Part VII: Crisis in Italy
The Roman Emperor Who Lost His Nose
A timeline of Justinian II - The Magnificent Rhinotmetos
Part VII: Crisis in Italy
"Popes have a tendency of not lasting long these days. No doubt I will see this one off as well.", Archbishop Felix of Ravenna, Personal Journal
709 The year opens with the Emperor concerned by events in Italy. Apsimarus advises arresting both Felix and Stephen, but Leo advises caution since he feels the populace of the city would rise up if this was done without some effort at being reasonable. The situation is not an easy one to deal with. It is decided that the Emperor should show patience and negotiate; this will at least show the concerned parties that he is prepared to listen whilst buying time for other measures. Leo is given instructions to covertly head west and prepare a plan he has in mind in case things don’t work out.
The Umayyad Caliphate continues its eastward expansion. For a few years, the army of the Governor of Khorasan, Qutayba ibn Muslim, has been making gains, securing lower Turkharistan, and capturing its capital Balkh. Last year, the army had crossed over into Sogdiana, and captured the city of Bukhara
(Historical note: this happened later OTL, but with extra resources, the Caliph has moved faster). With increased resources at his command due to the agreement between the Caliph and Justinian freeing them up, the Governor can look forward to more conquests.
Construction of forts in Anatolia has been continuing, the system becoming more deep and comprehensive in terms of defence. Banditry on trade routes is dropping significantly to very few attacks as soldiers escorting the traders prove effective at protecting them. In Thessaly, construction also proceeds, although not quite as fast as in the east, the area not entirely pacified as there are still holdouts venturing out from hiding places in more inaccessible areas. This ties up some forces in terms of hunting them down, but it is not a major irritant. It will only be a matter of time before they are all dealt with completely.
Justinian starts to pay more attention to his navy as reports reach him of the Caliph’s strengthening of his own fleet. The shipyards of his major ports are busy with building more vessels, with an emphasis put on fireships embarking Greek Fire. Realising the Umayyads are quite possibly richer than the Empire, it may not be possible to match their numbers ship per ship, but the fireships make up for that, being a very important element in tipping the scales of battle if properly used. However, much depends upon how they are handled in battle, wind direction being crucial if the Romans’ own ships are not to be caught up in the flames.
Springtime approaches, and the seas are calm enough for the Khagan’s promised 5000 horse archers to cross the Black Sea. Camps are made ready outside Constantinople to receive them, whilst arrangements are made for them to be escorted down to their new home in Thessaly. However, Justinian and the Patriarch are determined to impress them with the wonders of Constantinople – not least the allures of Hagia Sophia which have astonished many a previous visitor into becoming a worshipper of Christ. They both sense an opportunity here, the Khazars being pagan and ripe for conversion if things are planned well enough. What better way to cause the enemies of Christ to tremble in fear when more and more peoples come under God's sway? And what better way to bring God’s blessings upon the Empire, especially if they are as fierce as the Khagan claims.
Whilst the Emperor awaits the arrival of the Khazars, continued strengthening of the fortresses and laying in of supplies continues in the territories near North Africa. However, particular emphasis is concentrated on one place – the fortress of Septum in North Africa itself, located near the Southern Pillar of Hercules. It is the last Roman possession on the mainland of North Africa, and as such, Justinian reckons it must be defended at all costs. Extra and frantic efforts are made to reinforce its garrison and drastically improve its defences. The Governor there is a certain Julian of Visigothic descent who seems a capable enough individual, however the Emperor sends his old supporter Theophilos of Doros there to gain some experience from working with the governor, and relay developments back to him. Promoted to
Prōtospatharios, he is made the Emperor's Personal Emissary for this task.
Leo has headed west, and soon received reports from his agents in Ravenna. Felix has no intention of yielding to Justinian’s calls for restraint, although the Exarch seems less sure of his own position now. News of this will not reach the Emperor for a while due to the distances involved, but this does not stop Leo from his mission of finding out as much as possible about the Archbishop’s personal affairs.
The Pope, still alarmed by the situation in Ravenna sends off another letter to Justinian appealing for help as Felix’s rhetoric causes more and more instability in Italy. The situation is rapidly turning into a powder keg because of the two cities' rivalry.
