The Scorpion's Sting (reboot of "The Scorpion Bite")
- Thread starter fi11222
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fi11222
Banned
You are absolutely right. All this will be dealt with in the next Spartan Monks episode.
This is amazing. Not only have you gotten most of the church politics exactly right, but you've also gotten the Christian response to various religions spot-on.
One caveat is that the removal of the title "theotokos" and any attempt to back away from a doctrine of the real presence in the eucharist won't go over all that well with the followers of Krysorhine if they're reading Augustine, Jerome, Benedict and the other Latin fathers. The cult of Mary was already extremely strong in the Latin west, and something like a doctrine of real presence--not necessarily trans-substantiation, as they aren't particularly Aristotelian--also seems to have been present. Yes, they are reacting against the monophysites, but that balance between Chalcedonian orthodoxy--which does include Cyril and his writings at Ephasus--still needs to be maintained. You will likely also get some sort of push-back on iconoclasm, though it won't be as intense.
I also think the Jerusalemites are going to have some real problems in staunchly chalcedonian Anetolia in the long-run. This isn't the post-turkified Anetolia of 1453; it's much closer to the Anetolia monophysite emperors like Anastasius and henotikon advocates like Xeno found almost ungovernable due to frequent chalcedonian rebellions.
That said, the fact that someone who's as knit-picky as I am about church history can really only find two knits to pick with this speaks very well of it, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
One caveat is that the removal of the title "theotokos" and any attempt to back away from a doctrine of the real presence in the eucharist won't go over all that well with the followers of Krysorhine if they're reading Augustine, Jerome, Benedict and the other Latin fathers. The cult of Mary was already extremely strong in the Latin west, and something like a doctrine of real presence--not necessarily trans-substantiation, as they aren't particularly Aristotelian--also seems to have been present. Yes, they are reacting against the monophysites, but that balance between Chalcedonian orthodoxy--which does include Cyril and his writings at Ephasus--still needs to be maintained. You will likely also get some sort of push-back on iconoclasm, though it won't be as intense.
I also think the Jerusalemites are going to have some real problems in staunchly chalcedonian Anetolia in the long-run. This isn't the post-turkified Anetolia of 1453; it's much closer to the Anetolia monophysite emperors like Anastasius and henotikon advocates like Xeno found almost ungovernable due to frequent chalcedonian rebellions.
That said, the fact that someone who's as knit-picky as I am about church history can really only find two knits to pick with this speaks very well of it, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
fi11222
Banned
Hi Everyone,
This is a message for all those who like this TL, and whom I thank most heartily for their support. I am in the process of moving from Paris, France to Bangalore, India where I will be staying for a couple of years for professional reasons. Therefore, for the next two weeks, I will not be able to devote as much time to AH.com as in the past couple of weeks because things are kind of hectic right now (filling in boxes, storing furniture in friend's basements, etc.) Do not worry, though, as soon as I am out of the woods, I am back at it.
This is a message for all those who like this TL, and whom I thank most heartily for their support. I am in the process of moving from Paris, France to Bangalore, India where I will be staying for a couple of years for professional reasons. Therefore, for the next two weeks, I will not be able to devote as much time to AH.com as in the past couple of weeks because things are kind of hectic right now (filling in boxes, storing furniture in friend's basements, etc.) Do not worry, though, as soon as I am out of the woods, I am back at it.
fi11222
Banned
Thanks. Glad you like it.
The abandonment of "theotokos" is an old "Nestorian" thing. Although it is true that the Church of the East is no longer officially Nestorian in this TL, the influence of Theodore of Mopsuestia and other Antiochene doctors makes this step not so hard to take.
There is no question, however, of abandoning the "real presence". For one thing, the doctrine itself does not exist as such yet as it was only theorized explicitly in our TL after the year 1000. But it is of course implicit. Everyone thinks that the body and blood of Christ are somewhat "there" during the Eucharist as the ceremony is viewed as a sacrifice. The "theurgy" Chrysorine rants against in On heresy is the tendency of the Monophysite clergy to turn the Eucharistic bread and wine into magical charms which have effective potency to remit the specific sins of the person who absorbs them. Chrysorhine does not deny that these are the blood and flesh, just that they can be used to do something at the will of the priest performing the ritual.
