The Heirs of Constantine

[Impera]

The Heirs of Constantine
Prologue



By the year 46 A.D., the Empire of the Romans had achieved complete hegemony over the Mediterranean and much of Europe. The Princeps Augustus had died in 14 A.D., as did his heir Tiberius in the year 37. Following a brief dynastic dispute between the General Germanicus and his son, the would-be usurper Caligula, the former ascended to the purple. His reign was more or less peaceful, ironic considering his popularity and success as a general, and saw the Roman treasury grow richer and many of the client tribes of Tripolitania and Galaecia brought under direct rule. His assassination while on tour in Syria was a shock to much of the Empire. His son Nero, with the support of the Praetorian Guard, would become the new Emperor. This year is generally considered the peak of the Roman Empire, at least as far as the Empire during the Principate period is concerned, and it would only decline from here.



The reign of the Emperor Nero is oft recorded as one of gluttony, debauchery, and misrule. While certainly true, his persecution of early Christians and his populist policies no doubt has lead to this legacy being incredibly exaggerated. Regardless, Nero would rule during such disasters as the Great Fire of Rome and the Year of the Four Usurpers, during which a rumor he had committed suicide led to four usurpers rushing to Rome in an attempt to claim the Purple for themselves, only to be defeated by the Praetorian Guard and luck (a powerful storm and plague decimated all contenders shortly before they reached Rome itself, allowing Nero to defeat his foes.). Nero would eventually be assassinated by the Senate in the year 117, at the incredible age of 80, after he refused a senatorial decree to retire. He had faced a series of revolts during the period between the Year of the Four Usurpers and his death, which had bankrupted the Imperial Treasury and left Roman rule unstable. With no heir to replace him, the Senate nominated the young Adrian to be Emperor. He would rule for thirty years of peace until his unfortunate death in 147.

A disagreement between the Senate and Praetorians would lead to conflict over the Purple, eventually being resolved somewhat peacefully by the populist general Gallienus a year later. Gallienus, a Christian and member of the Equites, would make Christianity the sole religion in the Empire, and lead an armed attack against the Senate. This would fail, and lead to Forty Two years of brutal civil war, while the borders of the empire grew more strained. Eventually, by 190, peace had been restored by the unpopular Majoran, an incredibly wealthy Christian aristocrat from Cappadocia who managed to bribe many of the legions to support him. In his goal of attaining massive amounts of personal wealth, he would cut military spending by a large amount, and by 196, the barbarians at the frontiers would take note of this weakness, and disaster of untold magnitude would strike. Illyria, a crucial province between the Eastern and Western ends of the Empire, and Africa, a major grain exporter and crucial core of the empire, would fall to a combined Daco-Germanic force and a Numidian force respectively. Though Majoran would attempt to remedy the situation and march against the barbarians in Africa, his death on the Fields of Carthage in 201 would fracture the Empire like never before.





At the same time, in Gaul, the exiled Patriarch of Rome declared independence from the Eastern-Oriented church. This schism would have crucial repercussions in the future centuries.



For fifteen years no Emperor assumed the Purple, and the Senate desperately tried to maintain control in Italia. However, in 216 Aurelian the Regal conquered Byzantium, a crucial port on the Bosporus, and was declared Emperor by his troops. He traveled to Rome where the Senate confirmed and crowned him as such in 221.





Aurelian would manage to retake the African heartland in 236, after dealing with various Usurpers and Nobility across Italia and in Thrace. For the first time in forty years Rome once again had free bread.



His success would continue during his Egyptian campaign of 251-261, which saw Aegyptus restored as a province of the Empire.





He died in 276, while returning from Campaign in Palestine, which fell to the Sassanids prior to his arrival in Jerusalem. A peace treaty was established with the unstable Persian juggernaut.



His son Domitan followed him as Emperor and would live for twenty-one years until his death in 297. His reign saw Palestine and Illyria restored to the Empire by peaceful means, as the legions were stretched thin maintaining the recent reconquests.



The uneventful Trajan and Constantinius would succeed Domitan, securing the Aurelian dynasty in Rome as the ruling family. Constaninius would die in the crushing Battle of Salona against the Sarmatians , leaving the throne to his only legitimate son, Maximinus. However, he would leave a bastard son, Constantine the Great, born six years before his father's death in a Macedonian tavern to a twenty-four year old barmaid.



