An Age of Miracles III: The Romans Endure
- Thread starter Basileus444
- Start date
Who said that sarantenos will attack immediately?
After all the syrian army has to rest and train the new recruits..and also giving some time for the stragglers to catch up..not to mention the need to reform the various formations
Can't have another war with Persia if an independent Egypt is in the way. 🫠 See, the Tourmachs' plan was ingenious after all.
Romania is getting ahead of the game on having less mouths to feed for the little ice age, too!
The fact that Sartenos force marched his army nearly 1000km from Syria, ignored the Army of Suffering and allowed the rebels to destroy a third of his force seems to indicate that yes, he does have to attack immediately and he cannot afford to take his time. Otherwise, Smyrna will fall. Because if he did seem to believe that he could have take his time and rest and allow the stragglers to catch up and reform, then he could have better spent that time not force marching at all.
Trying to relieve the city under these circumstances sounds like it is going to destroy his force.
Yes and no.. sarantenos could use the force he has for an immediate attack but the fact that he is recruiting in the area suggest that he will wait a bit for his forces to be replenished...also his mere presence is causing headaches for the besieging force
Err, my understanding is that he rushed all that distance because he did not have current intel on Smyna and thought he had to get there ASAP to save the city. That said, as he gets closer he is likely to get reports that indicate the actual situation and the segment suggested Smyrna is not in such dire straits. Yes, it is under siege and presumably will fall eventually, but he probably has several weeks before that happens. That gives him time to recover some losses and reorganize.
The element of surprise is the only thing make his beleaguered and reduced forces of concrete value to Smyrna's defenders: if Nereas is allowed to reinforce the blocking force, relief will never reach the city.
Quick question inspired by the conversations on Egypt. Alexandria is still a Roman city with a mostly Greek population and (surely) a pretty decent garrison and good defences. What's the situation there? If its controlled by either Roman faction then when the war is over and some armies can be transfered that's a pretty huge sword of Damocles that they could use to threaten Egypt with should they try something extra sketchy
Rhomania's General Crisis, Part 14.2: The Fight for Thrakesia
Didn't comment earlier about Gyranos's or Sarantenos's actions because they'd be spoiling the next update or two.
Andronikos Gyranos had joined the Roman army at the age of 15, on a government scholarship for the School of War. That had been in the mid-1620s, with him graduating just a few months before the Night of the Tocsins. Yet despite that long service, his deployment leading the Akoimetoi in Thrakesia marks his first field command. All his service up to that point has been in staff work.
This is unusual in the Roman army, even in the mid-1600s. While many officers serve entirely in the field without working in staff units in the thematic headquarters or in Constantinople, already by this stage it was typical to rotate staff officers into field duty. No less than Andreas Niketas had recommended such. Yet Gyranos was an exception to the rule.
This had to do with his personality, as evaluated by his superiors. They recognized that he was an intelligent and skilled staff officer, well organized and able to quickly draw up and implement plans of supply and reinforcement. He had been a junior member of the War Room team that organized and implemented the logistics that had underpinned the massive deployment of Roman forces for the battle of Thessaloniki.
At the same time, it was recognized that he was, by nature, highly cautious. In war games, he hated moving unless everything was arranged properly and he had overwhelming superiority. In moderation, this was not a vice, but he was felt to be too cautious. Being reckless was certainly a vice, but a field commander needed to be able to make the bold lunge, to make the calculated gamble. Meanwhile Gyranos was described as a man who ‘would not throw the dice unless he knew the dice was loaded’. So, he was kept on as a staff officer, where he excelled, and away from field duty, where it was expected he would not.
Gyranos is confused by the reports his scouts are sending him about the approaching Syrians. While all agree that the eastern army is substantially larger than the Akoimetoi by itself, there is substantial variation on how much larger. The number of unit banners reported would suggest a much larger actual force than the raw number estimates the scouts are reporting, by a variation of three-to-one. While the Akoimetoi might be able to defend its position for a short time while outnumbered three-to-one, if the odds are nine-to-one that becomes impossible. They will inevitably be pinned, flanked, isolated, and then annihilated. The Akoimetoi guard the main west-east highway across the midriff of Anatolia, but there are many side roads available and Gyranos know the locals will be much more helpful to the Syrians than to him.
