Noice
Purple Phoenix Reborn (Constantinople ISOT)
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Skywalker_T-65
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There's already a map in this update. Which hasn't changed much, if at all.
Sidestory: Ottoman Empire
Skywalker_T-65
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Sidestory: Ottoman Empire
There are two arguments in historical literature in regard to which area of the world was most impacted by the vanishment and subsequent relocation of Constantinople. The first, and perhaps more obvious, being the New World. Arcadia and America were both certainly changed on a core level by the arrival of the Romans. Roman advancements brought forth increased technological development. Roman culture and religion spread across both continents, if more so in Arcadia. Roman military might crippled the Aztec Empire and gave birth to the rise of the Purépecha Empire. All of these and more are certainly true and make a good argument for their case.
On the other hand, the other major option is the Near-East and Balkans. The Caucasus and the Crimea. Or, in more accurate terms, the area of the Ottoman Empire and her nearest rivals.
The 'theft' of Constantinople from the Sultan Mehmed would forever change the destiny of his Empire. While questions of 'would the Ottomans have conquered Hungary or even Poland?' or 'would the Ottomans have destroyed the Mamluk's and been the first state to rule from Egypt to Greece since the height of the Romans' better belong in bargain bin alternate history bins...it is indisputable that the Empire was crippled by what occurred. What had been a rapidly expanding force was forced to slow its pace. Mehmed never recovered from losing his prize, and his successors would have to hold together an Empire with few friends and many enemies, both external and internal.
One can hardly deny that the loss of Constantinople would change the Ottomans forever.
-A Lost Prize: Constantinople's Disappearance and the Ottoman Empire, 2014, Hellenic University Press
1453-1462:
The vanishment of Constantinople took much air out of the Ottoman campaigns. Mehmed II is recorded as being listless for some time after his prize was stolen from him. His orders to sack and burn Galata were followed, in spite of some grumbling from his Vizers as they realized full well what this action would mean. Mehmed, listless or not, remained determined to take every bit of his disgrace upon his own shoulders. Perhaps it was youthful foolishness and impetuousness that guided him in those crucial days.
Certainly, those older than him argued as much. And wrote it down in later years.
Regardless, Mehmed was barely out of his childhood and he made the choice to take everything upon his own shoulders. The pain and stress of being so obviously snubbed by Allah weighed heavily upon such a pious man. The condemnation of Europe and even fellow Islamic rulers did further harm to his mental state. For all that he spoke of being willing to take the image of a tyrant upon himself by claiming to have done unto Constantinople as Rome had done unto Carthage, it clearly wore the Sultan down. He aged beyond his years and isolated himself from his closest advisors.
The campaigns of Mehmed, as his resources were consumed by building the City of Istanbul were short and sharp affairs. He conquered the disunited Morea, stamping down on revolts in the aftermath of Constantinople's apparent destruction. Greece would continue to be a problem in this regard well past Mehmed's own reign. Never to the point where it became easier to just kill the Greeks, yet, never stable either. The Morea, in particular, continued to be a sore point.
Taking the Anatolian Beyliks under his rule, as well as the Empire of Trebizond, Mehmed began to earn a reputation as a conqueror. He could never shake the shadow of the Carthage Myth, yet his actions spoke for themselves. Even with resources taken up by his construction on the Bosporus, he continued to march. His armies were victorious on nearly every field, struggling only against the Albanians under their hero Skanderberg. In spite of the righteous anger they felt, the Orthodox Christians had already been mostly subdued even before Constantinople and were certainly in no condition to fight against Mehmed now.
The Catholics, smarting after Varna and consumed by internecine warfare, were little better.
It was into this that Vlad III Dracula came into history. A man who had spent time in Ottoman captivity and claimed to know Mehmed better than any Christian ever could. Surviving records state that Vlad was never entirely convinced that Mehmed would actually burn Constantinople as he claimed. Regardless of the truth of that, Vlad would become the greatest foe Mehmed had ever dealt with. The Wallachian and his armies continuously embarrassed the Ottomans, as they raged through Bulgaria. With these raids and the refusal to bend the knee, Mehmed marched against Vlad.
It would be here, perhaps, that Mehmed's premature aging hit the hardest.[1] The man was tired after years of telling a great lie to cover an even greater personal loss. He never once lost his faith, yet he could never deny that he had clearly lost Allah's favor. The need to fend off assaults both personal and imagined, as well as rebuild Istanbul from the ground up, while leading campaigns across Anatolia and Europe had weighed the man down.
When he marched on Wallachia, Mehmed was a man who looked decades beyond his thirty years.
This would do him no favors as Vlad continued to push and prod at the Ottomans in raids. The Wallachian Prince knew he could not win a pitched field battle and so worked to his own advantages. He ruined the land and left nothing for the Turks, who struggled along. Food and water grew scarce and the men grew weak and discontent. It would not have been enough to stop them in truth. Wallachia could not win against such an army by delaying tactics such as those.
Vlad had no intention of doing such. Near Târgoviște, in the deep of night, he struck. Wallachians stormed the Ottoman camp, ripping and tearing their way through men roused into a terrified panic. Vlad led from the front, personally intending to slay Mehmed himself. Perhaps, in another time, he might have failed. Not here.
Mehmed, wielding his gilded blade, led from the front of his own men. He may have felt he needed to still prove to his men that he was their leader. That Allah had not forsaken him. Perhaps he felt that he could only find absolution in the heat of battle. Perhaps he was simply a man who had, for decades, confronted his own mortality and failings and had chosen his path. Regardless of the reason, Mehmed and Vlad would come into conflict.
The Wallachian would slay the Turk.
Mehmed II died on the field that night, as Vlad's men vanished into the night, leaving a shattered army behind them. The Turks pulled back to their Empire, leaderless, and already fully aware- among the army's leadership -that this could only spell a time of troubles as Mehmed's eldest child was still a teenager.
Bayezid II: 1462-1510
At the tender age of 15, Bayezid II ascended to his father's throne. He inherited a shattered army and a realm simmering with revolts in both East and West. Perhaps the luckiest he could claim to be is that his siblings were all even younger and in no position to attempt coups, though ambitious Beys would attempt to use his younger brother Cem against him.[2] These conflicts would consume much of his early reign. In fact, so busy was he in fending off Civil Wars and rebellions, that the Venetians were able to consolidate their grip on the southern Morea and even fund Greek revolts. Bayezid would prove unable to pry the Venetians from their Greek holdings, forced to spend most of his efforts on stabilizing an Empire fraying at the edges.
Coming to the throne at such a youthful age, Bayezid was a puppet of powerful figures in the Ottoman Court, at first. These men were interested more in their own personal power and wasted the treasury and army on clashes between themselves. This would, of course, culminate in the aforementioned conflicts between Bayezid and his younger brother. These conflicts would continue until Bayezid came of age and ruthlessly disposed of his advisors, taking the throne into his own hands. His younger sibling would be exiled into Western Europe where he eventually died.
Bayezid was, at his heart, a peacemaker interested in reforming the Empire and bringing in outside investment. He was, however, not a main faint of heart. He had grown up seeing what his father did. He saw how Mehmed was hammered for his actions and how it aged his father beyond his years. Bayezid was, in turn, inspired to never let the same happen to him. The men who tried to manipulate him to their own ends would have done well to note this.
