Victory at the Gates - A Byzantine Survival TL

Authors Note
This is a remake of my original version of A Change of Heart, which was really a Byzantine wank. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my survival of the Byzantine Empire!

16th of July, 1203

The siege of Constantinople was well underway. Although the great city had been sieged countless times and never taken, this time it was different. They were facing the Latins, the followers of the Patriarch of Rome. Emperor Alexios III since his coronation had been nothing but an selfish greedy idiot, wasting the treasury built up by the Komnenos dynasty that was almost depleted. This man was no weakling though. He pulled up an army of 7000, marching to the St Romanus gates to face his enemy. Outnumbering them, but his mood and morale was not at its greatest, but he still marched on. He thought of turning back and fleeing, saving himself and his fortunes, or save his empire and his city. This was no cowards game, this was the sport of kings, and he was going to win this match against all odds.

So with his 17 divisions he opened the grand gates and charged on the shocked enemy. Until then it had seemed like his troops had given in to despair. The charge of his battalion was gracious and agile, hitting the enemy so quickly the flanks didn't have a chance to decide their fates. Nearly 1000 crusaders were killed within the first hour and the remaining 2500 either fled or continued to fight out for the next 3 hours. Most of the Frankish cavalry survived and fled to the newly established Venetian hold in Chalcedon. The cavarly the main threat as only days before had they destroyed an army of 500. As the day drew to a close, the Emperor stood over the battlefield feeling a sign of relief. But the war wasn't over.

Alexios returned to the city and the next day he had a council with all the strategos present. The Venetians were still sieging from Golden Horn and the Varagians were tired from the long battles. He decided to start throwing the burning corpses of dead animals onto the Venetian ships to deter them, while his forces secure the ports and more troops across the Bophrous undetected, of course this involved them to go on a days trip around the small sea to Chalcedon. Although this plan partially failed it saw to that messengers were sent to Nicaea, Smyra and the rest of Asia Minor requesting their levies help free Chalcedon. The troops that did land built a small fortress on what would become a large town near Chalcedon.

After his [pretty bad] Admiral/Megas Doux, Michael Stryphnos died in escape from Venetian forces so then Alexios elected Theodore Laskaris to become his new Admiral/Megas Doux as they had family ties. Theodore launched the remaining levys from Asia Minor (except for the border defenders against the Sultanate of Rum), and on the 12th of August an assualt on Chalcedon was initiated. The attack was weak at first and quickly turned sour after the Frankish cavarly killed triple their numbers in a sally forth. The Crusaders had no reinforcements so the battle was against the minor garrison of the city plus the remaining Crusaders. Ladders allowed some troops to get in and signal the navy to attack. This gave them enough time to burn some of the Venetian ships that were ported and took out most of the cornered knights. The entire council of leaders including Boniface of Monferrat and Alexios IV escaped. Although the escape of the Emperors new found enemies was eminent, the Emperor had bigger problems than the ruddy Latins. Romans were always the sons of Mars. The sons of war.

The Empire after the fall of Chalcedon

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Authors Note
Each of my posts will focus on a single year or set of years focusing on a war or a diplomatic crisis or other national events within the Byzantine Empire. Hope people start replying soon as I am going to attempt to make the least wanked timeline I have made some far.

16th of October, 1203

The battle was lost against the Latins. Boniface of Monferrat had declared himself King of Macedonia and had began an invasion of Thessaly. Emperor Alexios was shocked by his loss. He was still disliked as an emperor, he was still the savior of the queen of cities. More and more of Greece was lost everyday to the Latin King and his Venetian sailors. The city of Constantinople was continuing to be reconstructed and fleeing Greeks from Macedonia and Thessaly were repopulating the burnt out wastes of the city. Alexios and his army approached the city of Larissa, the capital of Thessaly and the only remaining Imperial stronghold in the region.