The idea here is that the creation of the Empire of Jerusalem has polarized the Mono/Dyo-physite split even more than in our TL. Monophysites become super-iconodules, super-mariolatrists and so on. As a result, The Chalcedono-Nisibian east become more allergic to these things than in our TL. Also, there is the Persian aniconic traditon playing its part.
I cannot answer this issue yet as it would lead me deep in spoiler territory.
Ah, I get you; it's the old Egyptian magical tradition. His rant just superficially sounded a lot like Cranmer, but of course the context is quite different. [Though, the eastern church has some really striking similarities to later Anglicanism].
This split makes me wonder what ultimately happens to the theology of whatever church in the west comes out of this, particularly vis-à-vis maryology, which was more like your Jerusalemites, and Trinitarian doctrine, which was of course firmly influenced by Augustine and Hilary of Poitier.
I will wait with patience for the resolution of Anetolia.
fi11222
Banned
An Lushan
In 756 AD., China is in turmoil. An Lushan, a general of mixed Sogdian and Turkic ancestry, has rebelled against the reigning Tang dynasty and declared himself Emperor in late 755. By the spring of 756, after conquering the eastern capital Luoyang, he has made himself master of the North-Eastern regions of the Chinese Empire. In July 756, with rebel forces clearly an imminent threat to the western capital and imperial seat of Chang'an, Tang emperor Xuanzong determines to flee to the relative sanctuary of Sichuan with its natural protection of mountain ranges so the Tang forces could reorganize and regroup. On July 15th, the day after the imperial party left the capital, the troops accompanying it nearly mutiny and force the Emperor to execute his unpopular chancellor Yang Guozhong, whom the soldiers hold responsible for the imperial debacle, and his cousin, the favorite concubine of the Emperor, Yang Guifei.
After this traumatic episode, coming as it does on the heels of a string of humiliating defeats against rebel forces, Emperor Xuanzong is a broken man. After arriving in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, he shuts himself up in the governor's palace and refuses to see anyone. The bishop of Chengdu, a man of Tibetan descent named Trisong Gyätsu (Chinese: 達嵩甲孳 tì-sōng-jiǎ-zī), sensing an opportunity to advance the Faith in the imperial favor, decides to seek an audience. After a week spent intriguing and bribing the eunuchs of the imperial household, he manages to be admitted into the presence of Xuanzong. The old beleaguered Emperor is in fact quite happy to see someone not involved in the usual factions he has had to deal with every day of his life. After the reign of Wu Zetian, Christianity, though still growing at a respectable pace, has kept a low profile in China and has thus been almost invisible from within the circles of power. After the usual formal greetings, the Emperor asks the bishop the following question "What does your god think of the calamities afflicting us today?" Trisong Gyätsu has decided to be as bold as Christ recommends in such circumstances[1]. Here is how the Relation of the Seven Kings, a later Chinese Christian text, records his answer:
Most honored ruler of millions of men, our God, the Father, most certainly has an answer to your question. And it is indeed the answer to this question that he delivered through his son Jesus Christ, for the salvation of those men who believe. Your most honored majesty will see that I do not intend to flatter you with empty words and my life is yours to cut off if it is your good pleasure. But my mouth will speak the truth as I believe that it is what your most serene authority desires. Ever since the assumption of the throne by Qin Shi Huangdi (秦始皇帝), the first ruler of the middle kingdom to call himself Emperor (huangdi 皇帝), every leader of the Han people who has followed in his footsteps and called himself the same has blasphemed against the Most High and thus incurred His wrath.
The title of Huangdi (皇帝) is the first rock of offense against which the rulers of the Middle Kingdom are stumbling one after the other. This title belongs properly to the Eternal Ruler only and it is a frightening thing for a man to wrest something from the All-Powerful One. As is related in "the 99 dialogues at Zhangsun's", one of our books, written over a century ago, the Chinese Language has many names for the Supreme Deity. Some call Him 上帝 (Shangdi) while some prefer 元始天尊 (Yuanshi Tianzun). But most are used to think of Him as the "Yellow Emperor", which happens to be pronounced Huangdi (黄帝), exactly like the imperial title. Is this a coincidence? Who would honestly maintain that it is? All the so called masters of the various schools of thought know that there is a Single Being who is in control of everything, although they differ about the names they use to call Him. Indeed there is even a name, albeit a rarely used one, which exactly describes Him: 太帝, Tài dì, (literally "Utmost God") So it is obvious that the so called doctors of the Han people have long known that there is one all powerful Heavenly Ruler and, since they are fine logicians, they also know that He needs no deputies. If your most honored authority was all powerful, if you could move any grain of sand in the most remote desert with a single thought, flatten any mountain, dry any ocean, would he need any ministers? Neither does our Father in Heaven. The so called masters have know this for a long time and yet, since they are flatterers, they have hidden the all powerful nature and the unity of the Heavenly Father from the rulers of the Middle Kingdom even though they were sworn to advise him with all faithfulness. Indeed, it is a hard thing to say in front of a powerful ruler of men that he has in fact no power at all but that his every thought and his every move is in fact controlled by an all-encompassing omnipotent Being. But such is the truth and my mouth is compelled to utter it.
