PART 41: The Golden Age of the Radziwiłłs (1541-1610)

Dispatches from the Roman Army

General Staff
Maintain watch for Bogomilist and Gallican uprisings, but after that rotten business in the Senate I daresay we’re finally over the hump.

(OOC: The main impact of this– decreased chances for Gallican/Bogomilist conversion events to fire in our provinces– aren’t shown.)

Can’t say I agree with everything the Council of Smyrna said, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? The Church is now free to say whatever damn fool things they please in exchange for abiding by the Edict of Athens.

And they have some good ideas. Phanariote Schools! Charity! About time the Church earned its keep around here. And I’ve heard they’re getting rid of all of those spooky Sainted Emperor types.

They had one other idea of note, and that’s why I am writing this dispatch: the reconquest of Rome. We still need to recover from our last wars, but Her Imperial Majesty has approved the plans, so we should begin building up our forces for an offensive in Italy. All commands should begin recruitment.

Admiralty
We have begun rebuilding our fleet to compensate for the losses it has lately suffered. With recent improvements in naval technology facilitated by Monternos, our ships will be more powerful than ever and our dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean restored. Deus vult!

Committee of Venice
With the collapse of our alliance with Poland, loyal and steadfast Lombardy is our only remaining ally. As instructed by the Empress, we have begun improving our relations with nations both strong enough to offer substantial aid but far enough not to consider us a hated rival.

We are reasonably confident in our chances of success.

Committee of St. Valeria
A few of our provinces have strayed from the light and embraced the wicked heresy of Bogomilism. In accordance with the Edict of Athens, we have taken no action. Fortunately, thanks to the combined effects of the Edict and the ecumenical council’s efforts to restore the Church to a Godly course our overall religious unity has not been harmed by a handful of wayward peasants.

Committee of Venice

We have continued our diplomatic efforts to prepare for war with the Papal State. After their defeats at the hands of France, they were briefly considered unworthy rivals. Now, however, it seems that they are one against strong enough for us to gain considerable glory and prestige from our inevitable victory against them.

Empress Theodora II
ABORT ALL PREPARATIONS FOR ITALIAN CAMPAIGN – DISPATCH ALL AVAILABLE FORCES TO THE EASTERN FRONTIER

Regional commanders, doukes, and other local authorities are instructed to make every possible effort to fortify the territories they are responsible for.

Princess Iouliana Radziwiłł
By my authority as an imperial princess, I hereby appoint Captain Augustus Anatolike my personal bodyguard. He will henceforth serve as part of my royal household.

General Parvin Kirkos
As commander of the eastern theater, I have designated our main objective as the capture of Erzurum. This province, noncontiguous with the rest of Yilang’s territory, is highly vulnerable to Roman attack.

Yilang is attempting to advance through the former territories of Kartli. We must not allow them to break through our lines into Anatolia proper.

Empress Theodora II
I’ve heard a few scattered reports of poor morale from our boys and girls in the field. Chin up! We are Rome. We’ve been fighting wars against Persia since the days of the Republic. So what if their officers speak Chinese now? Nothing’s really changed since the Battle of Carrhae. And the house of Radziwill is descended from the house of the Julii! The blood of the triumvirs flows in our veins.

General Selene Krbavski
To: Theodora II, Gen. Aurelian Pisani
Her Imperial Majesty’s point is well-taken; however, with respect, I feel the Battle of Carrhae was a poor example to invoke.

General Aurelian Pisani
The Ragusans failed to hold out until Roman reinforcements can arrive. Recommend immediate withdrawal.

Empress Theodora II
I’ve heard our abysmal prestige is causing some morale problems! So have a little something from our friends in Italy. Remember what you’re fighting for: the possibility of fighting the Pope later on.

General Aurelian Pisani
Our forces in Anatolia are shattered– we were withdrawing to Constantinople and the Theodosian Walls to adopt a more defensive posture.