Larissa was the only hope for Thessaly, and Alexios had the largest standing army in the Balkans (at the time). But as he protected the city from the Latin onslaught, Theodore returned to Constantinople and worked with Anti-Angelos faction and declared himself emperor in the capital and ordered the Varangians to capture the weak leader, but they did not succeed and were forced to flee from the city. In response his army went by sea (he kept his title as Megas Doux) and landed in Agia (in Thessaly) on the 3rd of November and proceeded to assault Larissa. The battle of Koilada was the turning point of Theodore's early reign, where he captured and blinded Alexios before shipping him to a monastery in Morea. He entered the city of Larissa with a happy crowd. A new leader he was and better one too.

His much larger force proceeded to fight the Latins who had established their new capital in Thessalonica. His army was split when a Venetian fleet rained fire on their forces in northern Thessaly, forcing most of his army to continue to Thessalonica while Theodore and his naval forces battered off the Venetian ships. Due to the lack of a complete navy, the ships were forced to retreat to Agia and restock on supplies while the army approached the city of Phillipi, now the home of their traitorous Angeloi, Alexios IV. The army assaulted the city and it fell on the 11th of December, along with Alexios whom was put with his uncle in the monastery.

By mid-December the armies of Theodore were weakened and prepped for a month long siege of Thessalonica. The army was joined by Russian mercenaries hired in August by the Emperor, whom wanted a loafy pay for their help. The navy returned to Thessalonica on the 29th and started a small assault of the city while the Venetians were preoccupied with pirates in the Aegean. The city was sieged for a long 6 months until finally the Venetians surrendered the city, picking up the remaining crusaders and shipping them back to Venice. Finally the crusaders were defeated and the city was taken.

The Empire after the surrender of Thessalonica

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Authors Note
The Byzantine Empires survival is underway. Recommendations would be well thanked and help creating the world outside Byzantium might need a bit of help as well. Hope you enjoy my third part, the Bulgar Invasion of Thrace and Asia Minor.


18th of July, 1204

In the summer of 1204 the Bulgar armies of Kaloyan arrived in Adrianople and sieged the city. Theodore's forces were in Thrace and quickly turned to help the city, but were defeated by the. Bulgars superior numbers and force. The city was still not taken. Bulgarian forces also turned towards the capital, arriving on the 2nd of August and razing most of the surrounding countryside. Kaloyan was injured later in the "Second Victory at the Gates", where Theodore's army arrived and defeated the much smaller force . Although the siege was broken the army did not give in and crossed into Asia Minor threw Gallipoli. This was only the beginning of a great new war.

Bulgar troops reached the city of Smyrna on the 27th of August and lay siege to city. By the time Byzantine forces had routed back to Adrianople the Bulgars had raised the siege and head west to Thessaly. Theodore headed to Greece while he split a quarter of his army with two strategies at head to head across Thrace and pull up levies to defeat the Bulgars in Asia Minor. On the 5th of September the army of Theodore had an all out battle with the Bulgars who had reached the city of Semes in Strymon and were laying siege to it. The army approached in a charge and it's flanks got the Bulgars from behind obliterating their defense. The siege was broken and the army fled to Bulgar territory, located only tens of miles north. Troops from Thrace also bypassed to Adrianople, resupplying the garrison there and conquering a small area of coastal Moesia, before heading south into Asia Minor.

The army of the two Strategos marched on the Bulgar camps at Smyrna on the 12th of November and quickly settled disputes with Kaloyan who had fled the camp the previous day. the troops surrendered and were forced to pay out all their weapons, equipment and money for an escort to Bulgar territory. Kaloyan entered the court of the Seljuk sultan of Rum and requested a trip home for an alliance. This was not accepted and Kaloyan was kept as a prisoner of the Sultan until someone paid out his release. Unluckily for Kaloyan this wasn't for a while and the Bulgar prince Boril (his nephew), became Tsar in late December and ended the war with a meeting in Adrianople on the 4th of January, 1205.

