Nίκα

Nίκα​
by Kandranos Crotos



Prelude​
2akfbzq.jpg

Justinian I is undeniably one of the most important figures of history. Though from humble origins, Justinian was coronated Roman Emperor in 527. Justinian immediately pursued a vigorous expansionist policy, planning for a complete renovatio imperii [1] through military means. Justinian's goal was only partially realized, but the provinces of Italy, North Africa, and Spaniae were restored to the Roman Empire. Justinian also pursued legal reform within the Roman Empire. Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis codified Roman law, and still forms the basis for civil law in several countries today. While Emperor, Justinian became a prolific builder, commissioning the construction of many architectural wonders. Such wonders include the Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Dara Dam, and Sangarius Bridge. Attempting to eliminate heresy and strengthen the Christian faith, Justinian convened the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, which affirmed the Chalcedonian view of Christ's nature. Working with his wife Theodora, Justinian passed several laws that greatly increased Women's status and role within the Roman Empire. Without a doubt, Justinian vastly changed the course of history during his reign as Emperor.

However, Justinian's achievement's nearly were prevented. Early in his reign, Justinian was deeply unpopular because of his policy of heavy taxation. In an attempt to alleviate some of this unrest, Justinian ordered that a chariot race be held at the Hippodrome. The agitated spectators in the Hippodrome eventually directed chants away from the chariot teams and towards the Emperor. The crowd began proclaiming "Nίκa" [2] and broke into open revolt. Soon, the rebels were assaulting the Palace grounds, and began burning down much of Constantinople. Enterprising senators, themselves unhappy with high taxes, began arming the rebels, with the hope of overthrowing Justinian. Hypatius, the nephew of deceased Emperor Anastasius I, was proclaimed Emperor by the rebels and several senators. Justinian, fearing that his hold on power was untenable, prepared to go into exile, but was stopped by his wife Theodora. Theodora held her nerve, convinced Justinian to stay, and helped Justinian crush the revolt.

But, what would have happened had Theodora lost her nerve as well? How will history be changed with Justinian's reign cut short? These questions are what my timeline, Nίκα will attempt to answer.

-Kandranos Crotos

-----

[1]- meaning "restoration of the Empire"
[2]- meaning "win" or "conquer"
 
Interesting

I think in the long term Justinian was bad for the empire in the long term due to the financial burden he left his ineffectual successors. This will be very interesting. I think this might actually lead to a greater Hellenization of the empire earlier than what we saw in OTL.
 
I think in the long term Justinian was bad for the empire in the long term due to the financial burden he left his ineffectual successors.

Nonsense. Financial problems existed because of the plague, not because of Justinian's projects- if anything, the Emperor was fairly parsimonious, cutting back on Church spending and attempting to win his wars in the West on tiny, cheap mercenary armies. The one area of imperial expenditure that did balloon under Justinian was on the general Eastern frontier, but I suspect letting the Iranians have free rein in Syria and Palestine would have been ultimately much more expensive than was buying them off and building fortifications.

Anyway, I'll be interested to see how you take this, KC. I'm doing my dissertation on Egypt under Justinian, and I have a planned TL of my own with this very POD. So, subscribed! :)
 
Hmmm. This seems like it could be promising.

I hope this timeline will be as promising as you hope.

It could be interesting.

Also, welcome to the board....

I hope this timeline interest you.

Thank you for the welcome.


I think in the long term Justinian was bad for the empire in the long term due to the financial burden he left his ineffectual successors. This will be very interesting. I think this might actually lead to a greater Hellenization of the empire earlier than what we saw in OTL.

The financial cost of Justinian's conquests are often overstated (as Basileus Giorgios stated in his reply), but the Empire's financial situation will certainly be different than Our Timeline. Whether or not this different situation will be better or worse for the Empire will be revealed as this timeline is updated.

I hope this will interest you as well.


Nonsense. Financial problems existed because of the plague, not because of Justinian's projects- if anything, the Emperor was fairly parsimonious, cutting back on Church spending and attempting to win his wars in the West on tiny, cheap mercenary armies. The one area of imperial expenditure that did balloon under Justinian was on the general Eastern frontier, but I suspect letting the Iranians have free rein in Syria and Palestine would have been ultimately much more expensive than was buying them off and building fortifications.

Anyway, I'll be interested to see how you take this, KC. I'm doing my dissertation on Egypt under Justinian, and I have a planned TL of my own with this very POD. So, subscribed! :)


I hope this timeline will interest you. Also, I hope to read your timeline if you decide to write it.

Thank you for subscribing!

