Hmmm could the Romans offer Hassan Mecca? They don't need to ship every Muslim over the red sea, just him, his army/followers and a good chunk... Giving him the holy city might sell it to his followers, as yes their losing their homeland, but gaining the most holy city in Islam.
The ones that are left could be broken up amongst a dozen locations, Bulgaria, even Syria whos muslim population will be hammered during this most recent rebellion, perhaps even the Crimea...?
Is the Crimea considered loyal?
Now there's an idea. Just send the men and older women to Cyprus and Crete, put the children through the orphanages. Ethnic cleansing is an old, old hat for Romans by this point, after all.If they are going to be treated like shit anyways they could always be sent to the Sugar Plantations.
It's full of Goths, Greeks and oppressed Muslim Tatars, though I wouldn't be surprised if many have converted to Orthodoxy by now.
So yes, it would be considered loyal. I doubt that an infusion of Muslims would do much to destabilize the region, given that the cold climate will weaken the people used to the climate in Syria.
How about Al Andalus, then?
The problem with these discussions of where to ship the Muslims of northern Egypt to, is that they have not yet been conquered. At this point the Romans seem to be going for some sort of peace treaty which will leave the Muslims in control of the lands they now hold.
At some future date if a treaty can be hammered out, there may be a new war but until then the population will be staying where it is. The Roman government has too much to deal with at this point to try to do anything else in Egypt.
...I just realized this discussion was for the Muslims of Egypt.
I was having the entire conversation on the basis of relocating the Syrian Muslims.
Well.
AussieHawker: The Romans wouldn’t mind a Muslim Egyptian Despotate, but right now all they’ve said is “we’re willing to make peace” and Hassan has yet to respond.
Donald Reaver: That is an important issue. Hassan is not an absolute monarch. He got to his position by charisma and force of personality. And after the loss of Cairo and his Fabian tactics he is not so popular in certain circles.
As a Copt, this sounds like a homecoming. Coptic tradition holds that Copts are descended from Pharaohs and our land was taken over by Arab Muslims in the 7th century.
Pharaoh might be an interesting title for a Coptic despot.
Theologically, however, we're pretty similar to the Greeks.
Doesn't the title of Pharaoh have connotations of heresy though since Pharaohs claimed to be gods or sons of gods themselves? It could also could be a bit too associated with Paganism to work for the title of a Christian nation.
Romans themselves had no problem with titles, honors, and offices derived from their pre-Christian religious practices. Heck, the Pope himself is 'Pontifex Maximus' which was very much a pagan title in origin.