Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων
Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων
Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn
Basileía Rhōmaíōn
The Empire of the Romans
The Roman Empire
Η βασιλεύς Σύγκλητος και ο Λαός της Ρώμης
I Basileus Sýnklitos kai o Laós tis Rómis
The Emperor, Senate and People of Rome
Βασιλεύς Βασιλέων Βασιλεύων Βασιλευόντων!
Basiléus Basiléon Basilévon Basilevónton!
Emperor of Emperors, Ruling Over Those Who Rule!
Legacy of Rome
For more than two millennia, the mighty Roman state had continued to exist and to persevere, no matter of what fate had thrown against it. Empires unnumbered had risen and fallen ever since Romulus had created the Eternal City on its seven hills, and yet the flame of the Roman civilization continued to burn. Ages had passed by, countless Emperors had lived and died. A New Rome was created, as the old one was lost and then recovered. Barbarians had soaked so many of Rome's previous provinces in blood, but still, the light of Rome continued to protect the provinces that had remained under imperial rule. Now, the Empire without End was entering a new century, in the middle of a different age, an age of steel and steam, of progress. And as always, the Empire was going to adapt, to evolve, all without abandoning the glory and harmony of its traditions.
The dream of ever restoring the Western Empire to its full glory had died together with the great Justinian, and not even the most insane of all Romans would have claimed today that the Roman flags with their imperial eagle should wave over Iberia or France. It all began long ago, when the Empire had been ripped into pieces, and when the people of the West had abandoned Rome. But the Eastern Empire refused to abandon Italy, the place where it all began so many thousands of years ago..Rome was still Roman, and the descendants of Belisarius continued to be the Caesars of the West, but ironically, the Western Empire was now one of the biggest problems that Constantinople had to face. For ages, the two nations had continued to follow the same tradition. Two sides of the same empire, two heads of the same eagle. But unlike the division created by Diocletian , the Emperor of the West had always been inferior to the true Emperor in the New Rome. The Basileus was the Augustus, superior to the one on the throne in Rome. This concept had survived through many centuries, through countless wars, but it was a concept lost in time. The Empire was still only one, as many tried to believe, but a rivalry had developed between the Old Empire on the East and the Young Kingdom in the East.
Some in Constantinople, carrying the same arrogance that had characterized their ancestors for centuries, believed in this superiority and believed that those in Italy had to be reminded who their rulers was. That the age of the Western Empire was long gone, and that Italy had to be integrated under the rule of the East, that Rome had to come under the control of the Queen of Cities. But for many more, this thought was horrible. So many brotherly wars between Romans had shed so much Roman blood throughout the ages..nothing like that should ever happen again. The arrogance of ages past had to be forgotten, and the position of the West had to be recognized, so that the two halves of the empire could continue on their path in friendship and peace. And that's why the young in Christ Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, Basileus Autokratōr Michail Palaiologos Sebastos was going to Rome, to meet Cesara Alessandra Udina Belisaria, the Empress of the West.
But that wasn't all. The nightmare of the age of the Barbarian Invasions had continued to haunt the East for countless centuries, and these nightmares most often took a single form - that of the accursed Kingdom of the Vandals. Most of the rich and glorious provinces of the African West had been lost to these savages so long ago, and the bloody rivalry between them and the true people of Rome had continued through countless generations. No matter of how much their civilization had developed, those in Constantinople had continued to consider them savages, heretics, barbarians. Their horrible faith was disgusting, and their attempts to take over the Mediterranean, over the
Mare Nostrum had led to so so many battles. Their raids on Roman shores had spilled so much Roman blood, so the Romans had always been ready to pay that back tenfold. And just a century before, the Roman Navy had finally managed to do what their ancestors had failed, pushing the Vandals out of the Eastern Mediterranean, defeating their naval forces and pushing them back, while the Empire's legions, from both the West and the East had been ready to do what Majorian had failed to accomplish.
But the Vandals asked for peace. Unwilling to shed the blood of their sons, the leaders of the Empires had agreed. And for the first time in so long, a peace had been reached. Borders were opened, and trade had created connections that would have seemed impossible just a century before. Now, at the dawn of a new century, there were many in both Carthage and Constantinople that started to realize that their rivalry of thousands of years had gotten them nowhere. That so much blood had been spilled without anything being achieved. And while the rivalry was still there, and while many still wanted to see Carthage being destroyed.. the young Basileus had agreed to negotiate with the accursed Shophet. The Vandals, the so called protectors of Africa, and the Romans, with their dreams in Egypt and Nubia, both disliked the threat of European colonialism there... so who knows what could be achieved. The King of the Vandals was going to join the two Roman monarchs in the Eternal City, where the fate of so many people was going to be decided.
