And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
Once upon a...
To the holy city of Byzantium.
Once upon a...
The Second Rome: A Quest of Ancient Byzantium
- Thread starter Telamon
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The City of The World's Desire
- Location
- Texas
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
Once upon a time, there was a city built on seven hills.
It was an old city, a city of wonder and fire and silver, a shining star of the ancient world. Men gazed upon it's glory and wondered, that such a thing was, or might be. It was the envy and the boast of all the earth, a place of majesty and empire. It was the throne of glory, the seat of men who were more than kings. It was sung of in the deserts of the east and the snows of the north. It was the dream of a thousand and one nights, a marble jewel that straddled the earth, the city of all the world's desire. It was the City -- there was no other like it, and there never shall be again.
It had a thousand names in a thousand languages. It was Miklagard and Tsargrad to the Norsemen, and Rum to the Turks. It was ancient Constantinople and blessed Nova Roma. It was Istanbol and the Polis, The Great City and the Cradle of the Romans, the Dream and the Desire of all the world. It was the Second Rome and the Queen of Cities.
It was Byzantium.
It was a cradle of faith, a place of wonder and terror, a city of tradition and a city of ritual. It was the holiest of holies and the blackest of pits, a place of murder and desire and honor and betrayal, a web of contradictions and hypocrisies, and at it's beating heart sat a man, little less than a God, and more besides -- the Emperor. For nigh on ten centuries, the Emperors of Rome ruled from the Rome that was not Rome, and all the east and all the west heeded their word. They were the worst of men and the best of men, and in ancient times, all the world stood still in awe at the splendor that was Byzantium.It was an old city, a city of wonder and fire and silver, a shining star of the ancient world. Men gazed upon it's glory and wondered, that such a thing was, or might be. It was the envy and the boast of all the earth, a place of majesty and empire. It was the throne of glory, the seat of men who were more than kings. It was sung of in the deserts of the east and the snows of the north. It was the dream of a thousand and one nights, a marble jewel that straddled the earth, the city of all the world's desire. It was the City -- there was no other like it, and there never shall be again.
It had a thousand names in a thousand languages. It was Miklagard and Tsargrad to the Norsemen, and Rum to the Turks. It was ancient Constantinople and blessed Nova Roma. It was Istanbol and the Polis, The Great City and the Cradle of the Romans, the Dream and the Desire of all the world. It was the Second Rome and the Queen of Cities.
It was Byzantium.
Rome did not fall when the city fell. The empire and it's emperors survived in the East, in Constantinople, the greatest of the cities of the ancient world, that in antiquity was called Byzantium. These Eastern Roman Emperors, or the Byzantines as they would come to be called, ruled from Constantinople for over nine hundred years after the fall of Rome. As their empire dwindled and shrank across the centuries, as their faith splintered and turned upon itself, as their prestige faded and their era waned, they clung bitterly to the Imperial name of Rome. They were the last of the Roman Emperors, and their Empire, at it's waning and it's waxing, was Rome, in all her glory and infamy.
In the days of Byzantium, as in the days of ancient Rome, men of strength and fortitude can rise high through their own will to power. Slaves, gladiators, and peasants have all sat the throne of the Romans at some point during the long history of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Imperial Court is packed to the brim with princes and lords and priests all vying for a scrap of the power imperial, or for the very throne which holds it.
You are one of these -- a person of wit, skill, and ambition, who, by some twist of fate or chance, have found yourself in the graces of the Emperor in the East. In your time, as in all times, the Baisilea Rhomaion is assailed on all sides by the infidel, the barbaros, and the heretic.
In the West, false pretenders lay lying claim to the name of empire. In the east, the sons of Mohammed hammer eternally at the gates of Rome. To the north, the barbarian Rus scheme and dream of thrones. Within, snakes and vipers nestle in the heart of Christendom, scheming ever and always for power and influence.
You must navigate a tangled, centuries-old bureaucracy, defend borders that shrink daily, and uphold a faith divided. You have no true ally and no true friend. You are the enemy of all and the love of none. Father, brother, son, or lover -- all may turn against you, and will in time. You can trust in nothing and no one but your own wit and skill -- but if you survive these trials and ordeals, you may yet rise to that holiest and greatest of dignities: the Imperial Throne.
But make no mistake: that empire which was called and calls itself Roman is a quagmire of murder, of treachery and zealotry and byzantine intrigues. It is a dying beast that sprawls across the earth, a fading echo of greater glories. Better men and women than you, and worse, have ruled in Constantinople, but few have left their mark on history. To fail is to die alone and unremembered, a footnote scrawled in history's page. To succeed is to rise above all who have come before, to be immortalized for eternity as a new Alexander, the greatest of the Caesars and the finest of the Romans.