That is the reason he gives for abandoning his position. But instead of retreating westward to link up with Nereas, he cuts north, heading for the Opsikian theme. His argument for that direction is that he also has scouting reports from another quarter. Officers of the Thrakesian tagma in southern Thrakesia have been hastily gathering together new units to join the fight, mostly a mix of retired soldiers, tzaousioi (police units), and very green recruits. Their quality is variable, but they are numerous, motivated, and decently armed. Their equipment is a mix of supplies from pre-existing depots, newly manufactured wares from workshops (of which Thrakesia has many), and some supplies delivered by Kanaris’s fleet. Most of these new units’ artillery come from landed naval guns.
Gyranos claims he is worried that the southern Thrakesians are trying to pin him between themselves and the approaching Syrians, with a northward thrust being his maneuver to avoid that. However, that direction of march forces him to use minor roads, rather than the major highway, slowing his march. For the moment, Gyranos has effectively removed himself and the Akoimetoi from the game board.
This action is much to the relief of Sarantenos, who pauses in Sardis to give his troops some desperately needed rest. Without some, they are clearly in no condition for a real fight. Some close stragglers from the westward march rejoin the army, while locals bring in provisions and information about the location and movement of enemy units, as well as more accurate details of the situation at Smyrna compared to what Sarantenos had known back in Syria. These indicate that the situation, while still critical, was not quite as dire as he’d been led to believe.
On July 16, the easterners leave Sardis, heading southwest rather than west directly to Smyrna. This is to link up with the gathering formations in southern Thrakesia. After joining up with some of them on July 18 and 19, Sarantenos now commands an admittedly motley force of slightly over twenty thousand. This makes his numbers only a little short of what Nereas commands at Smyrna, and the Smyrna garrison could potentially help rectify the gap that still remains.
These numbers do not include the Akoimetoi. Gyranos’s northward march has removed him from any danger of being pincered, but now he is heading west to the Anatolian coast, about halfway between Smyrna and Adramyttion. This is ideally placed to cover a retreat, but not to reinforce Nereas directly. Gyranos shows little inclination to do the latter.
Nereas meanwhile is having a very frustrating week. Reports from Gyranos are vague and intermittent, while his scouts are having difficulty operating in a rather hostile countryside. This means he is operating in a very serious fog of war. He had estimated that at his current rate of progress, he can reduce Smyrna to submission in a fortnight. But now it seems that the eastern forces loyal to Sophia have arrived in Thrakesia six weeks earlier than he had expected. That early arrival would suggest said enemy forces are appreciably weaker than their full strength, but Nereas can get little in the way of details.
Wanting to avoid being caught between hammer and anvil, he leaves a token force behind to hold the siege lines at Smyrna and then marches east with the bulk to confront Sarantenos. The two collide forty kilometers east of Smyrna on the afternoon of July 21. Nereas hits Sarantenos’s left wing hard and several green units quickly rout, but a rapid deployment of reserves and a refused flank prevent Nereas from rolling up the line before nightfall puts an end to the action.
Sarantenos retreats during the night with Nereas pursuing, but as that proceeds Sarantenos also sends a cavalry force around Nereas. It attacks the Smyrna siege line on July 23, but while it doesn’t break the siege, it certainly creates a great deal of noise and alarm. Afterwards, the cavalry head north to block Gyranos from coming south. Citing shortages of supply transport, he has been slow to move from his new coastal station, but Sarantenos wants to keep that game piece off the board as long as possible. The Syrian Strategos is unaware of the personal tensions between the two guard strategoi.
Nereas, concerned that he has exposed his siege forces by moving too far eastward, turns around and proceeds back to Smyrna, arriving on July 26. Sarantenos follows but at a distance, reluctant to attack given the poor showing of many of his units five days earlier and his weakness in artillery. Quite familiar with Ottoman tactics, he is reluctant to attack fortified positions with his lack of cannon.
