Maurice's Roman empire

alpha · Feb 28, 2014

Hi everyone for all of you who know me from my TL One country, one people, no socialism and for all of those who dont my name is Alpha i am a history buff. This is my first TL set in the Late Antiquity period about possibly one of the "last great" and most tragic Roman emperors ever. This Tl is going to differ from the original events that led to his demise and see the roman empire forge a new path in a dangerous world. Without further a due presenting to you All : Maurice's Roman empire

I will be posting the first chapter soon...

Some info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_(emperor)

PS this wont interfere with my other TL for all the fans out there.

GodEmperorG · Feb 28, 2014

Oh yay a Maurice TL! No seriously I love the guy! He was the last classical Emperor and probably the best hope for the ERE to maintain its power and with a peaceful Persia! Had he lived it would have meant the soon to arrive Islamic wave would have crashed agaisnt two Empires that had not seen devastating war for decades and possibly allied together. I feel that Phocas treason was on the level of that commited agaisnt Caesar himself on how terrible it was. (But without an Octavian to lead the ship of state back on course)

SlyDessertFox · Feb 28, 2014

This will be very interesting, I don't think we've had a timeline on Maurice before (though we do have one on his son). If memory serves, he wanted to appoint a western Roman emperor in Italy correct? That could have a lot of interesting butterflies...

alpha · Mar 1, 2014

[FONT=&quot]Hi this is a prologue. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
Prologue[/FONT]

Following the collapse of the larger Western half of the Roman Empire in the fifth century ad the Eastern half with its capital of the great city of Constantinople had managed to not only survive but also thrive. By 565 AD at the end of the reign of the great emperor Justinian the empire was able to retake huge parts of the former Western empire that included North Africa, Italy and Most of southern Hispania. However despite his success Emperor Justinian the Great by the time of his death had overextended the empire and squandered its resources. By the time of the new emperor Justin II the empire was not only bankrupt but also overstretched. In the reign of Justin II it lost the heartland of Italy and Syria was almost lost if not for desperate negotiations.

Not being able to handle the responsibility of everything emperor Justin II slipped into madness and retirement but before he slipped away he appointed the general Tiberius II Constantine as his successor. Tiberius II Constantine was a popular ruler who had a mixed record and in military terms he was able to deal with the Persians in the east by the relaying on the leadership of the Brilliant general Maurice but he seriously left the Balkans undefended and this allowed the Avars and other Barbarians to take advantage of the chaos and migrate. In domestic policy he was a kind and benevolent ruler who gave money to the poor and extended religious freedom to all subjects. However by 582 Tiberius was dying due to have eaten bad food and he named Maurice along with Germanus his new heirs. Tiberius was originally planning to divide the empire but he changed his mind and made the General Maurice his successor.

When Tiberius finally died in 582AD Maurice was now the sole ruler of the most powerful empire on Earth but he was to be a different kind of leader unlike Tiberius. So begins Maurice’s Roman empire

SlyDessertFox · Mar 1, 2014

Nice prologue.

alpha · Mar 2, 2014

Chapter I: A whole new day and a whole new outlook

(Emperor Maurice and his consort)

It was a nice lovely day in mid 582 in the city of Constantinople birds were singing and church bells were ringing as a new emperor was being crowned the second one that the empire would have in more then ten years. Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus was his name and he was coroneted by the Patriarch of Constantinople inside the great church of Haga Sophia. As was tradition the Patriarch placed the Crown on top of the new emperors head and the emperor swore several oaths to God that he will rule justly and wisely in the name of god. After placing the Crown on top of his the patriarch then blessed the emperor and thus this signaled the beginning of the reign of Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus.

The emperor then left the church and the procession moved on to Main Street before finally reaching the Hippodrome that was the beating heart of the city. However emperor Maurice knew fully too well that the imperial coffers were nearly empty and several enemies such as the Avars who were devastating the Balkans were devastating the empires border regions. His coronation was made as quickly as possible with little or no extravagance. He knew that he didn’t have time to enjoy anything and upon reaching the palace the emperor made some of the most important decisions of his early reign. He decided that he would sell off a very large amount of the imperial crown Jules in order to fund a new campaign to deal with the Avars and the Slavs who were raiding the Balkans.

His second decision was that he would grant religious tolerance to followers of Monophysitism in order to avoid religious problems with them. In not persecuting the Monophysitismers the emperor had gained a powerful ally in the form of the pope of Pelagius II of Rome who was happy to assist the emperor against the Lombard’s in Italy. Emperor Maurice decided to decentralize the western parts of the empire that included Italy, North Africa and Spain into “exarchs” and an exarch was a military district where an appointed governor had military and civilian powers. He did this because he felt that the empire was simply too large, too centralized and overstretched in order to govern. He hoped that by decentralizing he would be able to focus on threats closer to home such as the Avars in the Balkans and the Persians in the East.

