I want to become Eastern Roman Emperor

I am a Chinese Nestorian monk who travelled from Khumdan (Chang'an) to Syria for religious studies. I became attracted to Orthodox Christianity, converted to the sect, and travelled further to Constantinople.

As I stayed long enough in the city, my ambitions grew, until one day I began to aspire to be the Roman Emperor.

What would your advice be?
 
I am a Chinese Nestorian monk who travelled from Khumdan (Chang'an) to Syria for religious studies. I became attracted to Orthodox Christianity, converted to the sect, and travelled further to Constantinople.

As I stayed long enough in the city, my ambitions grew, until one day I began to aspire to be the Roman Emperor.

What would your advice be?
Hide everything about your past and join the East Roman Army.
 
Wait for the right opportunity, as in a major crisis, and provoke an urban revolt with religious undertones.
Your lack of connections in Constantinople will prevent you to rule effectively, but you might end as the power behind-the-throne with a big stroke of luck.

Granted, you have most chances to have your bleeding head decorating one of the town's entrance in the end. But rule by the mob isn't the stabler rule.
 

Alcsentre Calanice

Gone Fishin'
Take some silk worms and mulberries with you; found a company producing and selling silk; become rich. Buy some titles and honours. Get access to the imperial court and to the senate. Marry the daughter of an influential official of Constantinople.

Become popular by charity, panem et circenses - distribute bread and money to the mob of Constantinople, promise everything to everyone. Recruit some soldiers to protect your person against conspiracies and hire some spies to warn you, if the emperor is plotting against you. Be ready to hide some years/go into exile.

Now, start a propaganda campaign against the ruling basileus. Use every failure and, when a major crisis arrives, try to overthrow him. Form a religious ideology (you may know confucianism, daoism, buddhism) out of what you know including everything that could attract the poors: dharma and kharma, salvation through holy deeds (helping your revolt), present you as the rightful descendant of Jesus etc.

Let your agents inflitrate the army and denounce every problem in logistics and command. Convince some army officers of your cause to have some commanders in case of a civil war. Try to convert the soldiers to your religion.

Gain the support of the court by propagating that you will respect the traditional rights of the senate and financial privileges of the nobles. When you feel strong enough, oppose the emperor in senate/during his private council and adopt the party of the aristocratic opposition.

If a civil war starts, invest all of your money to get army support.

You might to able to become Roman Emperor after 30 years.
 
I am a Chinese Nestorian monk who travelled from Khumdan (Chang'an) to Syria for religious studies. I became attracted to Orthodox Christianity, converted to the sect, and travelled further to Constantinople.

As I stayed long enough in the city, my ambitions grew, until one day I began to aspire to be the Roman Emperor.

What would your advice be?

How to be a roman emperor step by step

1 Go back to China, grab some gunpowder,silks,exotic goods,and a Sun Tzu art of war.

2 make some really2 nice silk outfit

3 go to Constantinople market, sell some exotic stuff, be sure to get some attention. Hint: Use gunpowder

4 if you get enough attention, you should be called to the Imperial place. (Hopefully the emperor didnt kill you and take your goods)

5 here is where it get tricky, There is only to way to be a roman emperor as a Chinese, Enter as a god. Or be a greek. So you should examine the Emperor, Is he overzealous or not, does he like war or not, does he have an ambitious heir?

6A If he is warlike, Give him the art of war (translate it to greek) and say you intend to stay. Also say you are "an experienced Chinese general that beat the tartars 100 times and you just make that book", you probably gain a militaty rank

6B If he is overzealous, Just say that something random like "Ad 1000, god realiase that the people of cathays are also human, so he send a prophet to convert them." Now use some wise word, miracle tricks and you got a rank at the orthodox church.

7 work your rank up. unless the emperor makes you a strategos/ patriach(do I spell it right?)

8 Get some reputation (win some battles, hollywood effects and drama will help. Hint for the effect: gunpowder. Or more miracle tricks)

9 if he has a ambitious heir . over him support for a rebelion.

10 Rebel, Depose the Emperor. Besure to not get killed

11 Kill everyone in the royal family, make it an "accident". Must include the heir incase you follow step 9

12 make some heroic story of you trying to save them. And hearing they last wish while holding their hand. Then just say you are helpong to realise that wish

13 kill every pretender ofcourse

Done, enjoy your thorne
 
I am a Chinese Nestorian monk who travelled from Khumdan (Chang'an) to Syria for religious studies. I became attracted to Orthodox Christianity, converted to the sect, and travelled further to Constantinople.

As I stayed long enough in the city, my ambitions grew, until one day I began to aspire to be the Roman Emperor.

What would your advice be?

Forget it - you don't have a chance in hell. People had trouble accepting Zeno as emperor, even though his people (Isaurians) had been part of the Empire for more than four centuries. They are too prejudiced to accept someone who might as well be from another planet.