In the days of Byzantium, as in the days of ancient Rome, men of strength and fortitude can rise high through their own will to power. Slaves, gladiators, and peasants have all sat the throne of the Romans at some point during the long history of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Imperial Court is packed to the brim with princes and lords and priests all vying for a scrap of the power imperial, or for the very throne which holds it.
You are one of these -- a person of wit, skill, and ambition, who, by some twist of fate or chance, have found yourself in the graces of the Emperor in the East. In your time, as in all times, the Baisilea Rhomaion is assailed on all sides by the infidel, the barbaros, and the heretic.
In the West, false pretenders lay lying claim to the name of empire. In the east, the sons of Mohammed hammer eternally at the gates of Rome. To the north, the barbarian Rus scheme and dream of thrones. Within, snakes and vipers nestle in the heart of Christendom, scheming ever and always for power and influence.
You must navigate a tangled, centuries-old bureaucracy, defend borders that shrink daily, and uphold a faith divided. You have no true ally and no true friend. You are the enemy of all and the love of none. Father, brother, son, or lover -- all may turn against you, and will in time. You can trust in nothing and no one but your own wit and skill -- but if you survive these trials and ordeals, you may yet rise to that holiest and greatest of dignities: the Imperial Throne.
But make no mistake: that empire which was called and calls itself Roman is a quagmire of murder, of treachery and zealotry and byzantine intrigues. It is a dying beast that sprawls across the earth, a fading echo of greater glories. Better men and women than you, and worse, have ruled in Constantinople, but few have left their mark on history. To fail is to die alone and unremembered, a footnote scrawled in history's page. To succeed is to rise above all who have come before, to be immortalized for eternity as a new Alexander, the greatest of the Caesars and the finest of the Romans.
Where Atlas flings his shadow
Far o'er the western foam
Shall be great fear on all who hear
The mighty name of Rome.
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- Location
- Texas
Reserved.
Character Creation
- Location
- Texas
The Basileia Rhomaion, in the Late Middle Ages
Choose an Era of Byzantine History to begin the game.
The Two Emperors [] The year is 968, and the ruling emperor is one Nikephoros II Phokas, called the Hammer of the Arabs and the White Death of the Saracens. He rose to the Imperial Throne by strength of arms alone, and retook Crete, Cicilia, and Antioch from the Arabs, winning glory and fame as a brilliant general and master of horsemen. In the West, tensions with the German barbaroi grows ever greater as the power-hungry Bishop of Rome throws his support behind the 'Holy' and 'Roman' Emperor, Otto I. Eastward, the threat of the Saracen and the Arab has been quelled for a lifetime by the emperor's brilliant military stratagems, but the sons of Islam are not so easily overcome. And to the north, in the frozen steppes, a new power rises among the barbaroi of the North -- a kingdom called Rus...
The Thousand-Year Empire [] It is the year 1000, at turn of the tenth century, and the reigning Emperor is Basil II Makedon, called in after times Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. As the Holy Roman Empire establishes it's dominance over the states of Europe, the true Roman Empire struggles with it's great foe in the east -- the Empire of the Bulgars in the Balkans. The Bulgarian Emperor, Samuel, threatens the very walls of Constantinople, and if he succeeds, the dream of Rome may die beneath the Bulgarian tide. But Basil II is the most capable and powerful emperor since his ancestor Basil I, and if any man can beat back the barbaroi at the gates, it is he. War is come to Rome, and any man who serves in the wars to come may yet gain prestige and renown as a defender of Rome.
The Alexiad [] It is 1081, and the young Emperor Alexios Komnenos has just risen to the Imperial Throne. The Empire is still reeling from her disastrous defeat at the Battle of Manzikert, where the corrupt and inefficient Imperial Army was destroyed by the invading armies of the Turks, who have seized all of Anatolia and left the Empire crippled. The ambitious and talented general Alexios Komnenos must now contend not only with the Turks, but with Norman armies invading from the west, determined to seize the Balkans for their own. And even as the empire turns to face these new foes, other enemies stir in the steppes of the north, barbarian hordes determined to loot the riches of the Second Rome. To be Roman in such times is to see the empire at it's lowest point, crippled and beset on all sides by foes. Those who rise as her defenders in this hour will be immortalized in Roman history -- if not in their lifetimes, then by those who come after.
The Komnenian Restoration [] The year is 1157, and Byzantium is on the ascent. It is the time of Manuel I Komnenos, called Manuel the Great. The most exalted Emperor in lifetimes, Manuel has made Rome into the superpower of the Western world once more. He has bent much of Italy beneath his heel and forced the Pope to pay him tribute, and it seems as if the broken halves of the Christian Church may soon be regained as Rome falls under Roman power once more. In the east, the emperor prepares a great expedition to force the Crusader Kings of Antioch and Jerusalem into vassalage, and to beat back the Turks and the Arabs in Egypt and the Levant. The star of the Emperor shines from east to west, and any who find themselves in his favor may find themselves rising with it.
