Heirs of Heraclius, a no Islam timeline

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These defeats and the factionalism in the court only worsen the rebellions against Yazadegerd III.Constans thought to make it seem like he was considering helping the Shah, but he had no intention to do so. After some 15 minutes of silence, the emperor answered.

No

The Persian was surprised and replied, No? But we had an agreement.

Constans replied, "Where were you when a rebellion broke out in my realm?"

The Persian tried to reply, saying he was busy with his own rebellions, but then Constans showed a letter from the shah to Gregory, and the Persian turned pale. This was supposed to be a diplomatic mission, but now it felt like an interrogation.

Still, Yazdegerd replied: Those are not real. He would never break our agreement. Constans just watched him as he replied and then said: Had you just sent 100 troops, that would have been enough, and I would have gladly helped you. But you broke the treaty first and expect me to comply with it?

The Persian was both furious and terrified, but he replied, "Please, I am sure we can come to an agreement."

Constans was intrigued, but he knew that he first had to finish rebuilding North Africa, and he knew that the sha did not control all of Persia. Still, this continued for 1/4 of an hour, and the Persian was forced to almost beg. Constans told him to leave and that he would send his own escort to accompany him out of the capital.

But the Persians had come too far and lost too many for nothing. As Constans was leaving him in his desperation, he said, Heraclius would have honored this agreement; he was a man of his word.

Constans stopped and told him to repeat what he said? The noblemen replied: Heraclius was an honorable man, and you are insulting him by breaking your word. Everything you have is because of him, and this is how you repay him?

Constans was angry, but he was leaving, and the Persian said that this was not something worthy of his heir. Constans snapped and nearly struck him, His guards reacted, as did the excubitors. Constans said to lower their weapons, and the Persians did so as well.

And the young emperor said: "I want you to leave this place; do not come back here or try anything against my empire, or I swear I will become Heraclius' heir in one aspect."

Of course he was mostly bluffing; he did not want a war with Persia, but it still scared the Persian noble. understood that he knew he was in condition to fight the Romans and left humiliated, By July 648, the news of the Sha humiliation had reached all of Persia, and one ruler was interested in this: Gil Gavbara, ruler of Tabaristan, saw this as an opportunity, and he wrote to Constans.

From Gil Gavbara, king of Tabaristan, to Constans, king of the Romans, and heir of Heraclius Why do you still allow Yazdegerd to govern us and be your ally? Has he not betrayed you? You say that you have trust in him. If so, why has he betrayed you? Why have you allowed him to insult you and Heraclius?

And does he plot to destroy Constantinople? But I will pardon his faults if you help me; I will give you lands, vineyards, and fortresses and look upon you with even greater respect.

Do not deceive yourself in the vain hope that Yazdegerd will help you or be your ally, with your help. Even if he takes refuge in the highest mountain, the depths of the sea, or on the far sides of the earth, I will stretch out my hand and take him to you, and we shall have peace.

 

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Constans thought about this for a long time. About this, he thought about the benefits and disadvantages of helping him in the turbulent Persian Empire and concluded that support from him would allow him to not only take the throne but also reunite Persia. He reached a conclusion the next day and wrote.

From Constans, Basileus of the Romans, to Gil Gavbara, king of Tabaristan, I pursue peace. I have not and will not forgive the transgressions against my name, my family, and my empire, but I will support you in your pursuit of peace.

If you commit transgressions against me or turn out to be like Yazdegerd, I will willingly burn Persia, so let us now seek a better future and embrace peace. If this is the case, come to Constantinople, and we will discuss this.

By mid-September, Constans had done a good job in the reconstruction of his empire, and many of its riches were going to the reconstruction of those cities that Gregory had taken. Constans also had to attend the burial of one of his generals and friends, Vahan, and he was buried in the church of Saint Peter. He said goodbye to his old friend at the funeral, and during the rest of the funeral he was silent. Still, the empire began to flourish. Constans was in the palace still thinking about the future of his empire when a messenger arrived at the Basileus; the Persian had arrived.

Gil Gavabra entered with this guard and translators; they greeted each other, and the conversations began.

How can I trust you? What gives me assurance that you will not betray me like Yazdegerd, said Constans.

Gil Gavabra waited for his translation and said: "I am a man of my word; also, I do not wish for Persia to get burned by the heir of Heraclius."

The discussion continued. Constans asked: What do I gain by helping you?

He waited for the translation and said, "Order for trade routes. Since the independent rulers impose different taxes and some areas are filled with bandits, do you not wish for order in your trade route in the east"?

Constans knew he was right and said, "What land do you offer me?"

Gil Gavabra thought, and he responded: "many frontier towns and the strategic city of Nisibis and the province of Albania and the rest of Armenia", even though the province was rebelling against them. There was no confirmation, but later Javanshir, the king who expanded into Sassanid lands, accepted the idea. Constans also agreed that, in return, he would help him, but it would not be right to know. Gil Gabrava was okay and left to return to his kingdom.

By 649, a council was being held in Rome, not by the emperor but by the pope, but problems began before the council started since most members of the Roman clergy were too uneducated in theology to "grasp even the fundamental issues presented in the Monothelite controversy" due to centuries of decay in both religious and secular learning in the city.

The Council's position was substantially like that espoused by the Council of Chalcedon: "For the first time in well over a century, the church of Rome would be in a position to debate theological issues with Byzantium from a position of equality in both intellectual substance and rhetorical form."

By May, Pope Theodore had died while preparations for the Council were ongoing. His death left Maximus without his patron and collaborator of the last three years, the Papacy. The Roman clergy were faced with the difficult dilemma of finding a successor with the intellectual reputation to convene the Council.

Still, preparations continued without the knowledge of Constans who was busy with secular matters by July. With the influence of Maximus, a deacon from Todi, in central Italy, was consecrated Pope Martin, a pope consecrated without imperial approval, although he was the former apocrisiarius to Constantinople and well respected in the East. Martin's election was an indisputable "battle cry against Constantinople". Martin's stature and proficiency in Greek were attested to by Theodore's offer to appoint Martin as his personal representative to an earlier proposed synod in Constantinople.