General Selene Krbavski
Tell the Empress Byzantion province is safe.

Empress Iouliana II
Unfortunately, Mother perished in the evacuation. I am now in command. Continue your defense of the Bosphorus.

General Selene Krbavski
Long live the Empress.

General Aurelian Pisani
May she live up to her illustrious namesake Iouliana the Great!

IOULIANA II RADZIWILL • CROWNED AUGUST 23rd, 1545

Gen. Fernuccio Menotti (Lombardy)
Nice job defending Constantinople! We’ll take it from here.

General Selene Krbavski
Oh God.

General Selene Krbavski
I guess we’re advancing now? General Pisani, help me out here. Jesus Christ.

Gen. Fernuccio Menotti (Lombardy)
We’ll push them right back to China! That’s where they’re from, right? Anyway, you can thank us later. Ciao ciao.

General Aurelian Pisani
It wasn’t the plan, but the counterattack is going well. We’ve nearly pushed Yilang out of Anatolia entirely.

Empress Iouliana II
We are very pleased with the dispatches we have received from the east and hereby order Gens. Pisani and Krbavski to advance into Yilangese territory.

Empress Iouliana II
General Pisani, General Krbavski, how goes the offensive? We have not heard from you in some time, and are starting to be just a bit concerned.

General Aurelian Pisani
We have been driven out of Yilang thanks to their superior leadership and technology, but we should be able to recover by withdrawing back to Constantinople. Which was the plan before Lombardy forced our hand. Still, if nothing else changes we can begin pushing back again before too long.

Gen. Fernuccio Menotti (Lombardy)
I have received a letter from my king with new orders. It reads as follows: “Byeee.” So: Byeee.

Empress Iouliana II
A two front war against Da Qin and Austria on top of Yilang is cause for concern, we agree. But the empire is vast and bountiful. We shall prevail! Keep fighting!

With the Edict of Athens in place, all the peoples of the empire stand behind the army!

General Pisani, please take your army west and fight of Ao Di Li. If we can force them to make a separate peace, we can avoid them severing the Adriatic corridor.

We substantially outnumber the Austrians, so I’m sure you can take them out.

General Aurelian Pisani
Although we met with defeat, we have honed our military tactics based on those used by Ao Di Li. We shall strive to do better next time.

Empress Iouliana II
General Pisani: Must admit, was surprised to hear of your triumph in your second push against Austria, since based on your last dispatch we were suspecting dramatic irony was at work. Congratulations are in order! Now we just need to worry about the eastern front. We’ve sent word to Krbavski to see how things are going over there.

Empress Iouliana II
Krbavski says: “Not very well.”

General Aurelian Pisani
We’ve lost control of the situation in Anatolia, but I’m optimistic we can keep them on their side of the Bosphorus, at least.

Empress Iouliana II
We wish you’d stop saying how well you expect things to go; we always expect the exact opposite to happen. Fortunately, your predicted success once again came to fruition. You are a credit to Rome, Aurelian Pisani. While my son was named after the great emperor Aurelian, Restorer of the World, I am pleased that he shares a name with you as well.

General Aurelian Pisani
Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. Now that we’ve driven Da Qin out of Europe, we’re ready to begin retaking Asia Minor. I expect things to go well.

Phanariote Committee
We have repeatedly and urgently requested troops to put down the Croatian rebellion in the province of Albania. As we have been ignored, we have no choice but to allow our vassals in Ragusa to assume responsibility for the province.

General Aurelian Pisani
Things are still going well.

Our armies are better trained and better equipped than ever.

We are rapidly regaining lost ground in Anatolia.

Committee of Venice
Well, you wanted a war with the Papal State, right?

Empress Iouliana II
Just see what they want and get us out of this. We can’t fight in Italy and Anatolia at the same time. Not anymore.

Empress Iouliana II
To: The Katepano of Ragusa
We are currently attempting to move our armies from Greece and Anatolia to Italy. Please fulfill your obligations to your liege-lord and keep the Adriatic Corridor clear.

