u/whydoeslifeh4t3m3

Pink-Red: route of main Roman army, Blue: route of Manuel's army, Orange: route of the German army.

November-December 1151

With Roman ambitions in Italy now becoming new nucleus of Constantinople's focus there was an outflow of emissaries to potential allies. One of the inherent problems to an invasion and annexation of Apulia was the threat of a wider hostile reaction from the Latin Christians. The arrival of a Roman army would naturally be viewed with suspicion and thus if the empire took a step too far the Norman menace would suddenly be supplanted by the Roman menace in the eyes of the Italians and Germans who would naturally seek to expunge such a threat.

In order to circumvent such a reaction Alexios would need to form alliances with adherents of the Latin rite, and in particular those with common cause against the Normans. Fortunately, his father had found such help in Conrad III, the so-called 'King of the Romans' and brother-in-law of Manuel's wife Bertha. Conrad's own lack of success in Italy had prompted him to acquiesce to Roman territorial demands and offer Apulia as a dowry for Bertha in exchange for the alliance that had so far kept Norman raids and Italian ventures in check.

Nevertheless, there were still issues, according to his spies Roger had attempted to acquire a concerted attack against the empire with the Hungarians during the Serbian Uprising of 1149. Naturally, his ministers were none too pleased with one remarking that a demon was more trustworthy than the Hungarian King, while Alexios would never let himself be guided by such hyperbolic prejudices he could hardly ignore the grain of merit in that statement. If an invasion was to occur there would have to be readily mobilised forces ready to punish a Hungarian attack.

It was on the advice of his Logothete tou Stratiotikou that Alexios opted to refrain from leading the campaign. Given his experience with the Hungarians in the 1120s he knew how to defeat them and the terrain at his disposal to materialise a victory and avoid the setbacks faced in the previous war. Thus, he decided to appoint three generals to lead the campaign in his stead: Kaisar and Protostrator Alexios Axouch, Michael Palaiologos and Sebastos John Doukas (the emperor's cousin through his aunt Anna). The reasoning for this had been simple enough, Doukas and Palaiologos were the experienced generals and Axouch had been a minor participant in fending off an earlier Norman attack on Greece which acquainted him with Norman tactics in combat.

The third reason being Alexios's discrete desire to keep his generals down, in spite of his close relationship with Doukas and Axouch this was still the first campaign he wasn't leading and it would do no good if such a tremendous feat was achieved by a single man, the accreditation alone could frustrate courtly politics more than he was willing to accept.

As for his foreign alliances Conrad III sent word agreeing to supply 8,000 men led by his nephew Frederick. Alexios further gained Venetian aid in transporting his intended army of 4,500 men to the North-Eastern coast of the Norman kingdom, far from where Roger could mobilise and close enough to rendezvous with his German allies. However, at the advice of his Megas Doux this landing site was replaced with Ancona which was seeking to ingratiate itself with Rhomania so as to deter Venetian aggression against themselves. Once the campaign intricacies were handled by the end of the year a general order for mobilisation was called, Alexios himself took 2,000 men from the Tagmata to settle in Serdica so as to prepare for a possible Hungarian offensive whilst also disseminating orders for men in the Theme of Boulgaria to prepare 2 weeks provisions.

January 1152

Doukas, Palaiologos and Axouch themselves assembled a force of 3,000 soldiers and supplemented it with 800 Serbians (who could only rely on Roman transports and thus not flee to their Grand Prince if he tried to rebel again), 500 Tourkopouloi and 200 Rus mercenaries. By the first week of January they had arrived in Thessalonike and by the second they had force marched to Dyrrhachium where they met the Venetian fleet. Around this time Conrad's army had arrived in northern Italy and began to make plans for a punitive expedition. Unfortunately, poor conditions had stalled the arrival of Venetian ships forcing the Romans to content themselves with stocking additional supplies and partaking in more training.

A fleet had also been dispatched led by Stephen Kontostephanos to the Theme of Nicopolis as an attempted counterbalance to the Norman raiders based in the boot of Italy. In doing so they had fallen directly into the trap of the much revered Greco-Norman admiral George of Antioch who led a fleet in a daring strike against Constantinople. However, In doing so he overplayed his hand with the naval squadrons at Abydos simply allowing him to pass through the Hellespont where his attack on the capital's suburbs was foiled by a hammer-and-anvil attack by ships from Chrysopolis and Abydos.

With the Norman admiral forced on the backfoot it seemed the time was ripe for an attack. Maddeningly, it was the month of February that Conrad decided to succumb to illness all while placing his nephew Frederick (hardly outspoken in his anti-Greek sentiment) as his heir instead of his infant son. As a result Frederick had wheeled his army back north to Frankfurt in order to secure his election as emperor.

In desperation Alexios dispatched John Makrembolites to Rome in order to persuade the Pope to extract an oath from Frederick that he would provide Bertha's dowry in his uncle's name. Eugene, anxious to dispossess the Normans agreed to the Roman request after being supplied a hefty bribe.

In his letter he agreed to provide no resistance to Frederick's accession as Holy Roman Emperor should he be elected, though in order to avoid appearing too aggressive in acquiring the oath he stipulated that there was no obligation for Frederick to personally lead the forces or win any land for the Romans. Eager to augment his primacy Frederick sent envoys to Venice to meet with the emperor's men and begin talks.

After intensive negotiation Frederick agreed to send men on a punitive expedition against the Normans, in exchange the Romans supplied a (much reduced) outline of their intended conquests. Since it was blatantly apparent that neither the Pope nor the Germans would accept a restored Catepanate of Italy it was better to restore the Theme of Longobardia and in doing so create a buffer against Norman invasion whilst remaining a distant and seemingly uninterested power in the long-run.

March-May 1152

With the imperial election concluding near the end of March and 7,000 Germans en-route for Italy the Roman forces prepared to depart. But the Venetian sailors warned of the perils of landing in Ancona, claiming that such a distance risked far more than simply crossing directly into Apulia. Unsure of whether the Venetians were genuine in their warnings or simply seeking to wedge Ancona out of possible imperial favour Palaiologos opted to advocate for a direct crossing. In his mind cities like Bari in Apulia would be likely to open their gates to their fellow Orthodox Christians and that secure conquests would be good for morale in the first few weeks of war, no point bothering with senseless looting in central Eastern Italy.

Following frankly lacklustre opposition to the idea, spies were sent out to meet with urban leaders in many settlements with large Greek speaking populations so as to test the waters regarding restored Roman rule. When such and idea was met with ardent support the crossing was set for mid-April when the German army would be due to arrive.

Against the planned date of arrival the Venetians further delayed citing the inadequacy of their waiting transports due to weathering damage and thus it was only in late April that the crossing was made. Within a week of the arrival Roman forces seized Brindisi and advanced onto Taranto, exploiting Roger's delayed mobilisation as he levied men from lands stretching from Capua to North Africa. Axouch left Doukas and Palaiologos behind in order to advance on Bari which threw open its gates to the Kaisar.

Simultaneously the German army had arrived at the northern fringes of the kingdom destroying the mustering levies and retinues of Norman nobles. Emboldened by this advance the Roman commanders re-united their forces and spilled into the towns and cities that still opposed them in Apulia. Fortune did not favour the empire for long though, after exerting some mediocre effort in suppressing Norman forces and looting their towns the German commander pivoted back north. Upon his arrival in Rome he was angrily questioned by Makrembolites inquiring as to why he wasn't still campaigning.

Unbeknownst to the Romans, Barbarossa and Pope Eugene III had already formed an agreement to disrupt the creation of a Roman foothold in Southern Italy. Instead this army was merely a front for collaboration, so the German commander simply informed Makrembolites that he lacked the logistics to render continued aid to the imperial army. He further claimed that the Commune of Rome's hostility to the Pope and Barbarossa's impending arrival to subjugate the unruly Northern Italians required his presence.

Seeing the departure of the German army Roger re-grouped his scattered forces and began to expel Roman forces from their coastal stronghold.

Initially, he contented himself with containing scattered bands of mounted raiders pillaging the estates of his nobility as a means by which he could gauge the quality of Roman forces. Then, just outside Brindisi, he defeated Palaiologos and in doing so captured the commander. The citizens, seeing the unfolding disaster expelled their Roman garrison and renewed their fealty to Roger. Palaiologos's capture was thankfully short-lived though and the general was able to engineer an escape from Roger's retinue by stealing a horse and riding out to the nearest Roman garrison.

It was not long after that Taranto was evacuated after a fleet of transports bypassed the Roman fleet in the mouth of the Adriatic and managed to land in the city which assumed their presence meant that Konotstephanos's fleet had been defeated.

By the end of May the invasion force had coalesced at Bari, having abandoned all other settlements that they had captured. Upon hearing of the travesty that had unfolded Alexios packaged together whatever money he could and sent Manuel to Ancona with 1,000 men, there he was to recruit knights and sellswords and attempt to relieve the blockaded city. In the meantime Kontostephanos attacked the Norman fleet helping besiege the city, though its size forced him to rely on hit-and-run tactics to whittle it down.

Once Manuel landed in Ancona he did as he had been ordered and marched towards Bari. His plan was to capture Siponto as a base for the Roman fleet to operate and from there accrue any additional forces he could muster to relieve the siege. It was at Monte Sant'Angelo that his march was broken by a Norman army which, while unsuccessful in stopping Manuel's advance, delayed his forces and inflicted injuries to one of his arms and legs. Forgoing the capture of Siponto due to his limited time corridor Manuel pressed on and was able to catch a portion of the besieging Norman host unprepared allowing him to enter the city.