The second rock of offense against which the rulers of the Han have been stumbling repeatedly is their claim to be the "son of Heaven". There is only one Son of our Father in Heaven and he died in far away Da Qin over 700 years ago in order to atone for our sins. Every man who calls himself "son of Heaven" is thus an usurper and a servant of demons, whether he knows it or not. When our Lord, the true Son of God, was confronted by the Chief of Demons, who wanted to tempt him into rebelling against his Father, he was told by the Unclean One that he would be offered "all the kingdoms of the world with all their glory"[2] if only he would kowtow to the Prince of Demons. Our Lord refused, of course, but every ruler of the Middle Kingdom who accepts to be named "son of Heaven" is in fact accepting the same corrupt bargain from the Unclean One. And it is corrupt because it is a lie. The Prince of Demons has no power to grant what he promises. He is actually laying a trap in order to destroy man's soul. Every time a man claims to be the "son of Heaven", he becomes a magnet for all the demonic urges of every soul around him. He becomes the target of every possible feeling of envy and enmity which hide in the secret recesses of men's hearts concealed under the thickest cloaks of flattery. This is why you have intrigue. This is why you have murder. This is why you have unending rebellion.
Our Lord, the True Son of God, died on the cross so that all these pollutions of the soul would be nailed to the wood once and for all along with His Body. Our Lord was not successful according to the world. He led no army and had no earthly dominion. And yet he is the only true king approved of God because he conquered the true enemy: the tempting whispers of the Prince of Demons. Through his death, the whispers are made powerless to seduce us. They are forever shown as the complete emptiness that they are. I therefore beg your most serene majesty to forgo the vain seductions of the Unclean One so that you may be saved in doing so. Forgo the blasphemous title of huangdi; reject the abhorrent name of "son of Heaven" far from you. Worship the Heavenly Father in utter submission and fall at the feet of the Cross where the true Son died. Here lies your salvation and the salvation of your people.
Emperor Xuanzong is thunderstruck and sits motionless on his throne for several full minutes. Then, without being able to utter a single word, he motions his visitor to leave his presence with a faint gesture of the hand. That night, the old Emperor is beset by the worst nightmares of his life. Amid deafening peals of thunder and blinding lightning, he sees a cross, tall as a mountain, against which a continuous stream of crowns, swords, scepters and all the trappings of glory come from the four corners of the world to be shattered in a million pieces which fall in a dull heap at its feet. Then the heap becomes so high that it crumbles and engulfs the sleeping emperor who chokes as if drowning and wakes up panting and drenched in sweat. At the break of dawn Xuanzong summons the bishop of Chengdu, falls at his feet, kisses his episcopal ring (one of his eunuch told him it was the thing to do) and receives baptism from his hands in one of the garden's pools.The second rock of offense against which the rulers of the Han have been stumbling repeatedly is their claim to be the "son of Heaven". There is only one Son of our Father in Heaven and he died in far away Da Qin over 700 years ago in order to atone for our sins. Every man who calls himself "son of Heaven" is thus an usurper and a servant of demons, whether he knows it or not. When our Lord, the true Son of God, was confronted by the Chief of Demons, who wanted to tempt him into rebelling against his Father, he was told by the Unclean One that he would be offered "all the kingdoms of the world with all their glory"[2] if only he would kowtow to the Prince of Demons. Our Lord refused, of course, but every ruler of the Middle Kingdom who accepts to be named "son of Heaven" is in fact accepting the same corrupt bargain from the Unclean One. And it is corrupt because it is a lie. The Prince of Demons has no power to grant what he promises. He is actually laying a trap in order to destroy man's soul. Every time a man claims to be the "son of Heaven", he becomes a magnet for all the demonic urges of every soul around him. He becomes the target of every possible feeling of envy and enmity which hide in the secret recesses of men's hearts concealed under the thickest cloaks of flattery. This is why you have intrigue. This is why you have murder. This is why you have unending rebellion.
