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Anno Domini 829, August-22
Pov of Theophilos
Everything is going perfectly, perhaps too well. The Empire is rising again and revenues have surged this year, with trade returning to far higher levels now that we control ports across the Levant and can move goods freely. From this comes an enormous influx of taxes drawn from many different sources.
All of this, together with good harvests and a quiet year, would already have made the situation nearly perfect. Yet Basil also annihilated the Bulgars. It was not simply a decisive defeat that would keep them out of war for a few years.
What happened was close to total destruction, forcing them to flee imperial territory. With no khan and no high noble capable of uniting them, Bulgars and other Slavs began to withdraw en masse beyond our borders.
I also acted, taking advantage of the moment and negotiating with the second largest tribe of them all, the Serbs. We reached a very important agreement. They had only recently begun freeing themselves from the Bulgarian yoke and their power was not yet centralized. When I arrived and they heard the news of the massacre at Pliska, they were very willing to negotiate.
They were torn between following the Bulgars north of the Danube or remaining where they were and seeing what would happen. I used that uncertainty and secured their transformation into a Roman vassal state. They agreed to free every Roman they held as slaves within their lands and to begin applying Roman law.
In return I promised them weapons so they could wage war against other Slavs in the region, especially the Croats, in order to recover former imperial territories. This included lands within the marches under Frankish influence, which had been expanding through the Balkans, and also territories in Carpathia. Such wars would also help restrain Bulgarian raids, which had long been a constant nuisance to everyone.
Even so, I chose to wait. Patience is a powerful weapon, and in time it rewarded us. The Abbasid Empire descended into a period of multiple civil wars. Recently the wali of Egypt rebelled and marched toward Arabia without any clear direction, while the caliph was already occupied suppressing a rebellion in Persia and another rising among the peasants that continued to grow.
Unfortunately for Basil, to whom I could not send reinforcements, I had already prepared the armies to exploit the chaos along the Abbasid frontier while their authority began to collapse. The caliph, it seems, died of fever during the campaign, and a war of succession began among his sons and brothers.
While I was negotiating with the Serbs, word reached me that my generals had pushed the frontier deep into Abbasid territory. They reached the Euphrates River and took Aleppo and Damascus, both of which fell with barely any resistance. The Abbasids had moved much of their army elsewhere to confront the many rebellions tearing their empire apart.
To the north we advanced as far as the Arsanias River, recovering vast territories inhabited largely by Armenians and Greeks. If we manage to hold these lands, they will eventually provide a considerable increase in taxes and soldiers.
I was tempted to push further and seize even more territory while the Abbasids were weak, yet I restrained my generals. Patience and restraint had already granted us this victory with almost no losses, securing enormous lands while we watched the Abbasids consume themselves in their own disorder.
I preferred to observe how events would develop before committing to a greater expansion. If they began to see us as an existential threat, they might stop fighting among themselves and unite against us. For that reason I was satisfied, for the moment, with these limited victories. They brought enormous quantities of loot and hundreds of thousands of Sarakenoi slaves, who would now be distributed throughout imperial lands to work in the mines, though many of those were already full of Bulgars.
Even so, a mountain of work awaited me. New themata had to be organized and commanders appointed. That problem never disappears. Truly competent and loyal men are scarce, and power cannot be handed freely to just anyone. A poorly chosen appointment is enough to rot the heart of the state.
Basil was different. I could place a dagger in his hand while it rested against my own throat, and he would use it only to scratch an itch. Few men are like that. Skleros was another excellent choice, loyal to the end, especially now that he had distanced himself from his own family and no longer answered to their interests. Yet beyond them and a handful of other strategos, there were very few men to whom I could entrust such authority without fearing they might begin acting on their own once my attention turned elsewhere.
For the moment I had time. The imperial frontier was more secure than it had been in years. The Serbs would soon come into conflict with the Croats. Basil was north of the Danube, settling the Varangians and constructing fortifications to resist future incursions. According to the reports, he was driving the Slavic tribes of Carpathia toward the eastern steppes while integrating the Latinized groups descended from the ancient Romans of the region.