The first major challenge to the emperor’s rule came in the Balkans a front long forgotten by Constantinople and whose neglect would now haunt the empire for a long time. For decades the Avars and Slavs had been raiding and devastating the empires northern frontiers but now they were beginning to do something that scared the empire because those barbarians were starting to immigrate en masse and settle down in the land. Worse the City of Sirmium one of the most important and strategic cities in the Balkans and whose control was important to imperial stability was under siege for the last two years and the Empire had to pay tribute to oath breakers. Although not having the resources of the Trajan the emperor saw it as a dark eye on national pride that the empire was paying tribute to Barbarians.

In August of 582 AD the emperor with the funds raised from selling some of the crown Jules was about to begin a military expedition in order to teach the Avars and other Barbarians a lesson and some manners. Following the emperor would be Cometiotus one of his best friends and most trusted generals as an army of fifteen thousand soldiers marched from Constantinople Maurice’s Balkans Campaigns were about to begin.

Situation in Madeteranian by late 582AD

alpha · Mar 2, 2014

A new chapter enjoy.

Chapter two: one wrong turn

It had taken the army several weeks to reach the city of Sirimium since marching from Constantinople and by the time the emperor arrived it was early September for him the campaigning season was about to begin. The emperor arrived in the city to find the Avars had withdrawn from the city because they feared the emperor’s army was too strong. The emperor found the city overjoyed because the city had been besieged for a long time and the emperor was welcomed like a returning hero. However the cities defenses and defenders were exhausted and nearly crumbling the reinforcement had allowed the roman empire for the first time in a long time to seriously secure and reassert its influence in the Balkans.

Despite the Avars withdrawing from the city they were still constantly raiding Roman settlements across the Danube burning entire villages to the ground and enslaving their inhabitants. The problem that the roman faced is that the Avars were not a “traditional” enemy i.e. they were not an army they were instead groups of bandits who raided villages across the Danube River. Within weeks of arriving the empire was able to reestablish communication with northern Italy who were also overjoyed although they didn’t get any assistance. In December of 582 AD the Khan sent an embassy to Sirmium hoping to negotiate a truce with the Romans but Maurice refused to negotiate.

He constantly reminded the Avars that he had fifteen thousand soldiers under his command and that the Avars were oath breakers. Not wanting to be further humiliated the Avar embassy promised war on the emperor and although confident of his victory it would be a decision he would regret through out his early reign and would nearly coast him the throne. Back in Constantinople the palace was nearly deserted and many artifacts and other valuable items were sold off in order to refill the imperial coffers and continue funding the Balkans campaign. The emperor also made an extremely unpopular decision he cut the salary of palace officials by 25% in order to save money as most of the imperial taxes were going to fund the army.

Else where in the empire the Exarch of Cordoba was struggling to maintain imperial control because it was completely surrounded by Visigoth territory and had a free hand in constant raids. Soon the Visigoths would begin their invasion of the imperial territory in Hispania. In mid 582 AD Heraclius the Elder was appointed Exarch of Africa whose base was in Carthage and who was relaxing trading laws in order to improve the economy and increase taxes. By 583 AD Heraclius dealt brutally with the Berbers who were constantly raiding Roman territory by capturing many villages and sending them to the Balkans and this was part of the emperors larger plans of transferring hostile populations across different territories.

In Ravenna the former Capital of the western empire the Exarch had his hands full he didn’t have much to work with as Roman control over the once heart of the empire was limited to a few territories scattered around Italy the included most of southern Italy, Rome, and some northern Areas. The reestablishment of the network between Dalmatia and Ravenna gave the Exarch hope of something better.

SlyDessertFox · Mar 2, 2014

Nice updates, I like where this is going.

alpha · Mar 3, 2014

Hi everyone a new chapter and a new day here it is.

[FONT=&quot]Chapter three: learning by doing [/FONT]

Emperor Maurice in the spring of 583 AD launched several devastating raids across the Danube region from his base in the city of Sirmium on the western banks of the Danube River. The aim of these raids was to show that the empire was not weak in the face of Avar aggression and gain booty in the form of slaves, refill the imperial coffers and pay the soldiers. As spring turned into summer the Romans raided deeply into Avar controlled territory reaching as far as the former Roman city of Sopianae. Along the way the army was reducing entire villages into rubble and selling off their inhabitants into slavery. The Avars and their Antes allies responded in kind by raiding Roman territories and sacking the strategically important city of Silistria on the Eastern bank of the Danube River near the black sea. The sack of the city of Silistria had resulted in many civilians fleeing the area to Thrace. This would cause a demographic problem for the empire later on.

In order to better deal with the threats posed by the Avars the emperor made a decree that gave half of the captured booty from a raid or a battle to a roman soldier operating in the Balkans. While at the same time the emperor slowly and quietly cut their pay by about five percent over the next few months. The sack of Silistria was only the beginning of the emperor’s trouble in the Balkans, the Avar Khan Bayan I feeling insulted by the treatment of his delegation launched an invasion of the western banks of the Balkans. By mid 583 AD his forces were sacking and capturing many cities along the way towards Greece. Those cities included the strategically important cities of Sisak, Singidunum and the city of Viminacium was turned into a nearly ghost town.At the same time the Antes were beginning to intensify their raids into Moesia that resulted in many deaths.