Earning his reputation as both a state-builder and a warrior, Bayezid would spend his reign consolidating the Empire that his father had built. The revolts in the Balkans were put down harshly, though the Venetians would continue to cling to their Morean holdings. Bayezid would, however, not march north. Many theories have been put forward, from fear of suffering his father's fate- ludicrous, Bayezid was no coward -to a simple desire to focus on other areas. The most likely answer is simple. The Sultan saw more to be gained in focusing East against the Persians and the Mamluks than in stamping down on the Wallachians.
It was under Bayezid, indeed, that the Empire pivoted to the Middle East.
Ottoman armies marched East and subjugated whatever independent- or semi-independent -realms remained in Anatolia. His armies crushed those of the Turkomen and took the southern portions of the shattered Georgian realm. Ottoman infantry clashed with Persian horsemen, as the armies of Bayezid fought against those of the Persians, disunited as they were. Much of northern Mesopotamia fell to the Ottoman Empire in those days. Content with the Persians chastened and pushed back to Iran, Bayezid would march south.
His armies rampaged through Syria and the Holy Land, smashing the Mamluks at every turn. It was only, when overstretched and finally coming against determined resistance, that Bayezid turned back and created a border in southern Syria. Content with his conquests at this point- save for a simmering annoyance at the Venetians, having recognized the strategic importance of the Morea -the Sultan turned instead to building his Empire.
Slain at such a relative young age, Mehmed had not laid a stable framework. The civil wars and revolts in Bayezid's early reign made this much clear. Even in the heartland of Anatolia, the formerly independent Beyliks remained a stubborn thorn in Bayezid's side. While it was never spoke in public for fear of reprisal, many of the Beys and their descendants spoke in hushed whispers of how Allah had forsaken the Osman Dynasty. No Carthage Myth here. These men had, in some cases, even been present to see the strange forests that had replaced Constantinople. No friends of the Christians they may have been, some of these men even funded revolts in the simmering Balkans, to weaken their ostensible overlord and increase their own power.
Bayezid was not blind to this, of course.[3]
He stamped down on any clear threats to his rule, real or imagined. He was Bayezid the Cruel to these men, though it is, much as with his father…an unfair moniker. He is known in more fair circles as Bayezid the Just, for entirely different reasons. And, perhaps, more fairly.
He was a man who built a legal code and framework that became the basis of the Ottoman State. He built Istanbul into a proud city, even as he retained the Ottoman capital in Edirne. The Mosque that bears his name is, if a pale shadow of the Hagia Sophia, still the largest Mosque in Europe.
In spite of the rebellions he faced, Bayezid is also known for his efforts to integrate the Christian subjects of his realm. If the Greeks remained unruly at best, the Bulgarians- those not under Wallachian rule -were treated well. The Serbs became a strong cavalry force for the Ottomans and were rewarded justly. Bayezid may have focused his conquests to the East, yet he focused his state building in the West. If he would not strike into Hungary or Croatia, he would instead build up Serbia and Bulgaria as bulwarks of his state. It was a sound strategy, especially as he was less tainted than his father by the 'destruction' of Constantinople. Indeed, he would even allow Christians to worship in Istanbul, though never would he build a church anywhere near as grand as those 'destroyed'.
Perhaps most famously, Bayezid would bring in the Sephardic Jews as they were expelled from Iberia. This action is what arguably gave him his title as 'The Just'.
However, Bayezid could not live forever. If he was less stressed and worn down than his father, he was still a man who worked himself near to death. His paranoia, well founded after how he was used as a youth, wore him down yet further. As his sons plotted against him and the Beys continued to subvert his rule when given the chance. By the second decade of the 16th Century, Bayezid was an old man, jumping at shadows. His death of what is presumed to be a heart attack, in March of 1510, is not a surprise. Not with his health and mental state in rapid decline.
It should also come as little surprise that the Empire he had so painstakingly built, that he had tried so hard to forge into a lasting state, would fall once more into Civil War.
The Time of Troubles: 1510-1515
The five years after Bayezid II's death are generally considered the Time of Troubles for the Ottoman Empire. Bayezid's most powerful sons, Ahmet and Selim, had been jockeying for power for some time. Both had recognized their father's declining health and prepared their own forces for seizing the throne. Had Bayezid been in better health, perhaps he might have intervened, one way or another. He did not. And with his death, the Empire was plunged into a devastating Civil War.
Ahmet, the elder son, took Edirne and Istanbul. His control over the European side of the Empire conveyed legitimacy upon him, as well as the tacit support of loyal Serbs and Bulgarians- even some Greeks, though few of these cared for any Sultan. Selim, for his part, reigned in Anatolia. His forces, bolstered by Beys who saw the chance to perhaps get a puppet on the throne, were larger than his brother's. If, perhaps, less experienced. Constant skirmishes with Hungary or Wallachia had seasoned the European forces in a way the Anatolians were not.
What of the Syrians and the Mespotamians, then? These lands would remain neutral, watching the Mamluks and Safavid Persia.
As such, for five years, Ahmet and Selim would clash. Neither would be able to force the Bosporus easily. With the Crimean Khanate neutral and funding both sides, there was difficulty in using the Black Sea, as well.[4] These five years would see cities burnt and armies destroyed. Raids from enemies on all sides would further strain the Empire, as the Morea broke away into a disunited mess of competing Principalities funded by Venice. Wallachia took parts of Bulgaria and Hungary marched into Serbia.
These pinpricks in Europe never amounted to much. The Europeans were content to let the Ottomans destroy themselves, too consumed with their own petty squabbles to declare a Crusade or anything of the like. Indeed, the Hungarians would soon pull back, fighting among themselves as much as against the Turk.
In the East, the situation was far more dire. The Persians would seize back much of their lost lands in Mesopotamia. Even threatening the Ottoman holdings in Georgia, for a time, before Selim sent reinforcements to the East.
Conventional wisdom would say this weakening of his forces would see Selim defeated. However, Ahmet was an overconfident man.[5] His attempt to take advantage would be surrounded and crushed outside Istanbul's walls, as it tried to flee back across the strait after many defeats. Ahmet, himself, would be captured and executed by his brother. This would be the end of the Civil War, save for some minor revolts to put down.
Selim, now the undisputed Sultan, would look East as his father had before him. Let the Greeks have the Morea. He would crush them later. No. He had far greater gains in mind.
Selim I: 1515-1520
Selim marshaled what remained of the Ottoman armies, marching East. He clashed against the Safavids in great battles that have gone down in history. None more so than Chaldiran, where the more modern Ottoman armies- equipped with firearms and cannon -shattered the proud horsemen of Persia. The Safavid's retreated and their capital of Tabriz was sacked by Selim's victorious forces. With the Persians cowed and north Mesopotamia secured, Selim marched his armies south, moving to hit the Mamluks. He saw Egypt as the great prize, as well as the Holy Land and Mecca and Medina.
These had escaped his father and Selim would not see them escape him, as well.
However, he underestimated the Mamluks. While fragile in ways the Ottoman Empire was not, the Mamluk Sultans had learned well from Bayezid's campaigns. If their army was smaller and less modern, it knew the land it fought in, as well as the foe it faced. Moreover, the victory at Chaldiran had disguised the fact that the Ottoman military was a shell of its former self. The five years of Civil War had weakened it dearly. Men were tired and hard to come by. Horses even more so.
