An Age of Miracles Continues: The Empire of Rhomania
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
There was someone of his ilk if I remember correctly, but he was a Russian, not an Englishman.
I think that'd be extremely interesting and I'd absolutely love if that was his part to play, though it'd mean horrible things for the Despotates if they play the parts Scotland and Ireland.
Charcolt: Your last line completely summarizes the whole situation. Yeah, the Roman dynastic situation is a mess of epic proportions.
HIM Dogson: She has been crowned as Empress in her own right, so she is officially styled Helena II.
Earl Marshal: Or a really good time; now he doesn’t have to deal with the Vijayanagari. Actually Helena I is approaching 100.
And you are right, Theodoros IV was amazing.
Vasilas: Yeah, there probably was a “you’re telling me this NOW?!” or two. Although the same probably applied back with Symeon I: “You couldn’t have figured this out twenty years ago and saved us a lot of trouble?”
The 6th century has been an inspiration for a lot of the Roman-Persian interaction, although it’s not a template I’m following exactly.
As for Sicily, its relations vis-à-vis the Empire proper will depend on how it pans out with Andreas. Unlike in Rhomania, Sicily has a clear line of succession after him. His paternal uncle Hektor, currently serving as Regent, is next in line, and he has sons of his own.
There was an Emperor Basil in my M2TW Crusades game I just finished. He went from being the Mean to the Killer to the Malevolent. Takes notes…
HanEmpire: I will point out that Andreas though is still a teenager and hasn’t held any significant power or responsibility (save Volos).
Neptune: Supposedly Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria, a really major problem for the Romans in the late 800s/early 900s, died after an astrologer identified his double as a statue in Constantinople. Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos promptly had it destroyed and the Tsar dropped dead.
ImperatorAlexander: Andreas is treating his bastards very well. As for Andreas’ actions/motivations, I go into more detail coming up. 1626 has turned into a three-update year.
Miner249r: The belief is that there is a sympathetic relation between the two, so what happens to one happens to the other. So with Tsar Simeon, the Romans smashed his statue doubled and it killed him. A few decades earlier, the Emperor Alexander (brother of Leo VI the Wise) ‘ascertained’ that a different statue was his double so he had its genitals repaired since apparently he thought it would help his own.
Lukeanus: Writing Rhomania as an invincible juggernaut would be quite boring to write, and definitely would be very boring to read. And it would be extremely unrealistic. And you are right to be on the lookout for attempts by both powers to outflank each other with alliances.
RogueTraderEnthusiast: Exactly, Andreas is just 19 at this point. So it’s not surprising that while he has the horniness of Andreas I he doesn’t have the mature responsibility of Andreas I who had to grow up in a hurry. Andreas ‘III’ hasn’t.
Nightbrainzzz: They were getting along well, until a woman from Volos arrived with Andreas’ bastard son. That’s when things started to go downhill. Then Andreas didn’t have access to Elizabeth for well over a year (pre-Nineveh campaign season plus the year as ‘guest’).
Aishio: Believe me, I know the feeling. I’m not doing this (entirely) on purpose. Early modern royal families seemed to have a serious problem in giving their children distinct names. Case in point, Louis Bonaparte names his eldest son Napoleon Louis and his youngest son Louis Napoleon (future Napoleon III). I am so not impressed.
For the court officials that are popping up, and there are more coming, I am making sure they at least have distinct names.
Babyrage: Since Iskandar himself was wary of tangling with the Vijayanagari, the Ottomans in India are taking the situation very seriously. If the Ottomans hadn’t taken such a huge beating at the two battles of Nineveh they wouldn’t be so concerned but there are a lot of holes in the ranks. As for Ibrahim and Osman, their activities make up the first part of the next update.
JohnSmith: Sicily right now is still separate from the Empire as Andreas is now Despot Andreas II of Sicily but has yet to become Emperor Andreas III of the Romans. Once he holds both crowns it will be as a personal union and where things go from there depend on events.
