Basileia tôn Rhōmaiōn - Chapter I - 867 CE - 870 CE

BASILEIA TÔN RHŌMAIŌN

CHAPTER I

THE SICILIAN JOB : 867 CE - 870 CE

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Last time on Basileia tôn Rhōmaiōn, Basil I overthrew Michael III in 867 CE, becoming the Basileus (or Emperor) of the Byzantine Empire.

Okay, technically it's the Roman Empire, because the Byzantines always considered themselves as Romans, but since the Roman Empire is already a thing in CK2, it makes sense for the Byzantines to be called Byzantines for gameplay reasons. Speaking of history accuracy, you'll notice the Byzantine flag is different in the following screenshots than it is in vanilla CK2. That's because my buddy Iaredios kindly sent me a link to a replacement flag that's a bit more historically accurate. Thanks, Iaredios.

 

Left: The new flag provided by Iaredios. Right: The vanilla flag from CK2.

Speaking of screenshots, let's check out how the Empire's doing so far and OH CRAP THEY'RE INVADING SICILY.

Shown: Muslim empire yelling at me to "GET OFF THEIR LAWN."

The Aghlabid Sultanate wants me to hand over the Theme of Sicily, or in other words, they want the whole dang island. Considering that Sicily is traditional Roman territory, I am displeased by this. As such, Romans, to arms!

DEUS VULT!

Now that's more like it. 10,000 soldiers ready to attack the Aghlabids on my command. The plan is for them all to congregate at Brendesion, the heel of the boot of Italy, before marching on Sicily and kicking their royal (imperial?) behinds. 

Also, for those wondering, I've set my ambition to Groom an Heir (I've already got a kid... sorta... Thanks, Michael.) I've set my focus to War, and I've decided to put forward word that I need a court physician. Let's see how this counterstrike against the Aghlabids goes from now on.

Hey, a court physicSWEET JESUS MY ARMY

So, good news, bad news. As you can see in the above screenshot, I've become able to recruit a court physician! Bad news: right next to the dialog box is my army in Sicily getting pounced on. This is a bad thing, if you couldn't tell. I'm gonna need to push harder into Sicily than I had initially hoped.

"Turn around, bright eyes..."

Good news, great news, and absolutely terrible news. The good news is that I've got most of my army over to Italy. The great news is that Georgia has asked to join the war against the Aghlabids. The absolute terrible, no good, very bad news is that (while you can't see it) there are Aghlabids in Constantinople. That's bad. I've got to turn, like 3,500 soldiers back the way they came under the command of Strategos Nikephoros so Constantinople doesn't collapse. Already, this is not going well. Still, I'm ready to march on Sicily.

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!

Alright, I've got soldiers in Sicily and they're laying siege to the province of Messina before moving on to Syrakousa. Also, something that happened literally just after I took this screenshot was that the soldiers threatening Constantinople got their butts handed to them by Nikephoros. I like this guy.

Huh... This tastes funny.

Well, I've managed to knock out two holdings in Messina, but a council meeting seems to go a wee bit awry and it appears that I'm being assassinated. Seriously, guys? I've barely been Emperor for a year and I'm getting assassinated already? Jerks. The good news is that Strategos Ioannes has heard my cries of help. I wake up the next morning with a splitting headache, but the good news is that I'm not dead.

Oh, and Hungary is now a thing. Good job, Hungary.

Not much happens over the next couple of months. After liberating Syrakousa and putting down an Aghlabid army in Constantinople... again... I get word that my wife is pregnant (I didn't screenshot this because I'm a lazy bum who only screenshots the important stuff.) The problem is that I was supposed to be away when this happened, so... uh... Oops! I've hired some spies to help me out. I have a sneaking suspicious that my wife is lying to me. I've also managed to besiege Balharm.

Oh... This is bad...

It's official. Eudokia is cheating on me.

Again.

Naturally, this is a big no-no and I swiftly reveal this to the whole empire. The kid, a baby girl, is born on August 27, 869. I'm immensely displeased.

Insert Final Fantasy fanfare here.

With a war lasting just over three years, the Aghlabid conquest of Sicily has ended in failure for the Sultanate. While the Empire hasn't gained any new territory, I've managed to extort well over 600 gold from Aghlabids and I'm just a bit more prestigious. This almost makes up for the fact my wife cheated on me and somebody tried to kill me. With that, the Sicilian War is finished, and so is this chapter. Tune in next time when the Empire gets a lovely case of smallpox!

Yeah. Turns out I've had smallpox for the last half a year and I haven't even noticed. Good grief.