With the end of the Bulgar invasions, Theodore looked to the remaining enemy, the Seljuk Turks. He started to plan a new invasion which was set to launch in May 1205. But after the devastation of the 4th Crusade, the Emperor could no longer fund the troops for the war he wanted. He instead focused his finances in restoring the navy and reconstructing old defenses such as the Hexamillon wall near Corinth and the walls in Adrianople and Dyrrachium, the most threatened cities in the empire. By late 1205, the empire was finally stablised and the garrisons had restored themselves, giving a chance for the invasion. His treasury was still far below standard from the wasting of Alexios and Isaac Angelos, so he reverted to the thing he despised of so much. Trade with those hated greedy Italians. The Venetians.

The Empire after the Treaty of Adrianople

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Will you be exploring just what sort of fates the erstwhile crusaders will be put to? Surely all the famous Franks from OTL haven't all been butchered by Roman steel in Thrace and Thessaly? ;)
 
Will you be exploring just what sort of fates the erstwhile crusaders will be put to? Surely all the famous Franks from OTL haven't all been butchered by Roman steel in Thrace and Thessaly? ;)

Oh yes. They shall have an particularly unhappy serving as prisoners of the empire. Like serfs but worse.
 
Authors Note
It seems not many are replying to my new posts. I hope that people respond with questions and things because I really haven't planned out what will happen in the rest of the role of the next few years.

19th of September, 1205

The day was cooler than usual as the autumn breeze. The Ploío Vasiliá, was headed by an Imperial diplomat, whom had been appointed by Emperor Theodore to conduct diplomacy with Enrico Dandolo of Venice. The Ploío Vasiliá was approaching the Venetian city of Zara (which was also conquered by the 4th Crusade). One of the soldiers lift up a white flag, symbolizing peaceful relations (After all, the Empire destroyed a lot of Venetian galleys). The ship dredged into the port and the diplomat, not bothering not wait for the ship to be hooked up, walks onto the pier and approaches the ship of Enrico which was landed beside the Ploío Vasiliá. He walks in passing the guards and sits with Enrico on his gold encrusted table. The large blind man sits with his eyes squinting, asking of the diplomats purpose. "His greatness, Basilieus Theodoros I Laskaris asks that he could reinstate trade between our great nations on the condition that you may have no hostilities against the Empire.". The doge whisks his beard and stammers his fist in the table."Only if I Enrico, regain all the destroyed wealth from the failed crusade.". The diplomat walks out of the building. "Negotiations are over."

Over the next few weeks, the diplomat returned with the bad news, which angered Laskaris so much he is thought to of killed the diplomat, but that is only a legend. The Emperor proceeded to make his own fortunes by starting up a sea trade his the Kingdom of Sicily and Georgia. By the middle of 1206, Theodore had enough fortunes to invade Rum. The invasion began as the formation of the levies of Greece and Asia Minor in Smyrna. The invasion formally began when Imperial forces destroyed a garrisons in Rum's territory in Pontus. The army was not able to take much territory but founded some garrisons in Pontus and moved south, arriving to siege Antalya on the 24th of January, 1207. The armies of Theodore took the city but were unable to hold their gains in western central Anatolia losing it by late February. The troops of Theodore held out their garrisons while Theodore's smaller army returned to Nicaea to defend it from a massive army raised by the Sultan Kilij Arslan III.

The army defended the city for 3 months until the Sultan lifted the siege and headed for Constantinople. Theodore was prepared for this and his armies in Thrace and Bithynia and routed them all to Chalcedon. The army arrived just in time and the Sultans army met a weaker foe. As the forces of Rum attacked, the garrisons of Bithynia charged from behind and the two Imperial armies destroyed the Turkish army within a matter of hours. Kilij's army was chased out of the Empire and Theodore ordered his troops to prepare for a second invasion of western Anatolia. He was going to take the capital of their puny Sultanate.