And in defense of Andreas ‘III’ compared to Andreas I, with Andreas I his wife Maria was the #1 sexy woman around and Kristina was off in Buda (Kristina and her father knew what they were doing with sending her back to Constantinople and Vlad Dracula knew what he was doing when he arranged for her to get out of town). With Andreas ‘III’ the #1 sexy isn’t his wife and Maria of Agra is right there.
Veranius: There’s Dmitrii Romanov the Russian playwright who’s active now. A lot of his plays are TTL versions of OTL Shakespeare’s plays. David of Mexico is essentially Henry V. There’s no reason there couldn’t be a William Shakespeare in the Triple Monarchy, but cultural history isn’t my strong suit so while there is non-Roman cultural history going on, it’s going to be almost wholly off-screen.
Regarding the Corsican: At this point he’s eight so political shenanigans are a little ways away…
HIM Dogson: She has been crowned as Empress in her own right, so she is officially styled Helena II.
Earl Marshal: Or a really good time; now he doesn’t have to deal with the Vijayanagari. Actually Helena I is approaching 100.
And you are right, Theodoros IV was amazing.
Vasilas: Yeah, there probably was a “you’re telling me this NOW?!” or two. Although the same probably applied back with Symeon I: “You couldn’t have figured this out twenty years ago and saved us a lot of trouble?”
The 6th century has been an inspiration for a lot of the Roman-Persian interaction, although it’s not a template I’m following exactly.
As for Sicily, its relations vis-à-vis the Empire proper will depend on how it pans out with Andreas. Unlike in Rhomania, Sicily has a clear line of succession after him. His paternal uncle Hektor, currently serving as Regent, is next in line, and he has sons of his own.
There was an Emperor Basil in my M2TW Crusades game I just finished. He went from being the Mean to the Killer to the Malevolent. Takes notes…
HanEmpire: I will point out that Andreas though is still a teenager and hasn’t held any significant power or responsibility (save Volos).
Neptune: Supposedly Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria, a really major problem for the Romans in the late 800s/early 900s, died after an astrologer identified his double as a statue in Constantinople. Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos promptly had it destroyed and the Tsar dropped dead.
ImperatorAlexander: Andreas is treating his bastards very well. As for Andreas’ actions/motivations, I go into more detail coming up. 1626 has turned into a three-update year.
Miner249r: The belief is that there is a sympathetic relation between the two, so what happens to one happens to the other. So with Tsar Simeon, the Romans smashed his statue doubled and it killed him. A few decades earlier, the Emperor Alexander (brother of Leo VI the Wise) ‘ascertained’ that a different statue was his double so he had its genitals repaired since apparently he thought it would help his own.
Lukeanus: Writing Rhomania as an invincible juggernaut would be quite boring to write, and definitely would be very boring to read. And it would be extremely unrealistic. And you are right to be on the lookout for attempts by both powers to outflank each other with alliances.
RogueTraderEnthusiast: Exactly, Andreas is just 19 at this point. So it’s not surprising that while he has the horniness of Andreas I he doesn’t have the mature responsibility of Andreas I who had to grow up in a hurry. Andreas ‘III’ hasn’t.
Nightbrainzzz: They were getting along well, until a woman from Volos arrived with Andreas’ bastard son. That’s when things started to go downhill. Then Andreas didn’t have access to Elizabeth for well over a year (pre-Nineveh campaign season plus the year as ‘guest’).
Aishio: Believe me, I know the feeling. I’m not doing this (entirely) on purpose. Early modern royal families seemed to have a serious problem in giving their children distinct names. Case in point, Louis Bonaparte names his eldest son Napoleon Louis and his youngest son Louis Napoleon (future Napoleon III). I am so not impressed.
For the court officials that are popping up, and there are more coming, I am making sure they at least have distinct names.