At sea Kontostephanos finally brokered a victory and soon after George of Antioch passed away from natural causes. With one of their best admirals gone the Norman fleet lost its cohesion and was annihilated. In Bari a new debate had emerged as to how the campaign ought to continue. Manuel favoured a sally out, having seen the weakness of some Norman forces he believed there was a chance to slowly break the Norman ranks until a blockade would become unfeasible. Doukas and Palaiologos wanted to wait for Alexios to send reinforcements now that the naval blockade was over. Axouch seemed to have lost all faith in the campaign, the men were exhausted, there morale was in tatters and with the German withdrawal it would be impossible to recover momentum.

In the meantime Roger would only add to his army's ranks and the possibility of negotiating terms would swiftly disintegrate. In the midst of this Axouch and Manuel broke completely, Manuel accused Axouch of cowardice and having been a liability to the entire operation. Axouch had countered the Sebastokrator calling his plan delusional and 'out of touch with reality as always', the latter remark briefly severing any communication between the two. As reinforcements finally arrived Axouch's nerve seemed to return as did that of the beleaguered soldiery. In an ironic twist the reinforcements completely changed the stance of Doukas and Palaiologos.

When the former attempted to sally out against enemy siege engines with fresh troops he was met with a reprisal so brutal that he outright refused to sally out of the city again. Instead he advocated for negotiations, in his mind it was better to leave, end the war, spare Bari and her loyalists from destruction and return later than to continue prosecuting a disaster. The result was two commanders now wanting to make peace and leave, one with renewed confidence but with a desire to stay on the defensive and one who wanted to break out of the gates and wreak havoc.

With such a broken high command Manuel tried to pull rank as a Sebastokrator, Axouch countered that he was Kaisar, Protostrator and the emperor's son-in-law. Manuel retorted that he was the emperor's brother and the more experienced general. The two other men now stuck like children between their bickering parents. Thus, it was in the dead of night that Doukas departed the city, making haste for Roger's tent. There he began talks to surrender the city in exchange for safe passage out and assurances of the peoples' safety. When news of this reached his co-commanders they had tried to denounce the talks but a dressing down by their subordinates and increasingly disdainful (and underpaid) mercenaries forced them to accept the necessity of talks, if not to spare the city then at least delay further onslaught.

Within a week their mercenaries negotiated separate exit from the city and their native soldiers began to mutiny against further campaigning. At this time Manuel opted to descend into one of his worst habits, his reliance on astrology. He had several astrologers in his retinue try to determine whether there was any value in Doukas's talks. When Palaiologos got word that his superior was using the stars to determine their fate he had a bit of a nervous breakdown and wrote to the emperor pleading to order their withdrawal.

In the meantime Kontostephanos was forced to withdraw from Bari as his ships ran low on supplies thus dampening the hitherto limited Roman successes. By late June Doukas was able to conclude an agreement with Roger and several days later an envoy bearing the emperor's seal arrived to ratify it. Despite Manuel's protests Roman ships began scurrying into Bari's harbour to evacuate Roman soldiers and recall the Roman commanders to the capital.

Mid-July-September 1152

The reception was naturally a tricky affair, how exactly did an emperor welcome back the men who had produced the first major failure of his reign? Upon being regaled on the nature of the whole affair he was inclined to sympathise with the humiliated cadre of generals. The court on the other hand had spiralled into chaos, many called for the commanders to be punished, others began to position themselves for political advancement and there was a general collapse in the peace that had been otherwise maintained between courtiers.

Though under no obligation to take any action against his men Alexios was conscious about the confidence his government could command. If, at this moment, he proved inflexible he would risk projecting persistent governmental weakness internally and externally, but if he went too far in his reaction he would be seen as readily willing to dispose of just about anyone, and in doing so creating unwanted distance between potential future ministers and himself.

It was no help that men like one Grammatikos Theodore Styppeiotes had began to clamber for higher posts with their own various power circles vying for royal favour. Unwilling to concede ground to these self-serving and unfamiliar bureaucrats but accepting the need to re-shuffle his ministers he opted for a half-baked solution:

Logothete tou Dromou, Michael Hagiotheodorites, father-in-law to Doukas (the emperor's cousin having taken Michael's daughter as his second wife) was removed as collateral damage relating to his son-in-law. This was much to the glee of his older brother John's enemies. Though this joy was diminished by the fact that Michael was simply re-assigned to a provincial governorship.

Alexios Axouch was removed as Protostrator, the act vaguely justified by the fact that he was always a placeholder for the office. Otherwise the Kaisar was left unscathed by his father-in-law.

John Doukas, seeing the way the wind was blowing offered his resignation as an officer but was rejected and simply re-appointed to a lesser post. Palaiologos, who seemed to be touted as a nervous wreck and feckless had managed to gain some sympathy as a 'victim' of the incompetence of his superiors and narrowly escaped any major consequences.

Manuel was given a private dressing down and scolding by his older brother but otherwise was also left unscathed albeit sent to the presence of scholars assigned to put Manuel off his ridiculous astrological fixations.

Styppeiotes, having hoped for a greater position was simply ignored so as to avoid any controversy around promoting a rival of one his former ministers. John Poutza, the highest ranking senior official who had been unaffected by the affair achieved a pseudo-ascendancy as one of the most powerful officials in the empire. John Hagiotheodorites was demoted albeit to a senior post and the office of Mesazon was left permanently vacant ahead of schedule.

As for new arrivals there were two from the imperial family: John Euphorbenos, another cousin, took the office of Kanikleios and, as part of an experiment, the Protosebastos John Doukas Komnenos was appointed as Protovestiarios for 2 years. A eunuch named Orestes was appointed as Parakoimomenos and lastly a new Ethnarches was appointed to command all Latin mercenaries on field expeditions.

In a more surprising move Alexios also released his cousin John 'Tzelepes' from house arrest. Whether he had use to the emperor or if it was mere pity for his cousin remained unknown to the court but the man scarcely enjoyed much more freedom in court than he did in his exile.

Of course internal reform couldn't gloss over one important detail, seniority of titles and offices. The campaign had clearly shown weaknesses in the current system; at what point did a title take precedence over office and did all imperial family titles hold primacy over officeholders? To resolve this it was decided that dignities below that of Sebastokrator held no guaranteed precedence over senior officials and that command would be formally structured on an ad-hoc basis by the emperor for campaigns.

With his internal re-shuffling complete there was now consideration for the future of Norman relations. After much heated debate about the next course of action it was decided to focus on returning to a 'peaceful' relationship and bide their time until another opportunity for Apulia presented itself. To this measure Roman diplomats signed the Treaty of Brindisi agreeing to hand over 13,000 Hyperpyra worth of compensation in both looted goods and coin. As for Barbarossa, while Alexios was unaware as to how genuine his original pledge to aid the Romans was there was certainly not going to be an amiable relationship between the two emperors.

October 1152

Alexios's struggles were not yet finished though, instead his governmental troubles were supplanted by family drama. According to a friend of the emperor's niece Eudokia (daughter of the Sebastokrator Andronikos), there had been an attempt by Andronikos (cousin to the emperor and aforementioned Sebastokrator via their uncle Isaac) to seduce Eudokia. Initially the veracity of this claim was held in doubt, especially by Manuel who denied that their cousin would ever engage in such a sinful act. Nevertheless, once accounts were compiled from several reluctant witnesses the truth behind the claim seemed irrevocable.

Andronikos (the Sebastokrator) had attempted to retain some degree of calm but could hardly hide his lividness while his wife became implacable in her hatred for her cousin-in-law in what she perceived as him exploiting her widowed daughter's grief for his own pleasure. Once summoned Andronikos denied such attempts at seduction or improper conduct. In order to test this defence Alexios summoned Eudokia and harangued her in private. In doing so he vented his frustrations perhaps too far and brought the poor girl to tears begging for forgiveness. It was only after he left the room for a breather that his attitude was adjusted by Adrianos who, in a shocking disregard of decorum with his master, reprimanded the emperor for being so harsh on the most innocent party in this whole incident.

Once he returned to speak with Eudokia the tables had quickly turned with him asking for her forgiveness and securing a promise from her to never engage in such behaviour again. Andronikos was appointed as Doux of Kilika, nominally as 'training' for governorship though in actuality Alexios just needed a respite from further antics. Eudokia meanwhile was sent to live with Eirene Bryennia Komnene, it was the emperor's hope that his cousin, widowed soon after marriage, would be able to provide his niece with a view and solace that neither he nor her parents could provide.

Overall, to say the year had been an utter travesty for Alexios would be an understatement, just over half a decade of momentum had been sullied by the Normans. His government had to reorganised at the top just to maintain some credibility as the 'best possible ministers' for the emperor to be surrounded by and now his cousin had been lusting after his niece. Thankfully, he had partaken in a share of his father's failures and knew full well that being overwhelmed by his frustration and disappointment ought to never detract from his greater designs.

Whether Roger II liked it or not Alexios would return with a vengeance and that German upstart Barbarossa would never find a true friend in the Romans so long as Alexios drew breath. But for now at least he would yet again switch from warmongering to focusing on the needs of his state.

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Note: some side stuff I've been working on, the table is allowances for imperial relatives (assuming they don't have jobs like governorships, military offices or something like being a provincial judge to draw a salary from). The second is a partially-done dictionary of byzantine fiscal terms.