Despite the emperor considering the Balkans a top priority and the seriousness of the losses that were being inflicted against the Romans he had other fronts to worry about. The Roman Empire had been in a bloody war against their more aggressive Persian Sassanid neighbor ever since 571 AD. Before becoming emperor then general Maurice had inflicted a brutal defeat against his Persian counter parts the battle of Constantina. Ever since the battle the Romans had the advantage. The war that was being fought between both sides was about the issue of who controls Armenia an area strategically important to both empires and both powers had been fighting wars over it for centuries ever since the time of the Parthians.

In mid 583 AD the emperor got good news that the Roman general John Mystacom was victories against the Persian general Kardarigan in the battle of the river Nymphios. This victory allowed the Romans to maintain their advantage gained in the Battle of Constantina a year earlier and by gaining this victory he hoped that the Persians would be able to negotiate a truce and end the war. The emperor had been grooming Khoursu II the son of the previous Persian King for power in the Persian Empire. In exchange for assistance the emperor would be receiving most of the Caucasus region and a long peace treaty.

In 583 AD with the Romans reestablishing communication with Northern Italy the new Exarch Philippicus who was the emperors brother in law was beginning a massive security operation in order to secure Roman territorty and begin an offensive in order to recapture the city of Milan. By early 584 AD the Romans were negotiating with the Alemanni over a possible alliance against the Lombard’s.

In Africa While transporting berbers to the Balkans the Heraclius the Elder was covertly beginning to transport hundreds of troops into Hispania in order to reinforce its positions. At the same time he was planning to launch a military adventure with local funds that were being raised from increased trade with Frankish Gaul. The aim of his campaign was to establish a new “Numedian kingdom” in western North Africa by uniting the Various roman clients and hostile tribes. As one of the most powerful men in the Roman empire Heraclius did as he pleased but he believed in emperor Maurice and was no traitor to him. [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
The main aim of this soon to be new kingdom would be to act as a buffer in case the Visigoths attempt to invade Africa if Spania should fall.

By March of 584 AD both the Avar Khan and the emperor would meet in open battle....

alpha · Mar 4, 2014

[FONT=&quot]Chapter four: Hard lessons

[/FONT]

It was a slightly cold day in March of 583 AD. The Avar Khan Bayan I and emperor Maurice would meet in open battle. This battle would be close to the city of Salona near the Adriatic Sea and the Avars would easily win that battle killing five thousand romans Soldiers while suffering moderate losses themselves. After the battle the Romans retreated into the city of Salona preparing for a long siege while the Avar army under the Khan began besieging the city. The Avars were originally a nomadic tribe from central Asia who for unknown reasons migrated into Europe in the middle of the fifth century AD. In 557 AD the emperor Justinian paid them to deal with the Bulgars a tribe of Barbarians who were making incursions in Roman territory.

Following their victory against the Bulgars the Avars along with Huns and subjugated tribes established a powerful state under their leader Bayan I in 567 AD. Their primary base was Pannonia an area that was once part of the western Empire before it fell. Although they settled in Pannonia their empire extended from the Adriatic shores to Bohemia and from the Alps to the Carpathian Mountains. The Avars didn’t have large military numbers at best they could field about 50,000 thousand soldiers but their strength lied in archery and horses. As the months passed in 583 AD the Avar Khan got bored and in January of 584AD he lifted the siege because of constant attacks against his supply lines by the Roman forces.

The Khans army soon made its way towards the City of Arguvium towards the Ancient land of Epirus. Along the way the Khans army didn’t find anything to plunder because every village they went to was either deserted or burned down worse for the Khan the roman army was constantly attacking the Avars army which forced his troops to “live off” the land. By mid 584 AD the Avars army had dwindled to about fifteen thousand soldiers and he decided to withdraw back towards Avar territory. The romans gave their Avar enimies not rest constantly attacking their supply lines and as the khan and his army were about to cross the River. A roman delegation arrived that was seeking a truce; demands of tribute and the Avars abandon all of their weapons before leaving Roman territory. The Khan refused and sent only one member of the delegation back alive carrying the heads of the other two.

A week passed and as the Khans army began crossing the river back into Avar territory the Romans launched a huge ambush by coping the Avar bow and military tactics. Archers fired countless arrows from horseback; fire lid stones were falling on the Avar army killing many. As the Romans continued this attack from a distance many soldiers from the Avar army panicked and attempted to flee where a lot of them drowned as they crossed the River. The advisers of the Avar khan tried to get him to negotiate a truce but he stubbornly refused and by evening the khan along with his entourage were captured by the emperor’s forces. Despite the chaos many Avars did flee across the Danube and escape to Avar controlled territory.