The Thousand-Year Empire [] It is the year 1000, at turn of the tenth century, and the reigning Emperor is Basil II Makedon, called in after times Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. As the Holy Roman Empire establishes it's dominance over the states of Europe, the true Roman Empire struggles with it's great foe in the east -- the Empire of the Bulgars in the Balkans. The Bulgarian Emperor, Samuel, threatens the very walls of Constantinople, and if he succeeds, the dream of Rome may die beneath the Bulgarian tide. But Basil II is the most capable and powerful emperor since his ancestor Basil I, and if any man can beat back the barbaroi at the gates, it is he. War is come to Rome, and any man who serves in the wars to come may yet gain prestige and renown as a defender of Rome.
The Alexiad [] It is 1081, and the young Emperor Alexios Komnenos has just risen to the Imperial Throne. The Empire is still reeling from her disastrous defeat at the Battle of Manzikert, where the corrupt and inefficient Imperial Army was destroyed by the invading armies of the Turks, who have seized all of Anatolia and left the Empire crippled. The ambitious and talented general Alexios Komnenos must now contend not only with the Turks, but with Norman armies invading from the west, determined to seize the Balkans for their own. And even as the empire turns to face these new foes, other enemies stir in the steppes of the north, barbarian hordes determined to loot the riches of the Second Rome. To be Roman in such times is to see the empire at it's lowest point, crippled and beset on all sides by foes. Those who rise as her defenders in this hour will be immortalized in Roman history -- if not in their lifetimes, then by those who come after.
The Komnenian Restoration [] The year is 1157, and Byzantium is on the ascent. It is the time of Manuel I Komnenos, called Manuel the Great. The most exalted Emperor in lifetimes, Manuel has made Rome into the superpower of the Western world once more. He has bent much of Italy beneath his heel and forced the Pope to pay him tribute, and it seems as if the broken halves of the Christian Church may soon be regained as Rome falls under Roman power once more. In the east, the emperor prepares a great expedition to force the Crusader Kings of Antioch and Jerusalem into vassalage, and to beat back the Turks and the Arabs in Egypt and the Levant. The star of the Emperor shines from east to west, and any who find themselves in his favor may find themselves rising with it.
The mightiest of the Romans have come from origins as varied and as mixed as all the nations of the Earth. Infidels, barbarians, slaves, and princes have all held the dignity of the Caesars in centuries past, and might in centuries to come. In Constantinople, like few other places in the world, it is possible to rise to power on no basis but that of your own merit. You have risen to the imperial court from an origin either ignominious or great, and it will shape you all your life:
Select your origin, which will determine how you start the game, and what resources you begin with:
The Dragon [] Your name is Michael Drakonopoulos. Your family comes from nothing great -- your ancestors were slaves and servants, beggars and thieves. But in your time, your late father, David, rose to power and prominence in the court of the Emperors, proving himself a masterful general and able politician. Famed for his ruthlessness on the battlefield, he was called by his peers David ho Drakon, or the Dragon. You were born with no name of nobility or title of worth, but those in the Imperial Court have taken to calling you 'Drakonopoulos' -- literally, the Son of the Dragon. With little to your name beyond your father's name and his prestige, you must make your own way in the court of the Caesars.
The Favoured [] You are Constantine the Phoenician. Your father was a servant close to the Emperor's heart, a bosom companion who had followed him since childhood. Named John of Phoenicia for his place of birth, he grew in influence and power in the Imperial Court, a meteoric rise that ended with his sudden murder some months after your birth. You were raised almost as a son by the future Emperor and his family, and have emerged into manhood with a ready-made position in the Imperial Court. There are many, however, who envy you your position and favor, and would like little more than to see both taken from you -- or for you to meet the same end as your father.
The Scion [] You are Alexios Argyros, latest son of the ancient Argyros family. Your ancestors have served the Caesars for countless generations, and your bloodline stretches back to the very oldest days of Rome. Your house and your line have fallen on hard times, but your name is still enough to win you a place in Constantinople, at the seat of power. A young and ambitious aristocrat in a city packed to the brim with such men, you will have to contend with ancient dynastic rivals and envious members of your own family should you seek to grow in power and influence.
The Isaurian [] Your name is Eudokia the Isaurian, and yours is the blood of empire. In ancient times, your ancestors were Emperors in Rome, descendants of the great Leo the Isaurian, and held the dignity of the Caesars for nigh on a hundred years. You are the last daughter of that ancient and proud line -- a line reduced to nigh obscurity by time, war, and countless foes. Your father and mother have used the last of their dwindling influence to secure a marriage between yourself and a minor general who is held in the Emperor's favor. Your task is clear -- you must use your wits and skills to climb the rungs of power, to win the emperor's ear (or his heart), and restore the fortunes of your family against all odds. Women have held power in Rome before, and may yet do so again. But take care, the forces and foes arrayed against you will be many and mighty, and should you fail, you may expect to end your days sequestered in a nunnery.