The young Constantine would join the Legion and quickly rise through the ranks as a charismatic and persuasive leader. He would cultivate a friendship with the Basileus of Hellas, Echemmon, and the Empress of Palmyra, Zenobia.

His mother, on her deathbed in 334, would tell the now nineteen year old Constantine about his true father, before peacefully leaving this world on the Ides of August. Determined to make use of his Imperial Blood, Constantine soon gathered an army, and in 336 would seize the city of Byzantium, renaming it after himself, and crown himself Imperator Romanum Orientis: Emperor of the East.



Over the course of the next five years, he would lead an awesome reconquest of the Eastern Empire. When Echemmon died in 338 without an heir, his will granted all of Hellas to Constantine. The following year he would marry the only child and daughter of the aging Zenobia, who would die a few months later, securing Anatolia and Syria for the Empire. In 341, with his power reaching it's heights, Constantine invaded Palestine, killing the Governor of Aegyptus et Palestina in the process. Following this victory, the legions of the province changed loyalty from the west, who had been underpaying them, to Constantine, Lord of the East and Rightful Emperor of Rome. As 341 came to a close, his half-Brother Maximinus would invade the east, and promptly be captured at the
Battle of Chrysopolis. In exchange for the return of the Emperor, Constantine was confirmed as Emperor of the East by the senate, splitting the Roman Empire into a weaker western half and a strong eastern half. Maximinus was allowed to remain Emperor of the Romans until his death in 347, but his son could not claim the title of both empires, and would merely be Imperator Romanum Occidentis.

Victorious, Constantine was declared "the Great" during his Truimph on the Kalends of Ianuarius, and declared Constantinople a "New Rome". This would have lasting repercussions for millennia to come.

 

[Impera]

The Heirs of Constantine
Volume One: The Rise and Fall of the Constantinian Dynasty

Constantine's early reign was characterized by the restoration of infrastructure in the east. He focused on creating an awe-inspiring army to maintain his empire (for, indeed, though New Rome had a Senate, Constantine held all the power; more so than even the Emperors at the height of the Empire). By 356 he had restored the wealth that the East had lost during the interregnum, and had settled the city of Ragusa on the ruins of Salona. Ready to secure Rome's legacy, he began to look outwards once more.



His legions quickly marched into the Kingdom of Tripolitania, one of the many breakaway states from the Empire, in the winter of 360. Following two months of siege, the capital of Leptis Magna fell and the Rex of Tripolitania declared his loyalty to the Emperor of the East. In an act of magnanimity, Constantine spared his life and allowed him to continue ruling over his kingdom, this time as a Roman vassal.



Map of the various states which once made up the Empire, and were still under Roman rule in some form or another. By the conquest of Tripolitania, all the states of the east had been consolidated into a single, legitimate, Roman state. In the West, Italy and Africa were under Imperial rule, and in Iberia the Hispanian and Romano-Moorish kingdoms fought for dominance. In Gaul, Lutetia Parisorium, the last major center of Roman rule in the barbaric province, has fallen and the Kingdom of Soissons which had thrived there for about a century was no more.

This was the farthest that Imperial control would reach during Late Antiquity, as an intact Rome in the West preserved the ancient heartlands.



With his western border secure, Constantine continued to develop his Eastern empire, as the only real threats were the occasional barbarian raid along the Danube frontier. In Asia, the mighty Persian Empire is embroiled in a brutal civil war, and peace reigns on the Roman side of the Euphrates. In the year 371 the Persian Empire would collapse entirely as various successor states fought for dominance.

The Extreme East was Secure.


Constantine, who had been a powerful proponent and patron of the Western Empire, died in the Winter of 383, leaving the Purple to his son, Julian. In the West, without Constantine's support and Barbarians attacking relentlessly, the death of the Emperor Flavius Aurelius in 386 at the Battle of Mediolanum causes the West to collapse in it's entirety. In the north Barbarians rule, while in Africa and Southern Italy the Exarchate of Carthage forms, friendly to the East. In the center lies Rome and Latium itself, where the Senate rules over the citizens in a top heavy Oligarchy.