The siege of Smyrna thus resumes after a brief hiatus, but the flurry of activity has changed the situation. The morale of the defenders of Smyrna has improved considerably, as well as cooperation between the volunteers and regulars. Nereas cannonades the city fiercely, but even as practical points of assault begin to appear, he is hesitant to use them with the constant menace of the eastern army behind him.
To the north, Gyranos has closed some of the distance between himself and Nereas, but his pace is slow. He is heavily harassed by Sarantenos’s cavalry, joined now by partisan units. With the arrival of support from the east, the locals’ sense of shock and terror has dissipated somewhat, the vacuum replaced by the will to revenge. Their losses are heavy and the damage they inflict is minor; farm tools versus muskets is not a fair fight. But they certainly hamper movement.
Gyranos’s complaints about supply transport issues are strengthened after the events of July 28. On that day, Kalomeros surprises and scatters a supply convoy, although squalls provide cover for the fleeing ships so he only captures two.
Supplies are a far greater concern inside Smyrna. The great city’s population had been swelled by refugees from the countryside, and even with Nereas’s slow approach, there had not been enough time to evacuate many of them south before the siege was imposed. And even in peacetime, Smyrna had depended significantly on imports of Egyptian foodstuffs, entirely unavailable now given the Egyptian adherence to Constantinople’s side. This had impaired building up stockpiles beforehand.
Despite Nereas’s best efforts, Sarantenos outside and Andronikopulos inside are able to communicate intermittently via very brave couriers who sneak across the siege lines at night to deliver messages. While many of the couriers are captured and killed, enough make it through, and keep their missives secret, to enable the two strategoi to loosely coordinate a joint attack.
On August 2, Sarantenos attacks the siege lines southeast of Smyrna at dawn and shortly afterwards the garrison sallies in the same area. Caught between two fires, despite resisting fiercely, the besiegers are forced out of the way, opening a small break in the siege. The corridor is narrow, much of it within range of artillery from both flanks, but the Syrians and Thrakesians are able to hold it against heavy counterattacks.
Smyrna is still mostly besieged. The corridor’s ability to bring in supplies is highly limited and the city is still under naval blockade despite the harassment of Kanaris and Kalomeros. In theory, Smyrna could still be starved into submission, albeit more slowly, provided the situation doesn’t change again.
The time is unavailable. Two days later, Nereas receives word that Domestikos Pirokolos has won a major victory over the Bulgarian and Thracian tagmata. He is now in a position to break out of Bulgaria, through the Haemus mountains, and invade Thrace itself. That threat to the capital must be averted at all costs.
The price includes the Smyrna campaign. On August 6, Nereas issues orders to lift the siege. His units south of the city, cut off from the main body by the corridor, embark on the ships in the bay, while the main body retires north for a rendezvous with the Akoimetoi. Yet while Nereas is retreating, he is hardly broken. An attack on his retreating units is met with a prompt and devastating counterattack which leaves over three hundred Thrakesian and Syrian casualties in its wake.
That's the total casualty figure. There weren't any proper battles or even much in the way of skirmishes between the Army of Syria and Army of Suffering. Stragglers falling out and getting ambushed by peasant guerrillas aren't going to survive the encounter. So, in this case there aren't many wounded; you're either dead or not. Think stragglers from Napoleon's army in Russia 1812 being caught by Russian peasants.
Egypt's situation is one of those things were a lot is decided by what happens elsewhere, in this case the Aegean basin.
Alexandria is currently controlled by a garrison loyal to the Tourmarches in Constantinople.
* * *
Rhomania’s General Crisis, part 14.2-The Fight for Thrakesia:
Rhomania’s General Crisis, part 14.2-The Fight for Thrakesia:
Andronikos Gyranos had joined the Roman army at the age of 15, on a government scholarship for the School of War. That had been in the mid-1620s, with him graduating just a few months before the Night of the Tocsins. Yet despite that long service, his deployment leading the Akoimetoi in Thrakesia marks his first field command. All his service up to that point has been in staff work.
