WI: Long-Reigning Constantine VIII

Let's head back into ERE history and assume Basil II dies sometime during his campaigns against the Bulgars, possibly from being wounded in a battle, possibly from an illness. Lacking for a direct heir, the imperial throne goes to his hedonist of a brother, Constantine VIII, much earlier than it did OTL.

OTL, Constantine got a few years as the sole regnant emperor but didn't have a ton of time to do much damage, mostly spending his time feasting, caving in to the noble families and otherwise infuriating people. The fact that he only lasted three years is a blessing.

What happens if we give him, say, fifteen or twenty years as sole emperor? Presumably real power in this situation would rest in the hands of the dynatoi, but how severely could a couple decades of an emperor as dubious in his talents and attitudes as this fellow actually damage the ERE? Are there competent enough people in place to basically rule around an emperor who doesn't have a lot to offer?
 
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Constantine VIII fails to contain the Bulgars, so someone usurps the throne and deposes him. Possibly Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, an influential military leader during Basil II's reign.
I seem to remember there being a couple of good but obscure generals Basil had tangling the Bulgars, too. Is a weak emperor a situation where any one of those could make a play?
 

Deleted member 97083

I was considering between 1000 and 1003. I've got a POD in 976 and a steady progression of butterflies outward from Iberia, and I'm trying to figure out where the ERE goes in the setting I've dug out. But it's an area where my experience is a little narrow.

I'd been eyeing Nikephoros Xiphias as someone who would be a political player in a Constantine VIII world - he was a person of some eminence even around the turn of the millennium, with a track record of conspiring against Basil later in his life.
 

Deleted member 97083

I was considering between 1000 and 1003. I've got a POD in 976 and a steady progression of butterflies outward from Iberia, and I'm trying to figure out where the ERE goes in the setting I've dug out. But it's an area where my experience is a little narrow.

I'd been eyeing Nikephoros Xiphias as someone who would be a political player in a Constantine VIII world - he was a person of some eminence even around the turn of the millennium, with a track record of conspiring against Basil later in his life.
It's certainly possible. However, if Constantine VIII is a complete puppet of someone else who is actually competent, that could actually improve his reign. It is also possible that his character, skill, and military prowess improves throughout his reign.

If he rules ineffectively for too long without a co-emperor, he won't survive in the brutal Byzantine world.
 
How would Constantine feel about marrying off his daughters (who are at this stage young enough to have kids)? Would they be married off to a co-emperor, or would Constantine be reluctant to do that because it boosts said co-emperor's legitimacy?
 
How would Constantine feel about marrying off his daughters (who are at this stage young enough to have kids)? Would they be married off to a co-emperor, or would Constantine be reluctant to do that because it boosts said co-emperor's legitimacy?
The scenario would envision Otto III living just long enough to complete marrying Zoe, though it's up in the air how long after that he'd live.
 
The scenario would envision Otto III living just long enough to complete marrying Zoe, though it's up in the air how long after that he'd live.

Well, he only died of a sudden fever IOTL, not some major debilitating health problem, so it's possible his premature death is butterflied entirely. But if it had to do with the Italian climate (and malaria in the Ravenna marshes or something?) it's possible he'll still catch something if he spends too much time in Italy.
 
Well, he only died of a sudden fever IOTL, not some major debilitating health problem, so it's possible his premature death is butterflied entirely. But if it had to do with the Italian climate (and malaria in the Ravenna marshes or something?) it's possible he'll still catch something if he spends too much time in Italy.
I don't think he's long for this world, but - and this is coming out of the TL I'm picking away at as we speak - the major butterfly that reaches him is that he doesn't have Gerbert of Aurillac among his advisors, as Gerbert was excommunicated during the Frankish succession crisis and fled for his life after Hugh Capet was toppled. Otto will have a slightly different group of advisors, and Pope Sylvester II will never be enthroned. While the Italian climate is likely to still take its toll on Otto's health, it may come at a different time.

This still creates butterflies for Basil and Constantine because Zoe isn't returning home, at a minimum.
 
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