Following the capture of the Khan and with his continued refusal to not negotiate every hour the emperor brought twenty of Avar soldiers and executed them in front of the Khan. Although numbers vary a lot of Avars were killed and by the next the Khan who looked like he had aged by twenty years and looked like a broken man agreed to finally negotiate. The emperor forced the Avars to sign a humiliating treaty with the emperor in order for the Khan to be released they gave the emperor all of their weapons, horses, valuable items and loot collected from the raids. The Avars promised never to raid Roman territory for twenty years and pay an annual tribute of 60,000 solidi to the empire. The Avars would also have to hand over “guests” to Constantinople in order to ensure they comply with the treaty and release all roman prisoners of war. The treaty was signed and the next day the remaining Avars left back home with nothing but the cloths they were wearing.

Following the departure of the Avars the emperor was hailed as “Maurice the Avar slayer” a title he would carry on through out the rest of his life. A lot of his close advisers were disappointed because they felt the could have gotten great concessions but the emperor wanted to preserve the balance of power in the region because the empire was a wounded fish in a sea full of sharks.

By August of 584 AD news of the victory was spreading through out the empire and citizens and soldiers alike rejoiced. When the emperor returned to Constantinople he was greeted like to a heroes welcome and with news that his wife delivered a healthy boy Theodosius. However the emperor didn’t squander the money he was gaining and instead deposited it into the treasury and used some to fund welfare programs for war orphans. Despite the victory the emperor didn’t trust the Avars and maintained a large military presence in the Balkans under the command of general Commentius

Early 585 AD brought bad news for the empire The Visigoths under their new king had begun an invasion of the Exarct of Spania.

alpha · Mar 4, 2014

A new chapter will be up tomorrow i hope. Dont expect things to be easy for the Romans though trust me the Avars are nothing wait til you see the lombards. PS how is my story going so far ?

GodEmperorG · Mar 4, 2014

alpha said:
A new chapter will be up tomorrow i hope. Dont expect things to be easy for the Romans though trust me the Avars are nothing wait til you see the lombards. PS how is my story going so far ?

Oh Lombards up soon? Interesting, want to see how that goes; hopefully Rome can take Langobardia Minor and secure Southern Italy like that. It would leave Rome safer from being cut off from the Empire. Also your story is going great so far.

alpha · Mar 6, 2014

[FONT=&quot]A new chapter . enjoy[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
Chapter five: A time to stand [/FONT]

Ever the since the beginning of the reign of emperor Maurice the Roman empire had begun reasserting itself following two or three decades of stagnation, economic ruin and territorial loss. The key to the empires recent success had been careful strategic thinking and strict fiscal austerity that included quiet and gradual reductions in military spending. By Early 585 AD the Visigoths had launched massive incursions into the Roman territory of Spania. Spania was a roman territory located on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula and the legendary Roman general Belasiruis conquered it during the reign of emperor Justinian the great. Despite being a Roman territory Spania itself received little or no attention from Constantinople.

The territory included the Roman cities of New Carthage in the west, Corduba in the south and Assionia in the east. The territories main purpose was to act as a buffer and prevent the Visigoths from crossing into Africa and doing what the Vandals did a long time ago. Before the reign of emperor Maurice Spania was under a military governor who was subservient to the governor of Africa who held final say on all matters. Ever since the beginning of the reign of emperor Maurice the whole province was given near total autonomy in an effort to improve the areas situation. The Exarch had military and civilian power. The current Visigothic King Liuvlgild in the early years of his reign had taken a lot of territory from Spania and he was launching an offensive in 585 AD in order to setup his son Reccared on the throne.

Due to the distance of the Exarch from Constantinople the emperor feared a rebellion by an ambitious general and decided to appoint a new Exarch in in late 584 AD. His brother Peter became Exarch and arrived in Cordoba to find his hands full with a multitude of problems ranging from religious matters to other issues. The problem with Peter was that he was a military man and not an administrator; he issued extremely unpopular decrees such as mandatory military service. When the Visigoths launched their incursions the Roman army was able to hold ground and inflict significant loses in the area.

After several months of fighting that mostly included border skirmishes the Romans under Peter were winning battles but losing the war because they just didn’t have the manpower to hold ground and with the Constantinople being distracted with the Persians, Exarch Peter sued for peace. A decision that mad him even more unpopular he was forced to give up some territory to the west and east that were not easy to defend. Although an unpopular decision it was a wise decision because it made the province easier to defend. Peter would over the years of 585 and early 586 turn the province into the most militarized region in the entire empire with forts, walls and forced relocations of peasants into more defendable areas.

By mid 586 these policies had caused a mini famine as agriculture collapsed and riots broke out. Although the riots were not large enough to force Constantinople to change the governor they were serious enough for the governor to reverse course and ease some of his policies. The exert also faced a threat from the Baguade who were a peasant insurgency dissatisfied with the situation and their treatment by the local government. The peasants would ambush military supply lines and increase food prices.