General Aurelian Pisani
We outnumber the Papal State 2:1, and they lack the superior Chinese arms and tactics of Ao Di Li, Da Qin, or Yilang. I am pleased to announce our glorious victory.

Note to self: Stop writing these dispatches in advance.

Empress Iouliana II
To: General Aurelian Pisani
We are extremely displeased with your recent defeats. However: France has just declared war on the Papal State. If we can just hold out, we can perhaps gain a more advantageous peace after the French inevitably triumph over the Church Militant.

The Varangian Committee has prepared a few surprises for whatever’s left over when the French are done. Just hang in there! Reject every peace offer you get until France finishes them off!

General Aurelian Pisani
Regrettably, Eugene V has prioritized defeating Rome over being defeated by France. We must make peace.

Emperor Aurelian II
I shall not allow you to dishonor my mother’s memory by surrendering to Papist scum. Stay in the field. This is an order from your emperor.

AURELIAN II RADZIWILL • CROWNED DECEMBER 7th, 1566


General Aurelian Pisani
We have been forced to capitulate. Half the empire is in revolt after refusing peace offer after peace offer. We cannot fight on.

Emperor Aurelian II
I am quite displeased that you have disobeyed your emperor’s orders, General Pisani. However, peace does offer an opportunity to rebuild the institutions of state and the military– and plot our revenge.

Committee of Venice
A fleet of grand ships– worthy of Zheng He’s own fleet- arrived in Constantinople under a strange flag. Their commander– a dashing explorer named Habaguanex Boriken– spoke passable Latin. He said his people are called the Tainos and claimed to come from a far-off empire called Ayiti, based in a chain of islands off the coast of the continent the Scottish have named Avalon. Apparently, they are now contesting Scotland for control over the mainland of Avalon. We cannot verify any of this, of course, but we are quite taken with the image of a maritime island empire and its grand fleet fighting tooth and nail against the Catholic von Habsburgs for control of the Far West.

Emperor Aurelian II
The doukes of the empire have demanded that their ancient privileges be returned. I have told them to get stuffed.

Expect some pushback.

Overall, though, stability is rapidly being restored to the empire. I feel animated by the spirit of Aurelian I, that legendary Restitutor Orbis. We can now concentrate on recovering from our losses suffered at the hands of Da Qin, Yilang, and the Papal State.

Committee of Venice
The Emperor is advised to note that our truce with Da Qin has expired.

Varangian Committee
Will these new cannons help? Please say yes.

Emperor Aurelian II
General Aurelian Pisani is relieved of command. General Sophia Yisrael is now the supreme commander of the Roman Army. And look at the victory she’s won!

Yes, with Sophia Yisrael in charge I expect things to go well.

[illegible expletives]

Emperor Aurelian II
To: The Katepano of Ragusa
Your poor performance in our recent wars has been noted. You’re fired.

Phanariote Committee
With the empire at peace we can now begin programmes to rebuild our prestige, improve infrastructure and morale, etc.

Emperor Aurelian II
Emperor Aurelian II
I’m going to kill everyone.

Also, “Russia”? Russia? What happened to Kiev, Third Rome? Is Rome not still the brightest light of the Near West? Are we not the ideal to which all nations aspire? Why else would those Habsburg dogs in Germany cling to the ideal of Translatio Imperii?

We are the rising sun of the West! The colossus of the Mediterranean!

Who’s in charge of the war with Russia, anyway? What’s going on up there?

General Belet Cyrahzax
I am.

Send my regards to my cousin in the Senate.

Emperor Aurelian II
Excellent, General Cyrahzax! Now that we’ve smashed their grand offensive by the main body of their army, I shall be at your side as you advance into the Russian interior! We are blessed with an unusually mild winter, so victory is ours for the taking. Let’s see how many provinces we can seize from them. As your senatorial relatives have said so many times, the empire must expand.