The Empire after the fall of Antalya

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Authors Note
Not much posts are there. If you have seen this post early enough it is a work in progress as the map is completed before the actual information because of posting issues. I hope people start replying. I want to know others opinions.

2nd of June, 1207

Imperial troops continued to battle out the Sultans forces in Antalya and Pontus while the Emperor raised more soldiers for his cause. He used the Frankish knights he captured in 1203-4 to train his cavarly to a higher level of skill. Finally his Imperial Cavarly was inducted into his personal guard/standing army under his control. His new troops launched a new invasion on June the 2nd from Nicaea and spread terror in the Anatolian highlands, destroying much of what was Byzantine cities. Imperial naval forces landed in Tarsus and captured the city in late July before the arrival of troops in Ankara.

As the long siege of Ankara was underway, the armies of Theodore ravaged the Anatolian countryside. While Theodore's main army destroyed the area around Ankara, the army of Smyrna sieged the border city of Eskisehir. Eskisehir was a central city and fell in September. Also down on the coast, Theodore's Megas Doux and brother, Constantine Laskaris captured the city of Tarsus in Cilicia in early September and Constantine established himself as the "sovereign" of Tarsus and Roman Cicilia. Constantine's army continued north and established control over most of Western Anatolia, capturing most of the cities, and their citizens.

As Constantine ventured north to Ankara, the Turks once more formulated an attack by creating uprisings in Western Anatolia destroying most of the two brothers gains. But the city of Ankara was taken on the 12th of January, 1208, forcing the Sultan to flee to the former capital of Konya (Iconium). The old great city was reinstated with its Greek name, Ancyra. The city was also founded as th capital of a new theme known as the Theme of Phrygia, which allowed his brother Constantine to claim the title and become the Doux of Phrygia, in late February after much discussion among the Emperors advisors and his family.

The Empire after the fall of Ankara

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Authors Note
Why haven't much people replyed. They have time. I've only gone 4 years. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this new post. If any one is reading... :(

26th of February, 1208

Imperial forces marched on the city of Konya, which furthermore should be known as Iconium. The Byzantine army suffered a small defeat outside of Ancyra, but still slowed their easterly advance. The Sultan had not fled, as his largest army was located in the city. The battle was known to be dubbed "The Revenge of Manzikert", the defeat of the Turks in Anatolia. The armies clashed at about dawn, when the Imperial force stunned the Turks by charging towards their camp before the sun gave them a chance to see their enemy. The Turkish forces were clobbered down within hours as the bloody battle left the Sultan at the sword, and a severe injury to Constatine Laskaris, who died a few months later in Ancyra. The remains of the army fled towards the city of Kayeseri, to warn the Sultans successor of the news, whom was to be Giyath al-Din I. The sultanate was already falling into dissent and many of the beys had declared autonomy and weakness of their former liege.

The city of Konya was the Empires main target, and Theodore had decided to offer the city a peaceful taking, but the citizens must convert to Christianity. Many of the citizens, fearing the weakness of their city, overthrew the "viceroy" (repesentative of the Sultan) in the city and opened the gates for the troops of Theodore. Constantine was immediately returned to his family in Constantinople while Theodore established a new system for his Turkish subjects, deciding that all must convert or they will be shunned and taxed more highly.

After the establishment of a fortress in late July, Theodore returned to Constantinople and had a council with his military leaders and advisors to find a new target for conquest. The council decided after much debate that the city of Ragusa should be put under the Empires rule and then possibly vassalise/conquer the Principality of Serbia, another worthy state that was once under the rule of the Emperors before the time of the Angelos. Forces set off from Constantinople in September while some in Greece routed to Dürres, where a second fleet was forming.