By August, Constans had to leave his capital, since the news had arrived that the Slavs had been raiding his territories, and some of the Slavs that lived under the empire had joined them. This worsens the situation, as the emperor still did not know about the council and the pope will be its sole controller. By October of that year, Constans had nearly crushed the invaders and the rebels, but it was here that he received news about the council. He was mad that he, Basileus, had not been notified of it, but he could not leave now, as if he did, it would demoralize his troops.

A few days later, the council was attended by 105 bishops, all but one from the western portion of the Eastern Roman Empire. Stephen of Dor, a Palestinian, was the only bishop whose see was not in Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, or Africa. Transalpine Europe, Spain, Greece, and Crete, despite lying within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome, were not represented. One-fourth of the bishops were likely of Eastern ethnicity or origin and thus probably Greek-speaking.

The cleric Theophylaktos began the council, as the principal notary of the apostolic see and chief of the papal chancery and library, with the invocation of the regnal year of the "august and most pious Lord Contains". Pope Martin, then read a pre-prepared speech criticizing monothelitism (a view held by the then Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria) and denouncing the Ecthesis by late October.

Constans could finally return and attend the council because he had completely crushed the Slavs. By the end of October, the council's acts and decrees were disseminated, along with a papal encyclical. The Council's formal pronouncements amounted to 20 canons. Canons X and XI are the ones that specifically took up the subject of Christ's two wills and two energies, and were based mainly on Maximus's earlier disputation against Pyrrhus while in Carthage.

Still, the Monothelites denounced the council when it did not turn in their favor, saying that it had no ecumenical status because Emperor Constans did not call it and many eastern bishops were not present. By early November, Constans returned to see chaos as the Monothelites refused to accept the council. In a sense, they were right; why did the pope do such a thing and not call him?

Still, this infighting scared Constans; he knew that Gregory revolted due to the Monothelites, at least that was one of his excuses, and now he feared they would revolt against the Chalcedonians. Gregory’s rebellion was still on many minds, and the emperor thought about it so much that he did not sleep that night.

He finally reached his decision that there would be no new council; it took him some weeks. He issued the Typos, the imperial edict that was meant to supersede the Ecthesis, In an attempt to secure peace during the Monothelitism controversy, it gave both support for teaching of either Orthodox Dyothelitism or Ecthesis, requiring that teaching be limited only to that which had been decreed at the first five Ecumenical Councils and Heraclius Ecthesis that a council will not be held until 675. Of course, this new attempt at compromise for the west failed, especially since back in the east, Constans continued to push the compromise.

 

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By late 651, two years had passed since the council, and while many judged the emperor for this, he ignored most of the complaints. Still, the reconstruction of north Africa after five years was over, and with the capture of southern Arabia and a new trade deal with Aksum, the riches of the east were pouring into the empire. Long distance trade began to flourish with this new wealth, and the empire had a strong army. The arts and education began to rise with this excess of capital, but the land routes were horrible due to the instability of the land due to the situation in Persia, which turned the profitable land trade route into a trade nightmare due to the instability of the land.

Now with his empire at peace from both internal and external threats, Constans knew that it was time to help Gil Gavbara keep his promise that he made three years prior, so he sent a letter to him to reunite his army for spring. In Persia, Yazdegerd boasted ten years ago that Persia would be his, but 10 years have almost passed and nothing had happened; still, the rebellions and factionalism continued, and this weekend he wonders why he could not recover Persia. It had been more than 20 years, and Persia was still not unified.

Yet when he received news that the army of the Greeks were reuniting in Mesopotamia, he was scared; there was no way he was planning to invade. The last war weakened both the Persians and the Greeks, but unlike the last war, Rome was not facing a united Persia by spring 652. Gil Gavbara reunited 12,000 troops, and from his kingdom he also received the support of houses Spandiyadh and Ispahbudhan and some others who were sympathetic to him while Constans was in Mesopotamia with an old Valentinus and Niketas alongside 25,000 troops, while the ghassanid king came to the aid of Constans with 5000 troops, Theodore prince of Armenia, and Stephen II prince of Iberia attacked with a smaller contingent as the caucasian Albanians continued their revolt and attacked deep into Sassanid territories.

All the armies met in Bagavan in the early spring of 652. After nearly 4 years, Gil Gavbara saw Constans and almost did not recognize him for his long beard. The discussion began on where to attack, it was obvious that the Sha would suspect an attack from the north but not from the south; this discussion continued for days, but it was decided that they would split the forces. Constans, Valentinus would go attacking from the south with 22,000 men, While Niketas, Gil Gavbara, and the two Caucasian princes would attack from the north with 20 000 men, Yazdegerd entered into a panic when he found out and went to defend Mesopotamia, the most likely area where the Romans attacked. He called for Rostam Farrokhzād, Piruz Khosrow, Mardanshah, and some others to the defense of his realms, some accepting because of loyalty, others because they got used to their independence.

They reunited many men for this "war", while on the 26th of March, after days of marching, Constans arrived at Firaz at the border, and the garrison was ill-prepared. Pirus khosrow and horruzamn were the closest, so they forced marched their 20,000 troops to the area, and some days the tired army was forced to fight Constans. When Pirus khosrow learned that the emperor was here, he was surprised but thought if he could kill him, it would demoralize them, so he challenged the emperor to personal combat. Before the day of battle could begin, Constans accepted this, and the Persian general was confident that he would win.

 

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Constans was in his shining gold armor with a round shield with the symbol of the first two letters of Christ. He also had his sword, but this sword was not any sword; this sword was the one Heraclius had used in Nineveh all those years ago. Constans had never used it out of respect for his predecessor, but now that he was fighting Persians, he thought it would be fitting to use it. Still, Pirus was confident and said that he would win in just three attacks and slay him. As the excubitors, Valentinus, and the Ghassanid king went to the middle of the field for the duel, the Byzantine and Arab armies began to cheer as their emperors went to the duel.