Not even the advantage in firepower could completely negate these structural issues. The Ottomans certainly pushed the Mamluks back. Their tired armies would take most of the Holy Land, as well as the two holiest cities in all of Islam. Yet they would not- could not -go further. The Mamluks stiffened and resisted in the south of the Holy Land, refusing to step back. Egypt would remain outside of Selim's grip, as he was forced to bring his battered army home.
For two years, he would let his army rest. For two years, he would rebuild his shattered Empire.
In 1520, he was prepared to return and finish what he had started. He would take Egypt and become the true Caliph. Where his Grandfather had suffered, he would succeed. He would surpass his father and become the greatest of all Sultans.
It was not meant to be.
While the truth is debated to this day, Selim was struck down.[6] Disease? Cancer? Poison? Or even something as mundane as a plague rampaging through the Ottoman lands? None know the truth and it is likely none ever will. Regardless, Selim died, after ruling for only five years. His reign was one of conquest and his actions had expanded the Empire in the East even further than his father had.
He would pass his realm on to his son, Suleiman. Only for news from the New World to rock the Empire to its very foundations…
1. Mehmed's premature aging was almost certainly due to stress and related ailments. Here was a man trying to hold together a state shaken to its very core- however he tried to hide it -while also feeling abandoned by his God. That Mehmed held together as long as he did is, generally, seen as something of a miracle in modern takes. Certainly, he was a man of immense strength and fortitude to endure as long as he did.
2. Cem, being a toddler upon his father's death, was hardly any sort of threat or competitor to Bayezid. Ambitious men using him as a claimant to the throne, on the other hand, was a different story. Would Cem have fought his brother given the choice? Hard to say. He certainly was never given the chance.
3. Very aware of the truth of what happened to his father and Constantinople- if not where the City had ended up -Bayezid would be consistently careful to watch those who knew the truth. Even if only from rumors and the like. Ambitious men could attempt to use the truth against him to weaken his reign. He could hardly be blind to this. If he earned a reputation for harshness to stamp down on this, well, he probably felt similarly to his father in that regard.
4. Both the Crimean Khanate and the Genoan colonies on the Black Sea benefited from Ottoman weakness. Mehmed died before he could claim those lands, as vassals or otherwise. And his son was far more concerned with the Middle East. This would allow the Khanate to prosper, though only through playing off their own neighbors and using Genoan trade to their advantage. In this regard, the tiny Principality of Theodoro continued to endure as a neutral third party, a hub of trade between Crimea and Europe. No one doubted that the tiny enclave, last vestige of Rome in Europe, endured only because the Crimeans allowed it, however.
5. Or, perhaps, a foolish one. Ahmet held many advantages over his brother, yet he squandered them all. It is little wonder that Selim would triumph over him, even if the time it took would severely damage the Empire.
6. Most likely felled by disease, though certain sectors of Ottoman life insisted he had been struck down by assassins. The story varies on if it were Greeks, Persians or Egyptians who paid the gold. Or struck the fatal blow. Again, though, it was likely a far less exciting tale of 'disease strikes down even the mightiest men'.
AN: So, this. Discord drama (drama on our birthday at that) killed our motivation to write this weekend, so in the interests of getting something up...we have this. About time we shifted it from Patreon to the thread, really. It fits timeline-wise anyway to cover the Ottomans now. Things will be covered in more detail at different points, but this is a broad overview that works for now.
We make no claims to being masters of Ottoman History, mind you. This is a lot of extrapolation. A lot of taking liberties to tell an interesting story. Hopefully it works well enough for that. Even if it isn't 200% PERFECTLY HISTORICAL or what have you
(We'll get into the Greeks in the Morea later. Suffice to say that none of them are going to be taking Athens anytime soon or such. They're disunited because they hate each other almost as much as the Turk and because Venice is quite content to play them off each other by funding each one at different points, and that's not even counting Genoa or others sticking their fingers in too. Plus Venice likes their little toehold, thank you very much.
And yes, Venice still owns Cyprus, Crete and assorted Aegean islands too.
As for the other bits on the map...well. Wallachia is doing well for itself thanks to Vlad being even more of a madlad here. Hungary is doing...decent? We'll get into that later. Georgia is nowhere near as unified as the map would imply. The Crimean Khanate is powerful, but by no means a superpower. Theodoro is very nervously enjoying their position as 'window to the world' and wondering when Crimea jumps them properly. Ditto the Genoan colonies.
They all still endure because the Ottomans have bigger fish to fry and couldn't jump on Crimea when it was having internal issues like they did in our history.
Persia is still Safavid, the Mamluks still rule Egypt, though they're a bit more stable thanks to their victories against the Ottomans propping them up. Still not the most popular rulers.
And THE KNIGHTS LIVE ON (because the Ottomans can hardly afford to throw 100k men at a bunch of Knights more or less minding their own business on Rhodes. Piracy aside.)
Next update will probably wrap up things with Demetrios for now, and then it's time to cover the rest of Europe. After that...well, we haven't seen Heraklonas in a bit.
Love the fact that tiny little Theodoro, paradoxically the last vestige of Roman rule and yet tied to the barbarians that took western Rome to its grave, is still alive in Crimea. Can't wait to see how the Ottomans react to the disturbing news from Iberia, while it is probably going to be a hard topic to cover religious belief is going to be completely shifted in this timeline. I do wonder whether Rome is strong enough even now at the point we are at to take on the Ottomans if they were to fight eachother one on one. I suspect that they still would be destroyed, given the fact that they started off with such a low population and simply cannot field enough soldiers to compete in the bloodbath that is Europe. In the Americas on the other hand, not so much a problem.
Also... casual Knights W (wonder if they still hold their Anatolian castle), and Venice definitely is enjoying the continuing beneficial trade it traditionally had with the Mamluks in Egypt. Portugal is now trading with India around the Cape, and has certainly established relations with Ethiopia at this point. Different to OTL however, Portugal does not have to deal with the Ottomans in the Indian Ocean.
Also... casual Knights W (wonder if they still hold their Anatolian castle), and Venice definitely is enjoying the continuing beneficial trade it traditionally had with the Mamluks in Egypt. Portugal is now trading with India around the Cape, and has certainly established relations with Ethiopia at this point. Different to OTL however, Portugal does not have to deal with the Ottomans in the Indian Ocean.
At this point, If the Romans want to take a part of The Ottoman Empire (Constantinople) and make a rump state (That rump state is called the East Roman Empire and they unite the warring Roman factions like Theodoro and Moesia assuming Moesia hasn't been annexed by Ottomans and Theodoro wasn't annexed by Russians or Crimeans, while they are the West Roman Empire), they could do it! They wouldn't hold onto it themselves as they have no real ambitions for Europe other than maaaybe converting the Papal state to orthodox Christianity to give a middle finger to Catholics, and an alliance with Russia. Other than that, no real ambitions in Europe.
Aren't the Romans in America considered to be different from the Eastern Orthodox churches by now?
Norseman
Entirely Wholesome
I doubt a couple of centuries of isolation would really do that, especially since there'd be no ecumenical councils to set new doctrine in the meantime. Also, even if there is "folk Orthodoxy" this would not affect the actual, proper theology taught by the church (and if you've ever heard an orthodox priest complain about amulets and superstitions you know a bit about Folk Orthodoxy).
