Should the Austrian Empire exist, and continue to exist? If so, in what form?


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By choosing Ravenna as his HQ,Frederick is already a vastly different person from otl.Just saying:D.

And yes, I was speaking retrospectively where the capital should have been as the center of HRE.I couldn’t care less what Frederick thinks.His otl policies doomed the HRE.

So is Venice actually declining as a centre of trade?If the ships are going to Ravenna instead of Venice, the importance of Venice will probably decline.
I'm not sure where you get that idea from. Frederick's entire policy with things was to keep things close to home and ignore everything else. Considering how events play out within the TL itself I don't say Frederick is 'vastly' different; vastly would imply he massively centralized the HRE and placed himself at the actual center of its domains to ensure that. As in OTL he cared only for what he found personally viable and ignored everything else.

Right.

Such a thing is inevitable considering the fact that had they failed the 4th Crusade; which they did in this TL, they would have decline due to a myriad of factors (which were explained within this TL itself). The fact that they've held on this long is due to Frederick needing their help to take the throne (giving them land to get an alliance with them) and the fact that they still have enough naval strength to hold out.

I don't think it's spoilers to say that without Venice's expansive Empire, which it won in OTL with the 4th Crusade and the snowball following, it doesn't stand much chance.
 
Part 2; Roman Notables of the Great Crusade - 1238-1244
The Great Crusade, often simply titled as the 5th Crusade by Western Sources, was a successful invasion of the Middle East spearheaded by the two Emperors of East and West; John III Grypas and Frederick II Hohenstaufen, respectively--alongside the French King Louis IX Capet. Much of the Crusade's 'meat' were Germans/Italians led by Frederick II; however the core of the nobles and high personnel that served on the front lines were Roman in most cases due to the precise nature of the Roman involvement in this 5th Crusade.

That core included;

Demetrios Trainos - Son of Boniface Trainos, formerly of Montferrat, Demetrios was one of the first Latin-Romans birthed following the resettlement of much of the 4th Crusade's survivors in the Empire following their victories in Anatolia is penance for the sin of attacking fellow Christians. Demetrios would come the heir apparent of Boniface; who held the title of Dux of Normandia until his death at the age of 87 in 1238. Demetrios would join the Crusade upon becoming the new Dux of Normandia, and would prove himself an able field commander; leading the various Latin-Roman descendant forces from Normandia underneath John III's guidance to victory several times.

Tancred Raoul - Son of Rogier Raoul; Tancred is a legacy-type noble; a member of one of the oldest Houses left in the Empire and one that was founded by true Normans no less. Tancred would prove himself an able cavalry commander in the field against the Egyptians and their fast and skilled cavalry men; with the Romano-Norman himself capable of wielding the heavy cavalry troops his people were known for--although this time with a Roman flair--to great effect in punching holes through enemy lines and formations in order to allow the Lakonoi or French Knights to carve in deep through these holes.

Theobald Bloua - Son of the well-known martyr Louis of Blois, Theobald is an older man now--a veteran of internal politics at the age of 56, well removed from his time as a young 17 year old noble by the end of the Great Crusade. Theobald stood as the premiere skirmisher for the entire Great Crusade; being made use of by first Demetrios and then Frederick II to commit skilled flanking and battering maneuvers to buy time for more important campaign movements for the wider Crusade. It is implied that at the climactic Siege of Jerusalem Theobald himself was the one who convinced Frederick II to listen to John III's insistence that they dismantle their current siege equipment to build new ones.

Constantine Hohenstaufen - A 12 year old boy when his father brought him along, Constantine clung at first to Frederick himself, but as his father got more and more busy with the leadership of the core of the Crusader force he would spend more and more time with John III--and in the 4 years of the Great Crusade be shaped into a charismatic and robust infantry commander that gained the undying loyalty of his men with his sheer presence and force of voice. It was Constantine, not Frederick, who made sure the core, of the core German forces, did not break throughout the Siege of Jerusalem--despite how many casualties ensued because these Germans were needed to hold the line. He had come in a boy scared to be parted from his mother, and been forged into a battle hardened veteran before even his 18th birthday.
 