Babyrage: Since Iskandar himself was wary of tangling with the Vijayanagari, the Ottomans in India are taking the situation very seriously. If the Ottomans hadn’t taken such a huge beating at the two battles of Nineveh they wouldn’t be so concerned but there are a lot of holes in the ranks. As for Ibrahim and Osman, their activities make up the first part of the next update.
JohnSmith: Sicily right now is still separate from the Empire as Andreas is now Despot Andreas II of Sicily but has yet to become Emperor Andreas III of the Romans. Once he holds both crowns it will be as a personal union and where things go from there depend on events.
And in defense of Andreas ‘III’ compared to Andreas I, with Andreas I his wife Maria was the #1 sexy woman around and Kristina was off in Buda (Kristina and her father knew what they were doing with sending her back to Constantinople and Vlad Dracula knew what he was doing when he arranged for her to get out of town). With Andreas ‘III’ the #1 sexy isn’t his wife and Maria of Agra is right there.
Veranius: There’s Dmitrii Romanov the Russian playwright who’s active now. A lot of his plays are TTL versions of OTL Shakespeare’s plays. David of Mexico is essentially Henry V. There’s no reason there couldn’t be a William Shakespeare in the Triple Monarchy, but cultural history isn’t my strong suit so while there is non-Roman cultural history going on, it’s going to be almost wholly off-screen.
Regarding the Corsican: At this point he’s eight so political shenanigans are a little ways away…
I remember reading your St. Crispin Day speech from David of Mexico, and then a week later seeing the Henry V speech in English class. Slightly confusing for a few seconds.
Even though cultural history isn't your strong suit, it would be nice to have, perhaps, an overview of all the developments in culture since the POD, maybe to be included when it gets closer to 1700.
Ah I was thinking more about the type of waves that carried information about the destruction of the statue to India from Constantinople. Far too slow to be light, seeing it took 5 days.
(It was a very non-serious comment haha).
I like Evil Basil. My neurons are ready
The thought of Megas Domestikos Napoleon Bonaparte serving under Andreas 'born holding a blood clot' III is quite appealing.
Doesn't Andreas have any sense of responsibility concerning the line of succession? I know he's a horny teenager but he talks a big game about looking after the Empire (especially after those Ghost scenes). I think I agree with the sentiment that he's going to be another big red herring like the Mad Empress.
Only 11 years apart?
This suggests an Emperor Andreas, with the potential for a Usurping Corsican, or (my preference), a General-turned-Exarch in the West/East. I'm a sucker for it, but I want another Epic Timez (tm). If that involves Andreas having his own Alexandrian Belisarius, then all the better. (Especially if there is a reckless invasion of Russia).
It may be the EUIV player in me, but come the Ottoman/Persian times of troubles, Northern Mesopotamia has been proven to be open to be taken, and held. A Kurdish buffer state between the two with strong Rhoman ties would be top of the list come the first opportunity. How many are still Christian, and would the church recognize Nestorian as a noble heresy?(If any of them are still) I'd be curious what the War Room has in it's bag of tricks to Mesopotamian operations, to keep the action from Syria/Eastern Anatolia.
Secondly as I ponder the state of Egypt, and the Nile Germans, would this demographic split between N. Lower Egypt, and S. Lower Egypt, would it not lead to a split come the eventual incorporation into the empire again? When it does. Now that could probably not be for another 100 years but, the linguistic divide must be pretty real. How many I wonder speak Greek as the lingua franca in the Delta?
I could be off and that's alright, humility is lifes greatest tool to teach listening skills.
Secondly as I ponder the state of Egypt, and the Nile Germans, would this demographic split between N. Lower Egypt, and S. Lower Egypt, would it not lead to a split come the eventual incorporation into the empire again? When it does. Now that could probably not be for another 100 years but, the linguistic divide must be pretty real. How many I wonder speak Greek as the lingua franca in the Delta?
I could be off and that's alright, humility is lifes greatest tool to teach listening skills.
Its been a while since I commented or looked at this TL. Glad to see its back up. I'm going to comment on the parts I found interesting.
