maybe not directly, but a convenient butterfly of having Clovis killed would go a loooooong way towards that goal.
The Reign of Romulus Augustus
- Thread starter Romulus Augustus
- Start date
maybe not directly, but a convenient butterfly of having Clovis killed would go a loooooong way towards that goal.
Probably it could hold the Franks for some years, but that turn of events could lead instead in the middle term to a conquest of the domains by the Visigoths, so instead of a French and Christian Gaul we will see a Visigoth and Arian Gaul...
Note: This post is written in the POV of a person who until now has been a background character. I've been waiting for the right time to write something from his perspective. Might as well be now, otherwise I should have titled this thread "The Reign of Orestes." 
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Almost 450 years ago, the bloodthirsty triumvir Octavian began his benevolent reign as Caesar Augustus. By the time of his death some four decades later, it seemed like the Roman Empire held the world in its grasp (minus the debacle in Germania, of course). Under Romulus Augustus, the western half of that empire was fighting for its survival with not even half of the advantages of its more secure eastern counterpart.
Looking back on the history of the first emperor, there was such a blatant contrast between Caesar Augustus and Romulus Augustus, and the boy-emperor knew it. For one, the man who first carried the title of Augustus ruled over a united empire that stretched from Spain (Hispania) to Syria. Romulus’s empire, if it could even be called “his” empire, was barely holding on to the Praetorian Prefecture of Italy (not counting the loss of Sicilia, Sardinia and Corsica, as well as North Africa to the Vandals). In addition, there were a few Roman rump states, one under Syagrius who maintained a semblance of Roman authority in an enclave within northern Gaul. Due to the Vandal invasion of North Africa, the area of Mauritania came under the control of Roman-Moorish kingdoms with only nominal allegiance to the Ravenna government.
But Italy was essential. Even Romulus knew that there could be no more pretenses to a “Western Empire” if Italy (including cities like Ravenna and Rome) was lost to Germanic rule. He figured that his father might be looking in to whatever options there were for restoring actual Roman rule to distant places like Gaul and Mauretania. But given how much effort has already been made to preserve said rule in Italy alone, Romulus feared that the chance of providing any real aid to either one was slim at best. For the moment, the Vandals hold too strong a monopoly on Africa. In Gaul, the strength of both the Franks and Visigoths have come to eclipse that of the Western Empire. If the Romans in the West still dared to hope of one day seeing their realm restored to near forgotten glories, they have to bide their time. Though how much time was anyone’s guess. As far as Romulus could tell, it was his moment in history that would decide the ultimate fate of the Western Empire for the foreseeable future.
Such a notion filled Romulus with despair. This was too much responsibility for any adolescent boy to handle. True, at fifteen years of age he should technically be considered an adult. But as far as most people in the Roman world and beyond were concerned, he was a pretentious little child who owed everything to his father. Romulus Augustulus, the “little Augustus” they mockingly joked about him. Some didn’t even believe he deserved the name of Rome’s legendary founder, and so nicknamed him Momyllus, the “little disgrace.” If only the common man knew that his actual namesake was his noble grandfather on his mother’s side, the Pannonian nobleman Comes Romulus.
Such degrading insults frustrated the emperor, but then again he could hardly blame his detractors. Regardless of what he was under Roman law, he was still very much a child and certainly treated like one too. It was his father who forced him to accept this throne and the name “Augustus;” it was his father who kept him on that throne by making sure that his son kept the title of emperor, so far. Romulus had done nothing to reverse the tidal wave of public disrespect directed against him, and how could he? A lot of time has passed since the West had a true emperor who didn’t overly rely on his court officials to do his job for him. For all intents and purposes, the emperor ruled with supreme authority in the government in name only. In reality, political and military power was heavily invested in the magister militum, which could explain why Orestes was keen on not trading that office for a “ceremonial” one. In Catholic circles, the Pope of Rome is the spiritual father of the Church in the West.
Romulus Augustus felt as useless as the people thought he was. All he could do so far was carry out a few formal duties - purely ceremonial in function - and then retreat into the seclusion of the Imperial Palace at Ravenna, carefully guarded by his father’s most trusted soldiers. How he wished to just get away from it all. Why should he have to rule over a people who weren’t even waiting to see if he would fail? From what he has heard, they’re already betting on when he will be deposed. Well he wanted nothing more than to renounce his title and leave it to someone more willing to bear such an unwanted burden. Except he would most likely be murdered afterward. So many deposed emperors have been killed, and so few have survived only to spend the rest of their lives in exile. Should another successful usurper arise, it is hard to imagine that he might be merciful enough to let the young Romulus live.
Sometimes Romulus wished that he could at least follow in the emperor Tiberius’s example and “exile” himself to a fortified island like Capri, or maybe the Castellum Lucullanum, a magnificent villa in Campania that was built centuries ago by Lucullus and later fortified by Valentinian III. Such thoughts were only fantasies, however; born of a youthful mind overwhelmed with melancholy. Romulus would go no where as long as his father needed him to maintain the façade that an empire still needed its emperor. Unless he could finally have the chance to actually prove his worth, assuming he had any, then he will never be remembered as “Romulus Augustus.” Only “Romulus Augustulus,” or worse, “Momyllus Augustulus.”
The thought of either derisive nickname filled the emperor with even more despair. For that was most likely his destiny, to be remembered as a little disgrace, unworthy of the title of emperor and the legacy that went with it.
“They’ll never see me as anything more than a child, a disgrace, and a pretender to the names of Romulus and Augustus. It’s hopeless.”
Some historians have claimed that, in contrast to his controlling father, Romulus Augustus's loving mother was the only positive influence in his early life. As a young boy, he was sheltered from the world to the point of enduring virtual isolation with only his mother and few others to compensate for the loneliness and insecurity he faced throughout his formative years.
As a result of hearsay, in spite of a lack of evidence, some believe that Romulus's mother is more responsible than anyone else for the cynical, ruthless and brutal man he became. According to one story, Romulus's mother taught him to believe that trust was a fool's gambit, compassion for the naïve, and mercy for the weak. Though he should not dismiss the teachings of the Church, she wanted him to understand that no action was too extreme where the Emperor's survival was concerned.
Whatever the truth, "survival of the fittest" all but defined Romulus's reign and policies as Emperor of the Romans. At the same time, he would go on to strengthen the alliance between the Papacy and the Imperial throne. Unlike Orestes, whom Romulus rarely acknowledged throughout the later years of his reign, the Emperor commissioned several great works as tribute to his mother's legacy.