Not long after, the fleet bearing the Khazars arrives in Constantinople. A lavish reception is put on by Theophylactus to welcome them all, the camps being stocked with some of the best produce the Empire can offer. Whilst the horse archers and their families enjoy the hospitality set out for them in the camps, their
Tarkhan (General), along with his entourage are received in audience by the Emperor. The general introduces himself as Bugha (which translates as bull) and declares that he bears a special gift for the co-Emperor Tiberius, nephew of the Khagan. Intrigued, the court gathers round to see what it could be. An attendant of Bugha’s steps forward and from underneath a fabulously embroidered cloth bright with colours of an intricate design, a beautiful golden bow is carefully produced along with a finely crafted quiver of arrows. The
Tarkhan proudly explains that it has been made by the finest craftsmen in the Khaganate especially for the young emperor. The Khagan, he says, hopes that young Tiberius will learn some of the warrior ways of his mother’s people, the better to defend himself in battle. And that is not all – there are a set of bows ranging from small to full size so that as he grows, he can learn to handle the full size bow through a system of graduation. The Khagan has also sent along some fine horses for which to practice on and a cadre of tutors to teach the young prince, as well as bowyers who can supply him with arrows and make repairs to his bows, or even craft new ones if necessary. There is also a set for Theodora as well, so she can spend time with her son as she already has knowledge of the ways of the bow. Theodora is delighted, but she and the court look apprehensively at Justinian – how will he view this gift which will teach his son essentially barbarian ways in most Roman minds?
She need not worry, Justinian’s court has seen so much departure from tradition, and the Emperor himself has experienced so much during his exile that he is not bothered by things easily anymore. Rather he is somewhat amused, “As I wield a sword with the skill my father’s tutors impressed upon me, so shall my son be instructed in the use of the sword AND the bow. An Emperor who can personally dispatch more of his enemies is one who will further inspire his troops to victory, and put the fear of God into His opponents even more. What could be better to astonish all those who face our Empire than a young Prince who can spring such an indelicate surprise?”, to which he laughed, with the courtiers and Khazar dignitaries joining in, appreciating the image of the look of shock that would appear on grown men’s faces as the little co-Emperor charged at them loosing off arrows and waving a little sword.
A great banquet is held for the
Tarkhan and his retinue, to which Myakes brings another young lady. “He’s certainly taking his time going through many of those fair maidens before making a choice!”, mutters Theodora half in jest and half in exasperation. Justinian is not worried, he knows Myakes’ nature, and realises that it takes a special women to catch his heart when it comes to the serious matters of marriage, but has no doubt that in Constantinople there is such a lady. As he savours the seafood on his platter (personally caught by Moropaulos no less, whose new fishing business operates from the Emperor’s private harbour of Hormisdas near the Bucoleon Palace), he muses about whether it would be useful for himself to learn some matters of the bow. At the very least he can join in with some of his son’s sessions if he can spare the time he decides.
In the coming days, groups of Khazars and their families are allowed into the city and shown the wonders there, the like of which they have never seen before, and could have scarcely imagined. Last of all, they are shown the Hagia Sophia whose magical beauty and impressive dome which appears to float mysteriously on the light from the windows below it has the desired effect, enchanting most of the Khazars with many uttering they believe such a place is where gods would make their home. The Patriarch, not entirely happy to hear the word ‘gods’ is nevertheless reasonably satisfied, this is but one step towards their conversion he feels. He is making sure there are enough priests to descend upon them in their new home, and eventually to their homeland itself in order to help bring the light of the one True Christian God to them. “There’s no way those damn followers of the False Prophet are getting their hands on the Khazars first, God willing they will rush to join us, and rightly so!”, he whispers under his breath whilst rubbing his hands together in anticipation of all the new souls he can bring into the faith for the Glory of God. Cyrus cannot resist a smile for himself as he moves off to his apartments with a jauntier walk than normal.
Not long afterwards, the horsemen and their families head off to Thessaly escorted by a reasonable number of Imperial soldiers from the Thracian Theme, and a number of officials, translators, priests and lastly merchants attaching themselves to the retinue, eager to make some profit from the newcomers.
Word finally arrives from both Ravenna and Rome of event and opinions in Italy. Felix’s continued flat refusal to recognise the Pope’s document exasperates the Emperor, and Constantine’s letter with warning of how potentially explosive the situation is worries him. Justinian is beginning to lose his patience, but decides to wait until he hears back from Leo before taking action. Theophylactus advises Justinian to prepare a fleet, possibly under Elias, or a certain
patrikos named Theodore in case it is needed to deal with the situation there. "Stephen and Felix must be contained Emperor, or other parties such as the Lombards could take advantage, and we do do not need that lest it put back our plans elsewhere.", Theophylactus warns. The Emperor agrees to this contingency if only for reasons of prudence.
Leo is investigating all aspects of the Archbishop’s life, but annoyingly can find nothing about his personal life which can be used against him, Felix being a devout man with no improprieties of use. However, there is one thing he does learn that may be of interest: the priest is very short tempered and prone to blurting out things before his mind can stop him. If the right kinds of words are put to him bringing out his true feelings - then there are possibilities Leo surmises. In other words he could well put his foot in it.
