The Heir of Rome

Hello everybody I'm starting a more serious story today about the rise of the Byzantine Empire. Settings are Monarch, Normal speed, no Random Events (I have lots of mountains to start and would rather not face 20 erupting volcanoes) on an Earth 18 Civs map. In any case have fun reading.

Next post will be story.

It was a bright, sunny day. The breeze from the seas rolled gently over the hills as Justinian looked over the assembled people. Waiting for an appropriate time to speak.

"Dear men and women. I have gathered you here today to begin what I hope will be a great and glorious empire. It will not be easy, but we have the strength and ability to be the best of the world! From this point forward let us be unified in our efforts, let not the world burn around us, let us mold the world to our will. Today we will create a city to be remembered for eternity. Go now, settle yourselves, make the great city of Constantinople on a hill to serve as a beacon of radiant light for the rest of the world"

The people clamored for more, but Justinian waved at them to calm them down. The people began the intensive work of building a new city. In the year 4000 BC it was completed and Constantinople was formed.



As the city was establishing itself in the world, Justinian heard word from various scouting parties he had hired. They were not alone in the world. The world was, in fact, a very full place. It would be very hard indeed to carve an existence out from the rocks around Constantinople, and harder still of there was competition from outside. Despite this, Justinian greeted his newest acquaintences with as much civility as he could muster.

"Dearest friend, what is your name? I am Justinian of Byzantium"

"Why, my name is Bismarck, I do hope our countries shall prosper in the company of one another".

"I express the same sentiments, do have a pleasant day"



"Oh, heavens I failed to see you there. My name is Justinian and you are?"

"They call me Julius Caesar. I have a feeling our countries are somehow connected"



The countries were in fact connected, of the Byzantine settlers who first built Constantinople many came from the same area as Caesar's men. The two countries were as similar at first glance as they could be.

One day a report came in from the scouting party.

"Sir, we discovered a tribal village. Upon entering they gave to us a map and it appears that there are other civilized peoples to the northeast of our country"

"Very well, when you have the time, please visit and give them an offering of peace, we are their neighbors after all."



Soon artists in Constantinople created many great works and Byzantine influence spread over the surrounding land as the country flourished.



Justinian smiled as he saw his enlarged domains. An advisor ran up behind him.

"Sir, a great breakthrough has occured, these hills can be worked and we can use the extracted materials to build more effectively"

"Good, run along now, we have mush work to do, I am particularly interested in the yellow rocks in the northwest, be sure to send a work force out to harvest and examine them as soon as possible"

"Yes Sir"



The warriors Justinian had sent earlier finally encountered the country called "Russia" and met with their leader Stalin.

"Our leader Justinian has ordered us to give you these alms of peace in hopes that you will recieve us with hospitality"

"Of course, I hope our countries benefit from our meeting today"



The work force Justinian had comissioned was finally formed and examined the rocks in the northwest and found that it was gold. It was deemed incredibly valuable and quickly a mine went up to extract the precious ores.



Thus ends the first part of The Heir of Rome.

Hooray, Byzantines! My favorite Empire I expect the Arabians to not be very happy to see you

I see you used my name

Jwitti said:

I see you used my name

Click to expand...

Sure did

Another update tonight

Dawn broke on another year in the Byzantine Empire, Justinian could sense that the world was a large and possibly dangerous place and that his hills could not protect him forever. He continued to push forth his scouts in hopes of finding a land to expand to and establish a base from which the greatest empire the earth would ever see could function.

"Go, visit nearby villages, ask them for gifts. Leave peacefully even if they do not give in to your demands, they are all people and deserve to be treated as such."

"Indeed, this tribe has been very kind to us" a Warrior said "They have given us gifts of gold and a good meal, perhaps one day we can repay them"



Justinian was not so preocupied with scouting that he neglected national defense though. He conferred with his advisors and established a small guard. However, they soon realized that their city was too small and their nation too inoffensive to be concerned for safety.



"Dear Matthais, I understand your concerns for the raiding of our city, yet we have nothing to pilfer. We are at peace with all and our closeness prevents uncivilized barbarians from breaching our borders"

"Yes, good king. But the people may soon grow worried if there is no honor guard at the very least. Perhaps later you will see that it is necessary but for now I shall let you make your own decisions. Just let it be known that you may be jeopardizing our people with this calculation, and trust as a hard thing to come by" Matthais said.

"In fact, I imagine these people over the horizon, across the barren desert will one day wage an ingloroius war with us, and what would we do without a garrison?" Matthais asked



"Indeed, I understand your concern but I still feel as though your fear is unfounded, in time we will see who was correct today" Justinian replied

"In any case, I must be leaving now, I heard that there has been a great scientific discovery and I must see what it is"

Outside the palace walls Justinian looked over his domain. In the distance he saw small farms and in them, tame animals.

"This truly is a great day. We have shown power over nature. Let not the animal rise aginst and confound us, let us work with the animal and make it tame to civilize it in the way we would civilize barbarians."



After many more years of scouting, another civilization was discovered, again residing in the desert, but rumored to live on the banks of one of the most fertile rivers in the world. Stories were told of the majest of their monumental structures and docility and piety of their people.

"Greetings Hatshepsut, I hope that our countries may find religion a chain that binds us together rather than a wedge to drive us apart. Let the heretics of the world fear the twin spledor of our nations"

"Well met and the same to you" Hatshepsut said "Let it be known immediatly I have no love for the one called Saladin and would rather see him off this earth rather than share the soil with the likes of him"



Soon enough after, word was recieved of a thriving country in the land near Mesopotamia. A country with two metropolises to its name under the glorious leader Cyrus.



Then, through the Roman and German communication lines, a chance encounter with the ambitious Portugese, already known for their seafaring abilites.