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Magnum and RyuDrago: Thank you both for you insight, and also for taking an interest in this timeline. I'm certainly considering the fate of Sygarius's realm and am also considering what, or if anything can be done about it from Orestes's POV. At the same time, I'm also considering if the Franks or Visigoths might make more effective allies for the Western Empire, given how powerful they have become. Yes, they have both been unreliable at times, but there are some examples when they proved "loyal" (well, loyal enough) to the West. I certainly can't be completely sure how it would unfold in this alternate timeline, but the continued existence of the Gallo-Roman population and further Christianization just might motivate either faction to at least consider closer ties to Rome and the West - by that I mean peace treaties or alliances. They wont simply jump back into the Empire's fold if they don't have to.
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Almost 450 years ago, the bloodthirsty triumvir Octavian began his benevolent reign as Caesar Augustus. By the time of his death some four decades later, it seemed like the Roman Empire held the world in its grasp (minus the debacle in Germania, of course). Under Romulus Augustus, the western half of that empire was fighting for its survival with not even half of the advantages of its more secure eastern counterpart.
Looking back on the history of the first emperor, there was such a blatant contrast between Caesar Augustus and Romulus Augustus, and the boy-emperor knew it. For one, the man who first carried the title of Augustus ruled over a united empire that stretched from Spain (Hispania) to Syria. Romulus’s empire, if it could even be called “his” empire, was barely holding on to the Praetorian Prefecture of Italy (not counting the loss of Sicilia, Sardinia and Corsica, as well as North Africa to the Vandals). In addition, there were a few Roman rump states, one under Syagrius who maintained a semblance of Roman authority in an enclave within northern Gaul. Due to the Vandal invasion of North Africa, the area of Mauritania came under the control of Roman-Moorish kingdoms with only nominal allegiance to the Ravenna government.
But Italy was essential. Even Romulus knew that there could be no more pretenses to a “Western Empire” if Italy (including cities like Ravenna and Rome) was lost to Germanic rule. He figured that his father might be looking in to whatever options there were for restoring actual Roman rule to distant places like Gaul and Mauretania. But given how much effort has already been made to preserve said rule in Italy alone, Romulus feared that the chance of providing any real aid to either one was slim at best. For the moment, the Vandals hold too strong a monopoly on Africa. In Gaul, the strength of both the Franks and Visigoths have come to eclipse that of the Western Empire. If the Romans in the West still dared to hope of one day seeing their realm restored to near forgotten glories, they have to bide their time. Though how much time was anyone’s guess. As far as Romulus could tell, it was his moment in history that would decide the ultimate fate of the Western Empire for the foreseeable future.
Such a notion filled Romulus with despair. This was too much responsibility for any adolescent boy to handle. True, at fifteen years of age he should technically be considered an adult. But as far as most people in the Roman world and beyond were concerned, he was a pretentious little child who owed everything to his father. Romulus Augustulus, the “little Augustus” they mockingly joked about him. Some didn’t even believe he deserved the name of Rome’s legendary founder, and so nicknamed him Momyllus, the “little disgrace.” If only the common man knew that his actual namesake was his noble grandfather on his mother’s side, the Pannonian nobleman Comes Romulus.
Such degrading insults frustrated the emperor, but then again he could hardly blame his detractors. Regardless of what he was under Roman law, he was still very much a child and certainly treated like one too. It was his father who forced him to accept this throne and the name “Augustus;” it was his father who kept him on that throne by making sure that his son kept the title of emperor, so far. Romulus had done nothing to reverse the tidal wave of public disrespect directed against him, and how could he? A lot of time has passed since the West had a true emperor who didn’t overly rely on his court officials to do his job for him. For all intents and purposes, the emperor ruled with supreme authority in the government in name only. In reality, political and military power was heavily invested in the magister militum, which could explain why Orestes was keen on not trading that office for a “ceremonial” one. In Catholic circles, the Pope of Rome is the spiritual father of the Church in the West.
Romulus Augustus felt as useless as the people thought he was. All he could do so far was carry out a few formal duties - purely ceremonial in function - and then retreat into the seclusion of the Imperial Palace at Ravenna, carefully guarded by his father’s most trusted soldiers. How he wished to just get away from it all. Why should he have to rule over a people who weren’t even waiting to see if he would fail? From what he has heard, they’re already betting on when he will be deposed. Well he wanted nothing more than to renounce his title and leave it to someone more willing to bear such an unwanted burden. Except he would most likely be murdered afterward. So many deposed emperors have been killed, and so few have survived only to spend the rest of their lives in exile. Should another successful usurper arise, it is hard to imagine that he might be merciful enough to let the young Romulus live.
Sometimes Romulus wished that he could at least follow in the emperor Tiberius’s example and “exile” himself to a fortified island like Capri, or maybe the Castellum Lucullanum, a magnificent villa in Campania that was built centuries ago by Lucullus and later fortified by Valentinian III. Such thoughts were only fantasies, however; born of a youthful mind overwhelmed with melancholy. Romulus would go no where as long as his father needed him to maintain the façade that an empire still needed its emperor. Unless he could finally have the chance to actually prove his worth, assuming he had any, then he will never be remembered as “Romulus Augustus.” Only “Romulus Augustulus,” or worse, “Momyllus Augustulus.”
The thought of either derisive nickname filled the emperor with even more despair. For that was most likely his destiny, to be remembered as a little disgrace, unworthy of the title of emperor and the legacy that went with it.
“They’ll never see me as anything more than a child, a disgrace, and a pretender to the names of Romulus and Augustus. It’s hopeless.”
Some historians have claimed that, in contrast to his controlling father, Romulus Augustus's loving mother was the only positive influence in his early life. As a young boy, he was sheltered from the world to the point of enduring virtual isolation with only his mother and few others to compensate for the loneliness and insecurity he faced throughout his formative years.
As a result of hearsay, in spite of a lack of evidence, some believe that Romulus's mother is more responsible than anyone else for the cynical, ruthless and brutal man he became. According to one story, Romulus's mother taught him to believe that trust was a fool's gambit, compassion for the naïve, and mercy for the weak. Though he should not dismiss the teachings of the Church, she wanted him to understand that no action was too extreme where the Emperor's survival was concerned.