-Kandranos Crotos
 
Chapter 1: The Nika Revolt​
nika.jpg

After Emperor Justin died in 527, he was succeeded by his nephew Justinian. Justinian had many goals he sought to complete as Emperor. Perhaps the most ambitious of these was "renovatio imperii", the reconquest of the former Western Roman Empire. To fund this ambitious project and the ongoing War against Persia, Justinian attempted to overhaul the empire's taxation system with the intent to raise as much revenue as possible. Justinian's reforms, although effective in raising funds, proved disastrous for the Emperor's popularity. The new tax burden imposed was almost unbearable to the Empire's lower classes. The aristocracy was not fond of the new taxes imposed upon them as well. In addition, the new taxation system also necessitated a reshuffling of the powers held by the administrators of the empire, which left many administrators discontent. At the same time, the War against Persia was not going well for the Empire. While the Roman Empire scored victories at Dara and at Satala, they were decisively beaten at Callinicum. Popular unrest against the Emperor grew, and by 532, the Emperor feared open revolt in Constantinople. On January 10, 532, two chariot racing fans (one a "Blue" and one a "Green" [2]), who had been arrested for an earlier murder and sentenced to death, escaped from jail. The murderers and took sanctuary in nearby Church. Soon, a mob of "Blue" and "Green" fans formed around the Church to defend the murderers from arrest. On January 13, 532, in an attempt to placate the mob and prevent revolt, Justinian ordered that chariot races be held in the Hippodrome, and had the murderer's sentence be downgraded from death to imprisonment.

The disgruntled "Blue" and "Green" fans in the Hippodrome initially directed chants at the chariot teams. However, by the twenty-second race [3], the partisan chants were directed away from the chariot teams and towards the Emperor. The fans began proclaiming a unified chant of "Nίκa" and broke into open revolt once the race ended. The unorganized rebels held the imperial palace grounds under siege, and began burning down and looting much of Constantinople. Fearing treachery, Justinian decided to expelled the members of the Constantinople Senate and the aristocracy from the palace grounds where they had taken refuge [4]. This action proved disastrous, as the rebels were soon armed with weapons by enterprising Senators and Aristocrats who felt betrayed by Justinian and sought to overthrow him. Soon, the rebellious Senators and Aristocrats, supported by the crowd, proclaimed Hypatius, the nephew of Anastasius I, as Emperor. After hearing of Hypatius' challenge to his rule, Justinian lost his nerve and felt his hold on power was untenable. Justinian resolved to go into exile. The usually tenacious Empress Theodora lost her nerve as well, and made no objection to her husband's decision [5].

In the predawn hours of January 20, 532, Emperor Justinian, Empress Theodora, and their retinue left Constantinople, beginning their long journey to Persia. In Persia they planned to remain in exile for the remainder of their lives. After Justinian left the city, his few remaining supporters defected to the rebels. Hypatius was able to assume the role of Emperor without opposition, and was crowned Emperor by Patriarch Epiphanius on January 21. The Roman Empire had a new Emperor, and the course of history was forever changed.
-----

[1]- meaning "restoration of the Empire"
[2]- the "Blues" and the "Greens" were the main chariot teams of Constantinople who had many fans
[3]- the twenty-second race was the last of the day
[4]- including Hypatius, and Pompeius, nephews of the former Emperor Anastasius I
[5]- this is the Point of Divergence
 
Last edited:
Nonsense. Financial problems existed because of the plague, not because of Justinian's projects- if anything, the Emperor was fairly parsimonious, cutting back on Church spending and attempting to win his wars in the West on tiny, cheap mercenary armies. The one area of imperial expenditure that did balloon under Justinian was on the general Eastern frontier, but I suspect letting the Iranians have free rein in Syria and Palestine would have been ultimately much more expensive than was buying them off and building fortifications.

Anyway, I'll be interested to see how you take this, KC. I'm doing my dissertation on Egypt under Justinian, and I have a planned TL of my own with this very POD. So, subscribed! :)

Also the expense on the eastern frontier would have ballooned no matter what, Persia was ruled by its most effective emperor ever (seriously Khosrau I is often ranked above Cyrus The Great in terms of Persian emperors) by that point and in any situation where Persia is very strong Rome has to be cautious and treat it carefully.
 
Also the expense on the eastern frontier would have ballooned no matter what, Persia was ruled by its most effective emperor ever (seriously Khosrau I is often ranked above Cyrus The Great in terms of Persian emperors) by that point and in any situation where Persia is very strong Rome has to be cautious and treat it carefully.