Constantine already sounds like he's gonna be the biggest badass in Europe. Here's to hipe he has an illustrious career
I'd tie him with Heraclius/Dragases on that front. They're both uniquely shaped monarchs that change the face of the Known World massively in their reigns.
 
@Averious I have completed reading this marvellous TL, keep up the good work. I onl;y have two things to notice. First, the Greek names and the Greek phrases you are using sometimes sound strange (at least to a Greek-speaker). Secondly, the number of casualties sometimes is a bit unrealistic. For instance, the Western Army loosing 90% of its strength?
On another note, how old is Heraclius now?
 
@Averious I have completed reading this marvellous TL, keep up the good work. I onl;y have two things to notice. First, the Greek names and the Greek phrases you are using sometimes sound strange (at least to a Greek-speaker). Secondly, the number of casualties sometimes is a bit unrealistic. For instance, the Western Army loosing 90% of its strength?
On another note, how old is Heraclius now?
I think 13.
 
I have completed reading this marvellous TL, keep up the good work. I onl;y have two things to notice. First, the Greek names and the Greek phrases you are using sometimes sound strange (at least to a Greek-speaker). Secondly, the number of casualties sometimes is a bit unrealistic. For instance, the Western Army loosing 90% of its strength?
On another note, how old is Heraclius now?
As a Greek speaker myself I've found it hard to balance out using Greek as it stands with an English audience. The easiest way to go about it is to convert every Greek word used into its English components, and then put it back together.

As for casualties? That's a collective casualty ratio; it wasn't a thing that happened in one battle--but a gradual and deadly attrition that by the end of the final Roman-Bulgarian war saw the Western Army gutted, with only a core of veterans left.
I think 13.
Bit early, Heraclius was born 1231, so he is currently 11. By the time John III dies in 1244 he is 13 though.
 
End of Part 2; 1243-1244 - The Last Years of John III Grypas; the Wiser
"Had he died sooner the Empire might have been in better hands," - Constantine Doukas, near-pretender to the Imperial Purple.

1243 - John III would return to Constantinople alongside what was left of his Lakonoi, a man near death in early January of 1243. It is claimed, at least by scholars at the time that the climate of the near-east, combined with his already weak composition, is what did him in. However, by late January the Emperor was starting to experience a resurgence in energy; gradually--as January came to an end, and he was able to spend more time with his family, the Emperor got better to the point of being able to sit in council with the major players within the Empire, but many faces had changed.

His mother, the Empress Dowager Maria Komnene, had been an able regent for the Empire in his 4 years away on Crusade--however time had not stopped for anyone. First to go was Michael I Psenas, the venerable Patriarch of Constantinople [1], who died infirm in bed in late 1241--yet not before he chose his successor in Arsenios, a skilled theologian and moralist who Michael knew would not be corrupted by the new position [2]. Next to go would be the famed Shipmaster Bardas Isandos, who died just before Christmas of 1241, likely of a stroke. This would cause issues with the Empire's navy that would not be resolved for a near-decade, as Isandos was effectively irreplaceable at this point, which had forced Maria to delegate portions of the fleet to handpicked Admirals in order to stop-gap the situation.

By the middle of February John was active again--pushing for updates from across the Empire; his near-death experience seeming to thrust him on into heavy micromanaging in a time of fear that he had not covered all the Empire's much needed corners well-enough [3]. This had the sad effect of seeing him effectively cut his wife and son out of his life; forcing the already strained Theodore to return home often in order to provide stability for Heraclius and his sister-in-law Theodora [4], leaving him to rely on his second-in-command John Vatatzes again and again to hold the Balkan-front. It was in this time that Heraclius was gifted a Varangian axe by Theodore; the weapon meant to symbolize the fact that Theodore would always be there, in some capacity--even as 'weapon'--to aid his nephew.

John's perpetual need to micromanage everything would see him revive the practice of heavy census [5], which was done in order to get an idea of the status of the Empire's internal economy and resource production. The Emperor's continued efforts ruffled several feathers; the most vocal of whom was Constantine Doukas--the aged politician who had gradually built up a powerbase for himself as an advocate for the remaining native nobility. Doukas argued with John often, and loudly, the only thing saving Doukas from a happy little 'accident' being the fact that he was backed by powerful members of the nobility--such as the remaining Gabras and Raoul clans, as well as dozens of minor magnate clans within Europe that had perpetuated silently under the reign of first Romanos and then John.