The Favoured [] You are Constantine the Phoenician. Your father was a servant close to the Emperor's heart, a bosom companion who had followed him since childhood. Named John of Phoenicia for his place of birth, he grew in influence and power in the Imperial Court, a meteoric rise that ended with his sudden murder some months after your birth. You were raised almost as a son by the future Emperor and his family, and have emerged into manhood with a ready-made position in the Imperial Court. There are many, however, who envy you your position and favor, and would like little more than to see both taken from you -- or for you to meet the same end as your father.
The Scion [] You are Alexios Argyros, latest son of the ancient Argyros family. Your ancestors have served the Caesars for countless generations, and your bloodline stretches back to the very oldest days of Rome. Your house and your line have fallen on hard times, but your name is still enough to win you a place in Constantinople, at the seat of power. A young and ambitious aristocrat in a city packed to the brim with such men, you will have to contend with ancient dynastic rivals and envious members of your own family should you seek to grow in power and influence.
The Isaurian [] Your name is Eudokia the Isaurian, and yours is the blood of empire. In ancient times, your ancestors were Emperors in Rome, descendants of the great Leo the Isaurian, and held the dignity of the Caesars for nigh on a hundred years. You are the last daughter of that ancient and proud line -- a line reduced to nigh obscurity by time, war, and countless foes. Your father and mother have used the last of their dwindling influence to secure a marriage between yourself and a minor general who is held in the Emperor's favor. Your task is clear -- you must use your wits and skills to climb the rungs of power, to win the emperor's ear (or his heart), and restore the fortunes of your family against all odds. Women have held power in Rome before, and may yet do so again. But take care, the forces and foes arrayed against you will be many and mighty, and should you fail, you may expect to end your days sequestered in a nunnery.
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- Location
- Texas
You may post.
Terran Imperium
[French]
- Location
- Southern France
[X] The Komnenian Restoration
[X] The Scion
I really like this combination because it offers a lot of possibilities and if we play it right, we can be swept up by the wave of change brought by the Komnenian Dynasty in a positive way.
@Telamon I may be mistaken but didn't the restoration start at an earlier point at least by a couple of decades? Under Manuel' father John II, maybe. Honestly, not sure.
[X] The Scion
I really like this combination because it offers a lot of possibilities and if we play it right, we can be swept up by the wave of change brought by the Komnenian Dynasty in a positive way.
@Telamon I may be mistaken but didn't the restoration start at an earlier point at least by a couple of decades? Under Manuel' father John II, maybe. Honestly, not sure.
- Location
- Texas
The Komnenian Restoration was not limited to Manuel's reign, no, but his rule was certainly the height of the Restoration, and arguably the empire's medieval apogee.
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- Location
- Germany
[X] The Alexiad
[X] The Dragon
[X] The Dragon
- Location
- nz
[X] The Komnenian Restoration
[X] The Scion
[X] The Scion
- Location
- Sydney
[X] The Two Emperors
[X] The Isaurian
[X] The Scion
The Thousand-Year Empire []
The Rus offer a great opportunity, especially for Isaurian and Scion. They can (and historically were) be converted to Orthodox Christianity. Kiev is in a position to establish strong trade relations with us. If we make an effort to support them, and establish dynastic links, then we can make the Rus much stronger. When we are attacked by the Muslims, the ability to call on the Rus army will be very useful. They will fall to the Mongols, but if the Rus are stronger then the Mongol expansion can be stopped before hitting us. Crippled by the nomadic attack, we will be able to rescue them and absorb them into our Empire.
The Komnenian Restoration is too late, Kiev will fall to Novgorod.
[X] The Isaurian
[X] The Scion
The Thousand-Year Empire []
The Rus offer a great opportunity, especially for Isaurian and Scion. They can (and historically were) be converted to Orthodox Christianity. Kiev is in a position to establish strong trade relations with us. If we make an effort to support them, and establish dynastic links, then we can make the Rus much stronger. When we are attacked by the Muslims, the ability to call on the Rus army will be very useful. They will fall to the Mongols, but if the Rus are stronger then the Mongol expansion can be stopped before hitting us. Crippled by the nomadic attack, we will be able to rescue them and absorb them into our Empire.
The Komnenian Restoration is too late, Kiev will fall to Novgorod.
Archon of Ghosts
Servant of Rome
- Location
- Luxembourg
[X] The Alexiad
[X] The Dragon
[X] The Dragon
[X] The Two Emperors
[X] The Isaurian
[X] The Isaurian
- Location
- Venezuela
[X] The Alexiad
[X] The Dragon
[X] The Dragon