Whatever the truth, "survival of the fittest" all but defined Romulus's reign and policies as Emperor of the Romans. At the same time, he would go on to strengthen the alliance between the Papacy and the Imperial throne. Unlike Orestes, whom Romulus rarely acknowledged throughout the later years of his reign, the Emperor commissioned several great works as tribute to his mother's legacy.
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Magnum and RyuDrago: Thank you both for you insight, and also for taking an interest in this timeline. I'm certainly considering the fate of Sygarius's realm and am also considering what, or if anything can be done about it from Orestes's POV. At the same time, I'm also considering if the Franks or Visigoths might make more effective allies for the Western Empire, given how powerful they have become. Yes, they have both been unreliable at times, but there are some examples when they proved "loyal" (well, loyal enough
) to the West. I certainly can't be completely sure how it would unfold in this alternate timeline, but the continued existence of the Gallo-Roman population and further Christianization just might motivate either faction to at least consider closer ties to Rome and the West - by that I mean peace treaties or alliances. They wont simply jump back into the Empire's fold if they don't have to.
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Magnum and RyuDrago: Thank you both for you insight, and also for taking an interest in this timeline. I'm certainly considering the fate of Sygarius's realm and am also considering what, or if anything can be done about it from Orestes's POV. At the same time, I'm also considering if the Franks or Visigoths might make more effective allies for the Western Empire, given how powerful they have become. Yes, they have both been unreliable at times, but there are some examples when they proved "loyal" (well, loyal enough
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You are welcome. About the fate of the domain of Soissons: I see only two possible choices, or the WRE searches an alliance with one of the three barbarian people settled in Gaul (Franks, Burgundians or Visigoths) or Syagrius plays the indipendence card from Ravenna. In both cases, the survival of the region depends essentially with an agreement with one of these three peoples, each one with advantages and disadvantages.
Burgundians: They could guarantee a direct connection between North Gaul and Italy, they were on the path to the definitive conversion to Christianity and they have a fairly strong integration with the Roman uses, having behind a long story of cooperation with the Empire due to the foederati status. However they meddled in the past in the internal affairs of the Empire and could be interested one day to be the new overlords of the WRE. In that vision they could even agreed to join into the fold but they could be later a thorn in the side of the Empire.
Franks: On the way on the path to Christian conversion, and they have a strong interest towards the Roman uses, but they were positioned on a border territory with pressures from other barbarian peoples and as OTL they were interested to expand South.
Visigoths: They controlled the majority of Gaul, and the preservation of the domains could be useful as a buffer region against the Franks, but they were still Arians and not yet integrated with the Roman uses. Also the sack of Rome surely was still an open wound for the Italians, so i'm not sure Orestes will try to seek a negotiation with Toulouse at the time.
The alliance with one of these people could even later save the Empire from the Ostrogoth menace despite the fact i could predict the loss, even if temporary, of Dalmatia, reduced to some outposts like Split. However, if according to the last chapter Romulus is determinated to show his valor, things could still go differently...
I'm curious as to what is your plan for the Thracian Goths lead by Theodoric. They were a real pain in the eastern empire's side until Zeno sent them off to Italy to take out Odavacer.
This post is kind of long, but that's because it covers the next eight years after AD 477. With the exception of the PODs in my first two posts, a lot of what happens in this Timeline also happened (more or less) in the original timeline. Aside from keeping the Western Empire around post-AD 476 (or AD 480), the other purpose of this alternate timeline is to see how the West (down but not out) affects the rest of the late fifth century and early sixth century AD. Starting with the next post, I will be focusing on how other factions (ex: Franks, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, etc.) feature into this Timeline.
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AD 478 – AD 485
Eight years have passed since the Eastern Empire officially recognized the legitimacy of Romulus Augustus as Roman emperor of the Western Empire in AD 477, and so much has happened both within and beyond the diminished borders of the West. If the situation was bad for Rome during the reign of Valentinian III, it unquestionably became worse twenty years after his death. When Orestes seized control of the government from Julius Nepos in AD 475, so little remained of the Empire and so many powerful rivals surrounded them on all sides. It seemed inevitable that the West was ultimately doomed to collapse on what remained of itself, and yet there was still an Augustus in Ravenna more than ten years later.
It has been a long and difficult struggle for Orestes to guide the Empire in a direction that saw relative internal peace over last decade. Sometimes he could hardly believe that he had lived to succeed thus far. Of all the things that he might have done differently, he more certain than ever that the Germanic foederati would have been his undoing, had he made a different choice regarding their desire to become permanent residents in Italy. He had come so close to rejecting their appeal, and was by now so relieved that he did not make such a fatal error in judgment. If they had turned against him, he would not be alive right now, and his son would no longer be emperor. Perhaps another figurehead would have been placed on the throne, or if the rumors were true, then the foederati would have proclaimed Odoacer as their king.
Looking back on the Empire’s recent history, Orestes reflected on the many things that have happened in the West over the last several years:
Shortly after the reconciliation of Constantinople and Ravenna, Orestes made a risky decision to include Odoacer in the higher tiers of the Roman political and military hierarchy. Part of what kept the Roman population satisfied was the fact that both institutions remained mostly composed of Romans. But there were still a number of Germanic officers in the army, and it was unlikely that Odoacer would remain content where he was if the prospect of kingship had once been a viable option for him to take. The land used to settle the foederati may have placated them, but Odoacer was still popular enough with the rank-and-file, and he needed to be kept quiet with “bribes” in the form of greater prestige and authority.
Hence, Orestes granted Odoacer the title of Comes Italiae, giving the latter a military appointment superior to dux, but under the magister militum. The two powerful officials then governed the Western Empire in effect as a duumvirate, sharing leadership over Rome to a certain extent. So while the Romans maintained their monopoly on the administrative apparatus, the promotion of Odoacer gave the barbarians the impression that they were not being utterly excluded from the Roman government in Italy.