With the title of Imperator Romanum Occidentis vacant, Julian declares himself sole Imperator.



In order to legitimize his claims against pretenders in the Senate and from Carthage, Julian prepares an naval expedition to reclaim the City of Rome. His unexpected death in 389 would complicate this matter, but in 416 his son Julianus Vitellius makes these plans a reality.

At the same time, barbarian invaders begin crossing the Danube en masse, and as the Imperial Focus shifts to the reconquest of the West pressure mounts in the North-East.





The Senate held out for five years as the city endured a siege, but in 421 the Eternal City was back under Imperial Control, as were all five Patriarchs. Following a triumph in the City's streets, Julianus Vitellius introduced a number of changes intended to weaken the power of the Senate to the point of no return. His first reform would be to abolish slavery across the Empire, so as to undermine the Elite and their cheap labor which had destroyed the Roman middle class. His second reform was the creation of a chamber made of Porphyra, purple marble mined in Egypt. He declared that only children born in this Purple Chamber were eligible for the throne, as they were "Born in the Purple".

Needless to say, the empire entered a state of Civil War almost immediately, and in 426, a blow would come that no one was expecting.





At the head of a host of hired barbarians, the disgruntled senator Licinus marched on the Imperial Capital, the City of Constantine itself. Traveling in the dead of night, he caught the city completely off guard in the twilight of the morning. Generally, the gate of the city was locked and braced at 10 o' clock, and all sally gates secured. This night was different, however, as the previous night had been the Ides of February, and everyone was celebrating the Lupercalia. Made stupid by their merriment, the city guard forgot to close a single sally gate, the Kerkoporta.

This drunken mistake would haunt them in the morning, as many drunken mistakes tend to do.

The barbarians swarmed the city, and burned a large swath of it to the ground. They defiled the holy sites, the monuments to Rome's greatness, and seized the virgins of the city for themselves. In the end, to the surprise of their Roman benefactor, they decided that instead of getting paid and leaving in peace, they decapitated him in the center of the forum, and took the City for their own. Julianus, was caught while attempting to escape by sea with his wife and 4 year old son, but was caught near the docks. He heroically died so that they might live.

Fleeing the burning city, the Widow and her son set sail for Rome, and prepared the legions.

In the shock which reverberated across every citizen of the Empire, history balanced on a knife's edge.

It was in 426 that Rome either lived or died, and both were equally likely.

 

[Gruekiller]

Will be following this one with interest! (And more than a little bit of bias)

 

[Impera]

Thanks! Glad to entertain, especially considering that re-reading Legacy of Byzance is what partially inspired this in the first place.

 

[Impera]

The Heirs of Constantine
Volume II: Restoration of Imperial Rule

Early in 527, the Senate of the City of Rome, the sole functioning senate in the Empire at this point, received the young Constantine II and his Regent, Licinia Eudoxia. The former Empress of the East bowed before the senate, requesting that her son may have the title which his father held. Many senators, bitter about the reforms of Julianus Vitellius, refused this request, and the deliberations would last for some months. Without an Emperor on the throne and the City of Constantine in barbarian hands, a number of pretenders rose up. In Illyria, Gallienus Germanicus marched south to reconquer Constantinople and claim the Purple for himself. In Greece, Justin Sabbatius was proclaimed Emperor in Athens, and made preparations to gather a strong force to dislodge the barbarians. The Governor of Aegyptus et Palestina, one of the largest provinces of the Empire, threw his support behind Justin and sent his own legions to aid him. Syria and Anatolia made no bids of their own nor did they cast their support, deciding to wait and see how this struggle played out. Within the walls of Constantinople, the Barbarians propped up Anastasius Leonid on the throne, in an attempt to seize the empire for themselves.

In Northern Italia, the Vandal king, Genseric, saw opportunity. With no Emperor proclaimed by the senate, and the last of Constantine's legitimate heirs merely a boy, he marched on Rome. The which protected the city were at this time in the south, attempting to ensure that the Exarch of Tarentum, a puppet of the Exarchate of Carthage, made no bids for the Purple for both himself and his Master. As such, there was only a skeleton force within Rome itself. For Genseric, it was now nor never, and he chose now.

