An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Ominous, and exciting. Demetrios III’s time is fast approaching.
I'm getting the impression my nameshake just decided to quietly slip away and live in peace. He probably was one of the most reluctant people to take the purple...
I have a feeling Demetrios III will be recalled as the justification (at the time) for the Great Crime. It'd be very interesting to see if the Great Crime is the name the rest of the world uses for the Romans acts, whereas the Great Crime was the assassination of D3 and the "Great Crime" is a Passing of Judgement from the Roman perspective.
Either way, I shudder at the thought of what it'd be if D3 was killed.
So Ulm, Rome, Genoa, and Malacca have now all been brutally sacked by Rhomania. I doubt Europe will care that this was not a cultural reason for brutality like the other 3 and instead was just a starving army losing discipline.
At this point cities in Europe are either going to surrender immediately or fight to the bitter end.
The ceasefire masks real Spanish weakness though. Rhomanias shipyards and infrastructure all remain fully intact while Spain’s main base in the East has been completely destroyed. It wouldn’t surprise me if Spain doesn’t just outright sell their territories and concentrate on other areas to colonize. Still lots of room in South America and India after all.
Though Rhomania is suffering a financial crisis I think Spain would be in even worse shape. They just finished a long war conquering Granada with all those costs and outfitting the fleet to go East was an incredible expense that has not paid off in the slightest. Could Rhomania put together the money to buy out the husk of Malacca?
The future of RITE will likely change massively. The breaking of the ship lords and the general debacle that has been the Spanish foray will give the Empire an incentive to bring the areas under more centralized control.
I would expect Pahang and Pygros are going to get the ability to build up to 3rd raters with the investment coming from Constantinople with a permanent fleet at Pahang/Singapore and fregatai squadrons at the other 3. Taprobane is too close to Vijiyanagar for it to be an acceptable spot.
From the hints it looks like D3 dies in 1639 but how exactly remains a mystery. I cant help but think the blowups are Ody becoming emperor and Rhomania having a “less restrained” attitude in Italy and North Africa.
At this point cities in Europe are either going to surrender immediately or fight to the bitter end.
The ceasefire masks real Spanish weakness though. Rhomanias shipyards and infrastructure all remain fully intact while Spain’s main base in the East has been completely destroyed. It wouldn’t surprise me if Spain doesn’t just outright sell their territories and concentrate on other areas to colonize. Still lots of room in South America and India after all.
Though Rhomania is suffering a financial crisis I think Spain would be in even worse shape. They just finished a long war conquering Granada with all those costs and outfitting the fleet to go East was an incredible expense that has not paid off in the slightest. Could Rhomania put together the money to buy out the husk of Malacca?
The future of RITE will likely change massively. The breaking of the ship lords and the general debacle that has been the Spanish foray will give the Empire an incentive to bring the areas under more centralized control.
I would expect Pahang and Pygros are going to get the ability to build up to 3rd raters with the investment coming from Constantinople with a permanent fleet at Pahang/Singapore and fregatai squadrons at the other 3. Taprobane is too close to Vijiyanagar for it to be an acceptable spot.
From the hints it looks like D3 dies in 1639 but how exactly remains a mystery. I cant help but think the blowups are Ody becoming emperor and Rhomania having a “less restrained” attitude in Italy and North Africa.
Does it even count as a victory? Sure Rome now has a burnt out shell of a city as it's prize but what did it cost? Dozens if not hundreds of ships, countless sailors and soldiers.
All that naval resource and manpower will take a long time to replace, and the Spanish even got away with most of their battle fleet too (including those 3 Third Raters I'm assuming?)
D3 hasn't reigned for too long but he really deserves an epithet worthy of his accomplishments, perhaps they can take inspiration from Aurelian the Restorer of the World?
If he does die by foul play then I'd expect Ody to take it out on someone...
All that naval resource and manpower will take a long time to replace, and the Spanish even got away with most of their battle fleet too (including those 3 Third Raters I'm assuming?)
D3 hasn't reigned for too long but he really deserves an epithet worthy of his accomplishments, perhaps they can take inspiration from Aurelian the Restorer of the World?
If he does die by foul play then I'd expect Ody to take it out on someone...
Even if D3 doesn't die by foul play (he's in his 50s and the strain of leading the empire has clearly taken such a physical and mental toll that in one past update he's mentioned taking cannabis-laced coffee to ease his pain) poor Odysseus is in a fragile enough mental state from the Twelve Days and the rest of the war that he may see D3's death as some sort of grand conspiracy and start wrecking things regardless.
Well the spanish have been good lucky, but overall it also help the Romans. With a majority of the shiplords suffering from financial issues, centralizing the far east is now made possibly easier. Its just a matter matter of time for the reformation of the system to happen.
Cryostorm
Donor
Yeah, the financial issues of the shiplords sounds like a good way for Constantinople to step in like London for the British East India Company.
Cryostorm
Donor
Well Malacca, and the entire Malay peninsula with it, helps firm up the lines of commission if nothing else. Worse comes to worse they can have roads built to connect Malacca and Pahang which neatly avoids the RITE being bisected. I envision Southern Malaysia having world class, for the seventeen century at least, infrastructure while Northern Malaysia gets ignored, partly as a defense since without good infrastructure Malaysia may as well be an island.
With the focus on cacao and coffee as prized tropical exports that Rhomania is keen on growing and importing, I'm surprised vanilla hasn't been discussed. The spice is nearly ubiquitous in our world in sweets and flavorings, so much so that we consider it the "basic flavor". Granted, they still have to discover the hand pollination process for growing them, but with Madagascar, Indonesia, and India within Roman reach, it wouldn't be surprising that they would turn to it as an additional cash crop. At the same time, it could also prove to be what lets another nation compete in the arena of the spice trade.
Still, I have a soft spot for Charalambos Caldonridis and I could see a sequel to that little story in which he figures out how to grow vanilla. Imagine the title, "Gardener of the Three Beans", bahaha! (If you think about it, isn't a vanilla mocha latte with soymilk just four-bean soup?)
Still, I have a soft spot for Charalambos Caldonridis and I could see a sequel to that little story in which he figures out how to grow vanilla. Imagine the title, "Gardener of the Three Beans", bahaha! (If you think about it, isn't a vanilla mocha latte with soymilk just four-bean soup?)
It counts as a victory, not because of what they gained, but because of what they didn't lose. Rhomania was on the defense here despite everything. And when you're on the defense victory is to simply not lose and make the cost of victory to high if for your enemies. It wasn't a splendid victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Cryostorm
Donor
Yeah, put like that then the entire Spanish expedition was actually a colossal failure. They lost several ships, and hundreds of trained sailors, spent literal tons of gold, possibly lowered their position with the Vijayanagaran Empire, and definitely did with Mataram, only to lose the one solid piece of territory they did have, Sunda being allies rather than a colony/province.
Why? They took out the only Spanish base in East Indies, which they failed to take six times before. Yeah, they lost a lot of troops and material, but since truce was declared Spanish can't abuse that weakness.
It seems like a pretty decisive victory, if at high cost.
P.S. I'm assuming entire spanish Malacca is out, not just one of the cities.
It seems like a pretty decisive victory, if at high cost.
P.S. I'm assuming entire spanish Malacca is out, not just one of the cities.
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