Charles Dewitt
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Regardless I doubt the Arcadian Romans are going to try and conquer Greece halfway around the world or convert the Papal State to Orthodoxy for some braindead reason.
Skywalker_T-65
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The theology in Constantinople is going to be broadly the same. The only real differences, at this point, being directly related to their salvation. Saint Constantine and all that.
On the fringes of the Empire, with the natives and all…well. That's a different can of worms.
And what the Purepecha practice? Would probably give a priest in Athens a conniption. And stroke.
On the fringes of the Empire, with the natives and all…well. That's a different can of worms.
And what the Purepecha practice? Would probably give a priest in Athens a conniption. And stroke.
Zap Rowsdower
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Which is basically the same as in OTL, just with Orthodox priests in the home country having conniptions over New World aboriginal syncretism instead of Catholic (ask a European or White American Catholic priest about Santa Muerte and stand back).
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"The theology in Constantinople is going to be broadly the same. The only real differences, at this point, being directly related to their salvation. Saint Constantine and all that."
I see
I see
look forward to more
Chapter 25
Skywalker_T-65
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Chapter 25
Treaty of Vera Cruz
In the wake of the disastrous Cortés expedition, Spanish influence and expansion into Arcadia ground to a halt. Unauthorized it may have been, the Spanish crown would likely not have said a word against the man had he succeeded in toppling the Aztec Empire and creating a Spanish foothold in Mesoarcadia. As it turned out, with Cortés and the majority of his expedition dead, the Spanish pulled back and reevaluated their goals. Had it been as simple as throwing more men at the problem, they might yet have pushed through and finished the job that Cortés had begun. It was, of course, not so simple. The discovery of the Romans and their allies in the Purépecha made that a moot point.Treaty of Vera Cruz
While in many ways little better than Cortés, Pánfilo de Narváez at least had the self-preservation instincts to not draw the ire of a fresh- and nearly as advanced as the Spanish -foe. He focused on fortifying Vera Cruz, the port established by the man he was sent to apprehend, to create a Spanish base on the mainland. At the very least, it would prove a useful trading post and perhaps something more, once the time came. It was in the process of doing so that Prince Demetrios came bearing gifts and word of peace. To negotiate with the Spanish and establish exactly what their purpose in Mesoarcadia was.
The resultant 'Treaty of Vera Cruz' would, at least, prove to be more durable than the Treaty of Tordesillas.
-Vera Cruz: The Window to the Carribean, 2002
The time he had spent with the Spaniard, Narváez, had done little to change that impression.
"Do they truly intend this to be a home?" One of his 500, riding beside Demetrios as they approached the gate to Vera Cruz, leaned over upon his mount. His eyes spoke more than words ever could, narrowed and twisted at the corners. "I do not envy those who live in such a place, your highness. Even when we first arrived, we were given superior quarters. And our friends did not know to trust us at the time!"
Demetrios sighed softly, "I share your concern. This has the feel of a temporary military camp, not a permanent settlement. Are these men simply preparing and biding their time before attacking again?"
It was a concern that the prince knew was shared by his men. None of them felt any inclination towards trusting these newcomers. Whatever ancestral ties they may once have held as Europeans had been diluted and faded by nearly a century of time in Arcadia. And that was in cosmopolitan Constantinople. The Romans who lived in these lands did so because they loved their new friends and new home.
And to these men, the Spanish were nothing but invaders. Sure enough, their efforts had been focused on the hated Aztec, thus far. No one was foolish enough to believe the Spanish had come halfway across the globe- according to the translator, at any rate -to make friends. No. They had come for conquest and nowhere was that more apparent than in looking at the military camp of Vera Cruz, masquerading as a port town. It was glaringly obvious.
At times such as these, I do wish I had spent more time in the libraries of Constantinople. Learnt more of our old home. Demetrios guided his horse through the opening gates, his eyes drifting over the grungy men standing beside it. They wore armor damaged by Aztec weapons. Survivors from the previous expedition?
"It would have done no good to read about them, I suppose." Muttering to himself, the prince shook his head and returned to facing forward. When the Lord saved us, 'Spain' was no such thing. If I remember correctly, at any rate. [2]
The man next to him, however, kept his own eyes on his prince, "What are you referring to, sir?"
"Ah," Demetrios waved a hand and smiled slightly. His graying beard tugged tight by his quirked lips. "I was simply regretting a misspent youth. Pay it no mind."
Chuckles spoke to others hearing his words, though the Spanish remained admirably stone-faced. Then again, save for the translator, would they even understand his words? No, likely not. If they couldn't understand him, they would not understand the joke, either.
"Welcome to Vera Cruz," the translator, his Greek improved by leaps and bounds simply by speaking with multiple native speakers, pulled his own horse beside Demetrios.
The old warrior, a veteran of conflicts in ancestral Greece that he would not speak of, had a slim smile. His hand took in the 'town' though he seemed little prouder of it than Demetrios was impressed by it. That is to say, with almost no pride at all. Though, from what the Roman understood, this man had been part of the previous expedition. And had only survived due to Yiorgos. Hmm.
Perhaps he may prove interested in Tzintzuntzan. We could learn much of Spanish warfare from such a man.
Never let it be said that Demetrios was not an opportunist at heart. Or that he wasn't fully willing to take in anyone who could aid his new home.
"It is...not what I expected," the prince didn't bring that up, settling instead for nodding at the translator. He reached down to adjust his swordbelt, while patting his horse on the flank. "I expected something more than this, if I may be so bold."
The translator's smile pinched a bit at the edges, "We have not been here long."
"Nor have we, yet our home is quite a bit more impressive than this."
To his credit, the other man only leaned back and sighed softly. He shook his head and waved at the town again, "Vera Cruz was established by a man running from the Crown. It was never meant to last unless we proved successful. That it endures at all is at the sufferance of the governor of Cuba, to my understanding."
Demetrios brought his horse to a halt. Both to allow a group of laborers past and to place his hand firmly on his sword. His men picked upon the prince's mood, their own hands drifting towards weapons. The Spanish ignored the move, likely feeling safe in the heart of their mainland holding. The translator was the one exception, his face picking up a deep frown. He understood the meaning of the action well enough.
To be fair, he was one who had already survived a failed expedition.
"Does the governor of this 'Cuba'," Demetrios rolled the unfamiliar word on his tongue, as his hand rested on the pommel of his sword. "Desire to expand into these lands? As your former leader did?"
The translator could only shrug, "That, I do not know. Senor Narváez has said nothing to that effect." The laborers passed and the horses began moving again, trotting past simple wooden huts. Thach roofs rose around the group, as the man continued, "I know that our expedition was unauthorized, now. I do not know if the governor wishes to take advantage of what we have already done. That is beyond my level."
I am asking a soldier what a leader would do. Would one of my 500 know my own thoughts?
Sighing softly, Demetrios nodded, "I understand. Shall we finish this meeting, then? I would dearly wish to know if we can be friends or..." Here, he tapped his sword and narrowed his eyes. "...if we are fated to be enemies."
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The impression the Romans had of Vera Cruz was, in the end, not an inaccurate one. In those early days, reeling from the failure of Cortés, the Spanish colonial authorities bore little interest in colonizing Mesoarcadia. The failure of Cortés stung deep and hard.