With this in mind and knowing that Felix will be appearing in his great church to give a sermon to a large number of people, and doubtless stir up their support for his cause, he arranges for his agents to be there to stir up certain comments and find out Felix’s reaction. Sure enough, on the second Sunday in June, a large crowd gathers in Felix’s church. The sermon is fiery and delivered with his usual gusto. However after the main sermon, Felix takes his opportunity to vent his anger at the Pope. Suitably worked up, he leaves little to the imagination, thundering about the “pompous ignoramus in Rome”, and warning that “Hell will gobble him up for his arrogant presumptions!”, amongst other colourful turns of phrase. The congregation are being worked up, and Leo’s agents take their opportunity to strike.
“What of the Emperor? He does not listen to you, and he will visit his wrath upon this city if we so anger him.”, calls out one agent, to which murmurs of agreement echo around the church.
“The Emperor will see reason.”, replies Felix fairly enough
“But what if he does not, those surrounding him will persuade him otherwise, and we will all be punished!”, yells out another agent.
“The soldiers here will not lay a finger on us!”, the Archbishop cries out, “We will be safe and God is on our side.”.
Leo’s agents don’t get a chance to say something this time - someone else does it conveniently for them. “He will send more troops here if they do not carry out his will, and then there will be a fight. We will have to defend ourselves, and God will show He is not on the side of those troops!”.
It is a dangerous thing to say, but the crowd are so worked up, no one cares, apart from Leo’s agents who are interested in where all this will lead. Many in the crowd cry ”Fight!”, and thrust their fists into the air.
Felix sees the crowd swinging his way, “Then fight we will and cast down the Emperor’s forces if they come!”, which raises a cheer.
Now the agents slip something else in, “And what of the Emperor? If God has forsaken him then may he not be cast down too?”.
Caught up in it all Felix cannot help but blurt out, “Yes, yes he will, and down to Hell with him for all eternity for opposing God’s will! He will be cast out from his throne and rightly so! That is the fate of all those who lose the confidence of the Almighty, and he of all people should be sure of that. Maybe he'll lose more than a nose next time!”. Too late, Felix realises what he has said. To fight against the troops is one thing, to call for the Emperor to be dethroned is another. The crowd go mostly silent at this as they realise the implications, but still others cheer on the priest, some even laughing at the remark about the nose.
Felix tries to reassure the crowd, “God does not support the unjust, He throws his might behind the just, and we are THEM. We have nothing to fear whatever happens. God’s will is merciful and knows the difference.". The crowd cheers up a bit at this, but there is the feeling amongst many that too much has been said. The congregation files out of the church chattering excitedly for the most part about everything whatever the implications of what has been talked of.
Leo’s agents are more than satisfied; they have the information that they need. They set off to send reports to their master. It appears that the Archbishop’s tongue has wagged a little too much today.
When Leo receives the reports, he grins. Plenty of witnesses and incriminating enough things have been said. He dispatches his account of everything to the Emperor with all due speed.
Whilst this has been going on, and the missive makes its way to Constantinople, Justinian has been watching events in the Visigothic Kingdom with interest. Reports have reached him that Wittiza sits more uneasily upon his throne as Roderic starts to makes moves against him, utterly appalled by his un-Christian manner of rule. Pelayo joins the bodyguard of Roderic. Justinian sends a delegation headed by his old friend Stephen, who has also been promoted to
Prōtospatharios, to make secret contact with Roderic with the offer of assistance against Wittiza in return for future help against the Arabs. Should Roderic be agreeable to this, Stephen has authority to request troops to be sent from the Balearics and from Corsica to assist them.
In Ravenna, the Exarch has received news about Felix’s explosive sermon, and is having second thoughts about supporting him. He has no desire to see his head on a spike for being associated with a man who has just said the Emperor will burn in hell and be cast off his throne - never mind the comments about his nose. However, neither does he wish to be lynched by the city’s populace for not supporting the priest. He has a lot to ponder. The latest reports from the streets indicate that the populace is divided. One lot fired up by the Archbishop, the others too afraid of incurring the Emperor’s wrath once he knows the priest’s words. He decides to hedge his bets and wait things out.
(Historical note: Some sources note that the Exarch’s name was Theophylactus, whilst others note it as Stephen, and accounts of his eventual fate are also mixed. I have decided to go with Stephen since I do not wish to confuse things with the other Theophylactus in Constantinople.)
The Khazars reach their new territory, and settle in, building homes for themselves with aid from the soldiers and resources provided by the Empire. A large group of them, so impressed by what they have seen in Constantinople, start work on building a church, which will signal the start of a large number of conversions amongst them. When news reaches Cyrus of this, he almost dances with joy, and relays it to Justinian who is also very pleased with this development.