The Barbarian King struck suddenly and powerfully, completely overwhelming the defenders of the Eternal City. Before the Regent and Heir could escape, the Barbarians seized them. Constantine II was buried alive in the Forum up to his neck, and his head was put on a pike abutting the Walls of Rome. Licinia herself was taken by Genseric as a concubine and slave. Quickly, the legions marched north, but the Vandals entrenched themselves in the city and put up heavy resistance. The Caput Mundi was reclaimed after four years of siege, in 431, but not before Genersic escaped with his pregnant concubine. The Senate of Rome threw their support behind Justin Sabbatius, and after he beat the last of the usurpers, Gallienus Germanicus, the whole of the Empire prepared to restore what had been lost.



Genseric would make his way to Constantinople, where he would enter the city through stealth, depose the puppet Emperor Anastasius, and with the support of the Barbarians proclaim his new born son Theodoric Emperor of the East. With the former Empress and an Heir born in the Purple Chamber who shared her blood, the desperate citizens of the City accepted this. Carefully using Licinia as a puppet, Genseric would manage to control Constantinople until 456, when he died in battle outside the walls of the city against Justin. Free of her master, Licinia would kill her hated son Theodoric and open the gates of The City to Justin. With the heart of the Empire reclaimed, Licinia married the new Emperor of her own accord, and begat an heir with him, Justinianus.



Map of the Empire and Roman Successor States in 456, following the restoration of Imperial Rule in Constantinople, and the birth of Justinian the Great

 

[Impera]

The Heirs of Constantine
Volume III: Reconquests, Raids, and Revolts

Justinian would Ascend to the Purple following his father's death in 477, at the age of twenty-one. He was already Co-Emperor and Caesar at the time, and had been commanding the legions in Rome at the time. After assuming the Purple, he would not leave Constantinople again during his life time, and would rely on the skills of his trusted eunuch and general, Narses.

His early reign saw a complete reform and reorganization of the entire canon of Roman Law, as well as the construction of the what would later become the Hagia Sophia. At the time, though certainly a large church, it was not as massive as it is today, having been expanded during the following centuries, most notably during the reign of Justinian II*. The reconstruction of much of Constantinople, a process begun by his father, was completed by Justinian, with the city being restored to it's former population.

The first major challenge of his reign occurred in 486, when a large band of Goths invaded Italia led by King Theodoric (unrelated the the half-vandal son of Genseric). Narses was dispatched immediately to deal with the threat and prevent Rome from falling into enemy hands. Justinian also sent his brilliant diplomat, Belisarius, to Carthage, where he negotiated with the Exarch of the city. Ever since the Fall of Constantinople in 426, the Exarchate* had ceased to recognize the Emperors of the East, though they did not claim the throne for themselves. In addition to this, they had put a puppet Exarch on the throne of Tarentum, which controlled southern Italia, and was a vassal of Carthage in all but name. The old Exarch died in 485, and his replacement, a man named Marcus Barcanius, was open to resolving many of the issues his Exarchate had with the East. In exchange for agreeing to not meddle in the affairs of Carthage, Marcus agreed to relinquish his control over Tarentum, making the Kingdom independent once more, and to accept the Justinian Dynasty as the rightful rulers of the Empire and Heirs of Constantine, in effect being a vassal of the Empire from a de jure standpoint while maintaining the Exarchate's de facto independence.

While this deal hardly seemed fair, it's important to note the Justinian openly desired to reconquer the West, and under pain of conquest, the Exarch really had no other choice. It is likely for this reason that Tarentum was made independent, as Justinian had aims to unite Italia, while also having crucial trade relations with Carthage.



Narses would end up fighting the Goths in Italia for an entire decade before finally slaying Theodoric. With the legions in the West free Justinian planned to send reinforcements before embarking on his grand reconquest.



This was not to be, as constant raids by the Huns in the region, which had conquered the Gothic Kingdom based in Mediolanum, constantly harassed his reinforcements. Though they would manage to create a proper defense in Rome by 511, future invasions remained a likely threat on the horizon.



Justinian would finally manage to begin his campaign a tragic three years before his death, with the conquest of Tarentum in 536 by the aging Narses. The battle was won when Narses, with the aid of Belisarius, found a secret entrance into the city and seized it in the dead of night.