The navy of Constantinople arrived at Dürres on the 12th of October amd the armies spent the winter training in Epirus for the great new war ahead of them. Theodore personally stayed in Ancyra for his brothers funeral and the dedication of calling a new Greek town in Phrygia, Little Konstaninopolis (Constantinople). The untimely death of his brother strived Theodore to continue his conquests in the name of the Laskaris. Theodore arrived in Dürres by late February, and the navy launched on March the 2nd, 1209. The navy struggled with bad seas and maiden ships, making the voyage reckless and long. Within a few days the navy fired arrows down on Ragusas puny walls as the troops and Theodores cavarly arrived. The battles occuring the countryaide were brief, with Ragusa not winning any at all. Finally their allies from Venice arrived and the cities ships left their blockade positions on the 14th of April, becooming the Battle of Ragusa, carried out by land and sea forces. Venice was put down quickly by Imperial innumberal infantry but their navy persisted and took down half the navy before they decied to confirm the blockade. This forced the navy to go down the coast back to Dürres with a third of the ships they originally had. The state of the navy was detriotating after the loss of Constantines bravery and minor tactics. Theodore ordered his messagers to return to the capital and see out an election among the generals of his armies. The city of Ragusa fell on the 30th of June 1209.

The Empire after the fall of Ragusa

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Like the TL. I think the Empire after the mess the Angeloi made of it is too weak for the time being for any outward expansion, especially after even a failed Fourth Crusade. Theodore will be busy ensuring the Komnenoi and Angeloi can't scheme their way back as well as reining in the archons and the proto-feudal proinoia.

Still, it's well-researched and enjoyable. My only request would be cover less time in the updates, a year a post is a bit too much for those of us who want to get into it and enjoy it fully.
 
It's getting good.

However, i think that Iconium/Konya is maybe too far for the capabilities of a Empire that faced terrible foes only four years ago...
 
Authors Note
People wanted it and you got it. The Komnenos are coming back with vengence. Aso this will lead to the decline of Byzantine power in central Anatolia as the Turks retake Iconium

3rd of September 1209

The forces of Alexios Megas Komnenos were welcomed into the city of Ancyra after the fall of Ragusa. But this was all in the master plan of old dear Alexios. His ancestors were the greatest emperors Byzantium had ever seen and this was the time for the Komnenos rise once more. To restore Rhomanion under a true Basileus. He was always refering to himself. His troops captured Georgios Laskaris whom had been elected Doux of Ancyra by Theodore only weeks before and prepared to launch an assualt on Nicaea and eventually the Queen of Cities. Theodore took action to this by mustering an army in Greece and crossing the Bosphorus to protect his eastern capital, Nicaea.

But Alexios was not Theodores only problem. The Seljuks, rejuvenised after their devastating war had declared a total war to conquer their traditional capital of Konya (Iconium) back from Byzantium. Theodores armies were preoccupied with protecting Bithynia from Trebizondian forces, so Sultan Giyath al-Din I prepared an assault which was faultered after Trebizond's forces lay siege to the city and concurred to the Battle of Iconium, which led to the untimely apex of Trebizond, and their loss of a large army. Giyath continued his siege and sent forces to chase the forces of Alexios north into their own territories.

All in a matter of a few days the war had changed hands for Byzantines. Their forces met at Nicaea and was a crushing defeat for Alexios' much smaller than initial force. He was forced to flee to Ancyra and prepare for a grueling siege. Their troops were well prepared like Byzantine forces and were hard to put down, but luckily for Byzantium, a Seljuk intervention in November led to the collapse of Trebizond's forces and the destruction of most the city from a razing. Although the Seljuks succeeded in destroying Trebizond's hold on the city they weren't the ones to capture it as in the fiasco the Byzantine armies from Smyrna arrived and crushed the Sultans puny force, but this also led to much expenditure on the reconstruction of the city of Ancyra.