This is unusual in the Roman army, even in the mid-1600s. While many officers serve entirely in the field without working in staff units in the thematic headquarters or in Constantinople, already by this stage it was typical to rotate staff officers into field duty. No less than Andreas Niketas had recommended such. Yet Gyranos was an exception to the rule.
This had to do with his personality, as evaluated by his superiors. They recognized that he was an intelligent and skilled staff officer, well organized and able to quickly draw up and implement plans of supply and reinforcement. He had been a junior member of the War Room team that organized and implemented the logistics that had underpinned the massive deployment of Roman forces for the battle of Thessaloniki.
At the same time, it was recognized that he was, by nature, highly cautious. In war games, he hated moving unless everything was arranged properly and he had overwhelming superiority. In moderation, this was not a vice, but he was felt to be too cautious. Being reckless was certainly a vice, but a field commander needed to be able to make the bold lunge, to make the calculated gamble. Meanwhile Gyranos was described as a man who ‘would not throw the dice unless he knew the dice was loaded’. So, he was kept on as a staff officer, where he excelled, and away from field duty, where it was expected he would not.
Gyranos is confused by the reports his scouts are sending him about the approaching Syrians. While all agree that the eastern army is substantially larger than the Akoimetoi by itself, there is substantial variation on how much larger. The number of unit banners reported would suggest a much larger actual force than the raw number estimates the scouts are reporting, by a variation of three-to-one. While the Akoimetoi might be able to defend its position for a short time while outnumbered three-to-one, if the odds are nine-to-one that becomes impossible. They will inevitably be pinned, flanked, isolated, and then annihilated. The Akoimetoi guard the main west-east highway across the midriff of Anatolia, but there are many side roads available and Gyranos know the locals will be much more helpful to the Syrians than to him.
That is the reason he gives for abandoning his position. But instead of retreating westward to link up with Nereas, he cuts north, heading for the Opsikian theme. His argument for that direction is that he also has scouting reports from another quarter. Officers of the Thrakesian tagma in southern Thrakesia have been hastily gathering together new units to join the fight, mostly a mix of retired soldiers, tzaousioi (police units), and very green recruits. Their quality is variable, but they are numerous, motivated, and decently armed. Their equipment is a mix of supplies from pre-existing depots, newly manufactured wares from workshops (of which Thrakesia has many), and some supplies delivered by Kanaris’s fleet. Most of these new units’ artillery come from landed naval guns.
Gyranos claims he is worried that the southern Thrakesians are trying to pin him between themselves and the approaching Syrians, with a northward thrust being his maneuver to avoid that. However, that direction of march forces him to use minor roads, rather than the major highway, slowing his march. For the moment, Gyranos has effectively removed himself and the Akoimetoi from the game board.
This action is much to the relief of Sarantenos, who pauses in Sardis to give his troops some desperately needed rest. Without some, they are clearly in no condition for a real fight. Some close stragglers from the westward march rejoin the army, while locals bring in provisions and information about the location and movement of enemy units, as well as more accurate details of the situation at Smyrna compared to what Sarantenos had known back in Syria. These indicate that the situation, while still critical, was not quite as dire as he’d been led to believe.
On July 16, the easterners leave Sardis, heading southwest rather than west directly to Smyrna. This is to link up with the gathering formations in southern Thrakesia. After joining up with some of them on July 18 and 19, Sarantenos now commands an admittedly motley force of slightly over twenty thousand. This makes his numbers only a little short of what Nereas commands at Smyrna, and the Smyrna garrison could potentially help rectify the gap that still remains.
These numbers do not include the Akoimetoi. Gyranos’s northward march has removed him from any danger of being pincered, but now he is heading west to the Anatolian coast, about halfway between Smyrna and Adramyttion. This is ideally placed to cover a retreat, but not to reinforce Nereas directly. Gyranos shows little inclination to do the latter.