Relationship to Basileus	Allotment at birth	Stipend until majority	Settlement at majority	Stipend until marriage	Marriage settlement	Stipend henceforth
Son	120	36	500	72	500	102
Daughter	120	36	400	60	600	-
Grandson	60	18	250	40	500	58
Granddaughter	60	18	200	32	600	-
Other Dependents	18-24	10	80	18	150	24

latin ethncarch, manuels astrological stupidity, poutza reshuffled as highest surviving ministers, hagiotheodorites sent out to provincial governorship, styppeiotes kept in post but no promoted, a euphorbenos is appointed to kanikleios and poutza's promotion leaves vestiarion open. Axouch removed as protostrator, civil list re-arranged to show disparity between ranks and titles and command priority. Relese of john tzelepes. in his new post poutza enjoyed fiscal control so thorough and complete that he was tantamount to a ‘little emperor’ in the eyes of his rivals (who obviously exaggerated the extent of his powers so as to alienate him from court)

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1154 adjudication over who gets to be prince of serbia

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Making this for myself, but if anyone else just wants to learn some words or have something to quickly glance at during long reads here you go:

Taxes

1. Telos
2. Ennomion
3. Kapnikon
4. Limeniatikon

 

Secondary Charges and Corvées

1. Kaniskion- a charge on taxpayers to provide food and fodder for tax collectors and their animals.
2. Mitaton- a hospitality charge to take care of tax collectors.
3. Aplekton- a hospitality charge to take care of tax collectors.
4. Kastroktisia- to provision labour for the construction of fortifications.
5. Katergoktisia- to provision labour for shipbuilding.
6. Strateia- a duty to provide service, either military or for the upkeep of the dromos. the former being entirely fiscalised (stratiotika ktemata linked soldiers being vaguely replaced by smallholder troops).
7. Epereia- term for secondary charges
8. Angareia- term for corvées
9. Ploimoi- a charge on regions to supply sailors for the navy.
10. Phonos- fine for murder
11. Parthenophthoria- fine for rape

Exemptions

1. Ateles- a status for paroikoi meaning they were partly untaxed because they lacked immovable property or it wasn't recorded in registers. Thus they paid no telos, it could also be granted as a status by the emperor for the benefit of individuals or institutions who held these paroikoi.
2. Eleutheros- a status for paroikoi denoting no fiscal obligation to the state or any other party
3. Exkousseia- an exemption from any tax and secondary charge barring the telos.
4. Logisima- rare exemptions from the property tax (telos)
5. Solemnia- a cash or in-kind grant to religious foundations, the former variant declined as Manuel sought to appropriate gold to finance Pronoia.

Fiscal Officials

1. Logothete ton Oikeiaka
2. Exisotes
3. Protovestiarios

Pronoia and Pronoia Adjacent

1. Pronoia- a grant that developed from the 11th century. Under Manuel I provincial cavalrymen received parcels of state land to settle gifts of paroikoi on, the revenues from this were their salaries. Later on evolved under Nicaea to included the right to collect taxes and labour dues.
2. Pronoia modules- gifts of paroikoi, right to collect taxes (under Nicaea as emperor's ran short on land for grants), right to collect labour dues, tax exemptions (like those granted by Michael VIII to Akritai), hereditary rights (Michael VIII's measure to maintain army numbers), right to improve grants.
3. Oikonomia
4. Gifts of Paroikoi
5. Gifts of Sekreta
6. Charistikia- in the case of imperial monasteries it was the grant of administration over said monastery. Usually their revenues didn't reach the treasury or were hard to collect, by granting this to a layperson the emperor could provide a salary at no real loss to the treasury
7. Grants of Sekreta-

Miscellaneous Terms

1. Hikanosis
2. Klasmata
3. Epibole
4. Episkepsis/Kouratoria
5. Palaia kai Nea Logarike- the old and new tax codes, the latter created by Alexios I to process taxation with the new currency system.
6. Aktemon- designation for those with no draft animals and little to no real property, but owned some livestock.
7. Enoche tou Dromou- a duty for the exkoussatoi tou dromou, similar to strateia holders it involved service to the state and in particular the imperial mail.

I know for example that Alexios granted confiscated estates to his brothers and that John II's daughter Maria seemed to own her own property (either granted by John or Manuel). But what about close dependents? Say for example John's sons who likely lived close at hand to their father along with grandchildren, daughters-in-law, other distant relatives and their spouses? Did they receive stipends or smaller estates to derive incomes from. I could guess that office holders and kinswomen who married into landed families probably didn't have to receive any extra since their salaries/husbands could be expected to provide.

On the topic of overall costs do we have any estimates beyond the hyperbole that the family by 1180 costed the same as an army of 100k men?

Late December 1150

The emperor's grand tour had stirred up much fervour in court, continuous streams of maps, books, charts and documents flowed through the scriptoriums and libraries of the Great Palace. At Blachernae meanwhile there were hundreds of courtiers packing up to endure possibly a year of travel across the vast territories of Rome. Alexios for his part was rather looking forward to this whole affair, it was a chance to go out and see his people, to teach his son about his subjects and likewise introduce the people to their future emperor, it also served the purpose of guiding Alexios's new focus and finding where he was needed most. Most importantly though was the chance to spend some time with his family and specifically his children as they accompanied him on tour.

Among this brood was his eldest daughter Maria, born when he was 19 and now soon-to-be 25 years old herself. Having been born at such an early point in her father's life she was the apple of his eye, sharing his sense of humour, fascination with history and an amusing degree of haughtiness. Though for him his priority for this trip would be his daughter Eirene, she had been born during a rather tumultuous time for her father and grandfather and thus enjoyed the least amount of her childhood in their presence as opposed to her siblings. She was perhaps even more outgoing than her older sister, there were few in the two imperial palaces and court that she did not know and fewer still that did not hold her in high regard. It had been these traits that had made her a favourite of her father's Mystikos Adrianos who often came to her in order to extract information about the happenings at court.

John, the youngest of his children and the designated heir to the empire was a shy, albeit dutiful and thoughtful boy. At 15 years old he was as level-headed under pressure as his uncle Andronikos and as captivated by the sciences as his mother. Naturally, accompanying her family was Eupraxia herself, although perhaps a little aggrieved at being separated from the scholastic circles at the capital she was nevertheless captivated by the notion of touring the land and perhaps expanding her horizons with the intellectual (and ideally medical) practices across Rhomania.

Thus, it was in late December, just before the new year began that the royal retinue departed. Their first stop was rather surprising, instead of a conventional tour starter in Anatolia like Chrysopolis and Chalcedon the emperor opted to sail for the Theme of Cherson. It was a sign of the comprehensiveness of the royal progress to come. There he summoned his officials, the Doux, various Kastrophylakes, the officers and their men, the merchants, farmers, artisans and paupers and bade them to share their grievances.

Among them were complaints of security, the need to better regulate the passage of trade and aid in legal rulings. So the emperor got to work. At the easternmost part of the theme, detached from its mainland, he built a fortress on the coast to regulate the transiting Scythian merchants so that the flow of goods could be better measured (and taxed) and the locals protected from all manner of opportunist horse lords. Back on the mainland he oversaw the construction of another fortress, this one larger and all the more imposing, he named it Sebastopolis (in honour of the Sebastos Stephen Komnenos who oversaw its construction). He then went about dispensing legal rulings and sums of money for select men to receive judicial educations so as to fill the courts. Finally, he elevated Cherson's mint from producing just copper coinage up to allowing it to mint the Stamenon in small quantities as privilege in recognition of centuries of provincial loyalty.

Late-January-February 1151

The next target was the Themes of Chaldia and Armeniakon. By the end of January the royal progress landed in Trebizond. Here the emperor once again summoned the masses, answered petitions in an open field outside the city and scrutinised the provincial administration. He toured the many fortresses of the region to ensure the quality of their construction and garrisons, he further met Georgian, Danishmendid and Seljuq embassies and to all of them gave splendid gifts and his well-wishes in commemoration of peace amongst their peoples. As for his subjects he distributed some of the proceeds of the royal Pontic forests to the local Paupers and personally saw to it that he could enrol as many of them in stable work as possible. The monasteries of the region enjoyed the provision of exkousseiai from some secondary taxes for one year as compensation for laws around Church land accumulation (as per his promulgation of a diluted law of Nikephoros Phokas).

Throughout Armeniakon he oversaw and even helped work on the construction of new irrigation canals and water mills. In this task he was aided by John and many men of court who he ordered to get their hands dirty so that they could appreciate the hard labour that went into their estate improvements beyond just planning. During this time Eupraxia visited Sinope and in the confines of the city various herbalists, physicians and hospitals to learn of regional practices and implementation of eastern medicines just beyond the terminus of the Silk Road. Consequently, everywhere the court went there were new works to improve the yields of the land. And further inland, along the Halys River, new wells were dug and water towers erected to provision the population along the theme's frontier and those that lived just beyond the river valley.

March 1151

Unfortunately the next stop was one Alexios had been dreading. Paphlagonia, in the eyes of the emperor, was a dreadful place filled with nothing but misfortune and grief for his family. His father's first attempted incursions into the region had been disrupted by the death of Alexios's much beloved uncle Andronikos, then his uncle Isaac's attempt to usurp the throne. Worse still, after the triumph of retaking their family's ancestral estates they were swiftly retaken by the Turks, forcing his father take to the field to undo this humiliation. The army was then riddled in disease in Bithynia which claimed Alexios and his parents before dealing one final blow by killing his mother. Naturally, he had developed what Manuel had called 'Paphlaphobia', he resented the mere idea of sending, much less going, to Paphlagonia and the eastern fringes of Bithynia. They were cursed for all Komnenoi who seemed to set foot there.

Regardless, he had a duty for his people and he could not simply discriminate against them by indulging in his own superstitions. The first visit was to the safety of the family estate, there Maria ran wild, exploring the halls and fields bequeathed to their ancestor Manuel Erotikos Komnenos by the legendary Bulgaroktonos. Eirene and Alexios spent much of their time visiting the towns of the theme, spending days at a time touring the countryside as part of their travels and relishing in the quiet that came with their separation from the court, the emperor for his part slowly trying to come to terms with his history with the region. The last endeavour of Alexios's stay there was agricultural, much of the land suitable for grazing animals had fallen into disuse. Deep Turkish incursions prior to the recapture of Gangra had left their mark and many had been slow in travelling far with their herds, as a result the quality of land already in use had diminished.