Things would only take a turn for the worse again in late June of 1243, following a widescale Chrysosbull within that month that rather bluntly tied up loose-ends in Anatolian corruption. The rather interesting aspect of this however is that this corruption had perpetuated the slow regrowth of Anatolia due to the fact that it opened up 'secondary' avenues for revenue and resources--something John would not abide himself, as his goals seemed to be to focus on improving what he saw as the core of the Empire [6].

In response to this Chrysosbull Heraclius, someone who in his own drive to better himself kept in-depth tabs on as much of the Empire as he could muster as the Imperial Prince, would outright criticize his father for not seeing the bigger picture. This would escalated when John threatened to banish Maria Asen, the former heiress of the now defunct Bulgaria, and Heraclius' 'sweetheart', due to his disgust at the fact that Heraclius would even consider a union with a woman who, even distantly, was his cousin.

The Heraclius' blunt response broke John--as whatever high he had been riding dropped like a stone and impacted on the ground--the final straw being a moment within the argument when John realized two things; he no longer recognized Heraclius as the son he'd, in truth, failed to raise, and that the fight itself mimicked his own with his father before he too had gotten sick, and then died.

The Emperor would rapidly decline; forcing his mother to once more take the reigns in a motion that nearly killed her with grief. It was only in this state, at the edge of death, that John seemed to be able to squash his failures and spend every moment he could with his wife; yet his son effectively refused to deal with the man he'd grown to despise. In this vacuum Constantine Doukas began to claw himself into further power--managing to convince both the grief stricken Maria Komnene, and Arsenios to back him as the core-regent in the name of John by the time of November.

The Emperor would dig in his nails and muster what strength he could to make the needed appearances at the traditional Christmas Celebrations the following month; but it wore out what little fuel he had left--and the rest of the year, following the end of the Celebrations on the 25th, would be in freefall. John would fall into a deep coma on the 28th, and not wake up.

There was nothing witty, not a quip--not a gasp. No last words.

John III, nicknamed the Wiser by historians, would die silently on the 2nd of January 1244 after 15 years of skilled--if tense--leadership.
--
[1] Michael was Patriarch from 1203-1241, a successful career of 38 years. He served through most of Romanos V's reign, and would, in hindsight, serve through most of John's own reign (12 of its 15 years)

[2] Arsenios was a noted solitary ascetic prior to being called out of his abode in Mount Athos to serve as the new Patriarch of Constantinople. His tenure in office, 1241-1273, would see him back Heraclius over other pretenders--providing stability within a Church that had become directly tied to the Grypads due to now 3 consecutive Patriarch's being aligned to the ruling dynasty.

[3] John was very self-deprecating of his own leadership; constantly, but silently, questioning himself and his choices throughout his reign. It fed into his micromanaging tendencies and would eventually be what hammered in his final nail.

[4] This would start rumours that Theodore and the Empress were having an affair, however the actual possibility of this was laughable considering Theodora's devotion to her husband despite his shortcomings. John himself even chuckled quite publicly at the notion. Theodore's continued presence would have the effect of seeing Heraclius take on more and more of his traits, which would shape him heavily--at least until a life-altering incident occurred just after his father's passing.

[5] During the Crisis of the 3rd Century Diocletian, alongside his expanded bureaucracy, created an Empire-altering, and in-depth, checks-and-balances system that allowed the Empire to functionally find the sweet-spot to 'sheer, not skin' the metaphorical sheep that was the Empire; providing much-needed resources and supplies through in-kind taxation that was valued against itself. The practice died down as the Empire's coinage was resurrected and in-cash taxation was revived, but it would be revived as a secondary administrative practice by John in his last years in order to sure-up the Empire's internals.

[6] John himself saw Anatolia as little more than a buffer zone by the end of his reign--instead seeing Western Anatolia and all of Roman Europe as the core territories of the Empire that needed to be invested in.
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A new practice I'm going to start doing is linking the songs I used to write each post when they are finished so, the songs used for this post were;

[1]

[2]
(Bulk of the writing was done as I had the guitar-work between 2:10-2:35 on repeat for over an hour)
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John III Grypas; Emperor and Reformer - 1201-1244
"Change is an inevitable thing of beauty, meet it with a grace and poise none-else can match," - John III's oft used maxim.