Nereas meanwhile is having a very frustrating week. Reports from Gyranos are vague and intermittent, while his scouts are having difficulty operating in a rather hostile countryside. This means he is operating in a very serious fog of war. He had estimated that at his current rate of progress, he can reduce Smyrna to submission in a fortnight. But now it seems that the eastern forces loyal to Sophia have arrived in Thrakesia six weeks earlier than he had expected. That early arrival would suggest said enemy forces are appreciably weaker than their full strength, but Nereas can get little in the way of details.
Wanting to avoid being caught between hammer and anvil, he leaves a token force behind to hold the siege lines at Smyrna and then marches east with the bulk to confront Sarantenos. The two collide forty kilometers east of Smyrna on the afternoon of July 21. Nereas hits Sarantenos’s left wing hard and several green units quickly rout, but a rapid deployment of reserves and a refused flank prevent Nereas from rolling up the line before nightfall puts an end to the action.
Sarantenos retreats during the night with Nereas pursuing, but as that proceeds Sarantenos also sends a cavalry force around Nereas. It attacks the Smyrna siege line on July 23, but while it doesn’t break the siege, it certainly creates a great deal of noise and alarm. Afterwards, the cavalry head north to block Gyranos from coming south. Citing shortages of supply transport, he has been slow to move from his new coastal station, but Sarantenos wants to keep that game piece off the board as long as possible. The Syrian Strategos is unaware of the personal tensions between the two guard strategoi.
Nereas, concerned that he has exposed his siege forces by moving too far eastward, turns around and proceeds back to Smyrna, arriving on July 26. Sarantenos follows but at a distance, reluctant to attack given the poor showing of many of his units five days earlier and his weakness in artillery. Quite familiar with Ottoman tactics, he is reluctant to attack fortified positions with his lack of cannon.
The siege of Smyrna thus resumes after a brief hiatus, but the flurry of activity has changed the situation. The morale of the defenders of Smyrna has improved considerably, as well as cooperation between the volunteers and regulars. Nereas cannonades the city fiercely, but even as practical points of assault begin to appear, he is hesitant to use them with the constant menace of the eastern army behind him.
To the north, Gyranos has closed some of the distance between himself and Nereas, but his pace is slow. He is heavily harassed by Sarantenos’s cavalry, joined now by partisan units. With the arrival of support from the east, the locals’ sense of shock and terror has dissipated somewhat, the vacuum replaced by the will to revenge. Their losses are heavy and the damage they inflict is minor; farm tools versus muskets is not a fair fight. But they certainly hamper movement.
Gyranos’s complaints about supply transport issues are strengthened after the events of July 28. On that day, Kalomeros surprises and scatters a supply convoy, although squalls provide cover for the fleeing ships so he only captures two.
Supplies are a far greater concern inside Smyrna. The great city’s population had been swelled by refugees from the countryside, and even with Nereas’s slow approach, there had not been enough time to evacuate many of them south before the siege was imposed. And even in peacetime, Smyrna had depended significantly on imports of Egyptian foodstuffs, entirely unavailable now given the Egyptian adherence to Constantinople’s side. This had impaired building up stockpiles beforehand.
Despite Nereas’s best efforts, Sarantenos outside and Andronikopulos inside are able to communicate intermittently via very brave couriers who sneak across the siege lines at night to deliver messages. While many of the couriers are captured and killed, enough make it through, and keep their missives secret, to enable the two strategoi to loosely coordinate a joint attack.
On August 2, Sarantenos attacks the siege lines southeast of Smyrna at dawn and shortly afterwards the garrison sallies in the same area. Caught between two fires, despite resisting fiercely, the besiegers are forced out of the way, opening a small break in the siege. The corridor is narrow, much of it within range of artillery from both flanks, but the Syrians and Thrakesians are able to hold it against heavy counterattacks.
Smyrna is still mostly besieged. The corridor’s ability to bring in supplies is highly limited and the city is still under naval blockade despite the harassment of Kanaris and Kalomeros. In theory, Smyrna could still be starved into submission, albeit more slowly, provided the situation doesn’t change again.
The time is unavailable. Two days later, Nereas receives word that Domestikos Pirokolos has won a major victory over the Bulgarian and Thracian tagmata. He is now in a position to break out of Bulgaria, through the Haemus mountains, and invade Thrace itself. That threat to the capital must be averted at all costs.