Returning to Rome as conquering heroes, the two men were given a triumph in the Forum, one of the last that the Eternal City would see for a long time. They entered at the head of their elite Kataphraktoi, and marched through the streets laden with seventy chests of gold, which was thrown freely into the crowed, and slaves of all nationalities, as Tarentum had served a a cosmopolitan crossroad on the way to Constantinople by sea. These slaves were merely for show of course, part of the Triumphal Tradition, as slavery was illegal within the Empire. All were freed from their faux bonds after the event was over, and given gold, magnanimously, for their service.

It served to be a friend to Rome.



Justinian died in 539, at the age of 83, leaving the Purple to his son, Mundus. The first seven years of his reign were peaceful and uneventful, but in 546 trouble brewed at the fringes of the empire. In northern Italia, a large host of Huns prepared to invade, while in Arabia Felix the local Bedouins revolted and marched on Jerusalem.



Italia was safeguarded with vigor, however reinforcements failed to reach Jerusalem in time, and the city fell in 541 after a brief siege. Legions were prepared to recover, though it served as a terrifying omen of what was to come out of the Arabian peninsula in the following decades.



The rest of Mundus' reign would be spent trying to dislodge the surprisingly strong Bedouin defense of Palestina. Victory would come in 576, after heavy loses, but the region would remain hostile to Roman rule for decades to come, and would lead to unrest among the Nubian in neighboring Aegytpus. Mundus died in 578, leaving the Purple to his son, Justin II, thus beginning the tradition of naming heirs after their Grandfather.



Map of the Empire and Roman Successor States following the reconquest of Jerusalem



Like his father before him, Justin II had an uneventful first few years of his reign, but in 584, Southern Aegyptus burst into revolt. The Nubians, oppressed and hoping to take advantage of the overextended borders of the Empire, revolted and marched on the capital, Diospolis Magna.



Heavy fighting would ensue, but to everyone's surprise in 596, the city fell. The age old office of "Governor of Aegytpus et Palestina" was left vacant after the Nubians slaughtered him before he could leave the city. Thus began the short-lived Thirty-Fourth Dynasty of Egypt.



In 607, Justin II would fall ill while touring Syria in order to raise an army to reclaim southern Aegyptus and pass the throne to his grandson, Mundus II. Caring little for what he considered "worthless desert", he abandoned Upper Egypt to the Nubians and set off to continue what Justinian had started. Thirteen years of Brutal fighting against the Huns would lead to the conquest of Mediolanum, and with it all of Italia, in 620.



620 was an important year deep in the "worthless deserts" of Arabia as well, as the Prophet Muhammad returned to Mecca (with an army) from his exile in Medina. He conquered the city after a crushing victory outside it's walls, and founded what would become the Rashidun Caliphate. Mundus kept his attention firmly to the North and the West however. As recorded by the court scribe, he infamously said to his Magister Militum upon hearing the news:

"I see no reason I should have been bothered with this information; these Bedouins are merely uncouth barbarians and fondlers of camels. What threat could these desert dwellers possibly pose to Rome? The deserts of the south are among the most worthless places on this Earth, and the most cursed by God, and the men born there share in this worthlessness. Let them come, so that we may laugh at them."

There would be laughter, but it would not be Roman in origin.
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*1 Justinian II would be responsible for the main expansion of the church, as well as the creation of the Theodosian Walls, through his patronage of the brilliant architect Theodosius Arcadia.

*2 Exarchate (OOC:in this timeline) refers to a Roman Successor State which paid lip service to the Emperor of the east as nominal subjects, used to separate states such as Carthage from those such as the Kingdom of Hispania or the Romano-Moorish Kingdom (Kingdom of the Moors).

 

[Impera]

Extra: The Roman Successor States

The collapse of Imperial Authority during the Crisis of the Third Century, beginning in 201, led to the creation of a number of Roman Successor States, which differed from their Barbarian counterparts by having some legitimate claims of decent from Rome, the least of which being the preservation of Roman Culture in one form or another. These will be listed now.