The duumvirate was hardly a perfect arrangement, however. Beneath the exterior of this political alliance, Orestes's rivalry with Odoacer almost mirrored the one that existed between Octavian and Marc Antony. Both were always on the lookout to seize greater laurels at the other’s expense. More often than not, Odoacer proved difficult for Orestes to work with. At one point, Odoacer argued in favor of the reclamation of Noricum, by now overrun and controlled by the Rugians. Orestes did want to see some of the West’s former territory restored under Roman rule in his lifetime. The army, a pale shadow of its former self, was arguably still an effective military force, at least enough to maybe recover Noricum. But with several larger and more powerful kingdoms surrounding the Empire, Orestes was adamant that external wars had to be avoided at all costs in the event of an emergency, in which Rome would need every last soldier at her command to defend Italy from insurrection - or worse, invasion. So instead the Magister Militum negotiated an alliance with the Rugian king Feletheus, and even managed to convince him to supply some soldiers to the foederati units. In order to compensate a clearly displeased Odoacer, Orestes had his fellow duumvir appointed consul in AD 479. The office of Roman consul had long since been deprived of any real power, but it remained a great honor nonetheless, complete with a lofty salary.
A year later, Odoacer convinced Orestes to support his initiative to absorb Sicilia back into the Western Empire. The Germanic general, who sometimes boasted that he could have achieved this before Genseric died, was certain that such a goal was even more possible with Huneric as the new king of the Vandals. Thanks to an Eastern Roman envoy and his own personal fear of Constantinople, Huneric had been relatively lenient to his Roman Catholic subjects. In any case, even some of the Romans in Italy were beginning to get restless with Orestes’s cautious approach to foreign policy, and so this time he did not use his superior authority to obstruct Odoacer. After the successful diplomatic coup saw Sicilia (minus the city of Lilybaeum) returned to Roman control, the jubilant people of Italy rejoiced in celebration, feeling a sense of triumph that their generation had only heard of in stories of past greatness.
Officially, it was a victory for the Western Empire and its duumvirate, “acting on behalf” of their emperor of course. But in reality, Odoacer received the greater share of accolades for the direct role that he played. Ironically, it was a victory for Rome, but also a setback for Orestes. He could endure Odoacer’s elevated standing in Italy for now, but not indefinitely.
Unfortunately, not long afterward, Huneric resumed his father's anti-Catholic policies by making martyrs out of those who refused to convert to Arianism, and banishing others to Corsica. Ravenna could only respond with an official protest; Rome outright condemned these actions. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the Romans were quite glad to hear of Huneric's death a year ago in AD 484.
As for his son, the emperor Romulus Augustus was 24 years-old now, but still overshadowed not not only by his father, but Odoacer as well. Not that this was unusual, given how the western court had been the real government for nearly a century, ruling in fact while emperors like Honorius and Valentinian III governed mostly in name. In the collective minds of the people, Roman and Germanic, Romulus Augustus had virtually transcended into something of a “Big Brother” persona, the result of the “name and reputation” being more prominently featured than the actual person himself. To the average civilian, the emperor was an authority figure (in principle, at least) whose presence was transmitted throughout the Empire via various media sources, such as heralds and propaganda tools.
AD 483 was a particularly significant year though, given that Anicia Juliana gave birth to Romulus’s son and heir. They chose the name ‘Olybrius’ for the newborn prince, mainly to highlight Anicia’s prestigious family, including her noble pedigree as the daughter of Western emperor Olybrius and direct descendant of Theodosius I.
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AD 478 – AD 485
Eight years have passed since the Eastern Empire officially recognized the legitimacy of Romulus Augustus as Roman emperor of the Western Empire in AD 477, and so much has happened both within and beyond the diminished borders of the West. If the situation was bad for Rome during the reign of Valentinian III, it unquestionably became worse twenty years after his death. When Orestes seized control of the government from Julius Nepos in AD 475, so little remained of the Empire and so many powerful rivals surrounded them on all sides. It seemed inevitable that the West was ultimately doomed to collapse on what remained of itself, and yet there was still an Augustus in Ravenna more than ten years later.
It has been a long and difficult struggle for Orestes to guide the Empire in a direction that saw relative internal peace over last decade. Sometimes he could hardly believe that he had lived to succeed thus far. Of all the things that he might have done differently, he more certain than ever that the Germanic foederati would have been his undoing, had he made a different choice regarding their desire to become permanent residents in Italy. He had come so close to rejecting their appeal, and was by now so relieved that he did not make such a fatal error in judgment. If they had turned against him, he would not be alive right now, and his son would no longer be emperor. Perhaps another figurehead would have been placed on the throne, or if the rumors were true, then the foederati would have proclaimed Odoacer as their king.
Looking back on the Empire’s recent history, Orestes reflected on the many things that have happened in the West over the last several years:
Shortly after the reconciliation of Constantinople and Ravenna, Orestes made a risky decision to include Odoacer in the higher tiers of the Roman political and military hierarchy. Part of what kept the Roman population satisfied was the fact that both institutions remained mostly composed of Romans. But there were still a number of Germanic officers in the army, and it was unlikely that Odoacer would remain content where he was if the prospect of kingship had once been a viable option for him to take. The land used to settle the foederati may have placated them, but Odoacer was still popular enough with the rank-and-file, and he needed to be kept quiet with “bribes” in the form of greater prestige and authority.
Hence, Orestes granted Odoacer the title of Comes Italiae, giving the latter a military appointment superior to dux, but under the magister militum. The two powerful officials then governed the Western Empire in effect as a duumvirate, sharing leadership over Rome to a certain extent. So while the Romans maintained their monopoly on the administrative apparatus, the promotion of Odoacer gave the barbarians the impression that they were not being utterly excluded from the Roman government in Italy.
The duumvirate was hardly a perfect arrangement, however. Beneath the exterior of this political alliance, Orestes's rivalry with Odoacer almost mirrored the one that existed between Octavian and Marc Antony. Both were always on the lookout to seize greater laurels at the other’s expense. More often than not, Odoacer proved difficult for Orestes to work with. At one point, Odoacer argued in favor of the reclamation of Noricum, by now overrun and controlled by the Rugians. Orestes did want to see some of the West’s former territory restored under Roman rule in his lifetime. The army, a pale shadow of its former self, was arguably still an effective military force, at least enough to maybe recover Noricum. But with several larger and more powerful kingdoms surrounding the Empire, Orestes was adamant that external wars had to be avoided at all costs in the event of an emergency, in which Rome would need every last soldier at her command to defend Italy from insurrection - or worse, invasion. So instead the Magister Militum negotiated an alliance with the Rugian king Feletheus, and even managed to convince him to supply some soldiers to the foederati units. In order to compensate a clearly displeased Odoacer, Orestes had his fellow duumvir appointed consul in AD 479. The office of Roman consul had long since been deprived of any real power, but it remained a great honor nonetheless, complete with a lofty salary.