Our Lord, the True Son of God, died on the cross so that all these pollutions of the soul would be nailed to the wood once and for all along with His Body. Our Lord was not successful according to the world. He led no army and had no earthly dominion. And yet he is the only true king approved of God because he conquered the true enemy: the tempting whispers of the Prince of Demons. Through his death, the whispers are made powerless to seduce us. They are forever shown as the complete emptiness that they are. I therefore beg your most serene majesty to forgo the vain seductions of the Unclean One so that you may be saved in doing so. Forgo the blasphemous title of huangdi; reject the abhorrent name of "son of Heaven" far from you. Worship the Heavenly Father in utter submission and fall at the feet of the Cross where the true Son died. Here lies your salvation and the salvation of your people.
A few days later, the following letter is dispatched from the Chengdu chancellery to all the provincial governors, imperial princes and border generals:
I, Lǐ Longji (李隆基), formerly Tang Xuanzong (唐玄宗) am no longer to be called Huangdi (皇帝) nor do I claim to be the son of Heaven. I am henceforth the King of Shu (蜀王, shǔ wáng. "Shu" is the ancient Chinese name of Sichuan). Our ancestors were content to be called king (王, wáng) and we should never have have strayed from the the teachings of master Kong who rightly pointed out that the ideal polity was that of the Zhou whose rulers bore that ancient title. Why innovate and blaspheme while we had the right guidance all along?
With the rest of the Middle Kingdom, you can do as you wish. I have no part in it. Do not trouble me in my remote retreat and I will not meddle in your affairs. May the Heavenly Father (天父, Tiān fù) bless you and the true Son of God (帝之子 dìzhīzǐ) save you if that is indeed the will of one and only God (太帝, Tài dì).
[1] Luke 12:11-12 "And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
[2] Matt 4:8-9.
fi11222
Banned
Well, History seldom repeats itself. Besides, in this case, Christianity just destroyed the legitimacy of the Chinese Imperial institution.
SRBO
Banned
Well that's a problem yes
China explodes into nation-states? It's not a really monoethnic state even though it pretends to be, like France and Germany
fi11222
Banned
Samael
In late September 858 AD. the Frankish-Wisigothic army which assembled in Arelate to answer the papal pleas for help is advancing towards Spartan Monk-held southern Italy. When the news of what had happened in Rome reached them after they crossed the Alps, the kings and dukes gathered in council, egged on by the papal legate from Arelate, decided that even if they were too late to save the pope, at least they were bound to seek vengeance for his blood. Not all were enthusiastic though, especially the northern German dukes.
The Spartan Monks army is waiting for them all north of Saena (modern Sienna). It is a daunting sight; rows upon rows of perfectly aligned soldiers; polished helmets glistening in the morning sun; and not a sound save that of banners flapping in the wind. The bishop of Arelate, horrified at the spectacle, turns to the rider next to him, the King of Neustria, and says: "The servants of Satan bask in the fear they inspire." Indeed they do. When the two armies are close enough, a mounted herald dispatched by katepánō Samuel gallops towards the Frankish-Wisigothic lines and delivers the following characteristically concise and straightforward message:
It is still time to join us. For those who do not, there will be no mercy.
You know me as Samuel
But I am in truth Samael, the venom of God.
Sent by the Father of Light to fight Yaldabaoth and erase his lies.
Men of the northern forests, you have chosen wisely. In time, you may be initiated into the Truth.
But there is no time for this now.
Now is the time for combat.
Now is the time for conquest, in the service of the Light.
We have destroyed one of the seats of the lying priests of the misshapen Archon, namely Rome, which was called great.
But one remains, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem where the very house of Yaldabaoth once stood.
It is from Jerusalem that he still rules the prison that is this world.
It is in Jerusalem that he is to be defeated and cast into the bottomless pit.
Once this is accomplished, it is from Jerusalem that the bridge across the celestial spheres will open, so that the elect can cross to the Realm of Light where they belong.
You are part of the host which has been tasked with ending the dominion of the lying Archon.
Fight bravely and you will earn your place among the elect.
The order's new auxiliaries let out a thunderous roar of approval. Most of them understand little of the Spartan Monks convoluted theology. But they do understand the word "conquest" and they know that the Empire of Jerusalem is wealthy. That is motivation enough for them.But I am in truth Samael, the venom of God.