The Kingdom of the Soissons (Domain of Syagrius) 201 to 361
Created by the General and Usurper Syagrius in 201, it would survive until it was conquered by the Franks in 361, the same year as the Roman reconquest of Tripolitania. For most of it's history it served only to hold back the Barbarians at the Rhine. It's fall lead to increased Barbarian pressure on the Western Empire, and likely resulted in it's fall. It used a system identical to that of provincial Gaul for governance. Consisted of Northern Gaul

The Kingdom of Hispania 201 to 433
Formed by the General Liberius in response to the invasion of Iberia by the Romano-Moors, it would last until Barbarian pressure from Gaul lead to it's destruction in 433. Like the Soissons, it's government mostly consisted of what was left of the Provincial System after the collapse of Imperial Authority. Consisted of Tarraconensis and Galaecia

The Kingdom of the Moors (Romano-Moorish Kingdom) 201 to 712
Forged by the Mauretanian nobleman Masinissa III, it invaded the and managed to conquer Hispalis and the province of Baetica, which became it's new capital. The ruling class consisted of Romanized-Mauretanians (Romano-Moors) and was a loose confederation of tribes, city-states, and duchies ruled by the House of Masinissa. Unlike the other Roman Successor States, The Kingdom of the Moors was not conquered, but evolved over time into the Caliphate of Cordoba following it's reconquest of Baetica and conversion to Islam. By this point it had largely lost it's Roman roots. Consisted of Baetica and Mauretania.

The Exarchate of Carthage/Kingdom of Africa 386 to 720
The Exarchate was a breakaway state of the Western Roman Empire following it's collapse. It pledged nominal allegiance to the Emperor of the East and was ruled by a mercantile oligarchy, making it one of the world's first trading republics. It's size varied throughout it's history, with it mostly controlling the province of Africa proper. From 426 to 486 it controlled the Exarchate of Tarentum as a puppet state, and following the conquest of Aegyptus by the Caliphate would take Tripolitania, and declare it's complete independence from the Roman Empire, forming the Kingdom of Africa (Regnum Africana). It was conquered by the resurgent moors in 720.

The Exarchate of Tarentum 386 to 536
Tarentum was the nexus of a Militaristic-Oligarchy which ruled over southern Italia until it's conquest in 536 by Justinian the Great. For half of it's history it existed as a puppet state of the nearby Exarchate of Carthage, and it recognized the Emperors of the East as the rightful rulers of the Roman empire until the very end, with it's last Exarch begging for peace "from the most august Emperor of the Romans" following the Exarchate's fall.

The Kingdom of Tripolitania/Governate of Tripolitania 196 to 361
Related to it's larger cousin, the Kingdom of the Moors, the Kingdom of Tripolitania was a Romano-Libyan state which gained de facto independence after Carthage was conquered by the Numidians. It would be ruled by the Governor of Tripolitania until it's reconquest by the Emperor Constanine. It maintained the Provincial System, which remained after it's reconquest.

The Province of Aegyptus 201 to 251
Ruled by the Governor of Aegytpus, the Province was a de facto independent but de jure part of the empire until 251 until the fall of Upper Egypt to the Numidians which resulted in Aurelian sending troops to Alexandria to restore order. It functioned more or less the same as it did prior to the Crisis of the Third Century, save for no longer sending taxes or food to the City of Rome.

Empire of Hellas/Hellenic League 201 to 338
Ruled by the Basileus of the Greeks, the "empire" was in actuality a loose union of the various Greek City States, which left the Empire during the Crisis of the Third Century. Macedon would join the empire shortly thereafter, and would provide much of the military support needed by the Basileus in order to check the power of the Hellenic Senate. Following the death of Echemmon without an heir in 338, the kingdom was willed to Emperor Constantine, an act which was approved by the senate (largely due to the power of Constantine's legions).

Empire of Palmyra/Palmyrene Empire 201 to 340
Formed by the armies of Odaenathus in during the Crisis of the Third Century, this state would be in large part responsible for keeping the armies of Persia at bay from overrunning the eastern provinces. It was ruled using the Roman Imperial System, with a Roman and Aramaic nobility at the head. At it's height it controlled all of Anatolia and the Levant north of Palestina. The empire fell under a dynastic union with the Emperor Constantine after the death of the Empress Zenobia early in 340. Following Constantine's death and the ascension of his son, Julian, to the throne, the empire was absorbed completely into the Eastern Roman Empire.