In mid 585 AD Heraclius the elder was in the city of Caesarea in Mauretania Caesariensis in order to crown Mastigas as king of the kingdom of Mauritania in western North Africa. The Kingdom was established on the former roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis and most of Mauretania Tingitana excluding the areas that were already under Roman control. Heraclius the elder had helped the new king defeat his rival in early 585 AD and by mid 586 AD the Romans client state had control over most of Mauretania Tingitana. This allowed Heraclius to return to Carthage and leaving the king to govern his new kingdom under the “benevolent” advice of his Roman advisers. With things mostly stable in his corner of the empire Heraclius was sending letters back and forth between Cordoba and Constantinople mostly scolding the Exact Peter urging him to reverse his military first policy and he was also urging the emperor to decrease the nepotism within his government. This is because it was making a lot of influential individuals jealous.

Italy was still a mess divided between the Romans and Lombards. The operation that the Exarch launched in order to improve security provided mixed results because it considerably secured the areas around Ravenna and Rome but it weakened the empires hold on the south of Italy. Following the mixed results of the operation the governor didn’t under take any further military operations in 586 AD because he learned a hard lesson the Lombards were like a snake that was strangling you and the more you tried to let go the more it suffocated you. He decided to approach the situation in Italy with a gradual re-conquest of the former Roman territories. In the meantime he was going to strengthen the areas the empire already controlled by repairing forts, securing roads and increasing infrastructure project such as aqueducts.

As 587 AD entered the situation in the Middle East was largely unchanged with the Romans and Persians making some gains from time to time. The emperor was now marching from Constantinople towards Antioch in the East with a lot of relief troops and the young Persian prince whom he was hoping to install in the Persian throne.

The sitiuation in the Madeteranian in early 587 AD. Purple Roman empire and orange is "Mauritanian kingdom"

alpha · Mar 8, 2014

sorry i havent published anything been busy with real life. A new update will be up tonight i promise and it is going to cover a lot of stuff

alpha · Mar 8, 2014

As promised here it is a new chapter that covers a lot. Get super duper ready for action, drama and much much more. PS how is this story progressing so far.

Chapter six: Glory to the new king

The emperor arrived in Antioch a few weeks later after marching from Constantinople and spent the next few months creating projects that improved or expanded local infrastructure like roads and bridges. The emperor brought with him about ten thousand soldiers who were soon scattered to Roman Mesopotamia, eastern Asia minor and the Armenia were the fighting was happening. The empire lost the strategic city of Dara early on in the war that made their war effort in eastern Asia Minor a lot more difficult because they couldn’t easily resupply their troops. Dara was built under the emperor Anastastius a century earlier under the advice from his generals who believed the army didn’t fare well because they didn’t have a nearby base. The Persians did much better in that earlier conflict because they had Nisbis.

Following its construction the city of Dara become one of the most strategically important cities in the entire Middle East. Emperor Maurice in late spring of 586 AD rejected a peace treaty that would have ended the war and granted the Persians tribute because he had his ace in the whole who was Khorsau II. The emperor decided to launch an offensive to weaken the Persian hold on Armenia by using the former Exarch of Italy Philippicus who had been replaced from his position because the emperor needed another experienced general in the Battlefield. Philippicus was not just a general he was appointed as Magister Militium per Orientem that made him the governor of Roman Syria and Palestina. This was one of the richest and most prosperous regions of the entire empire and now he was in command of it. For Philippicus this was a better appointment then the northern frontier of Italy and he enjoyed fighting real enemies rather then bands of Barbarians.

Following the emperors’ refusal to end the war by signing a peace treaty. In the early summer of 586 Philippicus tested his army by marching from his headquarters in the city of Amida and marched south crossing the river Zergan to its eastern banks. He advanced 15 kilometers east to the plain of Solachon where he ordered the army to setup camp. General Philippicus had picked an extremely strategic position because it was south of the fortresses of Mardes and Dara that were under Persian control and allowed the Roman army to control the passage of the Arzamon River. This forced the Persians army under the legendary general Kardarigan to advance across the waterless plain away from their supply routes and made the Persian weaker because they were not fully supplied before meeting the Romans in battle.

General Philippicus was unaware of the Persian advance near his position and on the Persian side Kardigan was eager to fight and confident of total victory. He had taken contingencies in order to deal with his situation such as bringing in camels with water and General Kardigan was so sure of victory he even brought chains for potential prisoners .A few days after beginning mobilization romans were able to detect Persian movements after Roman Arab Feodoriti (allies) captured several Persians and this allowed the Romans to prepare for battle and after interrogating the Persians the Romans learned that the Persian army was planning to attack on Sunday.

Philipicus attacked the Persians a day early on Saturday and the Battle began in the Afternoon of that day. Both armies appeared to have been composed exclusively of Cavalry, compromising a mix of lancers, horse archers and even a few Cataphracts. The Roman scouts reported the Persian advance and he positioned his men on elevated grounds facing the direction from which the Persian armies advance. With the Roman left flank protected by the foothills of Mount Izalas the Romans were positioned in a single lines with three divisions. The left division was commanded by Eiliphredas an experienced general and governor of Syria Phoenice, the central division was under Philipicus’s command and Heraclius the younger commanded the right division.