To resolve this he reorganised this grazing land (much of which was abandoned and thus klasmatic). He organised several small Episkepseis and had the land rented at cheap rates or publicly opened (thus allowing him to collect new tax revenues). Along these estates he erected wooden walls and watchtowers to support provincial security and to help urge people back onto these lands. The result would ideally be the relieving of current pasture lands, some additional income for the state, more manure to be used as fertiliser and the livestock population would grow from the greater food supply.

April-June 1151

Next on his tour was the Boukellarion Theme, here there was little to do. The province was exceptionally well-administered by an attentive young Doux and therefore, besides answering petitions, all Alexios had to do was tour the countryside an examine the quality of his governor's work. Subsequently, he moved onto western Bithynia and the Optimatoi, yet again their was little to do besides answering petitions. The region had enjoyed a strong degree of security, the last major Turkish raid into the region had received a brutal reprisal from his father and Alexios himself had been sent long before that to erect a great multitude of towers, forts and other defences along the Sangarios River as a test of his capabilities as heir.

So onward he went to where the Boukellarion, Optimatoi and Anatolikon intersected. What he found was a deplorable state of affairs, entire swathes of theoretical Roman territory having been abandoned and in the best case several dozen villages having relocated into hills or further west to escape pillaging. The only great defence preventing a further regression of Roman lines was Dorylaion. The great key to the Anatolian plateau was expertly maintained and had kept the Turks at bay to a decent extent. But the abandonment of the constellation of towns and forts to it's east had left it overmanned and its bloated garrison under-supplied due to insufficient storage capacity. Seeking to rectify this failure Alexios sent notice of his advance to Ikonion to prevent any hostilities with the central Turkish government.

Then, he took whatever displaced garrisons he could find and systematically forced his way into each town and village the Romans ought to have inhabited. In each settlement he assigned those men who had been meant to garrison it and forcibly relocated the refugees from the hills and west back to their homes, from these people he recruited more men to get the garrisons up to strength and ordered each population to endow their old homes with walls. As he marched on the roads he seeded several watchtowers and fortlets to secure the wider area so as to renew the cultivation and grazing of the plains. Grain silos were built, aqueducts and cisterns were repaired or expanded and new wells were built to ensure each garrison was well-supplied.

Furthermore he insisted on some beneficences for the locals. He exempted them from army grain requisitions (aside from those for the local garrisons) and issued a prostagma: 'I bid thee good Romans to return to your lands and villages and sow the land once again, fear not the Turks for as long as I live they shall not harm you without facing the direst of consequences.' in order to encourage their resettling in the region.

Having concluded the process of rehabilitating local defences he moved further south into the Anatolikon Theme. There he found the government in Amorion operating rather smoothly. The far western reaches of the theme were distant enough that most small raids didn't reach them, as for the eastern reaches of the theme Roman control remained tenuous but not unviable. So, in order to get the provincial army up to strength he sought new recruits, the Doux of Larissa had informed him months ago of the plight of a band of Vlach sell swords who could benefit from long-term employment. Exploiting this convenient opportunity a letter was sent to these men, despite their hesitance to leave their home region Alexios was able to lure them into Anatolia with promises of reliable pay as smallholding infantry and steady work given the constant fighting in the region. He further enlisted Doukes to begin sending whatever destitute mercenaries and soldiers in need of work they could find. To these men he provided smallholding grants and conscripted them to fill the undermanned Taxiarchies of the theme.

Unfortunately he could not rectify all of his troubles. Amorion, which his father had rebuilt as the provincial capital with 17,000 colonists, had declined due to the unfavourable environment down to 11,000 (albeit had stabilised around this point). Thankfully, it was hoped that the expanded cultivation of new smallholding troops would begin revitalisation of the scarred region. It was also here that he met the first signs of popular opposition.

When implored by a monastery on the frontier for protection from the Turcomans he could offer little tangible aid. Instead, via some dubious legalities he dissolved the monastery and redistributed its inhabitants and small school to other, better placed institutions. The locals near the monastery had vehemently opposed the choice, they decried their emperor, begging for it's restitution so their children could continue their education. But he did not budge, lest he spend more than he needed to on protecting something that would inevitably be destroyed. He did attempt to regain some goodwill by fortifying the village and appointing officers to advise it's head on organising a militia but by then it was too late to regain local support.

July 1151

Beyond this there was no longer as much to do, the emperor's multiple marches in southern Anatolia for campaigns had been enough presence from Constantinople to ensure the region was adequately tended to. As for the far western regions of Roman Anatolia they were all prosperous enough that the emperor's passage was more of a formality than a necessity. Nevertheless, he took care to visit the Thrakesikion Theme especially around Philadelphia to assess the training of its local forces. He further indulged a trip through the Meander Valley which was enjoying unprecedented prosperity. Fields as far as the horizon either being cultivated, grazed or used as parklands, rich meadows dotted the valley and armadas of commercials ships sailed along the river carrying plentiful stocks of manufactured goods and crops.

Inspecting this flow of ships Alexios had noted the troublesome nature of assessing and collecting taxes from the various merchant vessels. His solution was to write back to the capital ordering his Parathalassites to issue a new framework for assessing and taxing merchant and cargo ships and mercantile goods. In this way the state could readily collect it's rightful dues. This was supplemented further by an apographē and exisōsis of the Carian interior to the south-east. Such an arduous feat had been delayed in order to allow the local economy to mature and now that it had the state could begin recording on praktika the amount of taxable content and the extent to which each private citizen possessed the property to which he was entitled and not more.

Having concluded his tour he departed with his court back for Constantinople where he hailed the success of his tour. The conclusion was reinforced by the provincial reports left in his wake. Governors expressed confidence in the security of their provinces and expectations of additional tax revenues from the ennomion and the telos as grazing and ownership of abandoned land grew. The new framework for mercantile taxation was also promulgated to ensure the equitable collection of taxation. All that remained now was to repeat the tour in the west. Thankfully, the Aegean, Krete and the Theme of Hellas-Peloponnese were all either prosperous or well-governed enough that he could overlook any inspections.

Instead in late August 1151 he left much of the court in the capital and departed to inspect the other Balkan themata. Within just a few weeks he successively moved through the Themes of Thrakes and Anchialos where he resolved landholder disputes and ensured the integrity of royal demesne boundaries. Around the time of his arrival in the Theme of Adrianople he was greeted with more legal cases to adjudicate on. In one such scenario he found a recent dispute between a great landowner and the Kecharitomene Monastery, eschewing from any biases towards his grandmother's pious foundation he arbitrated the case to a swift resolution. The point of contention was over a parcel of land cultivated by the monastery's paroikoi which the landowner claimed was his private property. After extensive searches in cadastral surveys Alexios identified the property as having been leased by a previous owner to the monastery (which claimed the land on the basis of it's paroikoi's tenure on the parcel). Thus Alexios had John carry out the results of the case by having him repatriate the parcel and negotiate a new rental agreement as a test of his arbitration skills and legal acumen.

September-November 1151

Along this time period the tour of the themata continued across Boleron, Philippopolis, Beroea, Megas Peristhlaba, Mesopotamia of the West and Paristrion. In rapid succession the same cycle of tour, scrutinise, adjudicate and renovate was repeated. Along the Danube in particular there was extensive reworking of fortifications including roadworks with emphasis placed on the old Limes being able to report danger to provincial and central officials in great haste.

The jewels of the Danube were Dorostolon and Turnovo. The former had been endowed with great fortifications and maintained a renewed iron grip on the Danube. From it small flotillas ebbed and flowed, and along with them was the passage of Cuman merchants bringing goods from the Steppe and Rus. Turnovo was the jewel of Paristrion, through it flowed countless traded goods, jewellery, weapons, armour, ceramics, furs, silks and other luxuries. The city was now subject to much new work, the walls were being re-built to accommodate the expansion of the population and Alexios partook in the creation of a new church and relocation of many surrounding populations into a newly built quarter of the city so as to clear land laden with fertile black soil for cultivation.

By the time her arrived in the Theme of Sirmium (lacking the actual city of Sirmium) he finally had an interesting encounter. A young man named Bertrand, in his twenties, from the far west with a retinue of several men at arms and servants. When approached by the emperor he apprised him of his plans to settle in the Holy Land, claiming that he had inherited some fortune from his deceased father and had received from his older brother, seemingly a minor noble, dispensation to make pilgrimage and war with the Saracens. Not one to waste an opportunity Alexios hosted him graciously, providing splendid gifts of silk, glassware, jewels and utensils of silver and an ivory relief of Saint George. He further endowed him with a prostagma to allow him to collect produce and goods from Basilika Proasteia (that is the imperial estates) to supply his journey along with maps and a guide. When asked what he wanted in exchange for such abundant generosity Alexios entreated with the man about the danger the Outremer faced in the present.

On one hand he praised king Baldwin's conduct as a ruler and assessed that he would do well as the protector of Jerusalem, but that he would do better still with the aid of his mother queen Melisende. Over half an hour he aggrandised the queen's image in any way he thought possible so as to render her seemingly indispensable in Bertrand's eyes. Once the message had become clear Bertrand swore to the emperor that he would give queen Melisende his personal fealty as repayment for his generous hospitality and was soon on his way.

With the arrival of winter he concluded his tour, arcing his path along the Serbian frontier, gauging the quality of Dyrrhachium's defences and passing through the Theme of Boulgaria where he oversaw the opening of new state-owned mines. Upon his arrival back home he found the capital in a most ideal state, the long, underfunded and under-manned moat commissioned along the walls between the Golden Horn and the Prison of Anemas was complete. The academic salons were teeming with renewed ideas and developments. His administration had hit it's stride with Hagiotheodorites and Poutza having curbed out administrative corruption and inefficiencies and completing the assignment of almost all Roman lands to a theme. This had been a particularly large issue in Anatolia where many settlements were subject to ad-hoc governance, often at risk of being under resourced, with the new thematic boundaries such an issue would naturally subside.