I'm probably the only one that actually was a little bit glad the Ottoman-Persian Empire won, partially because I'm more fond of Persia then Rhomania (though I do like Rhomania as well) and partially because its a great way to get the Romans more aware of what goes on in their rival's land.
Sad to see Hungary got a Mohacs in this TL, but at the very least I hope they can be still a viable secondary power or not get butchered by the HRE.
About Napoleon, Basileus never said he'd be a general. Someone had the name of Josef Stalin in this TL if memory serves, and he didn't do anything remotely related to communism. So I don't see why Napoleon would be a general in this TL.
I'm mixed about the empire reincorporating the despotates, but if they do, lets hope its softly and without much bloodshed.
So the Inca got beaten badly by David III and lost a valuable piece of estate. I don't have a lot of hope for them surviving as a nation, but maybe their culture could have more influence on whoever conquers them?
One more thing, I remember a few years ago I wanted to make a spin off to this TL similar to how Isaac's Empire had one. Now, I feel that if I was to make one, I probably wouldn't get far before abandoning it. Still, I kinda want to do something that adds to the world of this TL. With your permission Basileus, I could try one guest post on the cultural developments of other nations like Arles to see how it works out.
Thanks for creating such a magnificent TL Basileus. One with interesting characters and a intriguing world.
I'm probably the only one that actually was a little bit glad the Ottoman-Persian Empire won, partially because I'm more fond of Persia then Rhomania (though I do like Rhomania as well) and partially because its a great way to get the Romans more aware of what goes on in their rival's land.
Sad to see Hungary got a Mohacs in this TL, but at the very least I hope they can be still a viable secondary power or not get butchered by the HRE.
About Napoleon, Basileus never said he'd be a general. Someone had the name of Josef Stalin in this TL if memory serves, and he didn't do anything remotely related to communism. So I don't see why Napoleon would be a general in this TL.
I'm mixed about the empire reincorporating the despotates, but if they do, lets hope its softly and without much bloodshed.
So the Inca got beaten badly by David III and lost a valuable piece of estate. I don't have a lot of hope for them surviving as a nation, but maybe their culture could have more influence on whoever conquers them?
One more thing, I remember a few years ago I wanted to make a spin off to this TL similar to how Isaac's Empire had one. Now, I feel that if I was to make one, I probably wouldn't get far before abandoning it. Still, I kinda want to do something that adds to the world of this TL. With your permission Basileus, I could try one guest post on the cultural developments of other nations like Arles to see how it works out.
Thanks for creating such a magnificent TL Basileus. One with interesting characters and a intriguing world.
Deleted member 81475
Has the Bathory family made an appearance at any point? Hungary's uncertain future could make for some interesting opportunities. And it would be very cool to have some authorized if regulated spin-offs concerning other countries in this world. It would allow us to explore the inner workings of Arles, the UK, the North, and elsewhere without distracting from the main timeline.
On a final 'I'm too interested in names' kick:
On a final 'I'm too interested in names' kick:
- With how much the Vlachs love Demetrios we could start seeing Musat kings named Dumitru even if the Romans retire it.
- If the Egyptian Komnenoi ever want to stop being lazy we could see some more inspired names like Markos, Isidoros, Alexandros, Ptolemaios, Vladimiros (I could see that one spiking with the Drakoi and everywhere way back when).
- Is there a reason Demetrios Sideros' sister and nephew (Leo, the half Hungarian) use Drakos instead of being Sideroi?
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Wouldn't they use her husband's surname? Who did she marry @Basileus444?
Deleted member 81475
It was a Hunyadi from the Hungarian royal family IIRC, who divorced her after the war and the duchy shakeup.
I'm pretty sure she's one of Empress Helena's daughters, though not certain.
Deleted member 81475
I think those were different women. Helena had a daughter who was Queen of Hungary, and a Sidera granddaughter who wed an unrelated Hunyadi and was a duchess that got transplanted during the war. But I may be wrong.