Upon viewing the Roman formation the Persian general adopted it. Upon the Persian army adopting the formation they quickly marched on Roman lines shooting arrows as they approached. The Romans responded in kind and approached the incoming enemy. The Roman army was victorious on the right flank under the command of Heraclius the younger whose heavy cavalry crushed the Persian flank and pushed his enemy to the left behind their own main line. At this point however some of the troops of the Roman right flank broke discipline and moved to head towards the Persian camp in order to loot it. The Roman general Philipicus saw what happened and sent a bodyguard with his helmet who convinced the soliders to return to order just in time to stop the Persians who regrouped in the center and were pushing the numerically inferior Romans.

To deal with the continued Persian threat Philipicus ordered the men in his division to dismount and form a shield wall with their lances projecting from it. The Romans launched spears at the attacking Persian cavalry which resulted in many deaths and the Persian left and Right flanks broke this exposed the center. As the soldiers from both flanks retreated the Romans now totally devastated the center. At nightfall the Battle was all over the General distributed the loot among his troops, took a small share for him and sent the rest to Constantinople. The Roman victory had allowed the Roman army to successfully invade Arzanene an area on the outskirts of greater Armenia.

In the aftermath of the victory and successful invasion for the rest of 586 the front was relatively quiet and there was no changes other then the usual raid and counter raid. Elsewhere in 586 AD Reccared was crowned king of the Visigoths and immediately launched an invasion of Roman Spania where his forces suffered heavy losses and he had to sue for peace. However he did gain an opportunity for military glory when Septiana a province located in Gaul revolted after they refused to accept Catholism when the rest of the Visigoths converted.

Things were quiet in the empire for the year of 587 AD with not much happening other then general Commentiolus who was commander of the Danube front launching a major the Antae and Avars who were launching minor raids into Roman territory. He was going to invade Antae controlled territory and install a Roman friendly king in the Region. He was going to continue the Balkans campaign in order to further stabilize the frontier and prevent Barbarian tribes from crossing into Roman territory.

By 588 with his headquarters in Antioch emperor Maurice had sent Guaram I to the capital of Georgia in order to be inaugurated in the city of Mtskheta. He would be a valuable ally for Maurice later on. Emperor Maurice faced a threat from soldiers who weren’t paid for a long time and their commander Prsiscus was able to negotiate with them. This gave the Sassanids a chance when they launched an offensive but the mutineers’ themselves stopped the offensive after a lot of money was transported to them from Antioch and they were allowed to keep 90% of the loot they captured. During the year the empire got good news when many prisoners escaped from war camps and returned to Roman territory. They were escorted to Antioch by the emperor bodyguards and met the emperor who bestowed them with gifts and much more. By the end of 588 AD the emperor returned to Constantinople after a two-year absence with two more children another boy and a girl. Constantinople rejoiced and the emperor launched more construction programs in order to expand the city.

In Italy the Franks and Burgandians launched an invasion of Northern Italy and suffered a loss against the Lombards. Taking advantage of the chaos the new Exarch wanting to prove himself militarily had launched an offensive and was able to regain a lot of lost territory and secure the Ravenna to Rome highway as the emperor planned to visit following the conclusion of the Persian war. 589 and 590 Ads were exciting years for the empire as the Persians gained an upper hand in the war when they captured an important fortress. However when a Persian general Bahram Choblin was humiliated he declares Khosrau II as his king and joint Roman and Persian army marches towards Ctesphion where they capture Ctesphion thus ending the war in mid 590 AD.

When news finally reached Constantinople the city held a weeklong holiday with games and feasts. The treaty that ended the war very favorable to the empire and ended centuries of Romans paying tributes to the Persians, gave back all lost Roman cities, most of Persian Armenia and western half of Iberia. Maurice was now slowly starting to repair the mess done by the incompetent Justin II but his celebrations wouldn’t last long as the bubonic plague hit Italy and killed the Pope. The emperor would now have to focus on Italy, as it would be a source of trouble for the empire in the next few years.

Situation in Madeteranian with gains for the Roman army

GodEmperorG · Mar 9, 2014

Yay peace in the east! With Persia and Rome friendly and stable trade will explode and quickly help make the Middle East even richer than ever. As long as both Maurice and Khosrau II stay on their respective thrones no war shall occur between either of them.

alpha · Mar 9, 2014

[FONT=&quot]Hi everybody i hope you enjoyed the last update and thank you all for your continued support for my timeline we now have more then 1000s. This is going to be a short chapter that gives you an idea of whats going on with Italy and other parts of the empire. The next chapter is going to be a lot longer and well start getting a better idea of how things are for ordinary people and the situation in other areas of the empire. Enjoy