Goodness gracious where did all these Russians come from

General Abydos Abdikarim
To: Gen. Cyrahzax, His Imperial Majesty Aurelian II
Don’t worry, we’ve still got this. In spite of being heavily outnumbered, thanks to my timely arrival we have routed Russia’s main army and have presumably crippled their ability to make war.

P.S. What kind of name is “Cyrahzax” supposed to be?

Emperor Aurelian II
My scouts have seen clouds of dust on the horizon. Anybody have any idea what’s going on?

General Belet Cyrahzax
Yaroslavovich scum! To think that these barbarians once had the arrogance to call themselves Romans. The entire period of decline that has led us to this crisis can be laid at the feet of Yaroslav Yaroslavovich and his “Kiev-Byzantium”. The Komnenoi gave us cause to be proud to call ourselves Romans after the the disaster at Manzikert– until that wicked murderess Gabrielia the Cruel betrayed her people to set her mongrel son on the throne! I spit on her memory! I spit on the house of Yaroslavl! I spit on all barbarian filth!

Even in defeat, the superiority of Roman valor is evident to all civilized men! They only bested us by overwhelming us with wave after wave of teeming serf hordes– a frothing wave of suicidal humanity. They have bested us on the battlefield, but at what cost? A message sent to the rest of the world that they are nothing but fur-clad savages trained in the rudiments of musketry by traitors and vermin.

Give me the order, your majesty, and I shall begin the counterattack and drive Aleksandr Yaroslavovich and his cavalcade of suicidal serfs into the Black Sea.

Emperor Aurelian II
Your zeal is appreciated, General Cyrahzax! Unfortunately, revenge will have to wait– an alliance of Yilang and Somalia has declared war on Rome.

We are forced to accept a stalemate with Russia– for now.

But a stalemate is better than a defeat.

Emperor Aurelian II
To: Gens. Cyrahzax, Abidkarim

Here is the plan for our war against Somalia and Yilang:

We cannot hope to fight off the Somalian Republic’s invasion of Italy. Our navy lies at the bottom of the Mediterranean, and for some mysterious reason the Papal State refuses us military access through Friuli.

Fortunately, we might not have to: Yilang is the war leader. So you two will lead armies into Anatolia while I keep the main force in Constantinople. When you come under attack, we will relieve you and crush Da Qin.

The Admiralty
The Somalian Republic enjoys total naval supremacy in the Mediterranean. A detachment of their navy has blocked the straits of the Bosphorus. Generals Cyrahzax and Abidkarim are stranded in Anatolia without any hope of relief.

On the bright side, if we are ever able to rebuild our navy, we have some excellent new ship designs to try out.

Emperor Aurelian II
Then we shall hold Constantinople until the last drop of Roman blood is spilt! General Cyrahzax, General Abidkarim: Do your duty to your emperor and prevent the Sino-Persians from crossing the Bosphorus for as long as possible. The longer you hold out, the more we can prepare our fortifications.

General Belet Cyrahzax
Confidential to Gen. Abidkarim

I’m starting to have my doubts about Emperor Aurelian II really being the descendant of Julius Caesar.

Phanariote Committee
Finances in a woeful state; army mostly mercenaries; state is having to take out new loans every few months just to stay in the field. However, we have some ideas about how to raise some cash.

Emperor Aurelian II
To Gens. Cyrahzax and Abidkarim
The sacrifices of your men and women were not in vain! Yilang forces have crossed the Bosphorus, but we are more than ready for them thanks to the time you bought us.

I am the Restitutor Orbis reborn. Aurelian I knitted an empire in crisis back together, singlehandedly. I am no different.

You’ll see.

Venetian Committee
Somalia, seeing no profit in continuing to fight on Yilang’s behalf, has agreed to a separate peace in return for a mere concession of defeat. We accepted their terms, of course, but in sinking our transport fleet and blocking the Bosphorus during the decisive phases of the war this changes very little.

