Cryostorm
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Ambon I believe, or in that general vicinity. In the very small, but lucrative, Spice Islands area.
An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Hey, rereading the timeline and getting back to red herring Andreas III's reign, what happened to Romano Xiphilinos after Demetrios Sideros became emperor in the long term and what (presuming he's still alive) does he think about the fact his major political rival Demetrios became the emperor? @Basileus444
Thank you, I knew it was one of the ports there but I didn't know which one it would be and what its name would be in the timeline (the Byzantine name was Aila). Does get me thinking though, what is the naming situation for most of the cities? Do they go with the classical name when possible or do they transcribe their local name?
Ah, I hope you find it useful! With that population average in mind, some cities might have to be separated from their hinterlands, namely Thessaloniki and Antioch, for the sake of not overwhelming administration. Constantinople would take up three kephalates by itself, though I suppose that is why it is under its own specialized administration. I very much appreciate that you took an update to detail the Sideros reforms to administration, I positively find that side of nation-building fascinating.
My guess would be classical names for Anatolia, Greece and Bulgaria, transcribed names for Syria.
Also, that brings up an interesting question: what would be the Greek name ITTL for places like Chandax? That name comes from a transliteration of Arabic. In OTL, the Eastern Romans called it Megale Kastro after reconquering it, and after gaining Crete, the Greek government OTL reverted to the ancient name of Iraklio. So which would the TTL Romans use: Chandax, Megale Kastro (or just Kastro), or Iraklio? I personally am leaning towards Kastro.
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In this TTL its definitely called aleppo. Its been referred alot in the threadmarks as "Aleppo". I'm guessing they didn't change it back to Beroea.
It should have the Greek equivalent but B444 retains the name that is familiar to the audience and ease to the author. Like places in Bulgaria remains slavic in name despite there are little to no Bulgarians left all for convenience in identification. I asked b444 this same question back when Blucher and the German army were still alive since the locations stated in story were in OTL Bulgarian names despite the population being mostly Romans while the Bulgarians are extinct.
If we were not reading b444's writing and live the actual world of TTL, all of these places would probably be in Greek or the pre-Slavic invasion names. e.g. B444 writes Vidin as Vidin instead of the pre Slavic invasion name of Bononia. Or instead of Moesian theme, the author and us still call it Bulgarian theme.
I dunno. For instance, in the Excel file that B444 made, Sofia is written in its Greek name Serdica, but Varna is called that instead of Odessos. Acre and Aleppo are called that instead of their Greek names, but many Anatolian cities are written with their Greek names. I am simply unable to distinguish between his writing OTL (English) names and TTL (Greek) names.
On this topic, it is perfectly possible that the Romans hellenize Vidin to create a new name, instead of using the old name Bononia. For example, 'Chandax' is a hellenization of an Arabic name, while 'Megale Kastro' was an entirely new name, coming from the fortress near the harbour. Both refer to the same city, now called Iraklio (Heraklion) after the ancient name of a nearby city.
Also, I am near-certain that the Romans call it the Bulgarian theme and not the Moesian theme. For one, the Bulgarians didn't just vanish the moment the Romans conquered it, so it is logical to call it the Bulgarian theme. Secondly, 'Moesia' is a rather old name. How many people do you think would know what Moesia even is and care enough to make it the name of the theme? Thirdly, B444, in every single one of his chapters and other correspondence, has always referred to it as the Bulgarian theme, never as the Moesian theme. In total, I do not think that the Romans are reviving old names wholesale.
Well it depends. In story Bulgarian Theme pertains to OTL Bulgaria land area plus some of OTL Romania. However, pre PoD they were subdivided during Basil 2's as Bulgarian theme(western Bulgaria, parts of OTL Serbia, Albania and Macedonia) and Eastern Bulgaria/south east Romania as Paristrion Theme.
So if we are going to be strict on Greek, they will simply call it like what they called during Basil 2's time as Paristrion Theme.
Haha that will take some time, lets just hope b444 and his co editors live a long good health to keep up the ttl.
Chandax is a hellenization of the name actually. Besides that I understand both Kastro and Herakleio were actually in use pre conquest. So it's up in the air.
A small quibble, but that is exactly what I said. 'Transliteration' =/= 'Translation'. Transliteration is when the sound of a word in one language is approximated in another language, many times regardless of the meaning. But yes, transliteration of a foreign word to Greek in this manner is called 'Hellenization'.
Really? As I understand it, 'Heraklion' fell out of use when the Romans first lost Crete, in favour of 'Chandax', and then 'Kastro' by the locals.
But I don't claim to be an expert in Cretan names, so... dunno.
So i posted a flag of Rhomania on here a while ago but it was a bit of a clusterfuck with way too much stuff on it, I cleaned it up a bit and wanna know what you guys think.
I know flags weren't really a standardized thing back then but maybe we could see something like this flying on Roman warships
I know flags weren't really a standardized thing back then but maybe we could see something like this flying on Roman warships
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