A year later, Odoacer convinced Orestes to support his initiative to absorb Sicilia back into the Western Empire. The Germanic general, who sometimes boasted that he could have achieved this before Genseric died, was certain that such a goal was even more possible with Huneric as the new king of the Vandals. Thanks to an Eastern Roman envoy and his own personal fear of Constantinople, Huneric had been relatively lenient to his Roman Catholic subjects. In any case, even some of the Romans in Italy were beginning to get restless with Orestes’s cautious approach to foreign policy, and so this time he did not use his superior authority to obstruct Odoacer. After the successful diplomatic coup saw Sicilia (minus the city of Lilybaeum) returned to Roman control, the jubilant people of Italy rejoiced in celebration, feeling a sense of triumph that their generation had only heard of in stories of past greatness.
Officially, it was a victory for the Western Empire and its duumvirate, “acting on behalf” of their emperor of course. But in reality, Odoacer received the greater share of accolades for the direct role that he played. Ironically, it was a victory for Rome, but also a setback for Orestes. He could endure Odoacer’s elevated standing in Italy for now, but not indefinitely.
Unfortunately, not long afterward, Huneric resumed his father's anti-Catholic policies by making martyrs out of those who refused to convert to Arianism, and banishing others to Corsica. Ravenna could only respond with an official protest; Rome outright condemned these actions. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the Romans were quite glad to hear of Huneric's death a year ago in AD 484.
As for his son, the emperor Romulus Augustus was 24 years-old now, but still overshadowed not not only by his father, but Odoacer as well. Not that this was unusual, given how the western court had been the real government for nearly a century, ruling in fact while emperors like Honorius and Valentinian III governed mostly in name. In the collective minds of the people, Roman and Germanic, Romulus Augustus had virtually transcended into something of a “Big Brother” persona, the result of the “name and reputation” being more prominently featured than the actual person himself. To the average civilian, the emperor was an authority figure (in principle, at least) whose presence was transmitted throughout the Empire via various media sources, such as heralds and propaganda tools.
AD 483 was a particularly significant year though, given that Anicia Juliana gave birth to Romulus’s son and heir. They chose the name ‘Olybrius’ for the newborn prince, mainly to highlight Anicia’s prestigious family, including her noble pedigree as the daughter of Western emperor Olybrius and direct descendant of Theodosius I.
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Great update. It's going to be interesting to see if Romulus Augustus begins to make moves to actually gain some real power, and how Orestes is going to deal with Odavacer.
And a new dynasty is born
Yeah, my best guess on this subject is that Romulus Augustus could have been the nucleus of a new dynasty, had he ruled long enough. But based on what little information we have about him, his roots can be traced to provincial aristocracy in Pannonia, which doesn't seem very prestigious compared to the other more prominent families. While his marriage to Anicia Juliana, who historically married someone else, seems like a bit of a long shot, I think it's plausible to assume that she might have been an option before she got married, given Juliana's relation to the House of Theodosius.
Thanks, I'm glad you approve. I definitely have plans for Romulus Augustus. At this point, I don't think he can stay a figurehead for very much longer. The trick is to find a plausible way to get him out of the shadows of Orestes and Odoacer, both of whom dominate the Western Empire's government, which I imagine would only increase their rivalry (not unlike many alliances that usually ended in mutual enmity).
AD 486 – AD 487
In the decade that Orestes governed the Western Empire through his son, the primary focus of virtually all of his efforts were concentrated on the preservation of Roman rule in Italy. Beyond the Italian peninsula, the few remaining outposts of Rome’s authority were cut off and virtually abandoned by the central government at Ravenna. By then, many Romans in Italy, particularly the Italian-based senatorial aristocracy, had turned a blind eye to the plight of their fellow citizens now subjected by one barbarian warlord or another. Those who still retained a sense of patriotic pride in Rome could do nothing either. The survival of the state itself is paramount to the future of the Empire. Throughout the course of this entire century, Italy had been forced to sever the deadweight of its vast territories, starting with Britannia, and gradually followed by Hispania, North Africa, Noricum, Pannonia and Gaul.
Orestes felt partly responsible for the Empire’s losses in Gaul. His armed revolt against Julius Nepos had temporarily deprived the Imperial border of its manpower. After the installment of Romulus Augustus on the throne and the near mutiny of the Germanic foederati, the Visigothic Kingdom took advantage of the situation by occupying Provence, practically daring the West to intervene. That was something Orestes could not do. The Visigoths gained so much in the Post-Attila era, and now ruled most of southern Gaul and Hispania. Even Odoacer saw the wisdom of avoiding further conflict with such a powerful state in Western Europe.
But now one man threatened to change the balance of power in Gaul. Clovis I, king of the Salian Franks, envisioned a future in which all Frankish realms throughout Gaul were united under his authority. Naturally this would set the Franks against the Byrgundians and Visigoths, and while Orestes would not mind seeing all three destroy each other in a brutal war, there was one problem. In the middle of these three main Germanic spheres endured the last enclave of Roman authority in Gaul. Syagrius, son of Aegidius and self-proclaimed dux, controlled the territory around Noviodunum that formally maintained its allegiance to Rome. Although this Gallo-Roman bastion did not support Orestes’s rebellion, and only acknowledged Romulus Augustus’s claim to the throne after Constantinople did so, it was still nevertheless Roman. Orestes did not want to abandon the Romans of Gaul without at least trying to aid them in ways that did not jeopardize the Empire’s security.
For several years, Orestes maintained contact with Childeric I, Clovis’s father and predecessor to the Frankish crown, through diplomatic channels. Under Childeric’s leadership, the Salian Franks proved themselves to be invaluable allies both to Orestes and especially Syagrius. This all began to change once Clovis came to power. Far from content with what his father left him, the young king was determined to expand his realm through the glory of war. The domain of Noviodunum was the ideal place to begin. Out of all the remaining major powers in Gaul, the Romans were shamefully the weakest link in the chain. In AD 486, Clovis felt ready to take the first real step in his conquest of Gaul, by bringing an end to the last vestige of Roman rule in Gaul. Orestes sent diplomats to the Frankish court several times in an effort to save Noviodunum through diplomacy, but all of his appeals were promptly put down. As far as Clovis was concerned, nothing would divert the Franks from the path that led to their ascendancy as the new dominant power in Western Europe.