Thus ends the second chapter of The Heir of Rome.

I feel like Byzantium: The Rise of Byzantium would have been a good title now that I think about it.

What Earth 18 civs map is this exactly? It's certainly not the standard one, as there is no wheat in Greece.

I believe it is Myatt Earth, I like the insane amount of resources.

Playing another section now and only just realizing how crowded this map is (I'm fairly sure there aren't any civs in the Americas)

The year 2440 BC would forever be looked at as both a blessing and a curse to Byzantium.

"My people, I have gathered you here today to discuss this new technology that the scholars call Bronze Working" Justinian proclaimed "However, it has been brought to my attention that it may be necessary for forced labor to become the norm. We will try our hardest to make sure only outcasts unsuitable for society at large will be forced to work, but it cannot be guaranteed"

The people looked around, panicking. A gereral wave of fear and nausea swept through the people as they realized what this meant. It was slavery and everybody knew it. Somebody started yelling "No slaves, we demand freedom!" and soon the whole crowd was shouting with him.

"Sir, you must get into the palace immediately, I fear an assassination atempt with this news" Matthais said

"I have no reason to fear my people, they shall respect and obey me if I demand it" Justinian said

Matthais slapped Justinian and shouted "Don't you understand, you are not the servant of the people any longer, you are now a tyrant in their eyes and mine!"

"Guards, escort this man away" Justinian said

"Sir, we cannot do that so long as our families fear the whip"

The guards escorted Justinian to jail and Matthais took control of the government, promising land, bread, and peace for his people.



Soon, however Matthais used the lash to create a settling party, but the people were far too entranced with his charismatic personality to take note, it was for their land after all.



Matthais ordered the construction of Thessalonica on the shores of the Mediterranean.

"Let this city serve our interests well, let it make us rich, powerful, and glorious again and let it not fall into barbarian hands! Let it be the base from which we expand to take the world by storm. Let it be the great city Constantinople was before Justinian ruined it in his treachery!"

The people cheered. Matthais was getting all too used to the adoration and sought ever greater ways to demonstrate his leadership and power.



Matthais, searching for the next great thing to ensure his spot in history talked among his scholars. They eventually established a form of writing, a bar by which all civilized cultures were measured. He unleashed this writing onto his people and they couldn't be more happy with Matthais the Great.



Thus ends part 3.

So Matthais just had the guards send Justinian in the dungeon and took his place?
I can imagine how this might turn interesting.

ooc: Are you using K-mod? Since i saw this link in your sig, it sparked my curiosity.

Yay a comment! Anyways, yep Matthais just sent Justinian to the dungeon and took his place. No K-Mod though, just vanilla BTS.

I thought you were using the Starting Points mod since everybody was in their appropriate places..

Nope, Myatt Earth is just awesome.

That is one interesting start.

Matthais was ready, he felt good. His opposition was removed and his empire was growing greatly. His people could not adore him more. Or so he thought...

"This Matthais guy, I'm not so sure if he's better than Justinian or not" Basil said.

"Indeed, it seems as though not much has really changed, even with all of the things he says he helped improve" Geoffrey said.

"Hush now, guard is coming"

The guard passed slowly by, it was his duty to make sure the emperor's image was upheld, to ensure dissenters were removed from the general population.

"Hello there fine men, what are you talking about?" he asked

"Nothing in particular" Basil said "Just passing some small talk"

"Make sure it stays that way" the guard said.

Many of these stories were heard throughout the kingdom, people would "disappear" and some poor family member would think they saw them working as a slave. However, the citizens were enthralled with Matthais, he was so interesting and competent. It appeared that as long as Matthais stayed emperor, the kindom would continue great growth at the expense of a few freedoms but most people didn't notice the increased guard patrols or the clamp on dissidents. For most, life was a glorious illusion.

Matthais strode with a purpose, he was meeting the Egyptian queen to discuss the state of their nations. Hatshepsut had not heard of the Byzantine revolution and was naturally surprised to see Matthais rather than Justinian walk up to greet her.

"Why, hello?" Hatshepsut said "Are you one of Justinian's couriers?"

"No, I am Matthais, ruler of Byzantium, Justinan was ousted as a cruel leader incapable of sound judgement" Matthais responded

"But he seemed fine last time I saw him"

"Yes well, he isn't, I hope you are ready to negotiate"

"Certainly, it is a fairly simple proposition" Hatshepsut gulped "but why do you need free access to my territory?"

"I have future plans for this area and I do hope you don't interfere with them, this is just a bit of insurance is all"

Hatshepsut signed the papers and Matthais did the same, but Hatshepsut could not shake the feeling that something sinister would soon happen.



Matthais then went around to various other nations, asking for open borders and when asked, giving the same answer "I have plans for this region, and I hope you don't get in the way".



However, Matthais stayed a bit longer after the arangements with Saladin.

"Saladin, I understand your country is weak, let us help you make it strong, please learn from us the ways of agriculture and animal husbandry"

"This reeks of false kindness, what do you want in return?"

"All I want is your friendship, but your knowledge of the fish in the sea and the clay of the earth would be helpful, we wouldn't want relations to go sour after all"

"Let me warn you Matthais, my people will not stand for bullies and thieves, let this be your warning"



Matthais marched out in a huff, but not before the deal was done, he ordered a new city founded, hoping to grab a foothold near the Russians, Stalin was not Matthais' best friend and would only get in the way after all. Matthais saw this and began plotting for the future.



Thus ends part 4.

As a huge fan of the Byzantine Empire, I think I have a pretty good idea of what Basil will do Nice Update

Interesting story!
Btw, is it normal that the same Hatty pic appears twice?