Sent by the Father of Light to fight Yaldabaoth and erase his lies.
Men of the northern forests, you have chosen wisely. In time, you may be initiated into the Truth.
But there is no time for this now.
Now is the time for combat.
Now is the time for conquest, in the service of the Light.
We have destroyed one of the seats of the lying priests of the misshapen Archon, namely Rome, which was called great.
But one remains, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem where the very house of Yaldabaoth once stood.
It is from Jerusalem that he still rules the prison that is this world.
It is in Jerusalem that he is to be defeated and cast into the bottomless pit.
Once this is accomplished, it is from Jerusalem that the bridge across the celestial spheres will open, so that the elect can cross to the Realm of Light where they belong.
You are part of the host which has been tasked with ending the dominion of the lying Archon.
Fight bravely and you will earn your place among the elect.
katepánō Samuel aka "Samael"[1]
During the winter, katepánō Samuel also reorganizes his army along "Roman" lines. 12 legions are created, numbering 5000 men each. However, the resemblance with the legions of the Principate stops there as military doctrine has change drastically in the intervening six centuries. Most Spartan Monks are riders, some heavy cataphracts, others light horse archers or mobile infantrymen fighting on foot but maneuvering and marching on horseback. The new "legions" of the order of Saint George are therefore mostly cavalry units. Like their Principate models, the new units are given a name, or more exactly, two names, one official and public, the other secret and known only to initiates. The official names are those of the Apostles, including Judas[2]. The secret names are those of the 12 archons making up the Valentinian lower dodecad. For example, the first Legion, composed of the elite within the elite, is called "Legio I - Judas (official) / Parakletos (esoteric)".
During the winter months, the top leadership of the order of Saint George has quite a lot of time on its hands and large drinking parties are organized on a regular basis. Besides the free-flowing wine, the main source of entertainment at these events are the boastful anecdotes told by the participants about their exploits both on the battlefield and with their youthful lovers. Some of them are passable poets and are able to deliver their tales in heroic or comic Greek verse. At these parties, katepánō Samuel makes a point of also inviting the leaders of the allied German contingents and this is how one night, after much wine and storytelling, he notices the young son of the Lombard Duke of Spoleto, named Clepho. He is instantly smitten with the blond and slender 18 year old. Despite the obvious uneasiness of Clepho's father, katepánō Samuel motions the young man to move closer and sit with him on his drinking couch. Then, amid the catcalls and the shouts of approval from the Spartan Monks officers, he proceeds to seduce him. The young Lombard is no fool and he plays along, feigning reticence at first and then abandoning himself to the entreaties of the katepánō. That night, Clepho joins the coveted circle of Samuel's lovers. Soon, he will be his favorite, never to leave his side.
Clepho[4] and katepánō Samuel
[1] Gerard Butler (Leonidas in 300) has signed up for the role of katepánō Samuel.
[2] Among many gnostic sects, Judas is viewed in a positive light. There is even a gospel of Judas.
[3] All heretical preaching begins thus "You have been told that XXX [any point of orthodox Christian doctrine]. But the Truth is different and the priests know it. Now I am going to tell you what they have been hiding all along".
[4] Will Tudor (Olyvar in Game of Thrones) has signed up for the role of Clepho.
fi11222
Banned
Jerusalem
In the spring of the year 859 AD., the Spartan Monks' army assembles near Aquileia and starts marching east. Its first stop is at Germae, near the old mother monastery of the order up in the Rila mountains. Here, katepánō Samuel receives the allegiance of the main chiefs of the Avar and Slavic settlers of the Balkan peninsula and the Carpathian region. Some provide contingents of mounted warriors, others pledge to supply the army with remount horses as well as other supplies and to oversee their transfer to the east when the army will be marching and fighting in Anatolia. Before he leaves Germae, katepánō Samuel commissions a number of architects and builders he brought with him from northern Italy to build a temple to the Father of Light, modeled on the Artemision of Ephesus, at the top of a hill in the middle of the seven Rila lakes area.