Ρώμη, 1900 μ.Χ.
Roma MMDCLIII a.u.c."My Emperor, I do not wish to criticize your decision in any way.. but I hope that your Highness realizes that what you are about to do is a first for our Empire..trying to negotiate better relations with the Western Empire is nothing new.. but trying to negotiate with the Vandals? When the threat they represent in Africa and in the Mediterranean is still present? The Senate will heavily oppose it. .and your Highness knows it all too well.." From the other side of the luxurious carriage, the young Roman Emperor looked at the older man calmly, managing to hide his annoyance. The Master of Ceremonies was not a bad man by any means.. but since he had known Michael for so long, ever since the Emperor had been a little child, the older man always tried to advise him on all matters. The man did have a knack for politics and diplomacy, even if of course, the strict ceremonies of the Eastern Roman court were his passion - but unfortunately, he really disliked the Italians, considering them.. perhaps a little inferior. It was an opinion shared by many of the conservative members of the East Roman aristocracy that Italy was far too independent for what should have de jure been a part of the Empire - an opinion heavily opposed by the progressive "plebeians", and of course, the Basileus opposed it too.
"I do fully understand the consequences, Teletarches. This will be a stepping-stone in the relation between Italia and Rhomania. We need to stop this senseless tension and hate. No side of the empire can survive without the other. Especially now, with so many enemies on the horizon, we must turn towards our brothers in the West for friendship and help. We need to cooperate if we hope to keep our empire strong. Why should we waste our time with a senseless rivalry, while the enemy is waiting in front of our gates? That is why the empire has fallen, that's why Rome was sacked. Because instead of fighting against the barbarians, the Romans fought among themselves. We have to stand together against all our common enemies." And the young monarch sighed.
"As for the Vandals.... it's not like I like them either. They are barbaric, they stole northern Africa from our Empire so long ago, and they have provoked so much pain, death, and hate by raiding our shores throughout the history. But they are no longer the deadly enemy they were during the reign of my father. And if we wish to fight against European colonialism in Africa, and if we wish to have a peaceful Mediterranean, we need to at least try to negotiate with them. The Empire isn't what it has once been, and I thought that we have learned long ago that not everything can be solved with the use of weapons. If the negotiations fail, I'll be the first one to order our legions to march forward.. but until then, I will do what I think is best for my people and my empire."The Master of Ceremonies tried to say something else.. but he quickly realized that it would be impossible to change the Emperor's mind, after all - even the Grand Logothete had failed to convince him to stay in Constantinople. .
"You are right, my Basileus.", was the only think that he could say.. because of course, the young man in front of him was not a simple, normal person. He was Michail Palaiologos, in Christ Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans, the latest descendant of a line of Roman Emperors that stretched all the way back to the great Augustus.. the rulers of the greatest Empire the world had ever seen, the core of all European civilizations. Even if the very concept of such an empire seemed anachronistic for their age.. the Roman state continued to exist, defying time as the empire without end that it was..
The Emperor sighed, before he took a sip from a cup filled with water. The journey from Constantinople had been pretty tiring, but they were now finally approaching the Eternal City. The Book of Ceremonies, of course, clearly specified what an Emperor had to take with him during such a journey, from the large tents and the luxurious furniture brought for the comfort of the Basileus, to the wardrobe, the art pieces, the perfumes, the jewelry, the gifts for foreign dignitaries, the money, the holy icons and the holy relics, the golden, portable throne, encrusted with diamonds and sapphires, the golden dishes and cutlery, the library, with its many books, theology, fiction, history, military strategy. And of course, the portable bathtub and the portable chapel, for the Emperor's use. And the 500 riding soldiers, all wearing ceremonial uniforms. The monarch had tried to force the Master of Ceremonies to abandon what was not really necessary, since after all, Michael was a lot more used to the strict and rigid military life that had marked his past few years.. but he couldn't break all traditions, and while visiting foreign countries, he had to act and look like the mighty Roman Autocrat that he was supposed to be.