While the royal progress had been by no means comprehensive it had certainly left a notable impact on the areas that needed royal presence the most. It had also become a focal point for imperial propaganda, church services regularly making mention of this great enterprise and lauding the character of Alexios's government. The Roman people were not the only pleased group, queen Melisende had sent a special note of thanks for her new follower and pledging her support to his designs for Syria and Palaestina.

With internal affairs sorted it would only be a matter of time before fate threw her dice and determined a new threat to Roman pre-eminence. To the north Hungary had proven herself duplicitous with earlier dealings in the Serbian revolt. To the west Roger II of Sicily was a persistent thorn the Romans never had time to remove, with the best laid plans being consistently delayed. In Anatolia the Turks had proven increasingly docile and while bringing them to heel was a desirable outcome it could only be done by putting down the western threats that menaced imperial ambitions.

Thus a new course was charted, after decades of delay, abuse and tensions the Romans would attempt to set their armies back onto their ancient homeland and expunge the Norman threat to their ambitions.

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Note: was trying to develop the scene with some focus on Tarnovo but it didn't go as well as I would've liked. Regardless, next chapter ought to be Roman planning for Italy and then sitting and waiting for the opportune moment (which ought to be in a couple of parts when Roger II dies), also a novice's attempt to try and showcase a Komnenian renaissance in the arts and literature.

Besides the native majority did groups like the Vlachs, Bulgarians, Albanians and Slavs (or what remained of them by the 11th-12th centuries) sell their services to local governors organising militias and the state itself?

Relatives of Alexios II 'the younger' Komnenos.

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June 1150

The celebrations of victory in Antioch were not to last long for some members of the Roman army. During that month John Axouch, the Megas Domestikos, passed away from natural causes. The man who had been like an uncle to the imperial brothers now left them deeply dejected, Isaac in particular, for his close relationship with the man was completely deflated in spirit. John's son, Alexios Axouch, was struck with so much sorrow that he had confined himself to his tent, unwilling to speak to or see anyone. That was not even accounting for all the sorrow that would come with informing John's daughter Eudokia and the imperial princesses (the sisters of the emperor) who were no less attached to the Turkish domestikos. Even the emperor's uncle Isaac expressed some remorse for the old man's death, though the two had drifted apart decades ago due to Isaac's failed usurpation there had still been an undeniable bond forged in their assistance of John II's rule that meant even the old man's heart was crushed at Axouch's passing.

Alexios for his part could do nothing more from the confines of his bed than sending his mournful Sebastokrator and Kaisar with the body via ship to be buried in Constantinople. It was during this time that he was also visited by Princess Constance, the 22 year old princess had brought her sincere condolences and unsurprisingly her 2-year old son Bohemond. It was over the next few hours, with the presence of no one but his Pinkernes, that the two engaged in a prolonged conversation over many matters both personal and political. Eventually she worked up the spirit to explain her presence: she had been concerned with the rights of herself and her son.

Given that her husband had barely escaped with his life at Inab she was moved to take more assured measures in retaining her control of the Principality. In any such case she could not afford to go without Alexios's support.

The emperor for his part initially feigned offence at the request at a time like this, it was only when she started profusely apologising that he started laughing and assured her that he was only playing around (albeit with an ambiguous edge just to keep her wondering).

Already weary from illness and the loss of Axouch, Alexios assured her that Bohemond would be treated as an imperial vassal just as she and her husband were and that he would recognise no other Prince of Antioch as legitimate. Of course he was not going to fully drop such an important conversation without having made a side offer. Should she wish he would gladly accept the surrender of Antioch and her dominions in exchange for resettlement elsewhere, with titles, revenues, the right to maintain her Latin rite and a court of her own and even an imperial marriage for her son.

Constance certainly did a good job at hiding her reaction to such an offer and declined stating that she alone could not make such a decision. Having sensed that he could press her no further Alexios allowed her to leave. Truthfully he had no intent of allowing Antioch to continue on without slowly falling into the pit of direct annexation, but out of the pragmatism that'd been instilled into him and some modicum of affection for the woman that might've once been his sister-in-law he'd allow Antioch to go on as it was for the time being.
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July 1150

Thankfully by the end of June Alexios's sickness had subsided and the Roman fleet had arrived with transports for the wounded, sick and his Serbians. Alexios himself departed Antioch in early July after extracting his war chest from the citadel and bidding good fortune unto the city and its rulers. With 14,000 or so troops that he could not stowaway on his ships he began the march back home. It was surprisingly late after the end of the campaign that Alexios learned of another misfortune that'd struck the family with one of the officers, the husband of his niece Eudokia, having died on campaign. Now seeing yet another of his brothers struck with grief, this time his usually level-headed and unfazeable brother Andronikos, he had an official provision a ship for Andronikos to take his son-in-law's body back to the capital faster.

With only Manuel left by his side it provided a brutally stark contrast, the jubilant mood of the victorious army against that of a recently battered family. It was to the point that the idea of a triumph being held was in question though Manuel insisted that they use it as an occasion to commemorate the dead as much as their victory. Having relented to the idea Alexios had continued the march home through southern Anatolia. Several days into their march a dangerous thought had manifested in Manuel's mind, the notion of demanding the fealty of the Seljuqs of Ikonion and marching the Roman army though the Anatolian plateau as both a shortcut and show of force. Naturally, their cousin Andronikos backed up Manuel's suggestion, as did many eager young officers. The result was a bit of schism with the increasingly irritated Andronikos Euphorbenos and several Taxiarches engaging in a debate against Manuel and the proponents of his idea.

Alexios had initially tried to calm his officers by asserting his incontrovertible plan and demanding unquestioned obeisance. Once he had learned of continued dissent to the safer path and even rumours of officers planning to confront and petition him yet again to take the route he took firmer action. He ordered the army to engage in a prayer meeting on a field adjacent to their camp. He then asked each man to meditate on his own sound judgement and then apportion themselves accordingly with those advocating for the safer route and those opting for the Turkish route. Once the vast majority of the men clearly tossed their support to the older officers the case was dismissed and just to reinforce his point Alexios offered to let the opposition continue on with just their own number, the thinly veiled threat was enough for any remaining support disintegrate amongst the men.

Regardless, it was still a point of frustration for the emperor, to have his own officers and men undermining his plans. Even if they were well-intentioned he could not abide by such glory seeking tendencies, at least not when they risked souring a great strategic victory like the one they had earlier.

Unfortunately Alexios was to meet the Turks whether he liked it or not. When the army replicated its previous three-route marching plan he once again led the column farthest inland (partly out of fear that some rogue would inspire his men to go fight some Turks). Just like last time he incurred an ambuscade, this time his formation was better prepared, but many camp followers, having been delayed by the flooding of a small stream along their route, were left lagging behind. Though he was unsure of the Turkish foreknowledge on Roman positions he could not allow his subjects to be taken by the callous marauders.

So he bade his personal guards, a dozen or so Vestiaritai and a small group of Vardariotai to head back on the route and escort the civilians while a Tagmatophylax raced ahead to warn the followers if they hadn't been attacked already. Providentially, there had not yet been an attack, but the Turks had no doubt taken notice of the emperor in his peacock-feathered helmet and purple epilorikion and the most dauntless amongst them had pursued.

The result was half an hour of desperate struggle during which the emperor fought like a man possessed until his epilorikion was drenched in red. Once the skirmish was over several marauders were beheaded with said heads being taken ahead by some cavalrymen mounted on spear tips. The rest of the marauders, upon seeing the returning rear guard carrying lances with the heads of the best of them mounted on top naturally abandoned their folly thus giving a long awaited respite for the Romans.

Through the chaos of the ambush it had not escaped the notice of Andronikos that some of his father Isaac's men had maintained a suspiciously close hovering over some carts in the baggage train. Despite the fact that those specific carts were well-guarded and the fact that their master was elsewhere fighting for his life just like any other man.

However, he'd thought nothing of it besides an offhanded complaint to Manuel soon after they made camp. Manuel himself maintained no particular suspicion but upon closer inspection by one of his retinue it became clear that the men had been hovering around the cart containing the emperor's regalia. When word eventually reached Alexios there was finally some warranted suspicion around the whole affair. While he wasn't inclined to throw accusations he certainly recognised the play, especially given that he had clearly been in the heart of battle and thus conveniently disposed to sudden death. That was enough for him to move the regalia to a different wagon and make greater haste out of harms way.

Eventually he reached Lopadion, here he disbanded much of the army and sent many more to Constantinople and preparations for the triumph were started by the Eparch. It was also around this time that a senatorial proposition reached Alexios's lap, this time suggesting that since the consulship had been revived that it would only be fitting that the first two Hypatoi be the Basileus Autokrator and Basileus John. Given that he had no other candidates in mind he accepted the offer though insisted that no celebrations would be held in order to economise with the exception of two diptychs being commissioned.

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September-November 1150

With the arrival of the imperial army the planned triumph was held with the host entering the city though the Portus Aurea, followed by the older Portus Aurea and then the various forums and ending with thanksgiving at Hagia Sophia much in the same vein as his father's triumph. Albeit instead of overseeing the Hippodrome races he instead had to tend to his grief-stricken niece and ensure that Eudokia Axouchina, Alexios Axouch and other family and dependents of John Axouch were taken care of.

Once that issue had been handled a meeting of his fiscal officials was convened. Naturally there wasn't any surprising news, the treasury had been squeezed by celebratory and campaign expenses but not cripplingly so, and the tax cuts he'd instituted had done well in promoting economic expansion in the provinces. One particular issue drawn up was the conduct of the new Kourator of Philopatium. The man, who had been appointed at the recommendation of Eparch, had a conduct that some had found disconcerting. He hadn't done anything wrong per se but one of his measures of gaining revenue was by building and renting out ships to merchants and engaging in large amounts of mercantile activity to generate profits. While hardly an issue the main concern was associating the direct financing of the imperial family with mercantile activity which had a certain stigma about it for a select few regardless of the results. There had also been the man's small scale moneylending, usually of a few dozen Hyperpyra to small and medium landowners to improve their capital. Specifically with his reckless risk taking which some feared could lead to losses, worse still due to the low interest on the loans.

