frankish invasion. While The Berber emperor sent 15 000 reinforcement to Hispania.

The general amastan clashed repeatedly with the Frankish king eventually defeated him, then Charlemagne imprisons him, the people who were loyal to the Berbers and those who wanted independence near and in Barcelona, refused to surrender the city to Charlemagne, claiming that their leader never promised Charlemagne his allegiance. Even so, the governor of Barcelona seems tried to appease Charlemagne by giving him a large tribute of gold, but Charlemagne was not easily satisfied, Still, he took the city for some time, and then he wintered in Barcelona.

spring 780

The Frankish emperor received the news that Constantine attacked with large force this caused the Frankish king to move to Zaragoza the siege dragged over a month, but the Roman siege engines given to the franks cracked the cities walls. Charlemagne kept advancing and met another Berber basque force near Pancorbo, where for 7 days Charlemagne wanted to cross the river but failed, during which the Basques planned their defense in rough fords of rivers and ravines, blocking access with logs, trenches and pits dug with their weapons.

The franks could not get through, finally, the forces took the offensive and tried to cross the river at night but the franks had sealed off the crossing and massacred them, The majority of them died after falling off of the cliffs surrounding the battleground. With the subsequent rains, the Frankish catapults destroyed, the defenses, Now the franks crossed Many leaders and local governors were killed or joined them. But Charlemagne could not push further he overextended his supply lines, he needs it to wait but he was confident that the Berbers would be defeated

 

[Silver01]

Constantine marched with a 50 000 strong army, it had parts from Anatolia, Levant Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt, when Charles attacked , Constantine waited in spring 780 he moved, to avoid problems he would March near the coast , then Constantine arrived at zygra he told his cavalry to stay in the city and he ordered that the horses that had died were to he moved close to the city ,Then Constantine laid siege to the old Roman city of Catabathmus Maior, now called Agadir.

The berber emperor sent a 35 000 strong army under the command of general amastan, one of his best generals ,as the Berber army was coming closer to his position Constantine lifted the siege and sent word to the city of zygra, the berber general had arrived and met he roman force not far from Agadir, he saw that they had no cavalry but he suspected a trap, he waited until the scouts came back and they found corpses of many horses the Berber general though that the long march had killed most of the horses and now he decided to move and he outnumbered the Romans , the difference was not that big 40 000 romans 35 000 Berber he had a significant cavalry advantage, The Berber heavy cavalry was in front while the Berber infantry was in the back alongside Berber light cavalry ,while Constantine just put his men in a defensive line

The berbers were the ones who attacked first and the cavalry charge managed to push the Romans back and killed many, but the shield wall held the line and the Romans began to fight back most notably the tagmata and emperor Constantine , now Constantine ordered his extreme wings to attack ,but amastan had predicted this movement and sent the berber light cavalry who launched their javelins and then intercepted the Romans flanking maneuver, then the Berber infantry was ordered to move to finally win the battle.

Just as they did, it seemed like a sandstorm was coming but this was no Sandstrom, the sound of horses was heard niceforous with the roman heavy cavalry came from the south, They plowed the unprepared Berber infantry, causing a big panic forcing them to flee, either way, half of the Berber cavalry fleed, while the other was slain, with that Nicephorus moved to attack the cavalry.

The Berbers tried to flee, but they were pinned down, Only the extreme flanks managed to escape,The Berbers lost half of their army , With this victory, Constantine took the city of Agadir

 

[Silver01]

The Romans after the victory continued to March But then Constantine got sick he refused to stop until they reached Antipyrgus, which the Romans laid siege to.

Even so, the emperor condition got worst and one eskolatia eyewitness said :
We had defeated the Berber army and marched on Antipyrgus
When tragedy struck.
Basileus got sick and his health began to deteriorate
On the night that we knew our conquest would end him shaking close to a fireplace, and he refused to die but His body was going give up soon
He called for constans, the now 21-year-old he told him to maintain the empire.
Constans promised that he would do his best, he had proven to be a fine governor based on his 6 years taking care of Mesopotamia, the emperor told him, he loved him as a son , and that he would do well,constans then left the tent not long after the emperor died.
With his death, the existential threat to the Berber empire died as well

Constans now constans III told niceforous that the campaign would end here.
He protested by constans said that the Berbers were still strong and with the emperor who was the best tactician now dead it was a too much of risk and they should ask for peace when they had the upper hand, our general agreed most of us accepted this decision, except those few that we're convinced that God himself abandoned us and they even went so far as to join the Berbers, then we began a long march back home.

The Berbers would pay a war indemnity
And surrender the key strategic fort cities of Antipyrgus and Catabathmus Maior.
Reducing the Berber capacity to attack the empire or raid it.

When Charlemagne found out he made peace with the Hispanic berbers but he gained more creating a buffer zone till the erbo river called the Hispanic March .

 

[Silver01]

After the regency of his uncle ended In 746 kurshid took the throne he reestablished peace with the Romans, meeting with Constantine V, his five years the sha did damage control he undid his regent's works of taking power from the nobles, well at least from most of the military reforms he kept some them and wanted to implement the changes to limit the power of those who collected taxes, after his victory against the tang in the Oxus river he assured peace in the east and west, so by 753 when ordered and began constructions on his many public works projects, such bridges, roads, hospitals.

the next year he began to construct a series of forts in the Oxus River to defend against what he considered the inevitable war with the tang, which was busy with the Tibetan empire, still during this time small conflicts did occur via proxy wars, installing, vassals and helping them with men and money. By 759, peace was assured with the tang and the forts, where finished these would be upgraded for the next 4 years. With that settled, he concentrated on his internal affairs making land reforms and a new census to tax the people properly, One project that he wanted to do is the construction of a center of learning.

After the loss of Gondeshapur when Mesopotamia was sold to Constantine IV, the Persians lost their centers of learning as both Ctesiphon and Gondeshapur were now in Roman lands or in the hands of its client kingdom

The other shas more interested in recovery and survival and had neither the funds, the time nor the interest to rebuild a new learning center. So the sha now has more funds and a stable empire left by his grandfather and his father. He began the construction of his center of learning in his capital, It took 4 years to build, but a center of learning need it books and teachers, he wasted money and time to get copies of Greek texts and even Indian texts, By 770 he cut army funds to pay for this, which made them angry but he promised that we would pay them.

But by the next year, emperor Constantine sent a delegation to not have the Persians attack him, the sha agreed, but a friend asked for payment, and Constantine paid him enough to pay troops and acquire more books and especially move mathematicians, scribes, and scientist from the empire to his capital, The next years, he reformed some laws giving religious freedom to the Nestorians Christians in the empire refugees from Rome that the previous has ignored and let the Zoroastrians abuse them. But one religion that he did try to limit the spread of was mazdekisim as it had grown in Mesopotamia, he also considered attacking Oman during the days of chaos they had raided Pars, and later the Dabuyids had kicked them out however he knew taking oman would mean that the Banu Qays would ally with the Romans to kick them out, so he decided not to.

Following the death of Constantine V, kurshid reunited with constants III, and the roman Persian eternal peace continued. For the next years, the sha would build his public works in the empires most important cities, till his death in 786, in that year Dadmihr took the throne he continued his father policy of keeping peace with Rome and the tang and even but cut funds to his father’s public works and spent it more in the army