Unfortunately, as the ceremonial required, Michael had to abandon his comfortable military uniform before approaching the city of Rome, and as such, the monarch was now wearing his ceremonial outfit. Of course, the long white tunic, the rigid
sakkos, with its large and puffed sleeves, with small enameled plaques sewn into it, girded with a belt decorated with precious stones, the crimson shoes, embroidered with the imperial eagles, were all present. This time however, Michael was also wearing the heavily jewelled Imperial
loros. The decorated
loros was like a long strip, dropping down straight in front to below the waist, with a portion behind pulled round to the front, the part that was supposed to hung gracefully over the left arm of the monarch. The crown and the scepter were of course, also there, the crown made out of gold, decorated with many precious stones and with its golden pendoulia, while the scepter itself was made out of thick gold, heavily encrusted with precious stones and pearls, with a holy relic hidden in its center. The cross on it was also golden, but encrusted with rubies. Normally, such an attire was reserved for important situations, like the Easter Sunday, but this only served to further prove the importance of this meeting. As for the Emperor himself, well, he had the somewhat messy, light brown hair of his father, the late Emperor, and the amber eyes of his mother. Spending so much time confined by his work in the Great Palace and in the Senate of Constantinople, Michael was also a little paler than most of his subject, but no one could deny that he was also attractive. All the three brothers of the imperial family for the way in which they looked, but the similarities kinda stopped there. While Michael was usually considered to be the most attractive, at least in the secret rankings of the noblewomen of Constantinople, he was also the most mature of the brothers, charming and strong. Constantine, on the other hand, was a well known ladies' man, a hedonist, immature, irresponsible and the nightmare of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The youngest, Manuel, was also the shiest, responsible and very mature for his age, but also really quiet and withdrawn.
"I really hope that their welcome will be worthy of your presence, my Basileus. You are their Emperor, and they should remember that well.", the Teletarches said in a low voice. The court in Constantinople was forever caught in its ceremonial chains, with ceremonies existing for nearly every moment of the day, to prove the harmony order of the imperial power. Emperor
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a man divinized by the old Master of Ceremonies, used to say that the order of the Empire and of the imperial court had to reflect the motion of the Universe as it was made by the Creator. From that point of view, Eastern Roman nobles considered the Western court to lack the glamour and beauty of the Queen of Cities. As beautiful as the Eternal City might have been, they believed that it lacked the harmony of the eastern court. Michael sighed yet again.
"You should ask the people of Italia, Teletarches. Who is their monarch? The Emperor of the distant East, or their Empress in Rome? These old beliefs will take us nowhere. They have to welcome as friends, they're not servants welcoming their masters. I just hope that this meeting will bring a new hope for both sides of the empire." And that's when a voice was heard from the outside, one of the soldiers riding alongside the carriage.
"My Basileus! We have reached the city of Rome!"
The Romans of the East arrived in the capital of their Western brothers and sisters, the Eternal City, after long hours spent travelling through Italia. For the first time in more than a century, the Basileus from Constantinople was going to visit the lands that had been liberated by the great Belisarius in order to meet the Cesara from Rome. The Emperors of the East and of the West were going to meet in order to decide the future of their two states, of the two halves of the same Empire that had survived through so many ages. And even beyond that, after their meeting, they were going to welcome the accursed Shopet of Carthage in order to see if the hopes for a long-lasting peace was going to survive..
This was going to be an important day for all sons and daughters of both the Old Rome and the New, so the Eastern Romans had prepared themselves in order to impress. Of course, being so far away from their homes, they didn’t have the means to do the same things as in the Queen of Cities.. but they had a reputation to protect. And above all, they had to show the power and the might of the Eastern Empire to the West, but not in a threatening way. The people of Italia had to realize that even if so many centuries had split them into two, that even if they were talking different languages, they were the children of the same empire, of the same civilization. And that if the power of Rome was to prevail, they had to be together.
The parade started at the outskirts of the Eternal City, and the first to enter it were the riders of the
Scholaí Palatinai, the Palatine Schools. Descendants of the guards of Constantine the Great, the successors of the Praetorian Guards, the soldiers of the Scholai were no longer the main guards of the Emperor, but they still followed him, as an elite organization of the Roman Empire. Nearly all the soldiers taking part in this parade were wearing ceremonial armors, and the riders of the Palatine Schools were no exception. Their decorated lamellar armors and their silver helmets were shining in the light of the sun, and while most of them were armed with rifles, some of them had not forgotten their tradition, and were wielding long lances with the crimson and golden flags of the Eastern Empire bound to them. The riders were all from the unit known as the
Athanatoi, the Immortals, an elite cavalry unit, but while the first half of them was riding proud horses from Asia Minor, the others were riding camels, having arrived straight from
Aígyptos. The first four riders even had the old and easily recognizable scale armors of the old
Kataphraktoi on their horses, only to impress, of course. Behind the riders of the Immortals came a group of soldiers on foot, wearing their own decorated armors and red mantles, still members of the Schools, but of the unit known as the
Exkoubitoi, the Sentinels, tasked with protecting the Emperor as a secondary guarding force. Despite their ceremonial, medieval looks, they were armed with the most modern bolt-action rifles that the Empire had to offer.