However, the man was doing a good job in Alexios's eyes and besides some personal principles he cared little for there was nothing to be done so long as he produced results. This was especially the case in his desire to begin expanding both state revenue and personal revenue. So during this period reforms were instituted to do exactly that. First was the re-establishment of the Eidikon, but since Alexios wanted to retain the efficiencies from his grandfather's bureaucratic trimming he opted to do so at a much smaller scale. For now it would simply contain some special objects as a treasury, notably was the so called 'jewels fund', based on an allowance of 800 Hyperpyra a year the new Epi tou Eidikou would procure various gems, pearls, and other precious materials on top of those deposited from campaign loot. Ideally this would act as a value store to be pawned off during disasters, or in more peaceful times be rented out to people who didn't want to spend exorbitant sums buying jewels outright. One such case could be renting out jewels to jewellers to make a wedding crown for a wealthy couple or temporary jewellery for special events.

Another reform would be the expansion of state exports, more specifically the state would finance the creation of additional workshops for various Episkepseis and Kouratoriai to either rent out to entrepreneurs or to manufacture high value goods for export. Klasmatic land, that is abandoned land that has been appropriated due to no present owner claiming it, would also be sold off to smallholders and medium landowners packaged with 5 year tax exemptions. This way the state would lose no immediate revenue because the land wasn't generating taxes and in the long term farmers could reap some untaxed profit which they could reinvest as capital to improve their yields and thus taxable incomes. In this particular regard both ecclesiastical and provincial officials were urged to agglomerate infrastructure like irrigation channels to hasten this process.

Of course economic development is no good without peace to ensure it can mature. So in that regard he tried to buy some time. In celebration of Roman-Serb relations he issued a chrysobull that would exempt all Serbians from taxes on commerce for one year. In doing so he hoped not only to create stronger trade with his vassals, but also to strongarm Uros II into staying in line lest he risk a year of great prosperity for his own realm. He also contracted the Venetians to maintain a small squadron of ships at Dyrrhachium so as to deter or quickly detain any Norman piratical raids.

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November-December 1150

With the winter season now in full swing most of Alexios's workload was released. No harvest reports, martial tasks or lavish affairs like hunts. The next major tasks related to work he did indulge were the appointment of a new Megas Domestikos and taking care of the Great Palace. For the former he promoted one Michael Bourtzes, the interim Protostrator to the rank as a placeholder, in his old office he installed Alexios Axouch in an attempt to give him work as a distraction from his personal strife.

As for the latter he instituted a ritualistic cleaning routine for the palace, wherein all men, regardless of rank, would partake in its cleaning. Of course the official message would be one of pious humility and healthy practices. The truth was that it was cheaper extracting free labour en mass, especially if it meant being able to more thoroughly clean everything like the disease-riddled drains that endangered the staff's health if left uncleaned long enough.

Beyond this work he spent more time indulging personal activities. Reading history, negotiations for John's marriage, and trying whenever he could to help comfort his widowed niece. But like all the sleepless Caesars before him he could not restrain the recesses of his mind from the plague of anxiety for his plans. With Nur ad-Din having received an 8-year truce with the Latins he would surely return with greater numbers, money and experience. Perhaps this time he would even take Antioch once and for all.

So the Georgian marriage that'd been floated years ago was fast-tracked. He would need allies, Georgia was his best bet. They were closer in proximity, both in rite and in geography to the emperor and thus so detached from the Catholics that their only binding point to a greater Christian alliance and thus only ally in the wider east would be the Romans. No back room dealings or political intrigue to worry about, even better was the fact that the Caucasian princes had provided women for marriage before. His cousin Alexios Bryennios Komnenos was married to Princess Kata of Georgia and his uncle Isaac to the Princess Eirene (though that was hardly a functional marriage, much less functional family).

King Demetrius had been initially considering his daughter Tamar for other young suitors but given her close age to John and his status as the most prominent potential suitor the match was confirmed. Soon after a prostagma was issued in copies to the Doukes of Chaldia, Armeniakon, Paphlagonia, Boukellarion and the Optimatoi to arrange 'a most delightful and exuberant procession in honour of our soon-to-be Basilissa so she may know, from the moment she takes her first steps into Rhomania, how much love and adoration she shall be accorded from our subjects'.

Once she did arrive the wedding ceremony was held at Hagia Sophia. There the young Tamar was crowned Basilissa of the Romans, though the title of Augusta would be withheld for Eupraxia's sole use. The man who had negotiated this marriage, John Hagiotheodorites was appointed as an informal Mesazon in place of Axouch, to him the emperor granted 3 years to organise the new wave of economic developments.

To aid him he appointed John Poutza, his father's financial chief to the rank of Logothete ton Sekreton and Megas Logariastes ton Sekreton. From this position he would allow more experienced and capable men handle more intricate reforms while he would visit the provinces in the upcoming year and tend to his subjects in person.

Though while Alexios's government had reached a seemingly happy equilibrium his family continued to be a sour spot. This time with Manuel and his wife Bertha-Eirene, while Manuel was the wild adventurous and at times hedonistic prince Bertha was his polar opposite. She shunned some of the more 'frivolous vanities' of the women at court and was rather unfairly considered to be a 'dull prude' by some ladies. She had done well for herself in ingratiating herself with Alexios and Eupraxia but seemed utterly incapable of emphatically demanding the attention, much less persistent interest, of her husband.

One particularly rough scandal had been Manuel's supposed interactions with a Koubikoularia who had captured and maintained his interest. When confronted by Alexios and the Patriarch Michael he had vehemently denied any physical wrongdoing, the emphasis on physical was not lost on the Patriarch who implored Manuel to confess to any other behaviour before it was too late and repent. Once this was done the two older men thought the matter had been concluded. It was only in November that they learned of yet another dalliance though its extent remained unknown to them and Manuel had rather insultingly opted to act like he was ignorant to the ordeal.

Having already lost his patience Alexios admonished him again stating ‘you have a wife to whom you owe your fidelity, God forbid I shall have to treat you like an insolent child that must meet the strap for every stray glance you give to women who ought not be the object of your lust’. The outburst, which would put even Isaac's temper to shame, had been enough to stall any further misadventures on Manuel's part, though the effect was perhaps eroded by Alexios's subsequent apology as a way of avoiding garnering his younger brother's enmity.

Nevertheless it finally seemed to resolve all the immediate family problems left that any man short of the divine could rectify. With Christmas day passing in a blur of activity the imperial administration in the Queen of Cities now redirected its focus inwards to bringing about a second wave of riches to the Basileia.

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Roman route of travel.

Historical bureaucracy.

January-March 1150

Having spent much time embroiled in planning for his eastern campaign Alexios finally began preparations to depart the capital. On the first Sunday of the year he and some selected officials went to Blachernae to witness the miracle of Theotokos as a blessing for the campaign. Soon after the assembled contingents crossed over to Chrysopolis from which the final calls for mobilisation were made.

In preparation for the campaign Alexios had created a new regiment of 500 mounted infantrymen for the Basilika Allagia referred to as the Manicheans in reminiscence of a similar regiment from decades ago. It was composed of Paulicans from around Philippopolis, a most warlike and defiant people who'd only agreed to serve in exchange for the conferral of some tolerance upon their sect. Alongside this force were other palace regiments like the Varangoi, Vardariotai and Vestiaritai which were to head up the baggage train escort. Once the supplies needed for the campaign were extracted from warehouses and placed upon the logistics fleet or army baggage train the army departed for Chrysopolis and made for Nicomedia. There, as planned, the army settled and awaited more men and supplies from Malagina while Alexios received news of a Kastrophylax having taken initiative in consolidating men further long the route at well-placed posts to rapidly begin marching in formation with the army without the expected delay of a stop-and-start march throughout the day.

Having collected the necessities due to him he moved on to Lopadion. Here he met an unexpected challenge in the form of the Archbishop of Lopadion, the aged man had shown the basic hospitality befitting an emperor. But, soon afterwards, he engaged in a private reprimand of the emperor and his treatment of the Church and more specifically his restraints on the economic freedom of monasteries and bishops, here he claimed Alexios had 'threatened to deprive the pious houses of the bare necessities required to function, much less conduct charity'. Alexios was hardly a pushover though and began his own critique of the wealth accumulation that made such charity a necessity. The argument was only broken up by his Logothete tou Genikou who rather audaciously told both men that they were wrong, the archbishop in his assessment of imperial heavy-handedness and the emperor in his fears of excessive wealth accumulation. This was followed by a lecture to both men which ended with Alexios agreeing to confer on institutions a basic posotes of funds exempt from taxes in accordance with their incomes as had happened before and the archbishop accepting the need to curtail the rate of expansion of Church wealth in order to allow the georgike and paroikoi to take their prosperity into their own hands and not just under the protection of a great landowner.

Soon after this incident Alexios collected his men and departed the military hub and made for Achyraous where he splintered his army into three. Opting to set a good example for his army and share in the hardships of his men he led the column going deepest inland through the Anatolic theme and Anatolian lakes. It also had the benefit of the shortest travel distance which would allow him to wheel back at and aid the other columns if such a course of action was required.

As predicted though such a trip was not to be a pleasant one. His scouts had successfully identified many ambushing Turks in the valleys and plateau seeping onto the roads and had directed local troops and Akritai to expel them. Regardless their efforts weren't perfect and just two days from Sozopolis his part of the marching column was ambushed by Turkmen. In the chaos he and some of his retinue were separated from his forces and had it not been for Manuel's tenacity in charging their ambushers head on and smashing a route back to safety the campaign may as well have ended before it even began.