I fully agree, though I think "King" is probably a better translation for "Shah" than is "Emperor". But that's me being nitpicky, I agree with your basic point that Khusrau was a seriously impressive monarch.

As for the main TL, yep, this is exactly the same POD that I had planned, so I fear than any attempt I might make on a similar TL would be doomed to failure! One thing, though- you talk about Justinian raising taxes on the lower classes. As far as I'm aware, what provoked serious ire was actually due to Justinian executing both Blues and Greens for an earlier riot, nothing to do with taxes. As taxation was based on property and land in the Roman Empire, it seems unlikely that the residents of Constantinople would have paid much in tax at all.

So, I'd say that Justinian's reforms certainly made him unpopular with the upper classes, who now probably had to pay a much "fairer" rate of tax than before (the Secret History is probably an outpouring of this frustration and hatred on the part of the upper classes, unused to being bossed around by a boorish Illyrian peasant, who spoke Greek only with a thick accent.

Anyway, this sets things up nicely. If your TL is like mine, Hypatius will be a fairly quiet Emperor (he's an elderly homosexual), and will quickly be succeeded by Belisarius. Khusrau will seize the opportunity to invade the Empire to restore Justinian to his throne. Indeed, I wonder if we could see a reverse of the OTL 590s situation, with the Iranians successfully intervening in Roman politics and gaining territories for their troubles- everything up to the left bank of the Euphrates, perhaps.

Do continue!
 
Also the expense on the eastern frontier would have ballooned no matter what, Persia was ruled by its most effective emperor ever (seriously Khosrau I is often ranked above Cyrus The Great in terms of Persian emperors) by that point and in any situation where Persia is very strong Rome has to be cautious and treat it carefully.

Indeed, with Khosrau as King of Persia, any Emperor who neglected the Eastern Frontier would be making a serious mistake.

I fully agree, though I think "King" is probably a better translation for "Shah" than is "Emperor". But that's me being nitpicky, I agree with your basic point that Khusrau was a seriously impressive monarch.

As for the main TL, yep, this is exactly the same POD that I had planned, so I fear than any attempt I might make on a similar TL would be doomed to failure! One thing, though- you talk about Justinian raising taxes on the lower classes. As far as I'm aware, what provoked serious ire was actually due to Justinian executing both Blues and Greens for an earlier riot, nothing to do with taxes. As taxation was based on property and land in the Roman Empire, it seems unlikely that the residents of Constantinople would have paid much in tax at all.

So, I'd say that Justinian's reforms certainly made him unpopular with the upper classes, who now probably had to pay a much "fairer" rate of tax than before (the Secret History is probably an outpouring of this frustration and hatred on the part of the upper classes, unused to being bossed around by a boorish Illyrian peasant, who spoke Greek only with a thick accent.

Anyway, this sets things up nicely. If your TL is like mine, Hypatius will be a fairly quiet Emperor (he's an elderly homosexual), and will quickly be succeeded by Belisarius. Khusrau will seize the opportunity to invade the Empire to restore Justinian to his throne. Indeed, I wonder if we could see a reverse of the OTL 590s situation, with the Iranians successfully intervening in Roman politics and gaining territories for their troubles- everything up to the left bank of the Euphrates, perhaps.

Do continue!

An incident involving the Blues, the Greens, and the Emperor did indeed provoked serious ire (and I have amended my post accordingly). I did not know that the Empire's tax system was based primarily on land, but several of my sources mention taxation as the main underlying reason the general populace of Constantinople was mad at Justinian (could It be that the more efficient tax administration started collecting taxes previously overlooked?).

While I agree that Hypatius will likely be a quiet Emperor (besides perhaps starting the Vandalic War), I'm not so sure he would be succeeded by Belisarius. Hypatius has a brother named Pompeius, and Pompeius had a son named John. I would think that the throne would be passed to them before Belisarius. I could see Khosaru exploiting the death of Hypatius, but I don't think a restoration of Justinian to the throne is particularly feasible (assuming Justinian is still alive by this point, as I imagine Hypatius might want Justinian's death as part of the terms of the "Eternal Peace")
 
Last edited:
I dont get it, i mean why go through all the trouble of creating what looks to be a decent TL and then go and start talking shit about banana's and semen ? Ive seen this before when someone started a good timeline then a few days later started trolling strangely enough it was the same or similar posts. weird.
 
I dont get it, i mean why go through all the trouble of creating what looks to be a decent TL and then go and start talking shit about banana's and semen ? Ive seen this before when someone started a good timeline then a few days later started trolling strangely enough it was the same or similar posts. weird.


Hacked maybe ?
 
Top