In early May 859, the army reaches Constantinople. The city is no more than a mass of crumbling buildings and breached walls, inhabited by a mere 5000 souls. The patriarchal palace is empty since the endless bickering between the few remaining abbeys of the region have made the election of a bishop impossible for more than 50 years. In a mostly intact wing of the palace sits a Slavic Warlord who insists on being called "Caesar" but whose authority does not reach further than 10 miles outside the city walls. Katepánō Samuel does not even bother to occupy the city or massacre the priests as he did in Rome. He is only interested in the Golden Horn, around which he gathers thousands of corvée laborers from the surrounding area and sets them to work on building a massive number of flat bottomed boats in order to ferry the army and its supply train across the Bosporus. On the other side of the straits, there is little sign of a military buildup and it seems the landing on Asian shores will be unopposed.
Since the death of Jesus IV in 793, the Empire of Jerusalem has been wracked by internal division. Several civil wars took place in the early IXth century, between factions supporting several different branches of the house of Muawiya. Eventually, the situation stabilized somewhat into a north/south split, with one of the main factions holding Anatolia and another Egypt while a puppet Emperor, surrounded by eunuchs who make sure he never leaves the palace, reigns in Jerusalem as a mere figurehead. Syria and Palestine have been devastated during the civil wars and never fully recovered. Only the city of Jerusalem itself, with its court ritual and Patriarchal see, remains somewhat prosperous only because it is provided on an continuous basis with free grain from Egypt.
In Anatolia, the Arabic Monophysite landowners rule over a still mostly Chalcedonian population. There have been a few rebellions, all savagely repressed, but the Arabic nobility's hold on the region was never seriously threatened. As the news of the events of Rome and of the arrival of the Spartan Monks army have reached the East, the same phenomenon occurred here as in the West. Heretics of all stripes, who are even more numerous here, have come out of hiding and have started preaching the end of days to crowds in every city. Unlike in the West, these new preachers are vigorously opposed by the Arabic authorities. But these are quickly overwhelmed as the movement is too widespread to be contained. Furthermore, the rugged terrain makes it easy for armed bands of heretics to form and engage in guerrilla warfare from the relative safety of the hills. The Paulicians, in particular, who have been leading a clandestine existence in eastern Anatolia since the 650s, come out of hiding and lead a full scale popular rebellion in Lesser Armenia. As a result, the Arabic forces of Amr ibn al-Karim, the governor of Anatolia (and head of the northern faction within the Jerusalem Empire) are spread extremely thin and there are few available troops to oppose the Spartan Monks advance from the West.
In early July, the army of the order of Saint George has finished crossing the straits and is advancing across Anatolia along the old Roman road linking Nicea to Tarsus. As the host is mostly composed of cavalry, its advance is far more rapid than that of the ancient Roman armies. Within two weeks, its forward elements have reached Iconium, where they wipe out a hastily assembled contingent of 6000 Arabic cavalry. In early August, the bulk of the army has reached the Cilician coastal plain, where they are awaited by the main force of Amr ibn al-Karim, consisting of more than 50 000 men. The encounter occurs between Tarsus and Mopsuestia and it is hard fought as the Arabic forces, composed mostly of light mounted archers, conduct a series of hit and run attacks which give a lot of trouble to the Spartan Monks. However, the issue of the battle is a forgone conclusion, especially when, in the late afternoon, a small contingent of Paulician irregulars appears at the back of the Arabic formations and throws them into chaos. The result is a clear victory for the Order of Saint George, though not an especially bloody one. Only about 5000 Arabic warriors lay dead on the field while most of the rest have managed to flee, scattering in all directions. However, they will no longer pose an immediate threat to the army of katepánō Samuel as Amr ibn al-Karim has been pursued, caught and killed. The road to Jerusalem lies wide open.
At this juncture, the katepánō who has been acting until now as a far-sighted and disciplined war leader, paying close attention to supply and planning, throws caution to the wind. Jerusalem is so close and the door to the realm of Light is about to open. Why wait? The army therefore rushes headlong towards the holy city, followed by a crowd of camp followers swelled by Paulician warriors and a vast and varied mass of ordinary people intoxicated by the promise of the imminent eschaton.