The price includes the Smyrna campaign. On August 6, Nereas issues orders to lift the siege. His units south of the city, cut off from the main body by the corridor, embark on the ships in the bay, while the main body retires north for a rendezvous with the Akoimetoi. Yet while Nereas is retreating, he is hardly broken. An attack on his retreating units is met with a prompt and devastating counterattack which leaves over three hundred Thrakesian and Syrian casualties in its wake.
Looks like the Tourmarches need to abandon Anatolia to defend the capital.
Don’t think the Syrians will be likely to rush back to the Levant to face the Egyptians without dealing with the army of suffering first. So secure Anatolia first which leaves the capital surrounded from both sides……if the Tourmarches lose naval supremacy they’re toast.
Some way to remove bad officials when the emperor won't would need to be implemented.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Rhomania's General Crisis, Part 15.0: A Compromised Position
Keep a pin in that thought.
And also keep a pin in that thought regarding naval superiority and its importance.
This being the last civil war, bar some 20th century style ideological civil war (and I have no plans for such an event), is as set-in-stone as pretty much anything can be in my long-term planning.
Pretty much. The issue is that the Emperor's whim really is the supreme law.
* * *
Rhomania’s General Crisis, part 15.0-A Compromised Position:
Rhomania’s General Crisis, part 15.0-A Compromised Position:
The forces of Nereas and Gyranos finally link up again at Pergamon on August 10. The Strategos of the Varangians is breathing fire against his colleague, infuriated at his extremely poor showing as a blocking and supporting force. But when he arrives in the city, he is surprised to see someone he did not expect and who he cannot ignore. It is Strategos Plytos.
The unofficial head of the Tourmarches, and of the war hawk faction in general (such a statement should be regarded with caution, as it implies a degree of organization that is greater than reality), Konstantinos Plytos is not happy about having to leave Constantinople. The Queen of Cities has been described as simmering, never actually boiling over, but constantly threatening to do so. It is a pot that needs to be watched.
Plytos is not there with the Athanatoi. His coming in person while leaving the guard tagma in the capital was both to speed his movement and to compromise between the need for him to keep things cool in the capital and for him to get down to Thrakesia before something even worse happens. He is concerned to avoid a public breach between Nereas and Gyranos, worrying that a row will undermine the image of the Tourmarches, threatening their legitimacy. Given their power is derived through personal, rather than institutional, connections, this is a perennial issue.
Plytos, using his command authority as Strategos of the seniormost guard tagma, takes control of the situation and promptly begins reassignments. The first step is to relieve Gyranos of his command of the Akoimetoi, although he keeps his rank of Strategos and all its pertinences. This is ostensibly so he can focus on his duties as Primmikerios (Commandant) of the War Room, a task for which he is clearly much better suited. It will also keep him in Constantinople.
Meanwhile, Nereas is to take the Varangians and Akoimetoi and redeploy to Thrace. Plytos wants him out of Thrakesia to hopefully help clear the poisonous air, and the situation in eastern Bulgaria merits the reinforcements anyway. The offensive in Thrakesia is abandoned, with the loyalist forces in the area to fall under the command of the Opsikian Strategos. Both the Opsikian and Optimatic themes, wealthy, populous, and untouched by war, are rapidly bringing new tourmai of fresh recruits into the line and these can make up for the withdrawal of the guard units.
With all that settled, the three Tourmarches decamp. Nereas heads for Europe via the Hellespont, while Plytos and Gyranos travel together and reach Constantinople via the Bosporus. Practically as soon as they reach the capital, the pair hear dramatic news from Thessaloniki.
It becomes known as the White Tower affair. The White Tower is a tower on Thessaloniki’s waterfront in the southeast part of the old city, which had been constructed during the reign of Theodoros IV to improve the city’s harbor defenses. Rather than being aloof by residing in the citadel overlooking the city, Sophia had sought to gain popular support by residing in the Tower amongst the inhabitants. She had also sought to make herself publicly visible and accessible to the people, frequently making processions along the waterfront and attending events in the city.