As Alexios was chased from the city by Theodore's forces, the Sultan finally broke the gates of the city of Iconium and rushed inside to be pushed back up by the massive garrison left by Constantine before his death a year prior. The battle of Iconium led to the devastation of the city and the army gave up and fled the city to Tarsus on the 23rd of December. But in this small time frame, much of Pontus had been once more introduced back into the empire suffering much casualties from the battles occurring between Nicaea and Sinop, the latter which surrendered to Theodore on the 19th of December after an agreement between the representatives of the city itself and Theodore's diplomats. By the time the city of Iconium had once again become Konya, the Empire was charging their power to conquer Trabzon and end the Komnenid influence forever.

The Empire and Trebizond after the fall of Iconium

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Interesting TL so far, though I do hope that civil war doesn't hurt the Byzantines too badly - they were recovering so nicely too after all!
 
Authors Note
Thanks for the support, thekingsgaurd. This post will cover the recovery of the Empire after the civil war and peace with the Seljuks.


3rd of Janruary, 1210

Alexios Komnenos walked out of his quarters onto the balcony. From all directions the armies were coming. Theodore wanted back Trebizond bad. The emperor took a vital sacrifice in not leaving the city and sending his family to Kherson, saving the family itself. Alexios manned the wapls and fired down upon the enemy. Theodore on the other hand had decided to send burning corpses into the city, causing uproar in the citizens and lowering the morale of Alexios' troops. The army was able to get some ladders up but all were shot down before they could reach the battlements. The emperor decided a new tactic. He sent a platoon to a blacksmith in a nearby village to heat up their swords. When they arrived the next day, tgey slashed their hot swords at the gates, allowing them to break open the metal foregate and chage into the city. Alhiuh thr first attack was unsuccessful, the army tried once more and succeeded in distracting the defense on the battlements long enough that they could fire them out before the troops took their former positions and marched for the palace. Alexios, feared the most for the state of his country if he died and fled on a ship before being sunk just off the coast of Pontus the same day, where he was pulled from the wreckage and taken back to Constantinople in chains.

While the Imperial forces took Trabzon, Seljuk armies reigned terror over western Anatolia, reaching Smyrna by the 12th of Janruary, whete the siege took place for a matter of two weeks before the army of Thrace crossed over into Asia Minor and stalemated the invasion with the battle of Smyrna taking place on the 17th of Janruary. Meanwhile the forces of Theodore marched into Seljuk Chaldea and conquered some of the lost land. Defeat in Chaldea in late Febriary stalmated their invasion and the army of Theodore marched back across their gained territories back to Konya. A diplomat from Cicilia asked for a new protectate as the Ayyubids and Crusaders threatened to destrot them if they did not convert/pay tribute. The emperor accepted their offer and prepared to tale use of the Armenians to collapse the ever weakening Sultanate of Rum. The Emperor once again turned his views towards the Bulgarian Empire, which did not remain a threat but a target.

The three armies met about ten miles from Konya on the 22nd of March and truly spelt an end to Turkish domination of Anatolia. The troops of Theodore had arrived from Chaldea and the troops of the Sultan and Smryna had been fighting it out for weeks. As this drew tbe armies together, the Sultan and his guaed moved back into Konya while his generals amd reinforcements set up for the greatest battle between Byzantines and Turks ever. The flanks of Theodores army got the Turks from the sides while the forces of Smyrna led themselves into a charging fiasco. All of these attacks led to nearly the entire Turkish army being annihaliated before the sun set. The army fled to their capital of Konya and prepared a new war plan. They were going to offer a truce.

The army of the Emperor approached Konya in late March and the Sultan and his diplomats arrived at their camp at noon. He offered him a new treaty which the Sultan would pay half his treasury to Theodore. This also meant there must be no hostilities for the next 10 years. Meanwhile in the Crimea, John Axouchos proclaimed himself Despot of Crimea, which created a blockade in the Black Sea to stop Byzantine advance. The Emperor prepped his new invasion of Bulgaria as it's leader started to show cracks. It was time for a new restoration.

The Empire and the Crimean Despotate after the Peace of Konya

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