The same happened to Pirus as he went to the battlefield with some other generals who not so long ago were his enemies. As Constans arrived, he drew out his sword, and the cheer of the army could be heard. Pirus graded his shield from one of the generals who, not long before this, had been his enemy and said in a sarcastic tone:

Do not be too disappointed if I survive, he said in Both he and Constans moved to the center. Pirus said I had never killed a king before.
Constan's reply was to tell him to surrender.Pirus was annoyed and luged himself, Both men began to fight as their swords clashed; Constans blocked it with his shield, and as he did, he attacked, but the Persian blocked it with no difficulty. He then tried to do a thrust against Constans to stab him in the face, but Constans quickly parried. Pirus then tried to cut him in the same area.

"So much for three strikes," said one of the Persian generals.

As Constans blocked, Pirus again tried to cut him, and again the emperor parried and got cut in the back of the Persian when he overswung. Constans tried to cut his face, but he moved, and the cut fell on his back. Pirus was surprised; had he not moved, he would have been killed, and even so, if he had no armor, he would have died as well.The other Persian generals were also surprised that Constans was technically the one who landed the first hit. Pirus was angry about that, and he began to use his shield to bash the emperor. Constans barely reacted to them, and Pirus General continued to use his sword and shield in combination against the emperor.

The Persian then managed to hit the Emperor, but Constans lost his balance, and with another shield bash, he fell down. The Persian general now pinned him. The situation looked dire as he tried to stab him. Constans quickly let go of his shield and grabbed the Persian sword. As the struggle began, Constans used the general’s weight against him, and he lost his balance.

Both men quickly got up; they were panting and sweating as, despite fighting for two minutes, the desert heat and the situation made it seem like hours. As they got up, Constans did not have time to grab his shield as he was soon confronted by the angry Persian general, who lunged at him with many swings,Constans barely blocked them; Pirus gave another swing; the emperor grabbed his sword with some struggle, tried to take it, and then quickly disarmed him. He threw it to the ground. Now the Persian was on the defensive, so he tried to shield-bash Constans.

As the emperor tried to stab him, he overextended his thrust, and the Persian managed to disarm him. Piruz shield bashed the emperor and managed to hit him. He fell down, and the general quickly grabbed his sword and tried to cut him again, but Constans used his arms to protect his face.The emperor tried to reach for his shield, which was only a few centimeters away. The general pinned him as he was about to deliver the final blow. Constans grabbed the shield and quickly bashed the Persian general in the face.

The sound of broken bones could be heard as the shield made contact with the general’s nose. Pirus quickly let go of his sword to grab his nose, which was fractured as blood and cerebral fluid came out of it. Constans wasted no time; he grabbed the sword of his predecessor and stabbed the general in the face. The Persian generals were surprised at what just occurred. While Valentinus and the Arab king smiled, the cheers of the Romans and Arabs could be heard, knowing that the emperor had won.

The Persian soldiers were terrified, Morale plummeted as they knew that Pirus had been slain.

A Persian said, How did the young one win when he had never seen war or even held a sword?

Unknown to him Constans had seen war as early as 16 against Gregory, and he himself led the campaign and the charge against the Slavs. Still, the emperor retreated back to the front line, he had won the duel, now he needs it to win the battle.

 

[trajen777]

Good TL -- Byz always a favorite of mine --

 

[Silver01]

Good TL -- Byz always a favorite of mine --

thank you iam taking my time with this since like i mentioned we wrote a lot still we will see more places as time goes on espeacilly iberia and north africa along with persia

 

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Army composition

Constans with his mounted guard was in the center, alongside heavy cavalry, while on the left was Valentinus and ghasanid heavy infantry, cataphracts on the right were the and more ghassanid heavy infantry, while in the front was the ghassanid king and Beduin cavalry. The Persians had just heavy infantry and heavy cavalry with the death of Piruz, and Horruzamn took control of the army.

The battle began with almost all of Constans army charging except the Ghassanid king and the Bedouin cavalry; the armies clashed despite the charge and the Sassanid held the line, but the exhausted Persian army was unable to stand for long. Seeing defeat was imminent, the Persian generals commanding the wings began a withdrawal, which led to a general retreat. Tired to control the retreat as he did, Constans guard managed to throw him off his horse. Constans now signaled for the Ghassahanids to move with the Bedouins, and these quickly charged.

Now, with the wings gone, Valentinus and the cataphracts surrounded them, and the Arab cavalry arrived, and the massacre began.

The battle continued for 20 minutes as the Sassanids tried to fight in vain.

As the battle was over, Constans's shining golden armor was filled with bloodstains, and the sword of Heraclius was dripping in Persian blood. He went to the center and raised the sword. As the army cheered for him, the emperor led them to another victory. His forces lost just 1500, while the Persians lost 12,000. After this, Firaz surrendered, but Constans did not allow its troops to raid it.

 

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Due to the battle of Firaz, most of the Sassanid forces marched to stop Constans II, who headed south. Due to this, Gil Gavbara and Niketas marched down and destroyed a smaller army and some northern cities like Zumeli. As Constans took the major cities in the south, he marched towards the north to meet Niketas and Gil Gavbara near the city of Peroz-Shapur, and rostam moved to the area with most of his troops and left some 10,000 to defend the north. rostam went to Hira while he negotiated with Gil Gavbara's messenger for the surrender of Rostam and the abdication of Yazdegerd, and the negotiations failed.

By this time, Niketas and Gil Gavbara had arrived; in their conquest, they had lost 3000 men. Now, with 35,000 men, Constans will face rostam 's 45 000 men and 36 elephants.

Army composition
Rostam divided his force into three lines: the elephants in the first, the infantry in the second, and the cavalry in the third, where the elephants were, while Constans army had two lines, infantry in the first and cavalry in the second.