John III, as an Emperor, proved the vital point of stability to ensure that the gains his father made through his long reign were not lost; allowing the Empire to set in new roots and firm up its position. His rise to power was quite expected, considering the fact that he had been named co-emperor early on in his lifetime, however what truly set him apart from any other possible successor was the sheer energy and relish he imparted onto the duty of Emperor when first crowned as sole-ruler of the Empire.

John, in the inverse of his father who was a great restorer, was a great reformer. It was under John that much of what made the Empire 'Roman', which had atrophied in response to a need to militarize following the Crisis of the 10th Century [1], would flourish the first time in over a century being able to boast its Roman character once more. In this mold he would reform the legal system and the notions of taxation--just to name a few.

As the son of Romanos V, John himself benefited from inheriting several skilled allies, notably the Patriarch Michael I, Shipmaster Bardas Isandos and so on. He did not have to cobble together a group of elites who could do their duties; instead he simply reworked what was already given to him--entrenching the notion that there must always be an Imperial Family Member as Prefect of the West through this as a result. His only major alterations of the system he inherited was a widescale rework of the Empire's bureaucracy, which had been a given considering his efforts to reform the legal and resource aspects of the Empire.

John's reign encompasses the period of most widespread reform since Justinian the Great [2]; reworking the entire way the Empire thought of itself as well as how it managed itself internally. Centerpieces of his reign were the victorious, if costly, victory over and annexation of Bulgaria as well as the formation of closer ties to the Balkans with the introduction of Vlachia and Serbia as Client Kingdoms into the fold--his greatest military and political achievement being his participation in the 5th Crusade; which endeared the Empire to the west oncemore and truly put it back on the map as a threat to Islam [3].

By far John's greatest achievement was the fact that he outright sidestepped every major failure his father had walked over; creating a stable and prosperous Empire who's heartlands were at peace for effectively his entire 15 year reign (even if the last 4 were effectively without his presence). The sheer scope of his patronage efforts, which revitalized Constantinople in ways never thought possible, and tying of Bulgaria and the Balkans at large to the Empire with unshakable bonds, turned the Empire from the strongest regional power of the area to a superpower within the Mediterranean once more; only made more obvious with his continuing of the general policy of working alongside the west for greater goals; permanently tying the Hohenstaufen's of Italy to the Grypas Dynasty as friends and allies.

His greatest failure however was his inability to put his family in any way above his near-fanatical need to micromanage the Empire he had inherited; gradually destroying his relationship with his son which would have the affect of leaving a widescale power-vacuum that would almost cost the Empire very dearly following his passing [4]. While he was a good Emperor when all the pieces were laid out he was a terrible husband, and a worse father, and it cannot be denied that he himself might have been better off if Heraclius had died in infancy, as was expected, even if the Empire did benefit from Heraclius' survival in a way that would outshine even John.

John would leave a strong bedrock for his successor, his son Heraclius--coronated as Dragases--who would surpass his father in every way possible. However, at the time of his death, while the Empire was functionally strong, he left a teenage son a half-decade away from legal maturity who wanted nothing to do with him and the Empire at large.

The fact Heraclius became the great Dragases should not be a testament to John's own reign, but to his failures in death.
--
Statistics by the end of his Reign;

Population; 12,000,000~
Size of the Mobile Army; 40,000~
Direct Manpower Pool; 150,000~
Navy Size; Roughly 205 ships strong, 1/2 of which are purpose-built warships, the rest either refitted merchant vessels or troop ships.
Treasury Status; 1/4th full.
Debasement Status; Near-nil
Status of the 'Three Organs'; Church and Bureaucracy stable, Military agitated.
--
[1] Battle of Manzikert and all that followed, until the Komnenian Restoration began in 1081.

[2] Most of Roman history post-Justinian was either re-purposing old things, and adjusting them to suit the 'now', or stagnation. John was the first Emperor in over 600 years to have the same drive as Justinian--as well as the general peace at hand--to make major reforms.

[3] This would have consequences that would appear heavily into Heraclius/Dragases' first decade in 'office' as Emperor.