Immediately behind them came a small group of around 10 soldiers, wearing sandy colored, modern uniforms, but the peculiar thing about them was the way in which they were armed. Each of them had a
cheirosiphōn, a flamethrower. In this age of technology and progress, the destructive power of the Roman Fire had been limited, but it was still something that a lot of people viewed with fear and admiration. And with their improvised breathing masks, the soldiers wielding it were among the best that the Romans had. Of course, the people of Rome wouldn’t have spent a lot of time looking at them - because what came behind them was a lot more.. massive. Two elephants, from the depth of Africa. The animals had been tamed, and small structures were present of them, were two people stood, soldiers, from among both the African and European citizens of the Empire. The elephants were painted with various symbols, and they calmly moved forward.
While the elephants would have attracted the attention of most of the people watching, right behind the elephants came a small group of Orthodox priests, in their rich garments, carrying a holy icon of
Christ Pantocrator with them, chanting the
Trisagion. Of course, the Eastern Empire had no intention to insult the faith of the West, so right next to them walked Catholic priests, chanting in Latin, symbolizing the equality and the peace between the two true rites of Christianity.
From the peaceful view of priests, the attention of the people would have quickly moved to the next group, a group of soldiers surrounding a quadriga. Tall, foreign warriors, distant from the Roman world, wearing ceremonial armors made in the model of the Norse warriors that had created their fearless unit. The Varangian Guard, the mercenary guards of the Basileus. The age in which the guard had been made up solely by Vikings was long gone, but still, its ranks were restricted to foreigners, to the best foreign warriors that the Empire could find. They still embodied the bravery and often recklessness that their unit was so famous for, but when ordered to, they were just as disciplined and orderly as the Roman legionnaires. Loyal to the brink of death, they exuded a sense of power and glory that just couldn’t be compared with any other units. And while they were also armored with modern rifles and pistols, they still had their traditional axes - and not only in a ceremonial role. But no matter of how mighty they were.. they were only as important as the person they were protecting. The young man, or the boy as some would still consider him, in the quadriga.
The Emperor. Just like in the carriage, before they reached the city of Rome, he was wearing the full imperial regalia of the monarch of Constantinople. The purple, the red. The golden crown, the golden scepter, the jewelry. But his imperial appearance did not only come from his clothes.. but from his very being. To truly look like an Emperor, you had to act like one - and Michael Palaiolgos had an imperial persona that would have made many of his predecessors envious. Despite his young age, he exuded power and authority, like none of the people around him. His regalia suited him so well that he seemed to have been born to wear a crown - and he was simply brimming with confidence, and with what seemed to be an unfaltering will. And his appearance.. well. Michael was the favorite of many of the ladies in Constantinople for a few good reasons. He didn’t have the pure manliness of his younger brother, or the shy beauty of his youngest brother - he was somewhere in the middle, close to perfection as some joked - and with more charm than both of the princes combined.
But that’s enough about praising a single person. Michael hadn’t arrived to Rome in act like Prince Constantine in Constantinople - let’s just say that Constantine was and still is the personal nightmare of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Michael was just not that kind of person - he was here because he had to represent his people and his empire, and that meant that he was going to act like an Emperor - no mistakes could be tolerated.
As they advanced into the city, his men started to give all sorts of gifts to the general population that was watching the parade - not expensive gifts, since Constantinople wasn’t going to make the poor people of the city of Rome rich - but the very act led to some of the citizens there cheering the Eastern delegation, an atmosphere that quickly spread throughout the city. And the group continued to move to where their Emperor was going to meet with the Empress of these lands.. and right behind the quadriga of the Basileus, a few carriages had been specially prepared, filled with gifts just for her.. a gesture of goodwill, of course.
The meeting that was going to decide the future of so many people was drawing near..