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
Chapter seven: Take me to Rome[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]By mid 590 AD the Roman and Sassanid empires signed a formal peace treaty that ended more then two decades of war. The final negotiations to end the war were held in the city of Ctesiphon that was the capital of the Persian Empire in early summer. General Prsiscus represented the Roman delegation and Khosrau II was representing the Persian Empire. As the new king Khosrau II had his hands full not only did he have the task of rebuilding Persian Mesopotamia but he also had to deal with rebellious noblemen in the East. Khosrau II didn’t want any more trouble with the Romans so he ended their tribute, ceded them most of the Caucuses region and returned all of their cities they lost in the war. However neither Maurice nor Khosrau II enjoyed peace because Khosrau II was soon dragged into a mini civil war with one of his uncles after he killed another uncle who was becoming too powerful. This was because there was a tradition of Persian kings fearing powerful ministers. He also faced constant religious problems with his Christian subjects over the issue of the nature of Christ and he had to deal with this problem because Christians formed a sizeable population of the Persian Empire. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Meanwhile Maurice in the months that followed the end of the war spent most of his time in Constantinople mostly in a semi relaxed atmosphere with him raising his children, touring the city and distributing money to the poor which made him quite popular. He also received reports from the Balkans front where there were still minor campaigns against some Avar and Antae tribes. However the first serious issue that the emperor had to deal with in late 590 AD came from Italy when the previous pope who was friendly to Constantinople died from plague and a new one was elected from the Cardinals in Rome. At the same time the Franks and Burgandians again invaded Northern Italy and the Exarch of Italy Romanus wanting to take advantage of the chaos sent small Roman armies that recovered the cities of Moderna, Reggio, Parma and Mantua from the Lombards in central Italy. The war with the Franks had weakened the Lombards who sued for peace in exchange for ceding some cities to the in the Po valley. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Although the Exarchs actions were great in the long run because he captured territory but didn’t take too many cities because he didn’t want to overextend his power. The Exarch like his predecessor believed that the re-conquest of Italy from the Lombards and other Barbarians would have to be a gradual process so that the empire wouldn’t over extend and avoid what happened with Justin II. However the Exarch strategy soon made him an enemy of the new Pope Gregory I who criticized him in a letter for not liberating more Roman territory. The dispute between both men soon caught the attention of the emperor in mid 591 AD as they both sent him letters regarding the situation in Italy. At first emperor Maurice tried to reconcile both men but then he started getting annoyed and with not much happening in the empire Emperor Maurice decided to go to Rome to personally deal with the situation there. However he didn’t inform both men instead he wanted to make it a surprise for the Pope. [/FONT]

alpha · Mar 10, 2014

[FONT=&quot]A new chapter that deals with Italy and gives you a good idea about the sitiuation there also we get an idea about how people live in side the empire and etc. The next chapter will deal more with the Lombards and trouble in the east. Enjoy

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

Chapter eight: Strange bed follows
[/FONT]

The emperor left Constantinople in the early summer of 591 AD and he proceeded to visit Balkans frontier from both ends to raise morale and get an idea of what was happening in the area. He proceeded at first to tour the ancient region of Moesia that was heavily devastated by Antae attacks. The emperor toured several cities starting with Noviodunum where he inspected troops, raised morale by giving speeches and distributing money to the people from his own personal wealth.

The emperor wasn’t just visiting the area because he wanted to be popular he also was
Stabilizing the Balkans frontier by improving the Limes Moesiae. This was done by transporting hundreds of Berbers and Armenians who were settled in the outskirts of the Balkans establishing new settlements in order to act as farmers and partial buffers. The Roman military also built more castles and fortifications in order to deal with Slavs and Antae’s around the Danube River. Also hundreds of captured Antae’s and other barbarians from raids on settlements and villages were transported to Africa for cheap labor and to repopulate the interior of North Africa.

The emperor over the next few weeks toured other cities in the Moesia before finally reaching the city of Ratiaria in Dacia Ripensis and this was the half waypoint of his journey in his tour of the Balkans. The emperor was becoming extremely popular in the Balkans frontier because of this tour and it was mostly a PR stunt in order to increase his popularity and improve the defenses in the Danube. By December of 591 AD the emperor spent most of December in the city of Sirmium where he was greeted with a heroes welcome and spent most of his time there building new churches. As 592 AD entered the imperial entourage proceeded to the City of Salona in Dalmatia but as two weeks passed he then had to cut his tour of the Balkans short.

As news from Italy was changing because the Lombards had a new king who took over several strategic cities near Ravenna and the Duchy of Benevento had a new duke who was becoming aggressive. The imperial entourage reached Ravenna in the spring of 592 AD while at the same time the duchy of Spoleto under Ariulf began besieging Naples an important imperial city and attacking dangerously close to Rome. The emperor arrived at Ravenna to find Italy a complete mess with some areas being fine and other on the verge of total collapse.

