612
Alexandria
Organa would personally invest the architects of his new Coptic Church in Alexandria. This would endear him both to the Miaphysite Church and the common people who had hated the Greek overlords. Indeed, Coptic clergymen had been forbidden from even entering the city of Alexandria under Byzantine rule.
"King" Organa would largely leave much of the government functions alone, including many of the laws. Those laws he DID change were actually quite popular. While the Greeks were not slaughtered and their Catholic Church banned, naturally all restrictions against the Copts were withdrawn. The Copts were rapidly trained into an army. Indeed, so many volunteered that there were near riots in some cities when the army was fully embodied and disappointed volunteers were told to go home. Patriotic militias were popular. As one of the predominant manufacturing centers of the old Byzantine Empire. This allowed the army to be well-armed.
It was considered only a matter of time before the Byzantines invaded. While nearly a third of the 150,000 Bulgarian tribesmen could be classified as warriors, the Copts soon made up the majority of the army and navy (reaching 40,000 and 10,000 respectively, in 612, as they prepared to defend themselves). The Coptic language rapidly replaced the Greek in the bureaucracy (often the Miaphysite priests served as the literate bureaucrats). Certainly, the Bulgarian dialect of the Turkic language were never considered to be the language of state. Therefore, the Copts would serve in virtually all civil positions.
The Bulgarians, whom some feared would loot the entire nation, were surprisingly satisfied with the lands they were given. Indeed, the nation was so populous and rich that the Bulgarians would be astonished at the riches handed to them. They would have been even more astonished to find out that this tribute represented only a fraction of the annual taxes extorted from Egypt by the Byzantines over the years.
Waiting the entire year of 612 for the Byzantines to attack again (it was not immediately clear just how limited Byzantine resources were in Egypt), the King would shrug and decide to test his army's mettle by marching them upon Cyrenaica as it was feared the coastal province would fall into the hands of the Exarchate of Africa (it was still unclear if this was a breakaway kingdom yet and only by 613 would "King" Theodore of Africa send a delegation to Egypt). Evidently, Theodore was more interested in protecting his vast coastline from the Byzantine Navy than picking a fight with a neighbor (and adding to its vast coastline).
Hispania
For the winter of 611-612, Heraclius the Younger would debate marching south and retaking Africa from his brother, Theodore, who made himself a King. Heraclius was certain his father intended Africa and Hispania both for the elder brother. But Heraclius would determine not to face his brother for two reasons:
1. His grasp over Hispania was weak to say the least. The heretic Arian Visigoths were largely pushed out of the Peninsula and no longer a threat but that was hardly the same as claiming full control over the natives. Should he depart, the native peoples may overthrow him or one of his generals may determine to take the throne in his absence.
2. Heraclius had been gone from Africa for some time and he was unsure if he had any support among the Romanized populace of the cities or the Berbers of the hinterlands. It was a bad idea to pick a fight one could not win.
In the end, Heraclius determined to stay in Hispania. He married the daughter of a local dignitary and went about forming a dynasty in the usual way.
Byzantium
King Theodosius would soon find his political problems multiplying. In some ways, the Byzantine Empire was getting back on its feet. The Danube remained quite secure as the Avars were willing to enjoy the peace. New settlers from Georgia, Armenia, Anatolia and Greece were granted lands (nearly 100,000 migrants in just the a few years) along the Danube, the population making it more secure. New fortresses along the Danube would ensure future barbarian incursions would be modest in scale....or really, really big....as the fortresses would be able to dominate the supply lines of any invader. The larger population would be adequate to fight of modest raiders. And large-scale invasions by hundreds of thousands of invaders seemed unlikely in 612.
The economy of Byzantium was stabilizing...at least in what was left of Byzantium (mainly the Balkans, Anatolia, Armenia and Syria). The new Ghassanid Kingdom was proving adequate to protecting Syria from Arab raiders.
Peace with Persia, to the surprise of many, remained in place and had reached nearly 30 years (minus those wars in which Maurice put Khosrow back upon the Persian throne and Khosrow put Theodosius upon the Byzantine throne). Both had greater problems than one another. Fighting over border territories in Mesopotamia or Armenia, provinces which normally were problematic anyways for whichever Empire "controlled" them, would seem of secondary importance.
Theodosius was battle endless demands from citizens, soldiers and priests to retake the Empire. The wealthy African provinces had declared effective independence (Carthage would formally declare so in late 612). Lacking resources to invade Egypt, which reportedly had 50,000 Bulgarian warriors and 50,000 well-armed Copts under arms, the Emperor would quietly condemn the "rebels" but do little to nothing. Indeed, Byzantium continued to import Egyptian grain throughout 612. The last thing Theodosius needed was a famine in the capital.
As it was, the greatest crisis was within the capital itself. Years after Pope Gregory's death, the Roman priests in exile would gather with Roman nobles in exile and announced they had selected a new Pope. Hearing rumors of this, the Byzantine Catholics would summon a number of bishops home and select their own Pope. The two parties would both demand the Emperor's support. The city would be divided between the "Roman" Pope and the "Byzantine" Pope.
Eventually, the Emperor would pronounce that the "Byzantine" Pope had his support. Outraged, hundreds of Roman priests, nobles and various supporters would sail away from Greek shores for the only reasonable destination: Carthage. Here the "Roman" Pope was declared the one true leader of the Catholic Church by King Theodore of Africa.
Rome
King Agilulf of the Lombards would see the problems associated with forcing the Latins of the Italian Peninsula to the Arian Church. Instead, he opted to close down the Catholic monestaries, usually exiling the priests from Italian shores just to be rid of them. Arian priests were given local churches. Violence continued, however the rising number of Arian settlers would reduce the efficiency of this rebel activity. As the Latins were not forced to attend the Arian church, the amount of organized resistance would quietly subside in the absence of clergy and noble leadership.
Agilulf, believing that the Arian Church needed to be codified, pronounced that Rome would have a new Pope. Naturally, this was a Lombard Arian Pope.
Few Latins would immediately recognize this church. Some, lacking a Catholic clergyman, would almost have to engage the Arian priests for weddings, etc. A few would willingly convert for lack of other options. Commoners did not care overly much for nitpicking the nature of the Trinity and one priest was as good as another. The new Latin bureaucrats and ambitious men willing to serve the new administration would take the lead in quiet, unforced religious conversion.
As Latin religious fervor was hardly universal, some Italians would simply go along to get along and give their nominal allegiance to the Arian church.
By the end of the second decade of the 7th century, the Arian Church was proving quite well installed among the people of Italy, even if most of the Latin natives only gave sullen obedience and lip-service while secretly longing for their Catholic Pope.
One of the most devastating developments for the Catholic majority (soon to be minority) in Italy was the diversion of Papal Authority between two contenders, one in Byzantium and one in Carthage. This prevented any unified front against the Arians in Italy.
Indeed, the battle between the two Popes (and Papacies as both East and Western Popes would die after a few years and the institutions would continue the battle over the course of many Papacies in future generations) would lead to a diplomatic cold war as the assorted Popes and their allied temporal rulers would fight for influence among the thrones and peoples of Hispania and the rapidly evolving Frankish Empire.