The battle began when Rostam sent his left to attack the Romans. The elephants charged against the Roman heavy infantry, but they were pushed back. The Sassanid archers kept showering them with arrows, and the Dabuyid infantry charged the Sassanid heavy infantry, while the Bedouins charged the Sassanid light and heavy cavalry respectfully, and the Roman archers turned to attack the Sassanid infantry.

Constans, seeing the trouble, sent the Arabs to attack the Persians. While this was happening, Rostam sent his left, the first one to clash, where the elephants did massive damage to the archers, but the Dabyid heavy infantry held the line. As this was happening, the Sassanid heavy infantry and archers moved while the cavalry was in the back for support.

The Sassanids now sent their right, the first one to clash where the elephants were, and they destroyed the Roman archers in the center, but the Dabuyid infantry resisted and held the line. As the rest of the Sassanid army marched, Valentinus charged the Sassanid infantry. This pushed back the Sassanids, but Valentinus could not exploit this.

since the night was fast approaching and the first day ended Inconclusively


Day 2

The battle began with a charge from the elephants, but wanting to end the battle, Rostam sent almost all his forces while they prepared the cavalry. On the left, the charge was stopped; only the elephants managed to push the Romans back, but they held the line and pushed back with many casualties. On the right, the same happened, but in the center, the elephants nearly destroyed the Roman archers, and to Rostam, it seems like he would not need to charge as the emperor himself would be trampled to death soon.

But the Romans continued to molest the elephants. It took about 10 minutes, but it worked. The elephants went into rage and began to turn and charge at the Sassanid lines. This caused major damage, killing many archers and infantry. In their rampant rage, the elephants went in the direction of the river. Wanting to avoid more casualties, rostam had to spread his forces; seeing the distraction, Constans, Gil Gavbara, and all the commanders ordered the army to charge.

In just a mere minute, they pushed the Sassanids, gaining a lot of ground. Now that Valentinus has charged, rostam does not know what to do; his cavalry is disorganized, the elephants are pushing back, and the enemy is pushing back; does he attack, leaving their center more exposed, or regroup and then attack?

Constans used this time to send the cataphracts to aid the right and left. Seeing how rostam was barely reorganizing his forces, Niketas and Emperor Constans reunited their forces. They charged that this was risky, but Constans said it was worth it. While this was happening, the cataphracts on the left arrived and outflanked the Sassanids; on the right, the cataphracts joined Valentinus while the Arab king pushed their foes back, during this time, Gil Gavbara reunited his cavalry and prepared to charge.

The attack was successful as Rostam was slain. Seeing how the battle was lost, the surviving cavalry fled across the river. Gil Gavbara charged and went to the left to surround the Sassanids left, while Constans moved to the right and the Arab cavalry joined Valentinus.

The massacre lasted only minutes, but for the Sassanid, it felt like hours. By the end, the Constans had about 7,000 men while the Persians had lost 20,000.

 

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He began to pack the treasury and planned to move under the protection of a portion of his last remaining army and some survivors of the battle of Peroz-Shapur to make a last stand near his capital and to buy him enough time to flee. Like the generals predicted, Constan's army moved to the capital, where he met the last Sassanid force; Constans had 24,000 men. While the Sassanids had just 15,000,The Sassanids had their cavalry on the flanks and their infantry in the center. Niketas offered to accompany Gil Gabvara on a deep flanking maneuver, taking some 3,000, and to make it seem like a retreat, the battle began with an all-out charge of Constans forces; surprisingly, the Sassanids held the line, and during the charge Valentinus had been killed. But still, when Constans number was too great, the cavalry retreated, and just as they did, Niketas and Gil Gavbara arrived.

The infantry tried to flee, but soon they were surrounded, and in mere minutes, the Sassanid army was destroyed. Just 3800 Sassanids, mostly cavalry, managed to flee, while Constans lost just a few hundred.Yet for him, he had already lost too many, and after some 30 minutes, he found Valentinus' corpse. A ceremony was held for his father-in-law, just like Vahan's burials. Constans was almost silent during the whole ordeal, but he ordered that he not be buried.

Valentinus would enter Ctesiphon, which he did when Constans and Gil Gavbara entered the city just a few days later. During this time, Gil Gavbara sent men to find Yazdegerd; they found him going en route to the city of Ispahan, and he was taken alive back to Ctesiphon. He did not try to flee; he gave up when they arrived at the city.

The sha noticed a man dressed in golden armor with a long beard, yet he seemed familiar. He asked if he was Constans and he affirmed. The shah was surprised because he had not seen him in 4 years and did not recognize him, mainly due to his very long beard. They talked for a while, but still, the Shah knew what was about to happen.

The guards brought him to Gil Gavbara, where he gave a speech on how Yazdegerd and the other Sassanid rulers after Khosrow I, especially Khosrow II, were failures that had ruined the great empire of Iran, Yazdegerd was silent but, before the end, he cursed Constans and his descendant, and as he did the sha was executed.

Within the next six and a half months, Gil Gavbara was crowned Shahanshah, establishing the Dabuyid Dynasty. He then signed a treaty with Constans, giving him the promised lands in exchange for allowing more Ghassanid influence, with this, Constans had helped the Sha crush the western rebellions, and during this time, Constans sent Nike. Now the new shah had to deal with new problems, and the new Dayubid empire had to fight for its survival.

 

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653

Constans returned to his capital to discover that his wife had given birth to his first son. He was named Constantine. Constans began to rebuild his new provinces, but challenges began to occur first. How was Albania to be organized?

Constans remembered how Heraclius dealt with Armenia by making Theodore Rshtuni a prince; he also remembered the son of the king Heraclius had instated, Adarnase I, whom he made the prince of the whole of Iberia, ruling over the great nobles and also giving him the title of the hypatos.While he wanted to do the same for Javanshir, who before the rebellion of Gregory was loyal to the Sassanids, he was not trusted by some, but Constans said he proved his loyalty when he attacked the Sassanids with Stephen II, son of Adarnase I. Javanshir was recognized as king of Albania and awarded the title of patrikios for his participation against the Sassanids.