Settling a hostile land, filled with men who bore no love for foreigners, seemed the height of folly. The Carribean had proven easy to colonize, yes, yet even there the Spanish had fought revolts. Until the last of the natives had been cast down and brought into the fold. They were not far removed from those days and the Cuban authorities saw no profit to be made in throwing limited resources at an Empire that knew they were coming. That knew how they fought.
The Tlaxcala, for their part, refused to help.
While they allowed the Spanish to settle in Vera Cruz and proved to be reliable trading partners, Yiorgos and his compatriots made it abundantly clear they would not serve as Spanish tools. The Tlaxcala had seen their hated enemy humbled and reduced to licking wounds and glaring impotently out from their cities. Why would they give up their own independence to a foreign crown? When they were at their height, ascendent in a way that only the Purépecha had matched.
Oh, the splendor of the Purépecha! [3]
When Demetrios told of his people, the Spanish listened. They listened and bit their lips to avoid speaking. An empire that rivaled the middle powers of Europe, if not in raw numbers than in military prowess. These men and their Roman allies would not be more primitive natives with stone weapons. To take those lands by force was beyond the resources Spain could commit. None were under any illusions that the Tlaxcala or Aztec would not take advantage of such a war in their own right.
Taken with the tales of Tzintzuntzan and the very real evidence of Greeks supporting the natives? It was little enough a surprise that the Spanish should consider it more trouble than it was worth. To send the men and resources to take hostile lands would be to denude Europe of men and material. Spanish interests were always focused on Europe. In Italy and the Netherlands, where greedy Spanish eyes waited for a chance. An admittedly rich land in the New World that would require an expedition that seemed impossible to create.
It must have appeared as if God had spoken with the death of Cortés. A punishment for hubris.
And so, the Spanish quieted their desire for gold. They bit their tongues and resisted every urge they had to insult the Greeks that called themselves Roman. The men they spoke with were hardened veterans of a war not that long ago. The spearhead of a force that could push Vera Cruz's garrison into the sea with little effort. That the Tlaxcala would do nothing to stop and may, indeed, join given the proper incentive. It escaped no one that Yiorgos remained a loyal followed of his Prince, no matter his protestations to the contrary. If the Tlaxcala did not follow him blindly, his voice still spoke louder than most.
Nor did any forget the Aztec. Weakened as they were, the devil worshippers were not dead. Far from it. They remained the most numerous in Mesoarcadia. Their armies remained large and potent, even weakened by disease and warfare as they were. They bore a blood feud with the Spanish for the damage to their capital and for allying with the Tlaxcala. They hated the Romans equally as much for their support of the Purépecha. The Aztec had few friends and many enemies.
No beast is more dangerous than a cornered one.
Through it all, of course, remained the specter of the Romans themselves. Demetrios claimed to not know the full extent of his brother's realm. That he had given up all claims to the throne of Constantinople- Constantinople! Intact and saved by God himself! -and was content with his place among the Purépecha. Even with that, when he spoke of the Empire he had once called home, he spoke of a rich land. A safe and secure land, far away over the sea, and even farther by land. Surrounded by grand mountains and deep deserts. With trees taller than the grandest cathedral and endless game.
A land that deserved its title of mythical Elysium in every way.
A land that cradled an Empire that was slowly returning to its ancient heights. An Empire that was secure from any invasion for many years to come. An Empire that, by the time the Spanish could possibly reach it in any numbers, would be too powerful to take. An Empire that swam in so much gold that a vane Emperor could clad the famous Hagia Sophia in it, were he to so choose.
It seemed impossible to believe.
The Prince spoke with absolute certainty in his words.
Behind closed doors, the Spanish met with one another. They attempted to deny what they had heard. They could not. For if even a fraction of what the Greek said was true, then the Empire was a threat they could not ignore. All the difficulties with the natives would only be a precursor to a conflict that Spain could not afford. The Prince said nothing of his brother, save that if he was forced into it, the armies he could call would destroy all before them. That the Romans had not forgotten their legacy. It was all very insistent and spoken with utmost seriousness. It was impossible to ignore.
He was not lying. Not about the Empire.
So, it was with the blessing of the Cuban authorities, that the Spanish in Vera Cruz buried their own longing for glory and riches. The town would become a military outpost and trading port, not the center of a burgeoning colony. A glimpse into a world they could not rule. When Demetrios and his soldier saw a military base, they were correct.
Through days upon endless days of talks and negotiations, a treaty came together. Even in these early days, where a 'treaty' was not quite what it would become, the written agreement still became binding. Demetrios would, as always, push and press for the safety of his adoptive people. The Tlaxcala, sending their own representatives upon realizing what was occurring, would do much the same. The Aztec were not party to this agreement and were, as always, the shared enemy of all in Mesoarcadia save for their few loyal friends. A number that grew ever smaller with each day. [4]
The agreement, the treaty, would take shape in those days. The Spanish would stake their claim to Vera Cruz and the lands surrounding it in perpetuity. As well as make clear their domination of the Carribean islands, making no mention of the French or others interested in those lands. The natives and Romans would easily agree to these demands. They bore no interest in islands they could not reach. The lands of Vera Cruz were not desirable enough to cause conflict, either.
In return, the Spanish would agree to partition the Aztec should conflict erupt again. They would further agree to make no hostile actions towards the Purépecha nor Tlaxcala. As did the natives agree to their own respective areas of interest.
This three-party agreement, the Treaty of Vera Cruz, would ignore the lesser powers of Mesoarcadia. The tribes and civilizations that were too weak or far away to speak for their own interests. The Maya were not party to it. The smaller Aztec vassals were left to the mercy- or lack thereof -of the Purépecha and Tlaxcala. Alexiopolis was ceded permanently to the Romans. The Spanish were not forbidden from moving either north or south, provided it was outside recognized Aztec land.
It was an imperialistic treaty with all the flaws and imperfections thereof.
It remains one of the few notable examples of a treaty signed between Europeans and Native Arcadians on equal footing. One of the few times that a native state or coalition could make their voice heard.
In this regard, it remains an important document. The original copy remains a prized possession of the Purépecha to the modern day.
For all the flaws it possessed, for all that it put the natives of Mesoarcadia under the boot of one empire or another, it at least assured the independence of native states. That was more than could be said for many natives of Arcadia or America. The Spanish were pushed back and forced to accept concessions. They were not entirely neutered. The Carribean islands would learn this, soon enough.
For the Prince Demetrios, all that mattered was that he had secured the flank of his adoptive home. He could return to Tzintzuntzan, secure in that knowledge. He would bring his brother-in-all-but-blood a promise that the Spanish would not interfere in his domain. That was all he could have hoped for, setting out as he had.
His actions that day would shape how Europe would see the Romans in later days, though the Prince could hardly have known that at the time. Enemies and rivals of Spain looked upon this treaty and saw what the Natives could and would do. How they were not all simple savages that could be brushed over by some men armored in steel, wielding primitive firearms.
From France to England. From Scandinavia to Iberia.
The Romans were back and they had put their best foot forward, in spite of their Emperor having no involvement in events whatsoever. [5]
1. While Vera Cruz would, eventually, become a prosperous and mighty port...in those days, it was anything but. A temporary camp laid down by the failed Spanish expedition, transitioning into a permanent settlement. With all the growing pains that implies.