As the Frankish army closed in on Noviodunum, Syagrius desperately pleaded with the Western Roman Empire for military aid. But the West had nothing to offer, especially not when so much conflict on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea threatened to spill over into Italy. In the East, the powerful Ostrogoths were growing restless and causing trouble, despite their supposed status as foederati units in the Eastern Roman Army. As for the West, the presence of so many Germanic kingdoms, all of which made a habit of expanding their territories at Rome’s expense, was more than enough of an incentive for Orestes to decide against any military actions beyond Italy’s frontier.
It was a painful sacrifice to make, and it weighed on Orestes’s conscience to tell his fellow Romans that they were on their own. It seemed like Britannia all over again. The local Roman population begged their government to deliver them from foreign conquerors, only for their pleas to fall on deaf ears. But despite all of its problems at the beginning of the century, the Western Empire was far stronger than what it now was in its current state. If Ravenna could no longer defend Britannia by AD 408, then she was in absolutely no position to save what little remained of Roman Gaul.
When news of Syagrius’s defeat reached the capital, the whole of the West was in shock. Just when it started to seem as if better times actually were ahead, the relatively easy conquest of Noviodunum all but proves that any Germanic kingdom could conquer the Western Empire at will. Thankfully, Clovis will not move against the West, so long as the Burgundians and Visigoths still share borders with the now expanded Frankish Kingdom. Regardless, Orestes and Odoacer issue conscription orders throughout the Empire, augmenting the army with new soldiers from all over Italy, Dalmatia and Sicilia. The financial burden of this military endeavor will considerably high, perhaps even futile given the odds against them. But if the end truly was near from the West, then Orestes wanted to make sure that the Empire was remembered for making a last stand in the face of her enemies – and went down fighting like true Romans.
The prospect of such an end came sooner than Orestes would have preferred. By AD 487, less than a year after the Battle of Noviodunum, intelligence reports indicated that the Eastern Empire’s Ostrogothic foederati were preparing to invade Italy within a year’s time. According to Orestes’s spies in Constantinople, the eastern court officially had nothing to do with this. Unofficially, the emperor Zeno was behind the imminent catastrophe. It seems that he still harbored a grudge against Orestes for making him look like a fool by accepting a usurper’s claim to the West. Furthermore, the Ostrogoths under Theodoric’s leadership were becoming more trouble than they were worth. So in order to rid the East of a people in search for a new homeland, Zeno maneuvered them to invade Italy. where Theodoric would rule as Zeno’s viceroy, which also meant that there would not be another Western emperor if Romulus was deposed.
Orestes now had so much to do, yet so little time. The outcome of this war with the Theodoric and the Ostrogoths would decide the fate of the Western Empire.
In the decade that Orestes governed the Western Empire through his son, the primary focus of virtually all of his efforts were concentrated on the preservation of Roman rule in Italy. Beyond the Italian peninsula, the few remaining outposts of Rome’s authority were cut off and virtually abandoned by the central government at Ravenna. By then, many Romans in Italy, particularly the Italian-based senatorial aristocracy, had turned a blind eye to the plight of their fellow citizens now subjected by one barbarian warlord or another. Those who still retained a sense of patriotic pride in Rome could do nothing either. The survival of the state itself is paramount to the future of the Empire. Throughout the course of this entire century, Italy had been forced to sever the deadweight of its vast territories, starting with Britannia, and gradually followed by Hispania, North Africa, Noricum, Pannonia and Gaul.
Orestes felt partly responsible for the Empire’s losses in Gaul. His armed revolt against Julius Nepos had temporarily deprived the Imperial border of its manpower. After the installment of Romulus Augustus on the throne and the near mutiny of the Germanic foederati, the Visigothic Kingdom took advantage of the situation by occupying Provence, practically daring the West to intervene. That was something Orestes could not do. The Visigoths gained so much in the Post-Attila era, and now ruled most of southern Gaul and Hispania. Even Odoacer saw the wisdom of avoiding further conflict with such a powerful state in Western Europe.
But now one man threatened to change the balance of power in Gaul. Clovis I, king of the Salian Franks, envisioned a future in which all Frankish realms throughout Gaul were united under his authority. Naturally this would set the Franks against the Byrgundians and Visigoths, and while Orestes would not mind seeing all three destroy each other in a brutal war, there was one problem. In the middle of these three main Germanic spheres endured the last enclave of Roman authority in Gaul. Syagrius, son of Aegidius and self-proclaimed dux, controlled the territory around Noviodunum that formally maintained its allegiance to Rome. Although this Gallo-Roman bastion did not support Orestes’s rebellion, and only acknowledged Romulus Augustus’s claim to the throne after Constantinople did so, it was still nevertheless Roman. Orestes did not want to abandon the Romans of Gaul without at least trying to aid them in ways that did not jeopardize the Empire’s security.
For several years, Orestes maintained contact with Childeric I, Clovis’s father and predecessor to the Frankish crown, through diplomatic channels. Under Childeric’s leadership, the Salian Franks proved themselves to be invaluable allies both to Orestes and especially Syagrius. This all began to change once Clovis came to power. Far from content with what his father left him, the young king was determined to expand his realm through the glory of war. The domain of Noviodunum was the ideal place to begin. Out of all the remaining major powers in Gaul, the Romans were shamefully the weakest link in the chain. In AD 486, Clovis felt ready to take the first real step in his conquest of Gaul, by bringing an end to the last vestige of Roman rule in Gaul. Orestes sent diplomats to the Frankish court several times in an effort to save Noviodunum through diplomacy, but all of his appeals were promptly put down. As far as Clovis was concerned, nothing would divert the Franks from the path that led to their ascendancy as the new dominant power in Western Europe.
As the Frankish army closed in on Noviodunum, Syagrius desperately pleaded with the Western Roman Empire for military aid. But the West had nothing to offer, especially not when so much conflict on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea threatened to spill over into Italy. In the East, the powerful Ostrogoths were growing restless and causing trouble, despite their supposed status as foederati units in the Eastern Roman Army. As for the West, the presence of so many Germanic kingdoms, all of which made a habit of expanding their territories at Rome’s expense, was more than enough of an incentive for Orestes to decide against any military actions beyond Italy’s frontier.
It was a painful sacrifice to make, and it weighed on Orestes’s conscience to tell his fellow Romans that they were on their own. It seemed like Britannia all over again. The local Roman population begged their government to deliver them from foreign conquerors, only for their pleas to fall on deaf ears. But despite all of its problems at the beginning of the century, the Western Empire was far stronger than what it now was in its current state. If Ravenna could no longer defend Britannia by AD 408, then she was in absolutely no position to save what little remained of Roman Gaul.