Although the exarch was doing his best to deal with the situation in the Italian peninsula he just didn’t have the resources to fight all of the Lombard duchies. The emperor knew that the Roman Empire simply didn’t have all the resources or manpower to retake Italy because resources were needed in other fronts like the Balkans. Still Italy was important to the empire in the long term not only because it was a psychological advantage but also the southern regions were starting to be productive again. The emperor was not a stupid man and learning from the gothic wars under Justinian that devastated the entire region and the advice from his exarchs. It was not a good idea to launch an all out war because it would devastate the entire region and further weaken imperial authority in the west.

Emperor Maurice was not going to launch an all out invasion instead the reintegration of Italy would take at least two decades with his estimation. The first decade would focus on the reintegration of southern and central Italy into the empire. In the emperors plan the second decade would be spent focusing on securing the Alps and reconquering northern Italy by the steady deployment of troops and making the Lombard duchies Roman Vassals.

In order to enact his plans the emperor spent most of the spring of 592 AD bringing in some troops from Dalmatia and two thousand soldiers from Constantinople. This gave him time to assemble a military force of about five thousand and using troops gathered from stable parts of Italy gave him a total army of ten thousand soldiers. This army was transformed into Legio I Italica (First Italian legion). At the same time the Roman emperor dispatched Legio II Cyrenica from Palestina under the command of Heraclius the younger. The legion was withdrawn to the boot of Italy by sea and in the early summer the army relieved Naples and expanded Roman control over southern Italy.

Heraclius spent the summer of 592 AD campaigning southern Italy connecting the two parts of southern Italy for the first time in two decades. The general didn’t expand further because he didn’t want to overextend his territory and spent most of autumn and winter building fortifications and using his families’ fortunes to rebuild infrastrucre in the region. By 592 AD North Africa was booming from trade with Gaul and selling grain to Italy this made the governor extremely rich. The emperor wasn’t sitting around in northern Italy instead after assembling the newly formed Legio I Italica he personally trained the legion and transformed it into a highly disciplined military force.

In the summer of 592 AD the emperor marched from Ravenna with Legio I Italica to deal with the Lombard duchy of Friuli that had captured several towns extremely close to Ravenna. Legio I Italica marched from Ravenna in June and captured several villages and towns along the way towards the city of Patavium. Patavium was a strategic city and who ever controlled it would have a better strategic position in northern Italy. The emperor’s aim in this campaign was to capture several cities in northern Italy, secure the Istrian peninsula and secure the Rome to Ravenna road.
He wasn’t going to stay in Italy for long and was planning to return to Constantinople in early 593 AD.

Legio I Italica proved to be an extremely efficient army and a brutal fighting force. The siege of Patavium began in June and lasted for one whole month. When it was over emperor Maurice was able to claim a victory for the empire in northern Italy. The city of Patavium was once again in imperial hands. In September of 592 AD the emperor moved south towards Rome from Patavium leaving behind a small garrison but known the Lombards wouldn’t dear attack him. He had successfully campaigned and secured trade lines between Dalmatia and Ravenna. The emperor campaigned heavily in the duchy of Spoleto recapturing many cities but leaving the capital because he wanted to finish it off later.

By December 3rd the pope was aware of a massive army approaching Rome he believed that it was the Lombards who wanted to conquer the city and knew that they wouldn’t spare anyone. So the pope rode out with a delegation to surrender the city but as he approached the army camp he saw they were Romans. Several of the emperor’s bodyguards took the pope to meet the emperor and despite differences in Religion both men became good friends.
As the emperor entered Rome he was received with a standing ovation but was shocked to see a city in disrepair with slums, no water and widespread poverty. The emperor never imagined that the mother of the world a city that controlled an empire that once stretched from Ebarcum in Britania to Ctesiphon in Mespotania could be like this. According to legend after finishing his public tours the emperor wept privately about the state of the city and of Italy as a whole. He really did want to do something but just didn’t have the resources about it.

The emperor spent December relaxing in Rome and ordered his military engineers to launch an ambitious rebuilding program funded by the pope, exarch of Carthage and the emperor. This program was aimed at rebuilding Rome’s aqueducts and the engineers began this and employed local Romans to do the labour in order to make the Italians feel they were part of the empire.

For the people inside the empire Roman Empire the quality of life depended on where you lived and what your status was. The 590s in the Middle East were stable times as the war with Persia was over the region was starting to recover and trade was booming specially for the holy land where pilgrims were making the journey to Jerusalem yearly.

Overall the empire was increasingly becoming more stable because the security was stabilizing everywhere and with increased stability came trade. The emperor began to decrease taxes in Middle East in order to bring in more taxes from trade. The empire entered 593AD with much work still ahead.

The sitiuation in the Madeteranian in early 593 AD. Yellow line showing emperors tour, read indicates recent agains and light purple indicate vassals.

alpha · Mar 11, 2014

Hi, a new chapter will be out tomorrow or after tomorrow. How is emepror Maurice doing so far ?

GodEmperorG · Mar 11, 2014

It's going well for the Emperor, he's stabalized the west slightly and has a general plan for where he is going. Keep up the good work alpha!