 

[Lokki242]

How do you have the time and energy to write to exciting, in-depth stories at once?

 

[Impera]

Summer break certainly helps, there's also the latent guilt of having never finished a story. Mostly I just try to update once a day, which usually takes between one to two hours, so not impossible, and then there's always the "I'm bored and it's the middle of the night" update

Specifically for this story though, is my intense love of Roman (especially Byzantine) history. This one is always a blast to update. Canaan is a bit more difficult, as I have to come up with basically everything from scratch as unlike the millennia spanning Romans, Phoenicians never managed to create an North Sea Empire. It's still fun to update Canaan of course, but it can be a lot more draining than updating this story due to all the extra brain power involved.

 

[Impera]

The Heirs of Constantine
Volume IV: The Rise of Islam and the Chrysósian Dynasty

The Prophet Muhammad swept over the Arabian peninsula like an Islamic tidal wave over the span of a mere four years, and had even begun to fight Rome's christian, Ghassanid allies in Arabia Felix. Mundus remained uncaring of the worsening state on the southern border, and kept his attention firmly in north Italia, where he spent most of this time fighting against the Burgundians and their Hunnic allies, as well as the Lombards, from overrunning his conquests. The Caliphate readied itself for the inevitable, brutal clash with the Romans.



Such a clash never came, as the disgruntled Egyptians and Palestinians, as well as the Bedouin and Nubian minorities scattered about the regions, grew tired of an Emperor who forced heavy handed taxation on them, and in exchange they got only belittlement and scorn. The Caliphate quickly moved in, offering the rebellious provinces a much more free, and inexpensive, life under Arab rule. They were even allowed to keep their faith, provided the payed the Jizya tax, a luxury the devoutly orthodox Romans did not grant these Coptic and Monophysite populations. In 628, the provinces agree, and the Arabs quickly toppled the Thirty-Fourth dynasty of Egypt, as well as the Kingdom of Assyria, more than doubling in size in less than a year.

Mundus prepared to go to war, as even with his disdain for the "southern barbarians", he loathed to lose the Empire's most valuable trading center, Alexandria. However, his misrule was not unnoticed by the citizens of Constantinople, and with the support of the nobility, they declared the young Prince Alexander Chrysosia, a minor noble from Thrace, as their new Emperor. His humble beginnings (his father had originally been of peasant origins) made him loved by the people , and his youth (for the boy was only sixteen and had recently inherited his father's estates) made him seem a suitable puppet to the Nobility.

It was on that fateful day, three sunsets before the Ides of September, that he was crowned Emperor of the Romans, and took the name Justinian II in the Hippodrome. Soon, the united Blues and Greens of the demes marched on the Imperial Palace, and cut off the hands and feet of Mundus before they blinded him. The deformed former Emperor was sent into exile in the Crimea, and the Chrysosian Dynasty was begun.



With this development, the first dynastic shift since the fall of the Constantinian Dynasty, the Exarchate of Carthage seized it's chance. They declared the new Emperor to be illegitimate, and marched on Tripolitania, whereupon the isolated city surrendered without a fight.





Map of the Empire following the lose of the Southern Provinces in 628



Justinian set about immediately reforming many aspects of the Empire, like his namesake before him. His biggest reform would be to declare Greek an official language of the Empire, alongside the pre-existent Latin. He tweaked the Lex Justinianus, and revised the system of taxation within the Empire. His biggest change was in the military, where he paved the way for the later creation of the Themata, permanent border armies which lived off the land they were meant to defend; These military reforms also created the Excubitors, an elite guard which defended the person of the Emperor and the City of Constantine from foes within and without, modeled after the Praetorian Guard and Vigiles of old and organized in the same legionary structure. His flurry of reforms was not unnoticed by the nobility, who felt their young "puppet" was acting up, and prepared to find a new emperor who would meet their needs more fully. They schemed for some time until at last, in 632, they struck.

The result would leave a quarter of Constantinople in flames, and the 80,000 citizens of the city dead on the floor of the Hippodrome.

This was the Nika Revolt.