When news of Syagrius’s defeat reached the capital, the whole of the West was in shock. Just when it started to seem as if better times actually were ahead, the relatively easy conquest of Noviodunum all but proves that any Germanic kingdom could conquer the Western Empire at will. Thankfully, Clovis will not move against the West, so long as the Burgundians and Visigoths still share borders with the now expanded Frankish Kingdom. Regardless, Orestes and Odoacer issue conscription orders throughout the Empire, augmenting the army with new soldiers from all over Italy, Dalmatia and Sicilia. The financial burden of this military endeavor will considerably high, perhaps even futile given the odds against them. But if the end truly was near from the West, then Orestes wanted to make sure that the Empire was remembered for making a last stand in the face of her enemies – and went down fighting like true Romans.
The prospect of such an end came sooner than Orestes would have preferred. By AD 487, less than a year after the Battle of Noviodunum, intelligence reports indicated that the Eastern Empire’s Ostrogothic foederati were preparing to invade Italy within a year’s time. According to Orestes’s spies in Constantinople, the eastern court officially had nothing to do with this. Unofficially, the emperor Zeno was behind the imminent catastrophe. It seems that he still harbored a grudge against Orestes for making him look like a fool by accepting a usurper’s claim to the West. Furthermore, the Ostrogoths under Theodoric’s leadership were becoming more trouble than they were worth. So in order to rid the East of a people in search for a new homeland, Zeno maneuvered them to invade Italy. where Theodoric would rule as Zeno’s viceroy, which also meant that there would not be another Western emperor if Romulus was deposed.
Orestes now had so much to do, yet so little time. The outcome of this war with the Theodoric and the Ostrogoths would decide the fate of the Western Empire.
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Why not have the Anicii deal with Orestes and Odovacer? If they manage to remove them they all are benefited... If they fail Anicii will take the blame and Romulus will be able to seize their estates thus gaining direct control of their wealth.
I actually started thinking about that, but for the historical characters that feature in this timeline, I try to keep them as close to their OTL counterparts in terms of personality and motivations. Obvious exceptions are guys like Orestes and Romulus Augustus, but only because there's so little history about either of them. I kind of have to "improvise" when I write in their POV.
But back to the Anicii - I can't find anything in their history about them being disloyal, at least in Anicia Juliana's time. Her OTL husband actually had a chance to be the eastern emperor at one point, but he turned it down and ran away. From what I could find out about Juliana, she had pro-Roman views, but opted to stay out of politics and instead pursued her interest in art.But I'll definitely consider it, especially if in my research I find any relatives of her's that are more ambitious. I'm always on the lookout for any ideas on how to flesh this timeline out some more, and I appreciate any suggestions along the way. Speaking of which, thanks again for suggesting the possibility of attaching Romulus to the Anicii and by extension, the House of Theodosius. Also as this timeline progresses, I think the war with Theodoric will be, for better or worse, a defining moment for several characters, including Odoacer and Orestes, and even Romulus Augustus.
I actually started thinking about that, but for the historical characters that feature in this timeline, I try to keep them as close to their OTL counterparts in terms of personality and motivations. Obvious exceptions are guys like Orestes and Romulus Augustus, but only because there's so little history about either of them. I kind of have to "improvise" when I write in their POV.
But I'll definitely consider it, especially if in my research I find any relatives of her's that are more ambitious. I'm always on the lookout for any ideas on how to flesh this timeline out some more, and I appreciate any suggestions along the way. Speaking of which, thanks again for suggesting the possibility of attaching Romulus to the Anicii and by extension, the House of Theodosius. Also as this timeline progresses, I think the war with Theodoric will be, for better or worse, a defining moment for several characters, including Odoacer and Orestes, and even Romulus Augustus.
I might be of help with that... I have a large library on that era including several of the Anicii so i can find a character who might fit in a plan of removing Odovacer and Orestes...
too bad about Syagrius...
have you by any chance read this ?
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=253211
it's a nice TL (now apparently dead) where Clovis dies before becoming king and the Franks eventually sliding into a civil war
have you by any chance read this ?
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=253211
it's a nice TL (now apparently dead) where Clovis dies before becoming king and the Franks eventually sliding into a civil war
Great update again. It's sad to see the last Roman enclave in Gaul snuffed out, but it seems a necessary sacrifice. I hope Romulus will avenge the loss in the future.
Thanks, that would definitely be helpful. Even if I don't get rid of Orestes and Odoacer via assassination, I feel like I need some sort of internal-based conspiracy to make this alternate timeline more plausible... The thing about Roman emperors is that no reign feels complete without a good plot.
Yeah, I thought about how the PODs that I created for this timeline could help Soissons, but beyond altering the lives of key figures like Orestes, Odoacer and Romulus Augustus, the changes to the world outside of the Western Empire would be minimal, at least in the short run, in my opinion. As for that link, I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but the premise sounds interesting so I'll check it out. Thanks.
I know, but I felt like it was the most realistic outcome for Syagrius... Soissons was surrounded by Franks, Visigoths and Burgundians, completely cut off from the Western Empire at this point. Even if the West managed to make it to AD 486, I can't see how they would have been able to change Syagrius's fate. But while Roman authority has been wiped out in northern Gaul, the fact remains that the Gallo-Roman population is still around, and they could still preserve Roman traditions and the process of Christianization within the Frankish Kingdom, not unlike what happened in the OTL.
AD 488
The impending war against the Ostrogoths had two effects on the Western Roman Empire. One was fear, a reaction to be expected, given the overall catastrophe that all but crippled the government in Ravenna. Many civilians from the Diocese of Italia Annonaria fled southward; some even opted to leave the Italian peninsula for good, believing the West to be utterly doomed.
The other reaction, less anticipated than the first, was Patriotism, thanks to a gradual resurgence of pride in the sense of being Roman. Granted, this had never totally vanished, even during the worst of the crises that plagued Rome all throughout the century. Even when the Visigoths sacked Rome in AD 410, by and large the Romans refused to accept defeat. The Eternal City that had taken the world was herself briefly taken by an external force, but her people continued to endure, holding their heads up high even as the situation grew increasingly hopeless for the West.