With the conquest of Roman rule of most of the Caucasus, there was discussion to make Armenia a province, but Constans would not break the word Heraclius and Theodore Rshtuni would keep his title of ishkhan of all of Armenia, while this was happening he also sent word for them to prepare he did not trust the new power of the Khazars but sent word to them for peace and they agreed, at this time The sea trade that Constans revived gave him enough money to rebuild these provinces and more, even though there was money it did not come close to the levels of riches during the time of pax Romana since India was facing the collapse of the Gupta kingdom, it was still a lot of wealth and Constans managed to use these sums on money for many new projects.

Despite this, he had to leave, and a new challenge appeared from the west to the east. Gil Gavbara faced a rebellion from the House of Zik, which he defeated with full support from House Ispahbudhan Mihran and partial support from House Karen; by the next year, Gil Gavbara moves the capital from Ctesiphon to Ispahan. To concentrate more on his eastern problems and to move their capital away from further Roman incursions, he knows that Constans won’t betray him, but his successors might.

By the next year, Gil Gavbara, after two years of fighting, had crushed the southern rebellion near Istakhr, which had been formed by Sassanian nobles and some from the house of Suren. His 12 000 troops and the 3000 Romans sent by Constans crushed the 10 000 Sassanid Suren loyalists, and after the victory, they took their capital, Persis, and the Shah finally gained control of all of the south in this year. With them gone, the Sha slowly began to take away power from the independent lords in his realm. Thanks to this Gil Gavbara, there were at least some areas where they began to show signs of recovery, as taking some power away from the nobles that disliked him meant that they would not have petty conflicts, which would result in fewer raids from one noble to another or the destabilization of trade routes.

In 656 he also received news that Nikitas the Persian had died, and by this point Constantine had become co-emperor. Constans was celebrating his victory when he ordered the construction of the colossus in Constantinople, depicting him with the true cross in 658. The sha had just solved most of the rebellions except the ones in the north east, but new trouble could be seen coming to his borders, and he was afraid the Turkic khaganate had done any damage to the Sassanid empire.

To his surprise, the Turks wanted an audience with him. They met the Shah, and to his surprise, the Turkish leader was seeking refuge. He explained that he was one of many leaders who fled due to the Chinese invasion. The Turk explained to him that in the midst of the great Roman-Persian war, more precisely the 16th year of the war (618), the Tang took power in China. Just 2 years after the end of the great war, the Tang defeated the eastern Turks and incorporated them into their empire. The Tang continued to march west, and last year they took the territory of the western Turks.

The sha gives them a deal: help him to destroy the rebellion of the portion of house Mihran and Sassanid loyalists, and he will give them lands there. The Turkish leader agreed with their help; they managed to reunite the house, and the Turks settled there. By the same time in 659, the dream of Heraclius was becoming a reality; it had been 11 years since the end of Gregory's rebellion, the sea trade had made the empire rich, and the land trade had begun to come back due to the revival of Persia.By now, Constant had seen a revival in the economy of his new province and rebuilt its major cities; the arts, commerce, and science began to flourish in his empire. But the emperor looked to the west, and he prepared for the reconquest of Italy. But news came in 660 that the first shah of the Dabuyid empire had died, Gil Gavbara, while marching to the Sassanid loyalists and house Varaz. Many important men attended the ceremony, including Emperor Constans and 8-year-old Constantine.

After the ceremony, Constans spent a week and a half in Persia to reinforce the treaty he made with Gil Gabrava's son and now the new sha, Dabuya, and he agreed the sha respected and even admired Constans from what he heard from his father and from the emperor's many heroic deeds as he returned to his empire. After a year of preparation, Dabuya, with the help of the Turks and the houses of Mihran and Suren, defeated the Sasanid-Varaz force, and Persia was finally unfed.

The reconstruction of Persia knew the primary concern was the Sassanid loyalists not being a threat anymore. Gil Gavbara's reforms continued in the new Shah; now that there was no immediate military threat, the Sha could attend to the more pressing matters of economic and administrative reforms and use Ardashir and Shapur as models for his reforms, but he was also worried about a potential Roman-Tang alliance, but he did not need to worry as in the next year news came to him. Constans was ready; he had prepared for this for four years, and a golden opportunity had presented itself: the Lombard king Grimoald I of Benevento was engaged against Frankish forces from Neustria.

 

[Silver01]

Constans disembarked at Taranto, and Constans now knew that his biggest threat was the Lombard king, so he sent a letter with some of his men to send later, after two weeks. The men arrive at the king's camp in the north, and he reads the note, Constans letter to Grimoald.

I Constans, by the gift of God and by conquest and the reclaiming of what belongs to me, Emperor of the Romans and Heir of the great Heraclius, to Grimoald, Son of Garibald. For some time you were a barbarian protector of Italy, and now you style yourself as king of my lands, to prevent the abominable effusion of blood and avoid all other inconveniences likely to grow from the wars now levied in Italy.

I challenge you to single combat on the field of battle, so that you may prove your lordship; if you win, my armies will leave Italy, and you shall be recognized as the lawful ruler of Italy. If I win, your men shall recognize me for what I am: the lawful ruler of Italy.

The Lombard king was surprised; Constans knew it was common for the Arabs to accept duels, and he knew he was risking quite a lot and might not even respond; the king also knew that he was not in the prime of his youth, but still, he answered.

Why should I risk this proposal? , When I could break your army.

The messenger said, "I don’t think it’s wise to underestimate the emperor."

"He only beat a rebellion some 20 years ago and killed a bunch of tribesmen," said Grimoald; the king did not know how big was Constan's campaigns during the Persian civil war.

"Then you have nothing to fear from him," said the messenger.

"I am not afraid of meeting him in single combat," said the king.

"Yet you refuse to fight even though you have more than 20 years of experience compared to him," said the messenger.

The king noticed some lords looking at him while others were smiling, and he knew that he was looking like a coward.

The messenger said: Of course, if the king is too old, he can choose a champion.

The king was being treated as an old man not capable of defending his realm.