Peace with Yilang came at a much harsher price. But with Yilang troops at the gates of Constantinople and the Emperor’s army fleeing in disarray, who were we to argue?

P.S.: Our truce with Da Qin expired.

Emperor Aurelian II
Our army is the envy of the world; the greatest fighting force ever assembled in human history.

General Cyrahzax, I have placed under your command a grand Legion of true Romans. I order you to defeat Da Qin at once. Aurelian I is watching you.

All nations in the world seek to emulate our example– our Legions, our provincial administration, our consuls, our Senate. See how the Gallic Empire tries to emulate our forms of government! Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus calls himself “Princeps”, and has created his own false Senate, appointed false consuls, formed a false Praetorian Guard. Once we have triumphed over Zenobia and reclaimed the Roman East, Postumus too shall fall.

Venetian Committee
We’re sure His Imperial Majesty was just being poetic there, and his identification of Queen Adelaide de Valois-Veix with the Gallic Emperor “Postumus” was a mere rhetorical device.

Venetian Committee
Partial Transcript of meeting between Pope Eugene V and the Roman Ambassador to the Papal State:
POPE EUGENE V: A state of war now exists between the Papal State and the Greek Empire. YOu are being expelled from Rome; the Church Militant will escort you to the border.
AMBASSADOR: How dare you! You who claim to have Christendom’s interests at heart– yet you turn on us even as we struggle against the infidels to the east. You call yourself a holy man, but heretic filth like you are nothing more than vultures picking at the carcass of the Roman Empire.
POPE EUGENE V: Better a vulture than a carcass. Now, out of my sight.

General Abydos Abidkarim
To: Aurelian II.
We are urgently requesting new orders. From you, from the Senate, from the Committees of State, from anybody in the imperial government. We have not received word from Constantinople in some time.

Please reply as soon as possible.

The Varangian Committee
Constantinople has been sacked by Da Qin. The city is in flames. Most of the Senate is dead or fled, we know not which.

We, however, endure.

We have ordered General Cyrahzax to Dalmatia to fight Ao Di Li.

There are a few members of the Venetian Committee here with us. They insist that we do something about the state of the economy. Typical of those money-grubbers to think only of silver when there’s a war to win!

And we will win. The gears of state still turn! Progress and modernization march on! If anybody from Monternos is still alive, we’re sure they’d be proud of what we’ve done with the army.

The Venetian Committee
You’re idiots. We resign. Hope your fancy new army likes fighting without being paid for it.

Aurelian II
To the Varangian Committee:
Your emperor lives! Half my army has unexpectedly vanished, however. Please explain how this happened. We are being chansed by a sizable barbarian army, and I am shocked to see such dishonorable conduct from Roman Legionaries in this time of crisis.

Fortunately, half of the barbarians have broken off their pursuit, and we outnumber what’s left. We shall prevail!

P.S. How goes the war against Zenobia? Has Palmyra been brought to heel?

Aurelian II
To the Varangian Committee: I have ordered my legions to return to Greece, but they aren’t moving. Please send me a new legion that follows orders.

Aurelian II
To the Varangian Committee: Belay that last order. The legion is now returning east after some druids in elaborate hats came and cast spells to make it move faster with their magic staffs.

Aurelian II
To Legate Cyrahzax, Legate Abidkarim, Legate Yisrael, Legate Pisani, St. Valeria, Varangian Captain Arni, Agrippa, Pompey the Great, and Scipio Africanus.
Am quite pleased, quite pleased indeed to hear of your triumph over Zenobia and her “Palmyrene Empire”. She shall be paraded before all Rome in chains in my triumph. Let victory over the Gallic Empire follow swiftly!

Varangian Committee
Having appraised our overall strategic situation, we have formulated the following policy re: rebel armies that we expect all regional commanders to follow.

The policy is as follows:
Do whatever the rebels tell us to.

Thank you.

Aurelian II
More barbarians from north of the Danube! We’ll show them what it means to be Roman.