Also, this is a time when people of the cloth were being excommunicated for the very smallest of differences in the language used to describe the nature of Christ - claiming to be a prophet or teaching eastern religions is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed, or banished if you're lucky.
 
Forget it - you don't have a chance in hell. People had trouble accepting Zeno as emperor, even though his people (Isaurians) had been part of the Empire for more than four centuries. They are too prejudiced to accept someone who might as well be from another planet.

Also, this is a time when people of the cloth were being excommunicated for the very smallest of differences in the language used to describe the nature of Christ - claiming to be a prophet or teaching eastern religions is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed, or banished if you're lucky.

I suspect becoming a highly successful general might change this.Do a lot of charity too.
 

B-29_Bomber

Banned
Go the Basil I route. Become good friends with the current Emperor, hope that he's incompetent/has an exploitable vice(if not create a propaganda mill and use every little inadequacy to your advantage), then get in favor with the Patriarch, get in good stead with the army. When the time is right kill the Emperor and get the Patriarch to crown you Emperor, all the while having an Army standing outside the Hagia Sophia.



Having the army along side(or at least neutral) is absolutely necessary to any plan, ever.

I suspect becoming a highly successful general might change this.Do a lot of charity too.

Not really. Medieval Romans took religion very seriously. Seriously.
 
First things first, convert to Orthodoxy. Then, try and enter the service of some imperial relative. Maybe travel to some city and try and win over a wealthy patron with whatever abilities you have. Become rich that way. Perhaps try and get into the imperial bodyguard somehow. Work your way up from there.

Or, at least that's a rough sketch of how Basil I rose to prominence.
 

B-29_Bomber

Banned
First things first, convert to Orthodoxy. Then, try and enter the service of some imperial relative. Maybe travel to some city and try and win over a wealthy patron with whatever abilities you have. Become rich that way. Perhaps try and get into the imperial bodyguard somehow. Work your way up from there.

Or, at least that's a rough sketch of how Basil I rose to prominence.

Exactly. Basil I is the best example of a lowborn rising to Emperorship.
 

fi11222

Banned
I am a Chinese Nestorian monk who travelled from Khumdan (Chang'an) to Syria for religious studies. I became attracted to Orthodox Christianity, converted to the sect, and travelled further to Constantinople.

As I stayed long enough in the city, my ambitions grew, until one day I began to aspire to be the Roman Emperor.

What would your advice be?
Forget it. With your East-Asian features, you are "ugly". You look like the Huns and are therefore a demon.
 
Forget it. With your East-Asian features, you are "ugly". You look like the Huns and are therefore a demon.

Right. But it is not exactly being "ugly". It's more about difficulties to convince everybody that you are a natural born "Roman".
Nobody would believe you.

Being the first (Eastern) Roman emperor who was not born inside the imperial borders from more or less "Roman" parents is... kind of hard... sort of
 
Actually, it is quite clear that ancient Romans considered East Asian features "ugly". See for example in this text the passage of Ammianus Marcellinus about the Huns (search the page for "ugly")

It was far from certain that the Huns were East Asians. Aside from race, appearance is also affected by living condition, nutrition, sunlight, lifestyle, manner, dress, makeup and culture. The Hun practice of Cranial deformation likely contributed to their perceived ugliness. But above all, we tend to perceive our friends as beautiful and enemies as ugly.
 
Your background will be an obstacle in some ways, but at least it's 'exotic' and mysterious. If you have some skill at divination, mysticism and so on (ie. to be a competent and believable charlatan), perhaps you could try attaching yourself to one of the more superstitious aristocrats, maybe even an Emperor. Having influence over someone who's already in a position of power sounds like a good first step to getting into a position yourself.
 

fi11222

Banned
It was far from certain that the Huns were East Asians. Aside from race, appearance is also affected by living condition, nutrition, sunlight, lifestyle, manner, dress, makeup and culture. The Hun practice of Cranial deformation likely contributed to their perceived ugliness. But above all, we tend to perceive our friends as beautiful and enemies as ugly.
Perhaps. But what I am trying to say is that having East Asian features was still a huge handicap for someone wanting to become Emperor. Sure enough, Romans were less "racist" than some later people. Yet, physical appearance did count. For example, a black Emperor is unheard of even though there were black (nubian) freedmen and sons of freedmen in Rome and in Constantinople at any given time.
 
Whatever you do, DON'T call it the 'Eastern' Roman Empire, or you'll be laughed out of town or accused of being a Frankish spy.
It's a fact. Unless they could restore Roman rule to Italy and Gaul, the Roman Empire remained a rump state.

At least I didn't use the phrase "Byzantine Empire".

A lot of oddball threads lately. No offense to the OP.

The only thing I wanted to know was how open the Eastern Roman society was, and how much chance a random stranger stood. The "Chinese monk" thing was thrown in because I had previously conceived such a monk (who harbored no political ambition whatsoever.)
 
Top