"Majesty I know we know how difficult it must be for you to decide," said one of the lords.

Sir, we will support you no matter the decision, but if you were to avoid this, I could be the champi


He did not even finish before the king said, "I am not afraid of this." What the men said was the last straw, and he was going to show them that he was no old king by killing the emperor.

He said to the messenger, You tell, "pray that your emperor is as good and as great as his grandfather." The messenger just smiled and left.

2 weeks later

Constans was still besieging the city of Benevento when the Lombard king arrived. Constans was again in his golden armor, holding a round shield, and for the purpose of the duel he brought Heraclius sword, which he had not used since the Persian campaign since he respected it.

But the thought that using it during important duels was a justifiable cause for using the sword of his predecessor, Before the meeting, both men prayed to God and to Christ so that he might bless them and grant them victory, and then they moved out to the center, where the Lombard king and Constans met.As they did, both armies cheered for their rulers. Both men began to circle each other, seeing each other's defenses and looking for weak spots. Constans found some: on the face and in a small gap near the knee where there was little armor. Also, there was a place near the bicep tendon that did not have armor, and he saw the face as a viable option to hurt or kill the emperor.

Still, both men continued to circle each other until the emperor finally attacked, and the king blocked his shield, He then tried to do a thrust against Constans to stab him in the face, which Constans quickly parried, and then tried to cut him in the face.Constans now tried to end the fight by fainting an attack; Grimoald raised his shield; and Constans now quickly changed direction and went for the Grimoald face. The king barely reacted and moved and just blocked too late, but it stopped the sword, causing it to just make a small cut in his forearm. Grimoald was surprised that Constans drew first blood, and that angered him. The king now was using his shield and began to shield-bash the emperor and then use his sword.

Constans did not react to these attacks. In one of them, Constans stretched out to block the king's sword, and then he received a shield bash to the wrist. While the other part of the shield drove Constan's shield into his wrist as well, a scream of pain could be heard from the emperor, as carrying his shield was now very painful. But yet the emperor ignored the pain and kept fighting.

The Lombard king continued to use his shield and managed to hit Constans again; the emperor lost his balance, and then Grimoald pushed Constans to the ground, where the Lombard king pinned him to finally deliver the final blow. Like in his duel with Piruz, the emperor grabbed his shield and aimed for the nose; the king reacted in time, and the blow landed on his mouth.

The sound of shattered teeth could be heard as the king spat out blood and tooth pieces. Constans quickly got up, and he could see the rage in Grimoald. The king lunged at the emperor, filled with adrenaline. He ignored the pain of his wounds, and as he swigged furiously, Constans could barely block his attacks.

And was nearly stabbed, Constans knew he had to take a risk, so he let go of his shield because the pain in his left hand was too much to handle. Now with one hand free, he parried the king's sword with his own and grabbed it quickly, disarming the emperor. Now the king was on the defensive, but he still disarmed the emperor when we overswung. The fight developed into desperate melee combat, where the king was going for another shield bash, but Constans grabbed the shield and threw it; now the fight was just hand-to-hand and no one was able to deliver the devastating blow, but the king managed to push Constans and then quickly grabbed his sword.

The emperor went to grab him and used his agility to barely avoid the sword stabbing him. Seeing how his enemy overextended himself, Constans cut Grimoald in the gap of the leg near the knee. The adrenaline was wearing off as the king fell down due to pain; he did not try to get back up because it was too painful. Constans did not waste any time as he grabbed the sword of Heraclius and proceeded to stab him in the face.With that, Constans raised his sword, smiling, trying to ignore the pain in his left wrist. With the king dead, the biggest threat to his reconquest of Italy was dead. After seeing their king die in front of their eyes, many of the Lombard armies deserted, while the rest surrendered; others fled; but no one attacked; they were too demoralized for that even the city of Benevento surrendered to Constans, The emperor had begun his reconquest without losing a single soldier.

 

[Silver01]

With the death of the king of the Lombards, there was a panic; there was no clear successor to the throne, and many nobles wanted to be crowned as king of the Lombards, among them the king’s son and the Duke of Benevento. Romuald, once he learned the news of the death of his father at the hands of emperor Constans, fled the city and escaped to the north; with the king dead and duke gone, the city surrendered to the emperor.

Still, once the Duke reached the north, he got support from some nobles, as the others wanted him dead. The situation was grim, as the possibility of a civil war was high, so instead of uniting and fighting the Romans, the Lombards began to kill themselves. Romuald was too busy convincing and sometimes fighting other Lombards to stop Constans.

The emperor was quick to take advantage of the situation; Due to Lombard infighting, the speed of reconquest was astounding. In one month and a half, Constans subdued the duchy of Benevento; by this time, news of the situation in Italy had reached Perctarit. He and his brother Godepert ruled over the Lombards, but both men fought to gain control over each other. Here, Goper called for the aid of Duke Grimoald I of Benevento in a war with Perctarit, but the Beneventans had him assassinated and took control of the kingdom, forcing Perctarit to flee to the court of the Avar Khan. Now the usurper was dead, but he also knew that Constans was invading; this was perfect; he could be the savior of Italy, but he needed help, and he was in the right place.

The Avar Khagante had fought against the Romans for almost a century and was an ally of the Sassanids in the great war of 602–628. Still, with the Roman victory, the Khagante had been losing land. At first, it was just raids, but as the years passed, the raids became more and more common. By 636, despite the fact that the empire had not fully recovered from the Great War, Heraclius had led the first true campaign against the Slavs. He was well aware that the khagante was in a precarious position, as Samos rebellion had made a significant dent in the Avar forces. It was a prime opportunity to attack as the Slavs of the south of the Danube were disorganized or joined the Romans. Heraclius might have been old, but he acted more as a strategist, The Romans had a string of victories in 636.