On September 3rd, when the army reaches Jerusalem, the supply situation has become dire. The Syrian and Palestinian countryside is being pillaged far and wide by foraging parties and camp followers alike but the dwindling supplies they manage to gather this way is nowhere near enough to feed the nearly 100 000 people now composing the Spartan Monks army together with its auxiliaries and hangers on. The city of Jerusalem itself offers little resistance as it is defended by a small and demoralized garrison left behind by the Imperial court which has fled to Egypt. On the second day of the siege, a gate on the north-eastern side of the city is taken and the Spartan monks pour in. Here, as in Rome, the priests and monks are isolated from the rest of the population and slaughtered. However, the lay population of Jerusalem is far more numerous than that of the western capital of Christendom: more than 400 000 souls. As a result, the supply problem becomes a nightmare. Egyptian grain has stopped reaching the city and there is no more than 2 weeks of daily supply at half-ration left in the granaries. The surrounding countryside, for its part, has already been extensively pillaged and is barely able to feed its own population at the best of times. To make matters worse, katepánō Samuel has fallen ill on the day before the assault. In a delirium, he shuts himself up in the Imperial palace on the Temple mount and refuses to see anyone except his favorite Clepho.
Clepho in the imperial palace of Jerusalem
On September 10, 859 AD., katepánō Samuel dies, leaving the 19 year old Lombard prince alone with a corpse in the deserted palace. But the youth is a quick thinker and does not yield to panic. He has heard that it had become customary for the Emperors of Jerusalem to be embalmed upon their death. At night, without telling anyone about the death of the katepánō, he sneaks out of the palace, locates 2 old lady embalmers living in a house by the walls and brings them to the palace along with a mule loaded with embalming supplies. They work all night on the still fresh corpse of Samuel and their work is done a little before noon, the following day. Clepho then kills the two unsuspecting embalmers and throws their corpses into a cistern. He then rifles through the wardrobe left behind by the fleeing Jerusalem court and fashions himself a sumptuous accoutrement.
Thus dressed, he comes out on the palace front courtyard and sends messengers to gather the leaders of the Spartan Monks and of the allied contingent. When they arrive, they found Clepho sitting on a throne under the main colonnade of the palace courtyard. As they approach, he rises and addresses them thus:
Samael, Emperor of the True Romans, is now engaged in the final fight with Yaldabaoth.
His incorruptible body is still with us and you will see it in the throne hall.
But his soul-spark is now crossing the sublunary spheres in hot pursuit of the lying Archon.
Before he left, he named me caretaker (οἰκονόμος oikonomos in Greek, خَلِيفَ khalīfa in Arabic) over this world.
I am to administer the affairs of the New Rome while he fights the fight of our salvation.
Enter the palace and bow down before the body of the savior of the world.
Pray for his victory over Yaldabaoth and show yourself worthy of your position as elect.
Some of the men hearing Clepho's words, especially among the Germanic noblemen, understand quite well what is going on. But they decide to play along as they see that the majority of the Spartan Monks officers have complete Faith in the story they have just been told. They all file together inside the throne room and prostrate themselves before the embalmed corpse of katepánō Samuel.His incorruptible body is still with us and you will see it in the throne hall.
But his soul-spark is now crossing the sublunary spheres in hot pursuit of the lying Archon.
Before he left, he named me caretaker (οἰκονόμος oikonomos in Greek, خَلِيفَ khalīfa in Arabic) over this world.
I am to administer the affairs of the New Rome while he fights the fight of our salvation.
Enter the palace and bow down before the body of the savior of the world.
Pray for his victory over Yaldabaoth and show yourself worthy of your position as elect.
After the ceremony, Clepho gathers his family in a small pavilion deep inside the palace gardens. His first words are:
If you do not follow my lead, we are all dead. If you do, our family can become masters of the world.
Clepho's father, Ariulf, and his three brothers, Faroald, Unnolf and Ratchis, understand the situation very well. The Lombards have been immersed in the complex politics of sub-imperial Italy for two centuries and they are accustomed to the interplay of military might and religious maneuvering which characterizes late antique statecraft. They agree to support and advise their youngest son and brother without hesitation. At a general council of the military leaders gathered that night, Clepho announces a series of emergency measures:
- Expulsion of all the civilian population from Jerusalem towards Egypt, in order to relieve the supply situation (about half will die en-route)
- Relocation of the bulk of the army in Antioch, where it can be supplied from Anatolia.
- Garrisoning of Jerusalem with a reduced contingent of 15 000 troops, which can be supported for several months on the remaining supplies present within the city.
- Impressement of ships in Phoenician ports in order to re-establish some sort of supply-line to Jerusalem via Ascalon and Ioppa.
- Building of a temporary mausoleum (though this term is studiously avoided) for the body of katepánō Samuel so that the rank and file can see him and worship his "incorruptible" remains.
Campaign of 859 AD.
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