[4] Heraclius' refusal to have anything to do with his father, and thus the Imperial Office itself as his father lay dying, allowed a conspiracy to form that nearly claimed his life. This event would scar the teenager, and form the basis for his 'greatness' as an Emperor.
--
[1]
(This song will appear again as an 'official' part of the timeline)
 
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Since the Fifth Crusade is more successful and the whole mess in the Eastern Roman Empire is avoided does this mean the Crusader States will last longer?
Most likely until the mongol invasion that is. Once they come its inevitable that they will clash with the crusaders, Romans and Mameluke. The crusaders are obviously the weakest one of them all, so if they are thrashed thoroughly then its only a matter of time for Rome to reincorporate Syria-Palastina back to imperial fold.
 
Since the Fifth Crusade is more successful and the whole mess in the Eastern Roman Empire is avoided does this mean the Crusader States will last longer?
Most likely until the mongol invasion that is. Once they come its inevitable that they will clash with the crusaders, Romans and Mameluke. The crusaders are obviously the weakest one of them all, so if they are thrashed thoroughly then its only a matter of time for Rome to reincorporate Syria-Palastina back to imperial fold.
Functionally they should last longer; but I'm torn on how to handle them in a managed manner to be honest. I'm not sure how it'd truly affect the Near-East in the short-term, let alone the long run, to have them continue to survive. Although needless to say, Antioch isn't going to be amongst the number of survivors.
Wow what a great TL! Continue the amazing work!
Danke! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
 
Functionally they should last longer; but I'm torn on how to handle them in a managed manner to be honest. I'm not sure how it'd truly affect the Near-East in the short-term, let alone the long run, to have them continue to survive. Although needless to say, Antioch isn't going to be amongst the number of survivors.

Danke! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
I don't really think the crusaders will last they needed help from constantinople with money and the pope in Rome is always on conflict with the western nobility and Constantinople itself. Its Rome's Eastern backyard it naturally will make sure that the Holy land stay on their orbit alone.
 
Part 3; January 1244 - Death of Innocence
"You're not fit to dredge the Chrysokeras, let alone rule," - Last words of Constantine Doukas

January 1244 - John III's awaited death on the 2nd of January 1244 had been expected; but the shocking nature of his sudden decline back into sickness had left a cloud over the court that kept things almost serenely in-check--at least until the gust of wind that was his actual passing blew it away. By the 4th of January Constantine Doukas, the man most prepared for the death of John III, was on the move.

Over the time of weakness for John, and later the grief-stricken leadership of Maria Komnene, Constantine had managed to bring many members of his family into the Imperial Court, notably his daughter Maria Doukaina and his son Alexios Doukas. Constantine himself was devious; always having the right quip and praise ready to press the flesh as it were and grease the wheels of his plot.

At first, Heraclius noticed nothing--he'd cut himself off from Imperial matters; having moved Maria Asen into his periphery quarters as well as fingering several Lakonoi to guard him and his planned bride; the Imperial Prince didn't bother to focus on the Empire at this time--only himself and those he cared for, and that would cost him.

By the 9th of January it was clear that the now Empress Dowager Theodora Asen could not handle the grief of loosing both her husband to death, and her son to uncaring notions, and took to drinking wine more often than not to sooth herself--even if Maria Komnene herself tried to bring her out of it. This would provide the effective knock-out blow for the established power of the Grypads in court; because while they held the loyal 500 Lakonoi present as their allies, the rest of the court had effectively managed to switch dimes to the Doukai.

The Grypads, in this time, projected weakness--two aged women, both broken in their own way from the death of John, and an immature son who had no clear interest in the rulership of the Empire; verses the aged and apparently skilled Constantine and his skilled son and daughter--both of which were the right age (their early to mid 20's) to be viable heirs to the throne if Constantine took it. All Constantine had to do was take a shot--and he had a window.

Theodore Grypas, the younger and more military-based brother of John III, was busy with his duties as Prefect of the West; dealing with a flare-up of rebellion by a minor Bulgarian lord in northern Bulgaria. While this noble lacked the support and manpower to become a major threat, this was because Theodore was keeping a lid on him, and if he were to step back to handle things in the capital it might see huge chunks of the recently regained Bulgaria pulled away. So, he stayed behind--promising he'd return to arbitrate the dispute in the capital once this matter was done--a choice he would regret the rest of his life.

