[BTS] [RFC/DoC] The Legacy of Byzance: An Eastern Roman Tale

[Dumanios]

Aeternam Imperii Romani!

(Google Translate)

 

[Gruekiller]

I'm not sure that Imperii is the plural of... well, Latin for Empire is Imperium, right?

 

[christos200]

The Heraclian Dynasty was the last to begin before the Empire changed its official language to Greek, of course!

And after 1204 Greek Nationalism was re-born:

The secular use of Hellene revived in the 9th century, after paganism had been eclipsed and was no longer a threat to Christianity's dominance. The revival followed the same track as its disappearance. The name had originally declined from a national term in antiquity, to a cultural term in the Hellenistic years, to a religious term in the early Christian years. With the demise of paganism and the revival of learning in the Byzantine Empire it had regained its cultural meaning, and finally, by the 11th century it had returned to its ancient national form of an "ethnic Greek", synonymous at the time to "Roman".

Accounts from the 11th century onward (from Anna Komnena, Michael Psellos, John III Vatatzes, George Pletho Gemistos and several others) prove that the revival of the term Hellene (as a potential replacement for ethnic terms like Graekos and Romios) did occur. For example, Anna Komnena writes of her contemporaries as Hellenes, but does not use the word as a synonym for a pagan worshipper. Moreover, Anna boasts about her Hellenic classical education, and she speaks as a native Greek and not as an outsider/foreigner who learned Greek.

The refounding of the University of Constantinople in the palaces of Magnaura promoted an interest in learning, particularly in Greek studies. Patriarch Photius was irritated because "Hellenic studies are preferred over spiritual works". Michael Psellus thought it a compliment when Emperor Romanus III praised him for being raised "in the Hellenic way" and a weakness for Emperor Michael IV for being completely devoid of a Hellenic education,[62] while Anna Comnena claimed that she had "carried the study of Hellenic to the highest pitch".[63] Also, commenting on the orphanage her father founded, she stated that "there could be seen a Latin being trained, and a Scythian studying Hellenic, and a Roman handling Hellenic texts and an illiterate Hellene speaking Hellenic correctly".[64] In this case we reach a point where the Byzantines are Romans on the political level but Hellenic by descent. Eustathius of Thessalonike disambiguates the distinction in his account of the fall of Constantinople in 1204 by referring to the invaders with the generic term "Latins", encompassing all adherents to the Roman Catholic Church, and the "Hellenes" as the dominant population of the empire.[65]

After the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders, Greek nationalism accentuated. Nicetas Choniates insisted on using the name "Hellenes", stressing the outrages of the "Latins" against the "Hellenes" in the Peloponessus and how the Alfeios River might carry the news to the barbarians in Sicily, the Normans.[66] Nicephorus Blemmydes referred to the Byzantine emperors as Hellenes,[67] and Theodore Alanias wrote in a letter to his brother that "the homeland may have been captured, but Hellas still exists within every wise man".[68] The second Emperor of Nicaea, John III Ducas Vatatzes, wrote in a letter to Pope Gregory IX about the wisdom that "rains upon the Hellenic nation". He maintained that the transfer of the imperial authority from Rome to Constantinople was national and not geographic, and therefore did not belong to the Latins occupying Constantinople: Constantine's heritage was passed on to the Hellenes, so he argued, and they alone were its inheritors and successors.[69] His son, Theodore II Lascaris, was eager to project the name of the Greeks with true nationalistic zeal. He made it a point that "the Hellenic race looms over all other languages" and that "every kind of philosophy and form of knowledge is a discovery of Hellenes... What do you, O Italian, have to display?"[70]

The evolution of the name was slow and did never replace the "Roman" name completely. Nicephorus Gregoras named his historical work Roman History.[71] Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus, a big supporter of Greek education, in his own memoirs always refers to the Byzantines as "Romans",[72] yet, in a letter sent by the sultan of Egypt, Nasser Hassan Ben Mohamed, referred to him as "Emperor of the Hellenes, Bulgars, Sassanians, Vlachs, Russians, Alanians" but not of the "Romans".[73] Over the next century, George Gemistus Plethon pointed out to Constantine Palaeologus that the people he leads are "Hellenes, as their race and language and education testifies",[74] while Laonicus Chalcondyles was a proponent of completely substituting "Roman" terminology for "Greek" terminology.[75] Constantine Palaeologus himself in the end proclaimed Constantinople the "refuge for Christians, hope and delight of all Hellenes".[76] On the other hand, the same Emperor in his final speech before the Empire's demise called upon his audience to rally to the defenses by characteristically referring to them as "descendants of Hellenes and Romans", most possibly as an attempt to combine Greek national sentiment with the Roman tradition of the Byzantine crown and Empire, both highly respected elements in his subjects' psyche at that moment.

 

[Tambien]

I'm not sure that Imperii is the plural of... well, Latin for Empire is Imperium, right?

Imperium during Roman times was used more to describe people holding the power of government (Imperium). Thus the Senate would be considered as holding Imperium and so would the Emperor (even if the Senate had no real power.), but over time the term came to mean the Empire and the power of the Emperor in and of itself.