For all of the rivalry and political bickering that threatened to destroy the duumvirate, the alliance of Orestes and Odoacer restored a sense of relative peace and stability in the remaining territories of the Western Empire, thus putting Roman society on a path to recovery. This period of security, however brief, allowed a new generation of Romans to grow up as citizens of the Empire, rather than the conquered subjects of another Germanic kingdom. Ten years ago or more, they almost certainly might have been convinced to accept barbarian rule in exchange for their very lives. By now the mere notion of such a fate was far less agreeable to them, especially after making more progress in the last decade than they could have dared to hope.
So while the foederati still retained its status as the majority, the military force at Ravenna’s command was now filled with more Romans than the army that Orestes inherited when he seized control of the state in AD 475. Even the foederati that had been permanently settled in Italy were showing a surprising willingness to defend a state that had previously regarded them as hired mercenaries and temporary residents. Of all the different tribes that flooded into the Western Empire, this ‘community’ of Herulians, Scirians and other Germanic settlers in Italy were unique in that they did not ultimately rebel against the Roman government by establishing an independent kingdom. It had come dangerously close to that, but the West managed to avert that outcome by agreeing to their immediate needs.
The foederati were still mostly viewed as outsiders due to the ethnic, cultural and religious differences that separated them as a people from the native Roman population. However, this did not stop them from being drawn to a certain extent toward a sense of “belonging.” In some ways Italy had become as much their homeland as it was to the Romans, and the foederati were willing to defend it against an aggressive outsider who threatened to destroy this arrangement.
Outside of the Western Roman Empire, Theodoric had already begun his campaign, but the first target of the Ostrogoths was Rugiland, not Italy. Theodoric unleashed the Ostrogoths in an all-out war against the Rugians; a war resulting in the conquest of the former territory of Noricum, and culminating in the capture and execution of King Feletheus. With their kingdom dissolved, the Rugians were suddenly without a homeland once more. Some submitted to Theodoric’s authority and agreed to fight under his command, but others had also retreated to the borders of Italy, vowing to fight for the West in exchange for sanctuary.
Orestes was not about to turn them away, but neither were the potential long-term risks lost on him. The Empire had been in this position before when the Visigoths pleaded for safe passage into Roman lands over a century ago, a request that the Romans granted - to the deepest regret of their descendants. Yet with the West reduced to a shadow of its former self, it needed all the soldiers it could get, especially with Theodoric preparing to march his army through the Julian Alps and in to Italy itself.
The impending war against the Ostrogoths had two effects on the Western Roman Empire. One was fear, a reaction to be expected, given the overall catastrophe that all but crippled the government in Ravenna. Many civilians from the Diocese of Italia Annonaria fled southward; some even opted to leave the Italian peninsula for good, believing the West to be utterly doomed.
The other reaction, less anticipated than the first, was Patriotism, thanks to a gradual resurgence of pride in the sense of being Roman. Granted, this had never totally vanished, even during the worst of the crises that plagued Rome all throughout the century. Even when the Visigoths sacked Rome in AD 410, by and large the Romans refused to accept defeat. The Eternal City that had taken the world was herself briefly taken by an external force, but her people continued to endure, holding their heads up high even as the situation grew increasingly hopeless for the West.
For all of the rivalry and political bickering that threatened to destroy the duumvirate, the alliance of Orestes and Odoacer restored a sense of relative peace and stability in the remaining territories of the Western Empire, thus putting Roman society on a path to recovery. This period of security, however brief, allowed a new generation of Romans to grow up as citizens of the Empire, rather than the conquered subjects of another Germanic kingdom. Ten years ago or more, they almost certainly might have been convinced to accept barbarian rule in exchange for their very lives. By now the mere notion of such a fate was far less agreeable to them, especially after making more progress in the last decade than they could have dared to hope.
So while the foederati still retained its status as the majority, the military force at Ravenna’s command was now filled with more Romans than the army that Orestes inherited when he seized control of the state in AD 475. Even the foederati that had been permanently settled in Italy were showing a surprising willingness to defend a state that had previously regarded them as hired mercenaries and temporary residents. Of all the different tribes that flooded into the Western Empire, this ‘community’ of Herulians, Scirians and other Germanic settlers in Italy were unique in that they did not ultimately rebel against the Roman government by establishing an independent kingdom. It had come dangerously close to that, but the West managed to avert that outcome by agreeing to their immediate needs.
The foederati were still mostly viewed as outsiders due to the ethnic, cultural and religious differences that separated them as a people from the native Roman population. However, this did not stop them from being drawn to a certain extent toward a sense of “belonging.” In some ways Italy had become as much their homeland as it was to the Romans, and the foederati were willing to defend it against an aggressive outsider who threatened to destroy this arrangement.
Outside of the Western Roman Empire, Theodoric had already begun his campaign, but the first target of the Ostrogoths was Rugiland, not Italy. Theodoric unleashed the Ostrogoths in an all-out war against the Rugians; a war resulting in the conquest of the former territory of Noricum, and culminating in the capture and execution of King Feletheus. With their kingdom dissolved, the Rugians were suddenly without a homeland once more. Some submitted to Theodoric’s authority and agreed to fight under his command, but others had also retreated to the borders of Italy, vowing to fight for the West in exchange for sanctuary.
Orestes was not about to turn them away, but neither were the potential long-term risks lost on him. The Empire had been in this position before when the Visigoths pleaded for safe passage into Roman lands over a century ago, a request that the Romans granted - to the deepest regret of their descendants. Yet with the West reduced to a shadow of its former self, it needed all the soldiers it could get, especially with Theodoric preparing to march his army through the Julian Alps and in to Italy itself.
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Even having Italy remain Roman for another couple of generations could help make Gaul/Hispania/Britannia remain a bit more Roman, culturally. There would be trade and immigration going on between the new kingdoms while they coalesced which could preserve and enhance the remaining Roman populations position.
Yes, the Theodoric leading the Ostrogothic invasion of Italy is the same one who did so in the original timeline. The immediate effects of the two PODs that I created to start this timeline (Nepos's death in Ravenna; Orestes making a different decision concerning the foederati) are for the most part limited to Italy. Beyond that, I don't see how the WRE's prolonged existence will make any significant changes to what happens in the ERE, at least not at this point in history in which the West is still very weak and focused on restoring some semblance of internal security. As far as the ERE is concerned, I can see Theodoric Strabo still rebelling against Constantinople, causing a lot of grief to Zeno, and ultimately dying the way he did IOTL.