2. Roman records, of course, would have held no mention of 'Spain'. Hispania, perhaps, but not in the context the Spanish spoke of. Their state, in its unified form, was still very new. It was only the need to present a unified front that prevented the usual rivalry between Castile and Aragon from breaking out among the troops. Even if it were only a friendly rivalry, this far from such local politics.
3. The Purépecha were the most powerful state in Mesoarcadia, in those days. The Aztec outnumbered them, yet the Aztec had many enemies and many fault lines in their crumbling Empire. The Purépecha were a unified state with powerful friends, rapidly evolving into something new with the Roman aid and influence. This process would continue for many years to come.
4. Even the Triple Alliance itself began to show stress and fractures. The Aztec were a state critically wounded, if not yet dead, by the attacks of the Tlaxcala and Spanish. On top of lingering damage from Demetrios' campaigns against them. While by no means finished, the signs of decline were impossible to ignore. The Aztec Empire was mortally wounded and it was only a matter of how many it would take with it when it inevitably fell.
5. Heraklonas, it is said, would be both impressed at his 'headstrong fool of a brother' and annoyed at him in equal measure. He would be forced into actions he was uncomfortable with in order to secure Constantinople's interests in Mesoarcadia.
AN: There we go. Decided to make it a mixed update instead of purely one form or another. Hopefully that worked well enough?
Anyway, with this, we can jump back to Heraklonas and the Empire proper. And, of course, look at Europe in more detail. Asia...less so, ditto Africa, but they'll at least get some level of overview. Still trying to keep the focus tight on what matters and all that. Romans have little interest or influence in Africa or Asia, right now. America (that is, South America) will also be coming into the story soon enough.
Fun times.
and updated map would be nice please for borders
Very cool update. Without a Columbian Exchange-induced epidemic (or even just one occuring earlier and giving them time to start recovering) central America would have been much more resistant to Cortez's filthily lucky shenanigans from actually working. Seeing a status quo that actually lets the natives flex the muscle is very nice.
K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Greeks carrying gifts? The Spaniards should check those horses!
Greeks carrying gifts? The Spaniards should check those horses!
Don't think I'd want to try and hide inside a real horse. Tauntauns are bad enough
FriedIce
The Authentic Fake
- Location
- Hyperreality
The pitching here is interesting.
Firstly, we're in maybe 1525 currently which is long before European technological ascendency really got going. So there isn't an inherent reason why the Europeans would consider anyone not them a savage - there's plenty of non-European peers right now. So 'but they were not all' pretty clearly implies that the colonial adventures in the new world will go much more successfully in some other areas.
Secondly, the implication if this is how other powers will see the Romans in future days is that they're going to keep doing this with other native societies. My guess is we end up with a surviving Incan nation, and maybe a Mississippi Confederacy or Great Lakes Nation, all supported by the Romans.
floppy_seal99
D-O-G-A-R-S DOGARS!
- Location
- snooping as usual
What's that? Surviving Iron Confederacy I smell? Choctaw domination of the woodland southeast? Haudenosaunee empire in New England?
- Location
- The Old Dominion
The Haudenosaunee from what I recall historically destroyed several large native confederacies and powerful tribes to carve out a rather large midwestern empire during the beaver wars which they later sold the claims of much of it to the English which formed the legal bases for the English and later the American claim on the Ohio Country.
They also made as far south as the Scannadoah Valley which they ethnically cleansed of the local tribes to use as a beaver hunting grounds and a war path to attack the Cherakee before they eventually sold the area to the English while keeping the right to use the valley as a warpath to attack the Cherakee.
From what I gathered in generla conflict with Iroquoian tribes apparently fueled the rise of the hereditary paramount chiefdoms that the English eventually encountered when colonizing the Chesapeake Bay region.
They also made as far south as the Scannadoah Valley which they ethnically cleansed of the local tribes to use as a beaver hunting grounds and a war path to attack the Cherakee before they eventually sold the area to the English while keeping the right to use the valley as a warpath to attack the Cherakee.
From what I gathered in generla conflict with Iroquoian tribes apparently fueled the rise of the hereditary paramount chiefdoms that the English eventually encountered when colonizing the Chesapeake Bay region.
Chapter 26
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- Plural/They/He/Her
Chapter 26
The City of the Romans
Constantinople is everything I could have dreamed of it being, mother. The stories I heard from the traders in Vera Cruz, if anything, understated the majesty of this place. The great walls stretch out as far as the eye can see, their towers and ramparts glistening in the light of the rising sun. The men who stand atop these walls, in their bright armor and strong mail, make the defenders of Vera Cruz seem as if peasants in comparison. Not even in Madrid have I seen so many men at arms in one place. And they are all healthy, too! Not one man seemed ill, poorly fed, or overworked. When we were greeted in the harbor by a group of them, they smiled at us. Smiled! I could hardly believe how much simple joy these men felt in seeing visitors.The City of the Romans
And the same is true of the merchants, of the tavern keepers, even of the men and women on the streets. They are all well-fed and clean. So very clean. The men walk with a confidence in their step that I would never see in Havana. The women dress in fine clothes that the wealthiest of our colonists could only dream of. Even the natives are the same! It seems to not matter if they are Greek or one of the native people's of this land. I can assure you that no native in our lands would be allowed to walk alongside a white man as if they were equals!
And then there is the jewelry. Their jewelry, of the finest gold, glistens from every finger or from their necks.
Ah, the wealth of gold. Never, not once, would I have dreamed of so much gold. The stories of the heathen empires and their gold streets pale in comparison. There are no streets or churches clad in gold, no, but the casual use of it...it is almost impossible to believe. The traders use gold coins as if they have no need for them. Priests carry golden icons and their churches glisten with it on the inside. I am told that they have such a surplus of gold that the Emperor has decreed that only the Empire may mine it, lest the citizens overwhelm the economy! [1]
I fear, mother, just what should happen if we ever go to war with such a rich and stable state.
--Anonymous Spanish trader, 1525, collected in 'Early Views of Empire: The Roman State in Arcadia', 1931
These glittering walls and the buildings behind them are noted as fairly shimmering in the sun. Anonymous and famous accounts alike agreed on this, if nothing else. Constantinople was a clean city. A proud one. She had yet to reclaim her old glory, true enough, yet the City was well on the way.
The coming and going of ships further reinforced this point. In stark contrast to what it had once been, the ports of Constantinople frankly bustled with the masts of ships. Coastal galleys plied their trade, oars splashing in the crystal waters, as they set out to fish along the coast or in the Elysian Bay. Tall masts of, admittedly outdated, ships joined them as they moved between the City and her colonies. More than a few bore the colors of the Purépecha, built in Alexiopolis and sailing between that city and the capital of the Romans. [2] What all of these ships had in common was the ease with which they traveled.
For while some bore cannon, certainly, not one carried itself as a warship. Even merchant ships in Europe were often enough pressed into naval service. Yet here, these ships moved with the calm certainty that they would never be attacked. It must have come as quite the shock to European eyes. Were the Romans not plagued by pirates? Did they have no foes on the high seas?