(OOC: At this point Lai Ang and banu Riyahs declared war on me as well, but I somehow missed screenshotting it. But that’s happening too.

)

The Committee of St. Valeria
Our attempts to restore proper ecclesiastical hierarchy in Constantinople following its sack at the hands of Da Qin have failed– there simply wasn’t any money. We’re afraid that the people of the city have taken matters into their own hands.

Varangian Committee
The Papal State is ready to talk peace terms.

Well, more like “dictate” than “talk”.

It’s not like we can argue. Even if our army wasn’t a shattered husk, our bankruptcy means our soldiers won’t stick around long in battle.

Once that’s through with, though, we swear our army will be more organized and better than ever!

Seriously.

Say, has anybody heard from the Emperor?

Leading the defense of Constantinople, you say?

Oh dear.

Varangian Committee
“loyal and steadfast Lombardy is our only remaining ally”, wrote the Venetian Committee, a million years ago.

Things aren’t going very well.

We remind local commanders of our “agree to anything rebels ask for” policy, and ask why somebody forgot to agree to what the Bulgarian rebels asked for.

Princess Hypatia Radziwiłł
To the Black Chamber:
Do it.

Empress Hypatia II Radziwiłł
Regrettably, my father was killed valiantly fighting against Gallican Hungary. He died a true soldier’s death– let his sacrifice be an example to all the empire.

HYPATIA II RADZIWILL • CROWNED APRIL 12th, 1597

Rest assured that the House of Radziwiłł remains as prestigious as ever, and all the greatest royal houses of Europe clamor to marry into our line.

General Belet Cyrahzax
Oh, Rome has gone to the dogs, to the dogs.

I was ordered to take command our our late emperor’s army. Yet the lazy swine who pass for soldiers in this fallen age refused to even lift a finger until their pay arrived, even when the empire’s very survival was at stake.

They’re all dead now.

Everyone is dead.

The entire army is dead.

The only soldiers in the entire Roman Empire are myself, and Generals Abdikarim and Galileo Nestongos.

Frankly, an improvement over the demoralized rabble we were reduced to campaigning with.

Varangian Committee
We aren’t seeing what the problem here is. We’ve worked very hard to maintain technological parity with our rivals, you know.

Committee of Venice
We know we resigned en masse, but we would like to offer the piquant observation that before this war, Ferrara was reduced to a single province, and that province did not even contain the actual city of Ferrara.

Nice job.

General Abydos Abdikarim
All is lost, all is lost. We cannot field a single soldier. I have failed the empire.

Empress Hypatia II Radziwiłł
One war ends, the next one begins. I wouldn’t wish being Empress of Rome on my worst enemies at this point.

The Varangian Committee insists the situation is salvageable, and point to our many magnificent forts. But who will man those forts?

Constantinople is in a panic– with the printing press, rumors, libels, and political grudges spread through the city faster than ever. They’re probably right to be. We’re doomed.

Doomed.

Our enemies all come calling the instant our prior truces run out; there is no time to recover our manpower, rebuilt our fleets, let silver flow once more into our coffers.

The empire is falling.

Even as one war is brought to a conclusion, enemies from the next war sweep over our hand unhindered.

We are avoiding the pig-headed obstinacy that kept us fighting prior wars long after they were lost– but it’s the difference between a death of a thousand cuts or just getting your head cut off.

Either way, you’re dead.

And beheading is probably a more merciful death.

We’ve emerged from bankruptcy, at least, and we can begin to rebuilt our armies with our improved logistics.

Not that there’s any point; it’s not like our feeble army can do anything to turn back the irresistible tide of history.

These are the end times. Our enemies all know it.

But still we scurry about, pretending there will be a tomorrow. Drawing up plans for ships never to be built.

Imagining a future other than the quiet of the grave.

Constantinople was sacked again. I’m told it was an orderly affair: after the Theodosian Walls were breached, the Somalis simply collected everything of value from the city in an orderly manner and loaded it onto their ships, bound for Mogadishu.