Soon I would also need to find a way to convince Basil not to retire. The fool was planning to abandon the army and limit himself to serving as strategos of Crete and Jerusalem while devoting his time to business, even refusing service if he were called again. Knowing him, he was entirely capable of doing it.
I would sooner lose a hand than allow my best general to retire. Every officer who has served under him says the same thing. He reads his enemies like no one else and, above all, anticipates their movements simply by studying the terrain.
I have great plans for him. But first we must secure the frontiers, consolidate the tax revenues, and train new armies. The campaign in Italy, intended to recover Rome, is not far away. I only need to see how the Abbasid situation develops, whether we can continue expanding or whether we must intervene with greater caution. Then I will decide whether the time has come to launch the Italian offensive and begin expelling the Carolingian pretenders from lands that once belonged to the true Romans.
I returned to the palace after successful negotiations and after organizing the new themata in the region. Everything continued to move forward exactly as it should.
Without wasting time I returned to my study, which was already piled with letters from my generals reporting what had happened along the Abbasid frontier. As I read through them I also began writing down the names of the strategoi who would command the new themata I had just created.
"Finally you return" Theodora said as she entered, accompanied by several of her ladies while crossing the doorway of my chamber.
"Yes. It took some time, but I managed to make good use of the fear the Serbs have of Basil. Imagine how quickly the news traveled. I heard it from the Serbs themselves that Basil had finished the siege of Pliska and had the heads of every member of the royal family cut off" I replied while continuing to write.
"It should not be Basil they fear, but the Empire… or you" Theodora said as she walked slowly across the room, swaying her hips until she stopped beside me and looked down at what I was writing.
"Oh, come now… it is the same thing" I replied with a slight grimace.
"Merely an observation. Though I suppose those gifts Basil sent make more sense now. When we opened them they were skulls covered in gold, as if they had been turned into cups" Theodora said as she leaned behind my chair and let her hands fall around my neck.
"Ah… was Nicephoros among them? Then have him buried immediately with the honors of an ancient Basileus Rhomaion who died fighting" I said the moment they confirmed that the head of the posthumous emperor had also been recovered.
"It has already been done. The messenger explained whose heads they were before he left" Theodora replied while running her fingers through my beard.
"Excellent. That settles the great insult the Bulgars dealt us. And now we have several new cups to display to our guests when we hold the next banquet" I said while continuing to assign names to the strategos.
"Tell me what you plan to do with so many themata. I thought this might finally be the moment to grant one to Bardas. I believe he earned it, did he not? According to his own account it was his cavalry charge that shattered the Bulgarian center" Theodora whispered near my ear.
"And according to the tourmarches who were with Basil it was Basil's strategy that created that opportunity. His Varangians are hard as iron. They practically slaughtered every Bulgar in their front and then pursued them without rest. It is quite clear to me why the Church fears those northern men so much. Their loyalty to Basil borders on fanaticism" I replied while writing another name.
"Yes, I remember the patriarch himself asking you to intervene about that. He did not like the idea of so many unconverted pagans remaining in Crete. So, Skleros then?" Theodora added as she saw the name I had written.
"Yes. I will temporarily extend the Theme of Macedonia across a much larger territory. I will also create the Theme of Paradounavon, the Theme of Diokleia, expand the Theme of Dyrrhachium, and I am considering forming a large theme here in the center where the great Slavic tribes once lived and are now fleeing like frightened dogs" I said with a smile.
"And what of my father and my brother? You could place them as strategos in the eastern themata. Both speak Armenian and might be well received among the population" she suggested.
"Well… yes. Those themes are not heavily damaged, though they are important. Once we properly define the borders of the region we will decide what should be done with them" I replied while finishing the list of strategoi for the former Bulgarian territories.