The answers were 'yes, they were, but not as much as one could expect' and 'no' respectively.[3]
Once ashore, the shocks would likely have continued. Where the ports of Havana or Vera Cruz made absolutely no secret of their colonial nature, Constantinople did not. Even past the grandeur and the overall cleanliness in comparison, there were the natives. In colonial ports, these men would have been slaves. Or, at best, dressed poorly compared to the Europeans who lorded over them. There were no native nobles in Spanish lands, and even the merchant class was largely absent of the Arcadians who once owned those lands. Not so in Constantinople. In the merchant quarters, in the taverns, even in the streets near the Palace or Sophia, the natives mingled with the Greeks or Turks or Italians as if they were no different from them.
In Constantinople, they truly weren't. For nearly a century, the Romans had been integrating the natives of their lands. In the heart of the Empire, there was no longer anything like a real distinction between natives and Europeans, beyond the obvious. An Ohlone could be just as wealthy and respected as a Greek. If you followed the Roman rite and spoke Greek, it no longer mattered what your blood was or your skin tone.
More than a few accounts are baffled by this. Even in these early days before institutionalized racism and derogatory feelings towards those who weren't white.
One account, by a Portuguese soldier, hit upon the truth of the matter. The Romans were no longer a European empire. For all intents and purposes, no matter their origin, they were an Arcadian empire now. They spoke a European tongue, followed the European God, and still held to their old traditions. But the people were intermixed to the point that it was impossible to call them anything but Arcadian.
Of course, beneath the surface, there were still fault lines. The visitors wouldn't have seen them, so new to the Empire as they were, but it remained true. Greeks still controlled the levers of power in all the ways that mattered. If native Arcadians- and the small but certainly present Turkish and Italian populations -were wealthy and powerful, they were still not the rulers of this land. Certainly not in the reign of Heraklonas, who in his love for court intrigue, focused on elevating the nobility he knew over raising anyone new. This is, of course, not even touching on how the wealthiest quarters of the city were still dominated by Greeks, once you looked past the surface level. The same was true of the priesthood, at least in Constantinople herself.
The Empire of the Romans was, in some ways, still the Empire of the Greeks.
None of that would have been apparent to the visitors. They saw only the surface level. Only what they were allowed to see. Heraklonas, and those he surrounded himself with, were nothing if not vain. The visitors saw the best of the Empire in those early days. When they saw men in bright armor patrolling and guarding the City, they were seeing the noble elite of the Roman Army, not the men who served in the wilderness. When they were greeted by clean and wealthy citizens, they weren't seeing those who actually kept the city clean. The same could be said of the apparent wealth in gold and jewelry. They would only have seen the poorer citizens and the more downtrodden of Roman society if they went out of their way to explore.
It was the kind of cynical move expected by European courts attempting to wow visitors. If Constantinople was, as a whole, cleaner and brighter than- say -London or Paris, it was down almost entirely to the fact it was smaller in population and faced no external threats. Constantinople remained, in those days, underpopulated compared to what it once was. The entire population of the Empire was only then exceeding what had once been the population of the City itself, and even then, there was some debate on how true that was. [4]
Still, the Queen of Cities earned her title, to the eyes of those who visited.
It was, naturally, no accident that Heraklonas put so much into showing the City at her best. Forewarned by his brother, however he disliked him, the Emperor had time to prepare. Only a couple years, perhaps, yet still time. Time he used to his advantage. Time he needed. Showing off the splendor of Constantinople was only one facet of this. An admittedly important one, true enough, but still only one part. The Roman state had lapsed, in a myriad of manners, under his rule. For all the good he had done in consolidating the Empire.
First and foremost, as any historian could tell you, was his neglect of the Roman Army.
Long seen as a bastion of support for his brother, Demetrios, the Emperor had left it to rot in many ways. And that was coming home to roost as news of the Spanish arrived. Heraklonas was forced to scramble to rebuild an Army that lacked institutional experience, proper equipment, and in many ways...even proper training. He had given himself little room to maneuver in this regard. Never a soldier himself, when he realized that he needed an army again- that he couldn't leave it gutted because of 'lack of threats' -the Emperor turned to the one thing he knew well. Gold.
He used the massive surplus of Roman coin to bring in as many men as he possibly could. It wasn't difficult. The allure of a well-paying job was strong, even in this stable Empire, and more than a few men would rush to join. It was still a bandage, however. The Roman population, still growing, could never provide enough men for a truly large army. Not yet. Furthermore, equipment stocks were limited. Both due to raw resource shortages and the lack of skilled weaponsmiths. Faced with this, it is really little surprise that the men who greeted European visitors in their fine armor and with their wide smiles, were the best of the best. The elites who had never left the service. Not the men armed with hand-me-down weapons and armor that were rapidly called to service.
Most of those men would be put to work in the fine Roman tradition of using soldiers as erstwhile construction crews. Sent to the various towns and cities that Heraklonas had built up during his reign. These had been built with an eye towards opulence and expansion, not defense. Most even lacked suitable walls. Why bother fortifying what would soon outgrow the walls? Especially when there were no actual threats of attack?
Suddenly faced with what may in the future be a threat of attack...well, the Emperor acted. He sent the vast majority of the new recruits to his army to build walls and forts. One can argue, and indeed it has been argued, that he panicked here.
There was no realistic threat of attack. Not only would the Spanish- or anyone else -have to first get through the Purépecha to march overland, but any attempt to move around the coast of America to the south would soon be proven...difficult at best. Not that the Emperor could have known about that. Even so, with it extremely improbable that his new cities could be attacked anyway, the Emperor certainly need not have spent so much time and effort on fortifications that would be outdated before Europeans could arrive in any large numbers.
Still, the action of building the army back to something less than a shadow of its former self was an important act for the future of the Roman state.
In a similar vein, the Emperor would put a large amount of work into rebuilding the Roman Navy. The forest of masts and the fleets of galleys that the European visitors saw in Constantinople? Save for fishing craft and the odd merchantman, most of those vessels were new built. Much as with the army, the Emperor had seen little enough reason to maintain a strong naval force. He had curtailed the explorations of his father, though in this he was largely continuing late Alexian policies. With pirates a relatively minor difficulty, why bother wasting resources on a fleet that served no purpose?
Once again, that thought would come back to bite the Emperor. Not least because, while the march of technology had not quite left the Roman Army behind, it certainly had for the Navy. The army was still a potential match for any European formation. A good bowman could still fire far faster than any arquebus and in those days, very few of the expensive and limited firearms even came to the New World. The Romans would still need to develop their technology to European standards, but not as much as it may at first appear.
The Navy, on the other hand, had been left behind. While the near-century apart from Europe was not the most impressive in terms of technological developments, there was still a rather telling shift in naval design. At least in larger ships. The Roman galleys, based on Genoan and Venetian craft in Constantinople's harbor prior to the relocation were...still more or less up to date. Galleys were little changed from their ancient forebears, and that remained true here. Yet the primitive sailing craft of the Roman fleet, based as much on recollections of then-contemporary designs as anything else, were very much outdated.
Perfectly suitable for coastal work, yet for anything requiring long distance travel, completely outclassed by Portuguese carracks, as just one example. The difference in cannon was even starker, as these were beginning to become the main weapon of choice on ships of any substantial size.
As such, while Roman wood was stout, strong and old...it was shaped into ships that would have made a European mariner torn between laughing and wincing in sympathy. It hardly mattered if the hulls were stronger than those of their foreign competitors if those ships were so far in advance. Something that would only grow worse if ignored. To his credit, Heraklonas would not ignore this. While the crash shipbuilding program helped, insofar as it increased the size of the Roman Fleet, he would also begin making efforts towards improving it.