Once they re-joined the army Alexios, having initially lost his nerve, began to reorganise his men in good order into hollow rectangles, pushing the Turks against the valley edges and surrounding their baggage to protect it from the marauders. After conducting a fighting advance for some 5 exhausting hours they were reinforced by some cavalry led by a Tagmatophylax who had caught up with some stragglers and created a strong enough illusion of a flood of reinforcements that the Turks made off with what they could. Having survived the harrowing ordeal there was no sleep for the soldiers as Alexios ordered a force march to the safety of Sozopolis. Soon after his men renewed their march east, straddling the ambiguous Turco-Roman border along the exterior of the theme of Seleukia. Here yet another issue arose, at the imperial table a debate had broken out about the martial qualities of those present and past emperors and warriors. What had started out as a simple enough argument had spiralled quickly between Isaac and Manuel, the former critiquing the latter's recklessness and occasional proclivity to act before he thought, Manuel had taken it in stride and accepted the criticism as any good soldier ought to. But, their cousin Andronikos, being particularly close with Manuel did not, he instead accused Isaac of being a coward which simply brought the elderly John Axouch into the debate in Isaac's defence.

Alexios for his part had ignored the debate, refusing to indulge the argument by pointing out misdemeanours or lavishing any of his kin with excessive praise. Instead he sat in discussion with his son-in-law, the Kaisar Alexios Axouch, teaching him the logistical intricacies of their campaign. It was only when Isaac's temper flared did Alexios spare a glance telling the men to calm down before returning to his conversation. The next thing he knew Isaac was striking Andronikos with his sword, to his defence came Manuel and another cousin, John Doukas. At this point Alexios snapped and ordered Manuel to come to his side, told Doukas to remove Isaac from the tent and told Andronikos to return to his own and retire for the night. Isaac had tried to protest but Alexios's booming voice and sudden outburst left him shocked enough for Doukas to take his arm and escort him out.

Having disposed of the offenders he turned towards tending to his little brother who had a minor cut on his hand. Though it seemed Manuel was more focused on defending the others from his brother's wrath which was met with assurances that he harboured no interest in harming them. It was only in the subsequent morning, when he was separately ambushed by both anxious men during his daily routine, that he sorted them out. He harangued both men calling their behaviour disgusting and ill-befitting for cousins much less soldiers and were it not for their actions and dignity reflecting on his own he'd be having them lashed and humiliated as punishment. Instead they were order to reconcile their differences and if that still wasn't enough to stay their animosity then they ought to stay away from each other entirely.

Once he set them straight he assigned Doukas to keep an eye on Andronikos but otherwise resumed the march, briefly stopping to dispense justice to a few highlander communities that requested his arbitration. It was at Seleukia that he rendezvoused with the two other columns and ejected onto the Cilician plains. There he met with the Danishmendid and Latin contingents in the fields outside Adana. In the city proper he was greeted by the Turkish commander, Prince Raymond of Antioch and the respective commanders of the Assassins and Edessans. To celebrate his march having been a success and in order to improve morale amongst his men he ordered a fair to be held in Adana and her neighbouring towns for all men to relish in comforts of Cilician hospitality.

During this fair he met with the representatives and his own commanders to discuss the campaign strategy. What Raymond had thought would be a debate was instead dominated by the incontrovertible majority that was Alexios and his commanders who dictated stratagems at their own leisure, only broken up by some advice from the other representatives which adjusted plan without any opportunity to present alternative campaigns altogether. This had mostly been due to Alexios's disinterest in expanding on the already extensive planning that had been made and also his desire to focus on pacifying the local Armenians of Cilicia. For the next two weeks he instead toured the region and sought to curb the abuses of overzealous Roman officials and secure the inviolable rights and privileges accorded to the Armenians by right of subjection to the Basileia.

It was upon the completion of this task that the coalition host began to march on Antioch where the Prince hosted them at his own expense. As a sign of his personal conviction and faith in the alliance he even agreed to temporarily surrender Antioch's citadel to Alexios so he could store his war chest there. In exchange for this Alexios reciprocated the gesture with several gifts including a standard bearing the image of Theotokos and a bronze gilt shield bearing the engraving of the Archangel Michael. Finally, Alexios ordered that all Christian commanders; he, his officers and Serbians, the Edessans and Antiochenes, would all swear oaths to God to maintain their fellowship of princes until Antioch's rightful dominions were restored to her. A similar oath was extracted from the Assassins who, along with the Turks, were promised monetary compensation for their aid.

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April-May 1150

By the start of April the advance against Nur ad-Din had begun with the allied army receiving notice of Aleppo's army. A colossal host of 25,000 men assembled by the Emir via extreme expense, conscription, use of his political connections and the zealotry of many soldiers in the Levant and north Mesopotamia. Knowing that any manoeuvring past the Orontes without handling the enemy would be nothing short of disastrous Alexios opted to send his nephew, the Protosebastos John Doukas Komnenos, with a force of 200 cavalry to move clandestinely along the river to scout for the enemy encampment. In the meantime the congregation at Antioch received news of 5,000 men from Tripoli and Jerusalem poising themselves as planned around Acre ready to deter Damascene entry into the war. Once John returned having confirmed the position of the Aleppine forces and the presence of a pleasant field of battle along their marching path which would be suitable for an evenly matched engagement the main army departed to meet their match.

It was mere days after they began when disaster struck with the Danishmendid and Assassin contingents, numbering 2,500, decamping one night and fleeing with all their possessions in such secrecy that it seemed as though their presence had been a figment of the Christian imagination. With 23,200 men the threat of Nur ad-Din became all the more real given the reduced disparity in numbers. In spite of the betrayal Alexios assured his men that as God's faithful subjects the light of Heaven was still cast on them as was his supreme confidence in their ability. He extolled to them the preparations that'd been made for this, the very clothing they wore, the arms they bared, the training they'd been subjected to had all culminated on this occasion and that they ought to remain steadfast in their mutual faith and faith in him and as reward he would impart onto them the victory their hearts yearned for.

By the 7th of April the two armies had finally met and on this day, two days before battle commenced Alexios received a letter. In it Nur ad-Din invited the emperor to treat with him and tried to convince him of the futility of his enterprise and that, regardless of what trophies he laid upon the earth here, some Muslim ruler would eventually rise to the occasion and undo his work, that Antioch would eventually fall into the recesses of history and it was futile to buy time for a dying Principality. In a rather self-aggrandising retort Alexios stated 'I am Rhomania, and all of its inhabitants are thus an extension of myself, as you have committed injustices to myself I shall now impart unto you those same injustices so that you may reconsider waging war against my subjects'. Of course this was accompanied by a counter-offer demanding the restoration of Antioch's lands and a prisoner exchange in return for the end of the war. When he received the rejection he made ready for battle.

His troops were armed for the eastern heat, many in uniforms reminiscent of those worn by the men of Nikephoros Phokas along with these was a front line of Menaulatoi supported by toxotai and some men equipped with heavy crossbows. Behind the first line were several rows of the aforementioned skirmishing troops and other skoutatoi. The centre left of the army was composed of Antiochene footmen and the centre right composed of an equivalent formation of Edessans with the remainder of the Latin ranks held as reserves to plug any gaps in the line. In the centre back were Alexios's own guard regiments: 500 Varangoi, 500 Manicheans, 200 Vestiaritai, and 200 Vardariotai. His flanks were composed of kataphraktoi and koursores joined by some Latin lancers and knights while his prokoursatores and hippotoxotai held a short distance ahead of the line with some skirmishers ready to deliver an initial attack.

Nur ad-Din drew up his own forces in a corresponding infantry line with skirmishers at the front for an initial volley along with some horse archers, flanks composed of crack Bedouin cavalry and a reserve composed of his personal bodyguard and his brother's auxiliaries. At the blaring of each side's battle drums and horns the two formations engaged.

The Roman and Aleppine vanguards engaged with a volley of missiles with Nur ad-Din's choice to place more of his archers up front winning him the engagement as they outranged the more balanced force of lancers, horse archers and skirmishers arranged by Alexios. Soon after both lines engaged in an oblique advance, peppering each other with arrow fire and their respective flanks locking in vicious melee. When the Bedouin cavalry showed signs of breakthrough on the right flank Alexios put his dragoon Manicheans to use, these men, led by one Theodotus, rushed to the flank's aid, dismounted and entered the fray buying just enough time for a reserve of light infantry to join them and begin cutting down the enemy which promptly wheeled away and returned for yet another charge. Nur ad-Din conducted himself admirably, rushing along the line from edge to edge instilling confidence in his troops and at time engaging directly alongside them when it seemed they were losing ground.

On the other side Alexios opted for a similar approach, lauding his troops and emptying into their minds the impending grandeur that would come with their victory both in the eyes of their countrymen and in the eyes of God. Finally, after 7 exhausting, heat-oppressed hours with a brief intermission in between the Roman trump card was played. Notably it began when one man, a militiaman conscript in the rear, turned back to gaze upon the Aleppine camp, to his horror he saw unidentified figures on horseback and foot moving to and fro inundated with goods. After beckoning one of the higher officers nearby and pointing to the ensuing calamity the shocked man rushed to warn his Emir of what was unfolding. But it was too late. Many of those in the rear line, now having turned to bear witness, began breaking away, seeking to protect what few belongings they'd brought. Seeing their comrades break away the enervated front lines began to break. Refusing to let the battle be overturned so severely because of some upstart bandits Nur ad-Din issued the order for a controlled retreat and had his officers threaten any more men seeking to break away from the line. All while sending some light cavalry to chase off the looters.

Unbeknownst to them, these were the Danishmendid and Assassin contingents. Having been well aware of the former's possible hesitance to engage their fellow Muslims and being very unfamiliar with the latter group Alexios had offered them the chance to avoid battle and instead make away with sufficient loot and impose a more shock-and-awe effect on the Aleppines. Now, when advancing on the camp to chase away these perceived bandits the forces of Aleppo were surprised to find well-armed, albeit disorganised hordes of their Assassin enemies and Turkish horsemen. For Alexios had intentionally conceived of a devious plot by which his Muslim contingents would seem to have deserted him and, in keeping his most intimate plans close to his bosom had spurred forth a disaster for his enemies.