On the same day Nereas enters Pergamon, Sophia exits the White Tower with her entourage to attend a concert, greeted and cheered by a crowd as she does so. The guard is minimal because Sophia doesn’t want to present an air of aloofness. Then a man in the crowd pushes himself forward and fires a kyzikos at Sophia. It misfires, but the assassin then hurls himself at her, plunging a knife at her neck. He strikes once, with a spray of blood spurting from his victim’s neck, before the guards can seize him.
The wounded person is not Sophia. It is Zoe, Michael Pirokolos’s eldest daughter, and a lady-in-waiting and best friend of Sophia. The assassin, a native of Serres and unfamiliar with Sophia’s appearance, had mistaken the taller and more beautiful woman for the Empress. Her wound, while dramatic and ugly, is not fatal, although it easily could have been. It was deflected from a vital artery by an amulet Zoe had been wearing to ward off the evil eye.
The captured assassin is interrogated and tortured for information. He’d been recruited by agents from Constantinople, armed and advised by them, and promised a large cash payment upon success of the mission. Although the interrogation does not reveal this to Sophia, the agents had not reckoned the man’s chances of success or survival to be that high, but his loss was not reckoned as much of a loss, while if he succeeded, the gains would be spectacular.
Sophia is absolutely furious, less at the attempt at her own life, than by the fact that Zoe nearly lost her own. She is determined to maintain her popular touch and access to the people, which has proven so effective in securing support, but her wrath must be sated and an example made. The man’s immediate family in Serres is arrested, carted to Thessaloniki, paraded through crowds that vilify and abuse them, and then executed on the spot where the assassination attempt had taken place.
Their deaths were at least as quick and painless as a Long Knife can make them. The assassin, forced to watch the execution of his family, is then tortured, his end finally coming when four horses, one each tethered to a limb, pull him apart. The watching crowd applauds the whole show.
* * *
The War Room, Constantinople, September 2, 1662:
Andronikos Gyranos looked up as the door to the War Room opened, expecting an aide to be returning with some requested documents on inventories in Adrianople. The new arrival was not that.
It was Irene. Beside her was Plytos’s wife Xenia, and right behind the two women was the Strategos of the Athanatoi himself. Andronikos willed himself to keep his face blank, and his eyes met with those of Plytos. “I have important business with the Primmikerios,” Plytos said loudly. “Vacate and secure the room.” All of the various War Room personnel set down what they were doing and filed out of the chamber. As Plytos locked the door from the inside, Gyranos knew they were putting up a sign indicating the War Room was conducting secret business and could not be entered until the inside occupants were finished.
Xenia took Irene’s arm and the two of them went into the furthest corner, Gyranos avoiding eye contact with his wife; he wasn’t sure if he could keep a straight face otherwise. Plytos headed over to him, a folder tucked under one arm. “Going to Russia with winter approaching is certainly an odd choice,” Plytos observed.
“Yeah, Irene’s weird that way.”
A pause. “Andronikos, we’re both intelligent men who know what’s going on, and have better things to spend our time on. I say we talk straight and get this unpleasantness over with.”
“That would be more efficient.”
“And I know you like that. Regarding Thrakesia, that’s entirely on me. I never should’ve put you in that position; anyone with such limited field experience would’ve acted similarly. After this is over, we should work on better training for officers as they command bigger units in the field.”
“Agreed,” Gyranos replied, keeping his tone flat.
“As for more recent matters, it’s good that the letters of credit in Irene’s purse were for cashing in Kiev, not Thessaloniki. Then we’d really have a problem.”
“Thessaloniki was not an option.”
“Of course not, but not because of your great loyalty to the cause. It’s because you want to keep Irene safe but don’t trust Sophia, especially after the assassination attempt and her reaction.”
Gyranos nodded.
“She would be safer in Constantinople though,” Plytos continued.
“Having her in Constantinople would be a good way to keep me behaving in a manner you find politically favorable. That doesn’t fit the definition of safe.”
