It starts off in 1203 when the Komnenoi brothers first began their campaign in Pontus and established themselves in Trebizond.
The House of Komnenos, Like a Phoenix From the Ashes: An Eastern Roman Timeline
- Thread starter Basileus_Komnenos
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It’s not like the Komnenoi themselves created and strengthened the dynatoi.
II. The Empire In Trebizond
II. The Empire in Trebizond
The beginnings of the Second Komnenian Restoration started in late 1203 when the idiot emperor Alexios IV Angelos in his greed seized the gifts Queen Tamar had given as ship money to the monasteries of Antioch and Mount Athos. This diplomatic insult gave Queen Tamar the perfect pretense to move against the Angeloi. With her cause for war, Queen Tamar began funding her nephews Alexios and David Komnenos and providing them with a force of a few thousand men on retainer to begin their march towards Trebizond to reclaim their ancestral legacy, and to ensure that the light of Rome passed on from Augutus a millennia before would not be snuffed out by the barbarian yoke that occupied the Imperial City.
The Kingdom of Georgia at the height of its power and influence under Queen Tamar the Great.
While sources during the reign of Emperors Alexios VI and his son Ioannes III during the Komnenian Renaissance like to tout the bond or “special relationship” [1] between the Romans and the Georgian people, the truth here is far less glamourous. While contemporary chroniclers play Queen Tamar as a benevolent aunt supporting her family, the reality is that these actions were likely more out of pragmatism than out of familial obligations. The Georgian Kingdom under Queen Tamar reached its apex during the 13th Century before its time of troubles. Georgia was a state that had been rapidly expanding in all directions. With the weakness of the Roman state thanks to the years of Angeloi incompetence, the state began to falter. Traditionally the Romans were the power that held the main monopoly over the Black Sea trade, but with their weakened state, a vacuum emerged in the region that the Georgians wished to fill. Queen Tamar likely expected to carve out a friendly satellite state in Northern Anatolia that served as an extension of Georgia’s influence allowing it greater access to the highly lucrative Black Sea trade routes, and for it to serve as a buffer to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.
An image depicting the 4th Crusade Siege of Constantinople in 1204
While historians, and the modern Roman state officially count the beginning of the Komnenian Restoration as beginning in late 1203, by the time the Georgian troops were mobilized and prepared for battle, it was already 1204 with Alexios cautiously waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike at the Angeloi when they least expected it. In April of the year 1204 the Imperial City was besieged by the accursed Latins participating in the Fourth Crusade. Seeing that the Imperial government would now be distracted, Alexios and his men rushed to the city of Trebizond laying siege to city and capturing it on Easter Day: April 25, 1204 where Emperor Alexios was crowned as Emperor of the Romans. Not long after that the entire of province of Chaldea was soon captured by the Komnenoi. From there the two Komnenoi brothers soon marched with their army capturing most of Northern Anatolia in addition to the bits of the Roman controlled Crimea with many cities throwing open their gates to the new and rightful Komnenian Emperor.
A 16th century portrait of Emperor Alexios VI depicted in full royal and military attire [2]
Despite their rapid streak of victories, everything was far from secure with the looming threats like the Seljuk Turks likely to make a move against the Romans in their weakened state. Due to the threat of Turkish invasion, Emperor Alexios left his trusted brother David in charge of the Western offensive, while was forced to take a contingent of the Komnenian army back to Trebizond to help garrison fortresses and the nearby towns and countryside in the hopes of dissuading a Seljuk invasion. Because of these limited numbers, David Komnenos was now forced to slow down his advance into Western Anatolia however things would take an unexpected turn as news of the Sacking of Constantinople had reached the Komnenoi. The Fall of Constaninople had sent shockwaves rippling throughout the Empire as the city had never fallen to foreign enemies since its founding nearly 900 years earlier by Great Emperor Constantine I. The loss of the city had initially demoralized the Komnenoi and some of the native Roman recruits that he had gathered up in their campaign. Later declassified documents from this period released by Emperor Basil IV reveal how the Komnenoi had privately expected regret for not rushing to the city’s defense sooner. Indeed this would be one of the motivations of Emperor Alexios VI to embark upon his harsh measures to restore the effectiveness and vitality of the Romans state.
