Remnant Roman territories/City States Middle Ages

What if despite the Eastern Roman Empire there are surviving Roman realms (maybe City states and coatal stripes in Italy and the Mediterran with vulgar Latin language common and laws , titles and traditions from the old days practiced ?
 
I'm not trying to be smart there. But very basically, Romano-Barbarians kingdoms were what you describe.

Granted, we're talking of post-imperial entities* there (which means coming from Late Roman culture, which knew a relatively important foreign influence) but when it comes to customs (written by Romans), titles, military traditions, etc...

* ROughly speaking, one can distinguish post-imperial romanity which is distinguished by episcopalian cities, roman law, and latin as common language; and late imperial romanity (which is including ERE, but as well Vandalic Africa and Ostrogothic Italy) with municipal cities, maintain of classical spectacles and classical schools (even if all of these can be found elsewhere, but not distinctivly).
 
How well does San Marino fit the criteria?

Not much, unless taking in account legendary historiography : as a distinct entity from the Papal States, it doesn't appears before the XVIIIth century or if we go for a continuous form of self-ruling (partial or not) it's part of the lot of Italian municipal autonomies that blossomed in the XIIth century.
 

GdwnsnHo

Banned
I'm not trying to be smart there. But very basically, Romano-Barbarians kingdoms were what you describe.

Granted, we're talking of post-imperial entities* there (which means coming from Late Roman culture, which knew a relatively important foreign influence) but when it comes to customs (written by Romans), titles, military traditions, etc...

* ROughly speaking, one can distinguish post-imperial romanity which is distinguished by episcopalian cities, roman law, and latin as common language; and late imperial romanity (which is including ERE, but as well Vandalic Africa and Ostrogothic Italy) with municipal cities, maintain of classical spectacles and classical schools (even if all of these can be found elsewhere, but not distinctivly).

This ^^

Unless you are specificially looking for polities/institutions that are continued from the WRE itself, (or ERE), such as an Exarchate in Africa, or some sort of Federation of the Civitates Italiae. (I would love to see that personally, it'd be an interesting polity for Italy), or maybe even a Rump WRE.

Other than I think an underlying desire in each of these groups to reestablish an entity as the WRE, or alternatively an allegiance to the ERE, I think you'll see them seeking to establish themselves as rulers, or locations of significance to the new powers at play. An example of this could be Ceuta (or contemporarily, Septem), well placed to try and become a major naval force, if it can build itself up as a trade power in the western med - it could well become a Venice-in-Africa, which could later lead to it being a centre of power in Africa.

Another alternative could be that Alexandria, and some Egyptian Red Sea port towns, submit to the invasion, under the condition of special status (and for some reason, succeed), enabling their culture to survive in those cities, and maintain a strong 'Roman' cultural presence in trade. Essentially reduced to tributaries, rather than integrated as conquests.
 
Unless you are specificially looking for polities/institutions that are continued from the WRE itself
Then again, most of western kingdoms recieved the imperium at some point, from "might makes right" Vandals to Frankish kingdoms (which is basically an inflated foedus). At their core, they are creations from WRE that carried on after its collapse.

(Britain being, as always, its own special snowflake, but less so than commonly tought)

I think you'll see them seeking to establish themselves as rulers, or locations of significance to the new powers at play
Isn't what happened for most of isolated places? I mean, as we're talking about Ceuta (if we are to use contemporary names, it should be Septa), their rulers were quite independent after a while and payed mostly lip service to the exarch or Goths, at the point the local ruler was described as king by Arabo-Berbers.

well placed to try and become a major naval force
I won't be so sure : Septa was really excentric, without much hinterland or ressources to build a fleet (as in large access to wood to begin with) and under pressure of Mauri as all late Antiquity Africa.

Mostly, the time wasn't to small cities as economical powers : you regularily ended with de facto autonomous cities (interestingly more in episcopalian cases than municipal, as Provence's patrices) but they depended too heavily from military assistance to really pass as independent while military role was distinctive of political power since the IIIrd century.

Any post-Imperial or late Imperial power in the West have to carry an army with it in order to be relevent, would it be only militiae, and having at least some basic legitimacy.

That said, a rump WRE managing somehow to prevent being sattelized or absorbated by ERE is always an interesting debate.
 
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You'd need the Vandals to get defeated before they crossed over into North Africa (they weren't well liked by the Germanic rulers of Iberia), because Carthage, Hippo Regius, and the cities of Tripolitania would be well-placed to be this, although more than likely they'd end up submitting to local rulers or the Eastern Roman Empire before long.

Nerfing the Vandals in general might be a way to get a lot of these, since Corsica, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Sicily would also be in a very good position for this, had they not been conquered by them and thus shared the fate of the Vandals.
 
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