“No, it doesn’t. But Tzaousios Makres has agents in Russia. They could easily arrange an unpleasantness. But here in Constantinople, with Athanatoi guards…”
“You mean Athanatoi minders.”
“Yes. They’d be both. But I will keep Irene safe, if you help me win this war.”
“Nereas is insane. He’s a loose cannon, at best.”
“I know. But Makres and Nereas both know that if they so much as stub the toe of one of my men, I will end them.”
“He’s still a problem.”
“I agree. But he’s too popular with too many of the soldiery to be discarded, now. But help me win this war, and then he will no longer be necessary. A nice public execution for excesses would be a good gesture of reconciliation at the end of a civil war.”
“That is tempting, but I can’t help but notice that I have to deliver my end of the bargain now, while what I desire is put off till later. This pattern has become rather tiresome, and makes me wary of further bargains.”
“I thought you would say that, which is why I arranged this.” He pulled out the file he’d been holding and handed it to Gyranos. “Take a look.”
Gyranos opened it up and started skimming. It was a decree of several reform measures in the three kephalates of northwest Bithynia opposite Constantinople. There were details for land redistribution for landless peasants, plans for wasteland reclamation and swamp drainage for more small-scale plots, and even a credit system to provide small low-interest loans for smallholders to finance local improvements. And that the bottom in purple ink was Herakleios III’s signature and the Imperial seal. It was official law of the Empire. Not just a proposal.
“Do you think he actually read this?” Gyranos mused.
Plytos smiled. “His eyes glazed over after the third sentence. But he signed it. That’s what matters.”
“This is good,” Gyranos said. It wasn’t all of the reforms he wanted, but it was a serious effort in that direction, for once. “But it is localized.”
“I know. The detailed report was only available for these regions at this time. But more will be possible, in the future.”
“But first we have to win this war.”
“Yes.”
Gyranos looked at Plytos, and then his eyes darted over to his wife, talking quietly with Xenia. He was skeptical that Plytos would actually turn on Nereas after the war, and whether there would be further reforms. But it wasn’t like he was in a position to be choosy. If Irene was stuck in Constantinople, the best way to keep her safe was to ensure that this side won the war. Winners in civil wars tended to have more longevity than the other side. And he did trust Plytos that if he kept up his end of the bargain faithfully, Plytos would keep Irene safe. “Very well.”
“I’m very glad to hear that,” Plytos replied. He looked over at his wife. “Xenia, it’s time for us to go.” She nodded.
“Please keep the room secure after you leave,” Gyranos said.
“Of course.”
After they’d left, he walked over to Irene. “I could try again,” she said.
Gyranos shook his head. “Far too risky. We’re being too closely watched now. I’ve made this bed for us, and now we have to lie in it to get through the night.”
“Still, there are plenty of Russian ships. If I-”
“No. I’m not risking your life.”
“I should have a say in that too. And there may come a time when we’ll have no choice but to risk it.”
“You’re right. But we’re not there, and I won’t cross that bridge unless we absolutely have to.”
Looks Sophia is getting successful at consolidating popular support. Recall at the start it was pretty much non-existent aside from Athena contacts.
Good point. Between that temper and bloodlust she's also 100% pure Sideros.
It's a great reminder how lopsided this started that after two fairly significant victories the odds still feel stacked against Sophia. It does make me wonder what happens to a defeated tagma? They tend to follow their leaders, but could a fully defeated tagma have a new leader installed and switch sides. Seems like it could be a hard sell to the common soldier, but if the alternative is they can't be swayed and you either need to keep them in the field indefinitely or defeat them so thoroughly that you endanger the state post civil war that's bleak.
Sophia is making a good name for herself between her public appearances and the brutality of the tourmarchs' side around Smyrna. But the newly approved land reforms are really going to force her to deliver some big tangible gains for the people to win the PR battle.
Sophia is making a good name for herself between her public appearances and the brutality of the tourmarchs' side around Smyrna. But the newly approved land reforms are really going to force her to deliver some big tangible gains for the people to win the PR battle.