By spring 637, the Romans had defeated the Slavs in Greece in the decisive battle near Larrisa, with the assistance of other tribes. With the victory, Heraclius saved the old diocese of Macedonia; the peace lasted until 639, when Slavs raided it again. Now the old emperor went to another campaign; this time we were there to boost morale, and the Romans, like last time, won many small encounters. By late 639, the imperial forces and the loyal slavs met the other slavs and Avars near Serdica; here, the Avar force was slaughtered. With this victory, the imperial forces had "subdued the slavs."

The army continued to march to the northwest but, by mid-640, Heraclius left and needed it to go back to his capital due to the problems there and his health, which caused a massive loss of morale. This led to the defeat near Naisisus, preventing the Romans from taking all the Danube, and that would lead to many raids and counterraids, despite the fact that this war is seen by later writers as a massive reconquest, saying that despite the empire's weakness, Heraclius was still strong enough to conquer most of the Balkans, and while the diocese of Macedonia was secured, thus securing the land route from Greece to Thessalonica, to the north, the Romans only managed to subjugate them in name, these new vassals of the empire had to make a barrier with the Avars and especially other Slavs that were migrating.

This peace endured until Gregory’s rebellion, but the defeats caused by Heraclius meant that the Slavs and the Avars could only do anything bigger than raids since the Avars had not recovered and infighting between the sclaveni and the migrating Slavs did not allow for any push, except for moving to the countryside of Greece after this The peace continued until 649, when the Slavic incursion and rebellion occurred, which constans crushed. In 658, the last major campaign saw Constans crush a coalition of Slavs in near Thassilonica, expanding total Roman control as he defeated the revolting Slaveni and their allies near the ruins of Stobi, thus in name recovering all the diocese of Macedonia.

Now the exiled king asked for the khan’s help; the khan was not sure; ever since the failed siege of Constantinople, victories against the Romans were few and far between, but the Lombard convinced the khan that if he won a victory against Constans, or even better, killed him in battle, the khan would attack. The khan, while he respected Constans as a ruler, also hated him. He did not dislike Heraclius, as with his death things should have been simpler, or at least that is what his predecessor said since Constans was merely a boy. But the boy was educated to be a competent ruler, and while he was not a general of the caliber of his grandfather, he was a competent commander, and his successes weakened the khanate and made the Slavs under the khanate enter semi-rebellion, so the khan said to the Lombard: If you can, please kill him and bring me his head.
The Khagan sent the Lombard with 2,000 troops; the rest was up to him

 

[Silver01]

Romuald had been gaining control fighting other Lombard lords and was doing well; he was sure that he had nothing to worry about until he heard the news that Perctarit had crossed the Alps and arrived in the north, and he began to gain support. Romuald had to move against the old king, but if he left, Constans would take more land. But he had no option; if he allowed Perctarit to go unchecked, he could start a massive civil war, so he moved his army to the north to face Perctarit, and was busy convincing the Lombards to join him.

By the time Perctarit reached him, he had raised an army, but to Romuald's surprise, there would be no battle, as Perctarit said he was not here for the throne but to kick out Constans. Romuald was skeptical; what option did he have? He knew that Constans lost few men in the sieges and many surrendered due to the death of his father, so he accepted and they marched south to fight Constans, Both armies had a total of 22, 000 men.

Constans used this time to consolidate his hold on the conquered territories and now moved to invade the duchy of Tuscany. the Lombard army forced marched to the south while going to the south, the 2 leaders bickered about, how to deal with the invaders, these discussions made Romuald doubt more about Perctarit intentions, yet he ignored this and prepared for the upcoming battle, 6 days after leaving the north, both armies meet near the old town of Rusellae, Constans had almost 15,000, the two Lombard rulers where confused, their scouts said he had more men, but they assumed the capturing so many cities must have cost the Romans a couple of thousand men, now seeing he had a significant numerical advantage, Romuald ordered a frontal charge, he was on the center while Perctarit was in the left-wing but he and the forces on the right charged slower.

The emperor's guard and heavy infantry formed a shield wall, and Constans demanded of his troops that they hold the line, Romuald and his men reached the Roman center; the Romans retreated under this initial pressure, but the shield wall held. The fighting had barely raged for 10 minutes when an arrow made Romuald fall from his horse. This, in the confusion of battle, made some soldiers think that the king was dead, and they began to retreat.

The wings were not far from clashing with the Roman line, but the men who retreated said that the king was dead. Perctarit smiled and said to spread the news quickly. In mere minutes, the wings began to retreat. Seeing how the wings were retreating, the center began to retreat as well. Seeing Constans give the order and the cavalry move out of the forest and charge the fleeing Lombards, Romuald tried to flee as well, but it was to no avail. Soon he was surrounded and killed along with some 3500 fleeing Lombards. The Romans cheered, but Constans knew this was not over since he knew that Perctarit would still challenge him. Perctarit lost some men, but now he had no serious competition for his power, and he was without a doubt the king of the Lombards.

 

[Chickennuggetscientist]

Aren't the Visigoths trying to retake southern Spain at this point while the Romans are distracted I doubt Constans would care about losing such a far off territory. The Visigoths have the potential to be a great power. In OTL Spain was controlled by peripheral Islamic states at constant was with Christian. ITTL Spain will not only be more prosperous but also would have a higher population. We might see early trading expeditions into Atlantic to circumvent Roman monopoly, or is that too early. Anyway united Iberia will be powerful, who needs Portugal anyway? Also I can't wait to see how the romans are going to meet their eventual downfall because it seems they just continue expanding and that can't last forever, can it?