It was a shame, then, that the Magellan Expedition never once came close to Roman shores.[5]
In this regard, Heraklonas made the decisions that even his most ardent critics- then and now -laud him for. First, and in light of the greed of European travelers, he placed all gold mines under Imperial suzerainty. It was no great secret that Europeans craved gold. Reports of men coming to Mesoarcadia seeking gold were well known by this point. It was, after all, in large part why the Spanish had attempted to take Tenochtitlan. And the wealth of the Aztec paled in comparison to the wealth of the Romans. The gilded churches, the jewelry, the way they used gold coins...it all lit a fire under those who visited.
For even those who were otherwise not greedy could hardly ignore the way Romans in Constantinople, of all classes, used gold coins as if they had no care in the world. Enough gold to feed a family in Lisbon or Madrid or Paris for months. Those few lucky souls who saw Blachernae, rebuilt and gilded in ways that Constantine or Alexios would It was both the great blessing and the great curse of the Roman Empire in Elyisum.
The old joke of the Roman miner who 'cried, for he discovered another vein of gold, when he had been searching for iron' had more basis in fact than in myth, in those days. [6]
The gold was, of course, not actually unlimited. The Romans may have been fairly swimming in it, true, yet that fact remained. Heraklonas, in placing gold mining under Imperial control on pain of imprisonment or death, acted smartly and early. He cut off the potential of a gold rush. One can only shudder when imagining what could have occurred were thousands of Europeans to brave the long and arduous journey to Constantinople, with the explicit purpose of draining the nearby mountains of all their wealth. It hardly would have mattered how dangerous the journey was to those desperate for a new life.
Perhaps more importantly, to the running of a state, this would secure the Roman gold mines for years to come. Already perhaps the wealthiest state in the world in terms of gold reserves, the actions of the Emperor would preserve the Roman stockpile for the future.
It also placed the vast wealth of the Empire under the Emperor's direct control. It allowed for his next decision...opening the vaults, as it were, to Europeans of skill and hard-earned experience.
Heraklonas would pay a king's ransom- and indeed, more than a few petty princes and dukes would complain of their subjects going to gain more gold than their lords ever had -to bring in experts. Weaponsmiths, shipwrights, soldiers with actual combat experience. The Emperor sought these men out and paid handsomely for those who could prove their worth. Even his brother did the same, though Demetrios plainly lacked the wealth of his elder sibling in this regard. Both brothers were doing this for much the same reason, however.
European designers were far ahead of their Roman counterparts in more ways than could be easily counted. Not due to any great intellectual drain in the Roman or Purépechan Empires, nor due to Europeans being somehow inherently 'smarter'. Simply due to the fact that they were operating on a more advanced base- in comparison to the native Arcadians -and with more need to innovate with direct competition from other states of the same technological level.
There is rather a reason that firearms were more advanced, that armor had developed further, or even that ships were larger and stronger.
The Romans and their allies had a strong and sharp need for these minds. These talents. Portuguese sailors, Spanish soldiers, even English pirates. All of these men, and more besides, could provide a way to kickstart the Romans and Purépecha to reach the same level as the Europeans were. The knowledge of a European shipwright could be passed down to Roman engineers and see Constantinople's dockyards producing vessels the envy of the great naval powers of Europe. An arquebusier who understood his weapon could leapfrog the Romans past all the trial and error the European armies had already went through.
And, at least in the case of the Roman Empire proper, soldiers with actual combat experience were worth their weight in gold.
So it is such that the first visitors to Constantinople, the men so awed by what they saw- what they were deliberately shown by Heraklonas -were very intentionally brought there. Men who could jumpstart Roman modernization to the level of European powers. It would only be later that more typical traders and the like could come. Visitors and immigrants and all sorts of people eager to see the City That God Saved.
1. While not the actual reason for the Imperial decree, it is also not entirely false. The Roman economy was flush with hard currency and, to be frank, had so much gold that the relatively small population could never spend it all. And had no one to spend it with other than other Romans besides. The Purépecha simply did not value gold in the same way, nor did the various tribes yet to be brought into the Empire.
2. While hardly a seagoing people by nature- they had, indeed, lacked much in the way of a coastline -the Purépecha were quick to adapt. They still lacked anything resembling the seagoing tradition of the Romans, but ships flying their impromptu and often mismatching flag(s) were gradually becoming more common. If only for trade between the Twin Empires.
3. Piracy was actually remarkably limited in those days. Partially because of the general richness of the Empire, partially because there was very little in the way of lucrative trade to raid. As mentioned, the Purépecha saw little value for gold. And most of the trade going in the Roman direction had little value to pirates. This would change in later years, perhaps expectedly, but not in those early days. And the Romans had no need to fear other naval powers in those days. There were no other naval powers, not on that side of Arcadia.
4. The Roman population was difficult to gauge. Not only were proper censuses rare, at best, but many Romans had set off into the wilds of Elysium to forge their own path. It is, however, generally agreed upon that the population could still- at a stretch -fit into Constantinople itself. The City had, at one time, held over half a million souls, after all. And even then, there remained room for (tight) growth.
5. The Magellan Expedition, ill-fated as it may have proven for its namesake, never came near Roman territory. Having left before the first Spaniard met the first Roman in Mesoarcadia- and having sailed far to the south of America -it was never going to meet the Romans. In those days, it would have been next to impossible for word to reach Magellan of Constantinople before his expedition had sailed around the strait that would come to bear his name. A shame, as he could have been the first European to visit the Queen of Cities in nearly a century.
6. While somewhat exaggerated as these things often are, there is a kernel of truth here. Iron proved to be shockingly rare in comparison to gold, to the great frustration of many a Roman, especially after Heraklonas decreed the gold mines to be under Imperial control.
AN: Right. Third time is the charm, here.
Thing managed to delete itself twice over, yesterday, which is why it is being updated today instead. Still, hopefully worth the wait. We move back to the Roman Empire proper now, though the next update will go into more detail on the Empire outside of Constantinople itself.
And yes, it will have a map, stop asking. The last 'State of the Empire' map is still more or less accurate to what the Empire looks like less than a decade from that point.
Anyway, we'll be sticking around Elysium for a fair little bit here. Get caught up on the Romans and then show how things are going in Europe and the like. Fun times. Also, for more obligatory shilling: If you haven't already done so, mind tossing a sub to the youtube channel? If you can't support on the Patreon, that's fine, but that channel is very close to hitting 1k subscribers (and by extension, monetization) and pushing past that final little hurdle would really help out.
Next update will cover the Empire-at-large and have a couple maps. Or at least a map of the Empire itself, a map of Mesoarcadia...well, we'll try but that thing is a bit of a mess to figure out
Yay, an update! I desperately needed inspiration for talking about gold given that inflation and a gold-mine collapse in the quest needed some writing about. In terms of the update it's an interesting viewpoint of cultural assimilation and mixing - practically inevitable, certainly, and in the quest the Spanish are starting to crack the whip over the natives in the Caribbean. Even as far as colonizers go, the Spanish were...institutionally nasty about it. One wonders if the lack of the Columbian Exchange would have forced accomodation with native populations rather than working them to extinction. Hopefully in-story we'll see some expansion on that, especially given Cortez failed so spectacularly and we might see some Mesoarcadian nations become real forces to be reckoned with.