Due to the limited amount of troops available and the danger of the Komnenian Army becoming spread dangerously thin, Alexios had to stop his advance after capturing the city of Heracleia in order to consolidate his gains and to avoid encirclement by the new and heretical Latin Empire or Imperium Romanae and the newly created Empire of Nicaea. With the Imperial Government in exile now firmly established in the Pontus region, historians refer to the state of the Empire in Trebizond, as the future of the Roman world looked murky and unclear with the Latin Empire taking the bulk of the Roman territory and the Roman resistance to these barbarian usurpers being disunited with various smaller splinter states emerging. With enemies on all fronts, the Empire was forced to limit its expansion and consolidate its gains. This crucial time allowed for the Komnenoi to rebuild the crippled apparatus of state and its crumbling institutions with the central government now dissolved. These new Komnenian reforms allowed the Empire a well-organized structure as well the ability to begin recruitment of a new native army to help garrison the frontiers and to continue expanding the Roman state. The orientation of the Empire as a Black Sea based state, allowed it to grow wealthy. This combined with the connections to the Georgian Kingdom gave it a strong start and a natural ally in the fight to restore the Empire. The decision of the Komnenoi would later prove to be wise as the newly crowned Theodoros Laskaris would prove to be the Komnenoi’s most dangerous and treacherous rival in the Roman Game of Thrones.
Author's Note:
At long last, I've finally posted an update for this timeline. Sorry for the long wait everyone. I was busy dealing with real life issues and schoolwork. Please feel free to comment. Any constructive criticism/feedback is welcome.
[1] The Special Relationship refers to the mutual connection and friendly relations that developed over time between the Roman Empire and the Kindom of Georgia. This is somewhat akin to otl's special relationship between to the UK and the US.
[2] The image depicted is actually of Bella III of Hungary who was a possible candidate to succeed the Roman throne after Emperor Manuel I. I couldn't really find an image of Alexios I of Trebizond, so I'm pretending that this is essentially how he looked like.
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Not much to say yet, as the story is still setting up to the POD, far as I can tell.
But so far so good!
But so far so good!
Eparkhos
Banned
First of all, thank you for updating. I think it's quite good. I do have a slight nitpick- Heracleia would have been known as Pontoherakleia at the time.
It will be interesting to see how the Komnenoi are going to deal with the great rulers (and likely rivals) of this age like the Bulgarian Tsar, the Despote of Epirus and of course the Laskarids of Nicea. I’m pretty sure that at least at first the Komnenoi are going to need to strike a deal with some of them. Can’t wait for the next update.
This timeline is gonna be fun. I mean there's Latins, Romans, Turks, Mongols, all claiming the same territory. What could possibly go wrong?
There'll be more action as it details the structures of The Empire in Trebizond. Plus there's also gonna be some development with the politics of the Latin Empire and the Empire of Nicea.
Oh I didn't know that. In CKII it was labeled as Herakelia and other sources like Wikipedia also use that name.
The Romans have Basil II the Bulgar Slayer. The Bulagarians have Karolyan the Roman Slayer coming. Let's just that that the Second Bulgarian Empire will be a major player here.
I mean the Laskarids in otl teamed up with the Turks to prevent the Komnenoi from overrunning them. There's a reason why in the timeline I described this as a sort of Game of Thrones.
It'll be coming soon. Now that I've got this out of the way, I have to update my other ASOIAF fics like my Aerys II SI and my Viserys SI.
What is dead may never die, but rises again but rises again harder and stronger.
Pro monarchist
Banned
Need map of Roman empire as of last update and what the crusader pov of the new Roman enpire
@Pro monarchist
I love that username btw.
The next chapter covers exactly that. Baldwin I and Henry of Flanders will feature heavily In the next chapter. I also eventually plan on something special for the Hohenstaufens as well.
The map of Trebizond depictsTrebizond a little bit bigger than it was in otl. I’ll get a map up as soon as I can.
Thanks dude! I posted a rough map on the Map thread. It’s minor spoilers for the timeline though. Lemme know what you think if you decide to take a look at it.
Here’s a link:
Map Thread XIX
Default Korea should be South Korea. Split the difference and put them both under J.
www.alternatehistory.com
Pro monarchist
Banned
The new rulers of Constantinople will have to spend a lot of money and manpower to defend it specially with a middle level Roman empire wanting to retake their capital
Eparkhos
Banned
It's a bit rough, but I could convert it into a 2K-Bam as soon as I get home. I could also try to create a mock-up of the current geopolitical status in the Near East, if you didn't mind.
P.S. Is Cilicia a tributary state, composite state or something else? I can't really tell.
Cilia is also a tributary as well. Thanks so much man.
Pro monarchist
Banned
I'm thinking that modern day Byzantine empire will be made of Greece and turkey since I doubt that even at it's peak the bizantine could take more land that Greece and Anatolia and maybe if they are lucky some of Bulgaria and some of crimea