 

[Silver01]

Aren't the Visigoths trying to retake southern Spain at this point while the Romans are distracted I doubt Constans would care about losing such a far off territory. The Visigoths have the potential to be a great power. In OTL Spain was controlled by peripheral Islamic states at constant was with Christian. ITTL Spain will not only be more prosperous but also would have a higher population. We might see early trading expeditions into Atlantic to circumvent Roman monopoly, or is that too early. Anyway united Iberia will be powerful, who needs Portugal anyway? Also I can't wait to see how the romans are going to meet their eventual downfall because it seems they just continue expanding and that can't last forever, can it?

its something that i was going to explain in later chapter , like when in the 642 i said that Heracluis reging he recovered territory , and then later i explained the campaings agains the avars of heraclius .

but dont worry i have and explination as to why the visigoths dont take back the souther portion of hispania . and trust me the iberian peninsula will change

oh trust me all gold ages must come to and end

 

[Chickennuggetscientist]

its something that i was going to explain in later chapter , like when in the 642 i said that Heracluis reging he recovered territory , and then later i explained the campaings agains the avars of heraclius .

but dont worry i have and explination as to why the visigoths dont take back the souther portion of hispania . and trust me the iberian peninsula will change

oh trust me all gold ages must come to and end

Thanks! Btw this is a great TL it deserves more comments. Amazing how this POD hasn't been used before.

 

[LuGiA]

This is the person from Whatifist's comment section.

 

[Silver01]

Thanks! Btw this is a great TL it deserves more comments. Amazing how this POD hasn't been used before.

thank you for reading my timeline

 

[Silver01]

It had been two months and a half since the emperor arrived; after winning his men and commanders, he celebrated, but he wondered who was the person who retreated with most of the army. Yet the emperor still didn't celebrate; he was busy planning his invasion.

norther Italy

Perctarit saw how the men were demoralized, so he made a speech about the "tragic" death of the Lombard king, but now was not the time for that; it was the time to avenge him and to kick the invaders out of Italy. It worked as the Lombards cheered, and the new "king" smiled as he knew he was the undisputed ruler of the Lombards. Now he wants to fulfill the promise that he made to Khagan, to bring him Constans head.

Central Italy, 2 weeks later, late July

Constans moved to the north, again to capture the important cities, and he waited for his navy to arrive. He learned from Belisarius's mistakes; he waited for supplies, as it was the lack of supplies that caused Belisarius to lose important cities. Constans would not move as fast as him; sure, he wanted a fast war, but consolidation and winning the hearts of the people were essential to the emperor as he did not want the people to revolt, and if the people were with him and if he had good supplies, the cities he captured would become permanent bases; the Lombards would lose support and be a force to meet him in a battle wherever he chose.

Constans had planned this; the only thing that was slightly left to luck was the duel with the Lombard king, but Constans trusted in his abilities and that the sword would work, and it did so after all of southern Italy came under his command. Now Constans moved to take Siena, the city was not prepared to resist, and in eight days it surrendered to him. Constans stayed there just 14 days before he moved to Florence. The city had few inhabitants, but the Lombard king sent 2000 of his most loyal men to defend it. He knew it was a lost cause, but he wanted to hold the emperor for as long as possible. The city garrison did hold in the small, yet effective Byzantine circle built a century before.

The Romans stormed through the city walls like waves crashing into the ocean, but like the waves they had to pull back, the defenders threw everything at the Roman siege engines to at least damage them, and every Roman who climbed the walls was met by the fury of the defenders.

On the 16th day of the siege, it seemed like the breakthrough was close. In desperation, 700 men sallied out to distract the Romans. The sortie caught everyone, including the emperor, by surprise, and the Lombards managed to kill some Romans. but when the emperor reorganized his troops, the valiant sortie turned into a massacre. The defenders could do nothing as they watched their comrades get killed, but the sortie completed its objective of giving time for the defenders to prepare.


The day passed, but by the 38th day of the siege, the defenders had only 350 men, and they and the civilians were starving. The civilians were angry, but the final straw was when someone tried to confiscate food from them. The civilians rose up in arms, and surprisingly, they just kicked the soldiers out of the city, Constans, for many reasons, chief among them that the citizens wanted kicked the soldiers out, spared the survivors, and it was for showing bravery; with that, the people cheered him, especially after he gave them some supplies, as he stayed for a week . Now Constans moved to Pisa to finally take the whole duchy.

 

[Silver01]

early October

Constans army arrived at Pisa, and he wasted no time and began the siege. His intent was to starve it, but unknown to him, the city had huge reserves of food. Due to having time to prepare, they also secretly took supplies from other cities that Constans besieged. Since they were seen as lost causes, but even then, they only took what was necessary so that the populous would not turn against them. Still, the siege continued, and as late October arrived, Constans ordered the first assault.It was a bloody affair; neither side was winning, but every wave of Romans was broken by the defenders, the Romans would retreat and come back, and this continued all day. By sunrise, the emperor had ordered the assault to cease, and while he did lose men, he was still optimistic and thought that his assault had lowered the morale of the defenders.

While it did cause many casualties, it did not break their spirits. As the first week of November passed, Constans began to doubt that his army might be able to take the city before December; he had done one more assault and still nothing, and he knew that the situation was not bad yet; he still had food, but that was not the bad part, since he knew winter could bring disease. Despite having enough food for his troops, he wanted more, since he was afraid that his army might suffer due to an unknown circumstance, the fate of Belisarius army, and starve, so Constans sent a foraging party comprised of 1500.

Some days had passed; the foraging party had gotten enough food and was returning, but they had fallen into a trap; they were ambushed. Constans waited for their return, and waited, finally he decided that he would make one last assault; the day before it he was a quiet one, as it was a day for prayer.

The next day

Constans gave the order, and the siege engines moved into position, advancing. As the defenders noticed this, they began to launch arrows. Now the infantry moved with the siege ladders, while archers were behind them to offer support. These men were to get in and open the gates; however, the defenders began to shower them with arrows. Constans archers responded, and the Roman infantry placed the ladders and began to climb, receiving arrows and stones as they did.

By the time rams arrived at the gate of the city, some defenders for a moment ignored the Roman infantry and desperately began to throw stones and even hot water, and they managed to destroy the siege engines. The distraction caused some Romans to arrive at the top of the walls despite being outnumbered, and the Roman force began to kill many Lombard's and began to go to the gate. But the numbers were too much, and all the Romans who entered the city were killed in less than 15 minutes. The fighting continued for hours. By the end of the day, Constans declared that they would lift the siege, but he convinced his men that this was a minor setback. And he began his retreat to the South for the winter, but he promised he would be back.