Apparently there’s a Hui revolter state in Astrakhan called “Asitelahan”.

They declared war on us, too.

They told me General Cyrahzax is dead; chased down the length of Greece by Yilang, cornered, and slaughtered.

I can hardly bring myself to care.

It’s the end of the world. He simply beat the rush.

Is anybody reading these dispatches? These orders from your Empress?

I might as well be father, ordering armies that were wiped out months ago against enemies dead for a thousand years.

After rejecting several prior offers, the Somalian Republic finally made peace with us.

Among other things, they ordered what was left of the old Exarchate of Kartli released as an independent state.

They’re a Bogomilist theocracy now.

Sometimes you have to laugh.

Ao Di Li’s peace offering was less amusing, but still less severe than it might have been.

Da Qin decided to join in Asitelahan’s war against us, though.

We have a new general to replace Cyrahzax and Abdikarim: Noor Commachio.

She’s earnest and optimistic. Full of bright ideas:

I like her.

It’s too bad there’s literally nothing at all she can do to help us.

General Commachio, I order you to raise our fallen armies from their graves. No? You can’t do that? Well, then I suppose things are hopeless.

I convened what was left of the Senate in what was left of Constantinople. There were about three dozen of them. Their voices sounded hollow in the nearly empty Senate chamber. All the decorations were gone. The statues carted away, the mosaics carefully chiseled out of the floor, the paintings removed to parts unknown, even the flags were gone. The Old Romans’ “Altar of the Angel of Victory” (and at this point let’s just admit that it was just the Altar to Victory, right? Are we all grown-up enough to do that?) is probably ornamenting some patrician’s mansion in Somalia.

Probably for the best. There’s very little for Victory to do in Rome.

The Senators called for a restoration of stability.

I told them I’d do what I could.

I can’t do anything.

Terminus marches ever inward.

Constantinople was sacked by Da Qin again. I was already bundled out of the city; I almost wish I hadn’t been. If I’d been captured, I could abdicate like Romulus Augustulus did in the West, so long ago.

Better a clean break than this.

I wonder what happened to those Senators?

General Noor Commachio
Fear not, my empress! Your armies are still in the field! We are dug in north of the Danube, and ready to resist any attempt to advance.

And while still regarding us as a hated rival, Russia has still offered us their best wishes in this time of crisis!

Empress Hypatia II
Noor,

Ah, poor Noor. I heard of your victories. It’s very brave of you to keep fighting.

But don’t you see the irony of a Roman Empire that ends south of the Danube?

I’m so sorry for everything.

Tell Galileo I said that.

The empire is at peace.

At least until the next round of truces expire in the next year. Then, presumably, our enemies will come around once again.

What’s left of it.

The Golden Age of the Komnenoi seemed to offer Rome a second chance at glory when it was nearly on the threshold of oblivion. The brilliance of Alexios I, Iouliana the Great, Trajan II, St. Valeria, and all their immortal peers seemed to point towards a future in which we had an important role to play.

All lost now.

In bits and pieces, at first– the Holy Land, Lombardy, and the city of Rome lost in the chaos of Komitas Branas’ reign, Cilicia lost to the Ming Frontier Army.

Then the deluge began. Under my dynasty, the empire has lost most of Sicily, Tuscany, the Adriatic corridor, Bulgaria, the Anatolian interior, Cyprus. We are hardly better off than we were in 1081, when Alexios came to power in the wake of Manzikert, with Suleyman reigning over Rum and the empire little more than a Greek rump state.

No, we’re worse off– at least Alexios’ Rome had loyal allies. Where’s our Henry IV von Salian? Nowhere. We’re the laughingstock of the world.

This, then, is our answer to the Golden Age of the Komnenoi: The Golden Age of the Radziwiłłs.

Perhaps it is a golden age.

Because, as everyone knows, in these times silver rules the world.

WORLD MAP, 1610