"Oh… then we will be able to announce it during the banquet you will organize, will we not?" Theodora said as she returned to my side with a seductive tone.
"I do not think so. Our coffers may be full now, but once we send funds to the new strategos so they can build fortifications, repair those already standing, purchase military equipment, buy food, hire workers, and establish their thematic armies there may not be much left in the treasury. That banquet will have to wait a year or two until the new taxes begin to flow and we can assess the wealth of these newly acquired territories" I replied.
"I thought we might simply ask the good and loyal Basil for a loan" Theodora murmured as she leaned closer to my ear, "I have heard he keeps a great deal of gold locked away in his vaults".
"Eh?" I exclaimed, turning to look at her, "how exactly do you know that?" I asked, surprised.
"I read it in the accounting ledgers" Theodora replied with a smile.
"Theodora… where did you obtain that information? Basil pays no taxes, my father granted him a full exemption, he sends no records to the capital, so how do you know?" I said, staring at her seriously.
"Maria…" Theodora replied, stepping back slightly and looking somewhat uncomfortable.
"Your sister sent you information about Basil's treasury. Do you realize how foolish that is, do you understand what would happen if Basil ever discovered it?" I said with clear irritation.
"There were no ill intentions, we only wanted to know whether that governor Lysander might be stealing from Basil so we could replace him with one of our friends, Basil pays his governor five hundred nomismata a year and everyone wants that position" Theodora said nervously.
"Please tell me they did not discover Maria, or that the man was actually stealing" I replied, covering my face with my hands.
"There was nothing wrong, the man is clean, Basil's administration is impeccable and filled with thoroughly honest men, and Maria says they no longer allow her to enter the governor's fortress" Theodora answered.
"He knows… and how in the world does Basil find honest men so easily" I muttered while rubbing my temples.
"It is not so serious, we only need to—" Theodora began when John finally entered the chamber with a troubled expression.
"What happened?" I asked coldly.
"While you were away the iconodules moved, they convinced the patriarch to appoint an iconodule bishop in Crete" John said bluntly.
"What? How did you allow that to happen?" I replied, rising from my chair.
"The man presented himself as an iconoclast, he had the support of our faction, what surprised me was that even the iconodules supported him, I ordered an investigation of his correspondence and discovered that he is in fact an iconodule, he will create trouble for Basil, we must warn his man in Crete not to obey anything that bishop says, I will summon him to a religious inquiry and we should have him removed in a few months" John explained seriously.
"Very well, let us hope he does not cause too much damage, damn it… we must remain vigilant, if he knows he will be removed he may try to divert donations before leaving" I said while biting my finger.
"Most certainly, Crete is extremely wealthy, he may attempt to gather as much gold as he can before being expelled, or perhaps he believed we would never notice and that he could deceive us while secretly funding his allies" John said while pacing across the room.
"Make sure the patriarch knows that every letter from that bishop is suspect, it would not surprise me if he tried to report things to the Church in order to cause problems for Basil and his Varangians" I said with a grim expression.
"I will remain at the patriarch's side at all times to ensure he opens no letter without my supervision" John replied, bowing his head before leaving the room.
"Is it very serious?" Theodora asked.
"I do not know, Basil's governor as far as I understand is of low birth, the uneducated tend to be icon worshippers so he might attempt to act in Basil's name in order to fund the iconodules" I answered thoughtfully.
"Would that not place Basil in the same position?" Theodora asked.
"Ah… true, not necessarily, Basil is a learned and studious man, he is clearly not an iconodule, he has read the Scriptures and knows that worshiping icons instead of God directly is heresy, so do not worry about that, but we must remove that man from his post as soon as possible, nothing more than quiet observation for now and say nothing to Basil, I do not know how he might react, he could even send your sister to a convent and that would not surprise me" I said while looking at her intently.
She simply nodded.
"For someone who claims to dislike politics you certainly know how to place yourself at the very center of the storm" I said as I sat back down.
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let me know.
Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.
I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.
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