So basically, yeah, Imperium would be the right form.

And after 1204 Greek Nationalism was re-born:

Ugh. Christos, there wasnt Greek nationalism in the first place...

 

[Laoch]

That's interesting.

 

[Gruekiller]

1.4 - Peace with the Caliphate​

Following the Second Battle of Germanikeia, the new Emperor, Mezezios I Gnunios, was triumphant. Arabs taken captive in the aftermath of the failure of the Anatolian expeditions were put to work across the Empire, notably in the Pontic city of Trapezounta. There they helped to complete a church dedicated of Hagia Sophia, which would be an unmistakable part of the city's skyline for centuries to come.

The city of Trapezounta after the completion of the church.

The Hagia Sophia of Trapezounta today.
​

The remainder of Mezezios' reign was relatively quiet, due to a lull in fighting brought on by a shortage of Arab morale and manpower. The Emperor even lived to the then-exceptionally old age of 82, long enough to see peace made with the Caliphate. In return for peace, the Rhomaioi sent craftsmen to Jerusalem to help construct a shrine atop the Temple Mount.

The elderly Mezezios sends architects and artists to the Caliph.

The exterior of the 'Dome of the Rock', now part of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Hierusalem.
​

A few short weeks later, the Emperor died, and his son, John, ascended to the throne as Ioannes I Gnunios. Ioannes would come to be given the cognomen 'the Bold' for his reconquest of Dacia.

Ioannes I, Rhomanian Emperor, depicted in later sources as a soldier or conqueror.​

 

[Gruekiller]

Of course, anyone with a passing knowledge of the Greek alphabet will be able to see through my deliberately mis-attributed portraits for my fictional Emperors and figures... but oh well.

 

[Tambien]

I cant read Greek, so I think its awesome!

 

[Gruekiller]

Well good! Also, Mezezius/Mezezios will be the last 'OTL' Emperor (our timeline). Or... well, he was never technically Emperor in real life, just a usurper.

 

[Tambien]

Ok, great! Now we get to the fun ATL bits! I'll love to see how you do this...

 

[Gruekiller]

Hmm, only a hundred years in and this thread's already nearing the length (in pages) of my Cahokia story. I think I like Marathon-length.

Well, granted, I posted like... five and six really long updates to every page in Cahokia, but y'know, whatever

 

[filli_noctus]

Well transliterating the writing in the top right corner of the last picture gives no relevant results on google, either as one or three words, so I'm still in the dark as to who is actually depicted.

 

[christos200]

If i see well it says ΜΕΡΚΟΥΡΙΟ

 

[filli_noctus]

I read it as MEPKOVPIO or possibly MOPKOVPIO (I think the second letter is epsilon but it could be omicron) which transliterates as (going with epsilon) merkonrio. If it is Y instead of V would that be gamma or have I forgotten a letter?

 

[Lone Wolf]

The warrior depicted on the fresco is Saint Mercurios.

 

[Gruekiller]

Lone Wolf is correct.

 

[Tambien]

So..... update?

 

[Gruekiller]

Any day now!

 

[Gruekiller]

1.5 - The Conquest of Dacia​

Despite the relatively smooth transition of power between Mezezios and his son, the early reign of Ioannes I was fraught with political uncertainty. Many in the capital still saw the accession of a foreign, Armenian dynasty as a threat to the traditional order of things in the predominantly Greek city. The Emperor did not have a head for city intrigues, and was himself a military man. He'd served in the east during the Arab wars with great distinction, and left the management of the city mostly to the brilliant advisers who resided in the palace at that time.

For his part, Ioannes saught to improve his popularity amongst the citizenry by conquest. Successful military campaigns, as always, would prove to be a sure means of political success in the Empire. To that end, a force comprising mostly of veterans fresh back from the frontlines in the Arab wars were summoned to Constantinople, and from there marched on the Danube River.

A slightly fanciful depiction of the Battle of Kastron.
​

There a coalition of Avar and Slavic tribes had for a time been harassing the Empire during its wars in the east, even penetrating far into Epiros and forcing the city of Dyrrachion to be abandoned. In the face of the advancing Rhomaioi, the barbarians fled past the Danube, where they were pursued by Ioannes' army. In a pass in the Carpathians, the Slavs and Avars were ambushed and destroyed, leaving Dacia under Imperial rule for the first time in centuries. The larger local fortresses of Kastron (Cluj-Napoca), then called Claudiopolis, and Apulon (Alba Iulia) were seized and made the centers of local Rhomanian governance. With this great victory, any doubts of the Gnunian dynasty were dispelled, and Ioannes became a great hero among his people.

Dacia falls to the Empire.
​

By the middle of his reign, the Empire's population had blossomed, reaching 1,000,000 souls for the first time since before the Arab conquests of Egypt and the Levant. When he passed away in 718 at 62 after a reign of ten years, Ioannes had handily secured the place of his descendants upon the Imperial throne.

The Empire reaches one million citizens in population.
​

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexandros III Gnunios, who ascended to the throne at the age of 34.

Emperor Alexandros III Gnunios.​

 

[Tambien]

Who cares about Dacia? Its a backwater! ME WANTS ITALIA!