What was this dispute however? The Empire had a functional interregnum; Heraclius was being dismissive as an heir--and the fact that he'd never been crowned as Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans by his father at a young age, as John himself had, had effectively weakened the position of legitimacy present that John himself had had. Instead, the 'party-line' was that Maria Komnene, as the regent in-place at the time of John's death, kept her position for her underage grandson Heraclius. This itself was pressed on by Constantine; who argued that the state of Maria--as a grieving mother, would leave her unfit to lead the Empire; the Lakonoi however disagreed, and the aged Doukas was not willing to press the quick-to-anger Romano-Turks on the matter too hard.

Things would firmly change on the 21st of January, as after a near-month of staying within his quarters and spending time with his sweetheart, Heraclius was finally convinced by his mother to come to dinner with her, and to bring Maria Asen, so that they could finally settle things. Motions in this went well; the mother and son finally managing to connect again for the first time since John III had fallen ill--there were even talks of Heraclius finally stepping up, if what Maria Asen's letters speak of is true [1].

Then, Theodora dropped dead, right then and there at the dinner table--a glass of her favoured wine, which had been in her hands, shattering to the ground and spilling its contents. Historians generally agree that she had been poisoned by the notoriously skilled poisoner Alexios Doukas, who had been inquiring on what her favoured wine was not long before she took a glass of it, and died.

Heraclius was crushed; he'd watched his mother die right before his eyes--and even though Maria Asen had tried to pull him out of it, he began to hide himself in his room with a noted indecisiveness. This might have proved the end for the Grypads if a mysterious letter hadn't have arrived at the foot of Theodore; explaining everything about to happen to him, and seeing the Prefect break with everything he stood for in standing his ground as leader of the West in order to rush back to the capital; leaving the command of the area in the hands of his capable second-in-command John Vatatzes.

The threat of the arrival of the no-nonsense Theodore in 5 days scared Constantine, as many would note around him, and he plotted more than was expected--and got the results he needed; finally pushing Maria Komnene over the edge with a barbed tongue one too many times--seeing the Empress Dowager drop the position of regent aside and head out for the monastic life in order to grasp a handle on her grief. It didn't take much for Constantine to simply pick back up the position.

Yet one thing was obvious, he needed control of the city before Theodore arrived in order to hedge his bets as being crowned Emperor, and in order to do that he made some pretty choice offers to members of the court for something dark he was going to do.

The regent had effectively paid off several court members to distract the quite scary Lakonoi during shift-change, a risk by itself beyond measure, while Constantine himself snuck into Heraclius' room. He would not leave it up to chance, apparently.

The sudden arrival of Doukas startled Heraclius; the young prince unable to move or bring words to mouth as he looked up upon the aged regent with a fear he didn't know was possible within himself. Then the air changed; the sound of sliding metal on leather as Doukas drew his dagger sent chills up the prince's spine--and only then was he able to stand; yet he could not bring himself to move--to do anything to flee... at least not until he saw the glint of the blade going for his eyes.

Heraclius stumbled, the blade cutting into his cheek in a narrow miss of his right eye--the motion causing a scuffle as Doukas grabbed him; sending the nearby table with Heraclius' countless trinkets and books to the ground--amongst them the Varangian axe Theodore had gifted him. It was one final sentence; an insult to his character, that saw Heraclius snap at the last moment as the blade came down for his eyes.

He gripped the axe--and took off half of Constantine's face with an upward swing faster than any could have reacted to; the screams of the maimed regent as the flailed on the ground not turning Heraclius off to the moment as he stood to his feet. The last words Constantine himself heard were a simple phrase taken from a time long passed; "Alímono stous kataktiménous" [2].

Heraclius began to hack the regent to pieces; every swing purging the boy of indecision and peaking his emotions.

Tragánisma.
--
[1] Maria's letters are one of the major historical sources for the reign of Dragases, as she wrote regularly of the on-goings of the Empire, to Maria Komnene following her self-imposed monastic exile, and later did the same to Sophia Grypaina, the Holy Roman Empress.

[2] "Woe to the Conquered," the words of the Gaulic Brennus, following the ancient Sack of Rome, as he tampered with the scales of payment.
--
[1]
 
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