By the end of the summer, Leo’s missive has reached Justinian. The situation, whilst being serious is not as bad as hoped with the revelation of Felix’s traitorous utterances. Leo has also included in his report his assessment of the Exarch, who he mentions has been distancing himself from Felix, but that his loyalties are not yet fully clear. Justinian ponders this, and decides negotiation has run its course, and worries that if he delays further, elements in the Lombard court who wish for a more aggressive policy against the Romans may well take advantage of the situation, and this is too risky to be allowed. He sends a direct order to the Exarch to arrest the Archbishop on grounds of treason. Just in case the Exarch defies him, the Emperor orders the fleet under Elias and with Theodore embarked as well to make ready to sail from Dyrrachium to put down any rebellion. The Exarch is told that ‘reinforcements’ will arrive to assist him if necessary, the clear implication being that they can deal with any disloyalty on his part just as well. Justinian feels this should be enough of an incentive to cause him to carry out his orders. However, he is not happy with his support of Felix, although he has sensibly moved away from Felix somewhat after his outburst. The Emperor realises matters there are sensitive, and the Exarch’s situation is not the best in the world, but the fact that the Exarch has not been more pro-active in sorting the issue out disturbs him. He is left wondering about Stephen’s loyalty, and gives consideration to stripping the Exarch of his office afterwards. He wonders who he could replace him with - Theopylactus briefly crosses his mind - as good an administrator as any ruler can desire, but he is too valuable to let go so far away. Maybe Leo might have some suggestions he thinks.
The fleet arrives in Italy a few weeks later with Elias in command supported by his deputy Theodore. By this time, the sight of the fleet and misgivings about Felix’s words have convinced Stephen to deal with the Archbishop. It is not just the Exarch whose views have been changed, the majority of people are also starting to feel the same way, but that still leaves a large number of people who support Felix. Stephen orders troops to arrest Felix for treason, however he barricades himself in his church, and exhorts his followers to resist the troops. Fighting soon breaks out, and before long there is a city-wide riot in progress. The Exarch decides to go out on the streets and personally crush the rebels in what he hopes will prove his loyalty decisively to Justinian. The fighting goes on for a couple of days before the rebels are defeated and the troops finally lay their hands on Felix. Unfortunately for Stephen however, he is struck on the head by a piece of masonry hurled from a rooftop during a skirmish, and dies shortly afterwards. Elias takes temporary charge of the city, until a new official can be installed to replace Stephen. Theodore having distinguished himself well in the fighting, is given Felix who is put on a ship and sent back to Constantinople for judgement. Although the riots were quite bad, support had slipped away quite rapidly, and despite some damage to the city’s infrastructure, things calm down reasonably quickly, although there is an undercurrent of resentment which will take some time to disperse. There will still be instances of attacks on the city’s garrison by disgruntled groups who are angry with the Roman crackdown, although to be fair, the Roman suppression of the riotous population was reasonably lenient as such things go. Still, Italy has a reputation for being an unsettled area to govern, so that is to be expected.
The Pope hears the news and writes off a grateful letter to Justinian, thanking him for his assistance in which he offers to look at the articles of the
Quinisextum and promises his approval to all those he can accept, with further discussion of those that are more problematic. Elias also sends a report back along with the unhappy Felix who fears the worst for himself.
It is very late in the year when the
Prōtospatharios Stephen meets with Roderic. Negotiations start, but Roderic feels he can defeat Wittiza without Roman help. Stephen decides to remain there for the time being in case the situation proves not to be so advantageous to the Visigoth rebel.
Leo arrives back in the capital where he shares all the intelligence he has gathered on the situation in Italy. He has been busy digging into the personalities of not just Stephen and Felix, but other persons of note. All the records are assiduously filed in case they prove useful in the future, whilst Leo continues to receive updates from his agents.
At around the same time, Felix is brought into Constantinople by the
patrikos Theodore and flung at the Emperor’s feet. Justinian decides that treachery must be punished quite harshly in this case. He decides to exile the unfortunate priest to a nondescript monastery on Chios where he will hopefully be forgotten. Guards will be assigned to make sure he does not escape. Felix, who had feared blinding at the very minimum, can at least console himself that he’ll be able to read the Holy texts, for which he thanks God, even if he is less enthusiastic about thanking the Emperor for his mercy.
With the troublesome priest packed off to somewhere harmless, Justinian is left with finding a new Exarch and new Archbishop. He selects a certain John Rizocopo who becomes the third of that name to become Exarch. As for a new Archbishop, Cyrus recommends a bishop local to the area who is loyal to the Empire called Paul. With these appointments in hand, the Emperor sends off his orders to Ravenna. They will not reach there until early in the following year.
As the year draws to a close, the Imperial Court in Constantinople can breathe a sigh of relief that the situation in Italy has at least stabilised, even if it has not been resolved completely. It is just as well, since the following year is going to contain a lot more action of a serious nature…
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That took me quite a while to get done so, comments please!
Sargon