Within an hour the casualties had mounted to more than a thousand on the enemy side and hundreds more as the line broke. To Nur ad-Din's credit he had certainly prepared to retreat in good order as once his officers instilled some heart in the despairing infantry the Roman ability to doggedly pursue was negated. Worse still was some of the Bedouin cavalry conducting a brilliant feigned retreat which surrounded and massacred hundreds of Latin and Roman cavalrymen and would've massacred yet more had it not been for the rapid intervention of Alexios's uncle Isaac who brought his oikoi and some of the reserves to break an exit corridor for the remaining men. However, the battle had by this point clearly turned in the Roman favour, by sunset Aleppine supplies had been completely ransacked, the morale of much of their infantry was non-existent, the cavalry that posed the greatest threat to the Christians was exhausted and short on mounts.

Admittedly the Christians were also short on mounts especially after that lethal cavalry manoeuvre and while pursuit was still possible it'd be limited to hit and run raids. By the evening of the next day, having conducted several minor skirmishes, the Christians had emerged victorious and in spite of their exhaustion enjoyed a seemingly limitless resolve and conviction, many soldiers even boldly petitioning the emperor to take Aleppo itself. While he was under no illusion that this was absurd Alexios did entertain the idea of attacking the Emirate to force a peace. So, with the knowledge that he'd spend most of his time pre-occupied with re-occupying Antiochene lands he ordered Sebastoi Constantine Opos and Andronikos Euphorbenos to take with themselves 250 cavalry each and attack the environs of Aleppo. Eager to show their capability both men departed in haste and swiftly seized several fortified villages with ease. From there, having assessed the absence of enemy forces to be providing sufficient time, they arrived at the doorstep of Aleppo, instead of facing the uphill climb that would be a siege they instead whetted their swords and bade each man to present himself with the utmost courage and ingenuity for the impending battle. After successfully defeating a sally by the city garrison they embarked upon a series of night attacks to try and whittle down the defences. The militia of the city, no less well endowed in creativity, repelled each attempt with commendable proficiency. By the sunrise of the last day, with their time running out until reinforcements arrived and the vitriolic clamouring of the garrison the attack was abandoned.

Their lack of fortune was something shared by Nur ad-Din, for when he had attempted to organise a second battle with the Christians it ended as swiftly as it began with toxotai raining flaming arrows from the heights around the battlefield. With his pack animals startled and in chaos he was forced to retreat yet again lest he have lost his remaining baggage train. Notwithstanding the loss at Aleppo and Nur ad-Din's evasion of a decisive loss the cost of defending against the Christians was proving too harsh. His conscripts were battered and only his most zealous warriors brought consensus in continuing war. With the need to defend his economic base being his priority he was forced to concede to negotiations in late May.

As per the Treaty of Antioch Nur ad-Din would 'endeavour to restore all rightful properties and dominions of Antioch to her Prince Raymond and Princess Constance' and commit to the release of 6,000 Christian prisoners including Franks from Louis VII's little crusade. In exchange Alexios, recognised as chief arbitrator for the Christians would seek to emancipate 4,000 Muslim prisoners and slaves from the Outremer and guarantee an 8 year truce with Antioch, Edessa and Tripoli on Aleppo's behalf.

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June 1150

Having emerged in triumph, though lacking in some major victory to adorn his ego with, Alexios retired to Antioch where he promptly succumbed to growing illness and was rendered bedridden. Nevertheless he held great festivities in thanksgiving to God which expressed itself most formidably in his efforts to have the Domus Aurea of Antioch restored and enclosed in a new set of protective walls. Such an effort was by no means cheap or fast but he insisted on its completion, even calling for more funds from the capital to do so. Regrettably he could not partake in these festivities and instead spent most of his time in the company of his physicians and the watchful eye of his Pinkernes.

It was an underwhelming end to the campaign, but according to his brothers, kinsmen and even his soldiers it was one that merited a classical triumph. So much so that under auspicious tidings his men raised him up on a shield and gave thanks to their Basileus and demanded he confer the honour of one to them. Once he'd relented they finally released him to his bed so that he could rest and entertain some guests before they departed.

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Rome and her vassals at the close of the decade.

Updated bureaucracy, court and household (historical and thus not fully accurate to this alt timeline).

May-June 1149

Upon the return of John Makrembolites Alexios took the time to give him a commendatory reception in Triklinos Chionos where he was given the rank of Magistros and made the permanent imperial ambassador to the Papacy. It was during this time that king Louis and queen Eleanor concluded their little crusade with the frustrated ruler of the Franks having sailed for Sicily while his wife had been captured by Roman ships.

The king had made a deal to secure transport for his host with Roger II of Sicily, in the context of Roman-Norman hostilities the passage of Norman ships just north of Crete had prompted an alarmed fleet to attack and capture many of the lagging transports. The king had escaped, however, the queen and the royal household had been captured and brought to Alexios's cousin at Corinth who in turn sent them to Constantinople. There the emperor fervently apologised to his captives and sent them off with an escort and generous compensation in gold and gifts. Regardless, the damage was done and upon her arrival in Apulia the affronted queen joined her husband and Roger at the end of June. There the French king re-affirmed Roger's title as King of Sicily and, according to rumour, engaged with the idea of a campaign, perhaps even a crusade, against Constantinople.

Alexios for his part was enraged by the audacity of the Franks, especially after his gracious hospitality when they first arrived in his empire. At the recommendation of his Logothete tou Dromou he wrote to the king during his time in Sicily, in his letter he re-iterated his apology and praised the king for his pious conduct in the Outremer even going as far as to express interest in a Franco-Roman alliance. Louis, despite his resentment for how the return trip had gone, was a pious man and the idea of yet another campaign with proper Roman backing was enough to refrain his hand from action against his fellow Christian.

Further bolstering Alexios's position was the royal couple's departure for Rome. The city was under Papal blockade, courtesy of the emperor's aid, there the couple supplicated Eugene III to launch a crusade. The Pope, while initially supportive, began to recede his support due to the couple's own personal instability and newly hostile attitude to Constantinople (which could endanger the viability of the suggested crusade). Already in Alexios's debt and personally invested in first fixing the couple's marital troubles Eugene opted to abandon the notion of a crusade, much to Constantinople's relief.

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July 1149

(note: in this timeline since Edessa survives and Roman subsidies are more common Raymond of Poitiers goes to Inab with more men and as a result he and the leader of the Assassins survive, he does stall out some of Nur ad-Din's expansion afterwards but the battle is still devastating for the Antiochenes.)

Despite a diplomatic victory in the west the empire would now have to handle the aftermath of the Frankish Crusade on their eastern flank. Raymond II of Tripoli had been forced into conflict with one Bertrand, illegitimate son of Alfonso Jordan of Toulouse, such a conflict had forced him to ally with Nur ad-Din and Unur of Damascus which had exposed the disunity of the Latin princes to the former.

With only Raymond of Poitiers willing to take aggressive action Nur ad-Din was able to act on the aforementioned weakness of the Latins and struck his Antiochene frontier. Despite Raymond's alliance with the Assassins the resulting Battle of Inab had crippled Antioch and forced it from most of its lands east of the Amanus mountains. Needless to say, Alexios's neglect of the Outremer presented a double-edged sword, on one hand his subsidies had just barely kept a Christian foothold in Syria afloat, albeit extremely weakened and potentially as a greater liability for defence, on the other hand his vassals were now weak enough for him to impose stronger control in Syria and portray himself as the devout Christian warrior he needed to be in order to keep the Latins off his back.

So in late July he sent John Makrembolites and his nephew John Doukas Komnenos to Jerusalem. There the imperial embassy presented king Baldwin and queen Melisende with the Papal Bull issued by Eugene and a letter impressing upon the diarchy to not impede his efforts to redeem crusaders losses in Syria. With Jerusalem in no position to challenge imperial intervention and both rulers eager to gain support to finally dispose of the other both rulers agreed to abide by Alexios's initiatives. Melisende for her part, lacking the support she felt she needed, sent the ambassadors off with a special gift for the emperor.

It was her hope that Alexios, in seeking to keep Jerusalem in line, would aim to keep both monarchs from achieving primacy, in doing so Melisende hoped that she could keep some of her dwindling grasp on power and thus bide her time until she could properly match her son. The gift itself was an exquisitely large diamond which she had been given by a wealthy merchant seeking royal patronage.

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August-October 1149

Having gained clearance for his Syrian agenda Alexios adjusted his focus internally. But first he handled the matter of Melisende, he did so by giving her ambassador a generous purse to take home as compensation for her gift. The diamond itself was cut and faceted and, due to its value, two pieces were embedded into the centrepiece of his great white stemma and his son John's stefanos (the imperial diadems). This was itself a product of a new initiative to improve imperial finances.

One of his commercial officials had suggested the adoption of new gem cutting techniques, specifically with the adoption of gem faceting to supplement the traditional gem polishing the Romans had relied upon. In doing so it was hoped that the imperial workshops could produce further luxury goods to sell in order to top up state income. With Alexios personally adopting two such products for himself and his son many others followed suit both among the wealthy and merchants who now sought to buy this new piece of state merchandise to sell abroad.

In order to increase his revenues further he promulgated new laws around prostitution. A novel on sex work was distributed to Praitors across the empire, it was the central government's hope that such aggressive action on this line of work would 'morally enrich' the population. The fastidious clergy were especially supportive of this, there was widespread effort by the Church and state to take in men and women and either lead them down a monastic or 'redemptive' lifestyle. In particular, the managers of state workshops were encouraged to provide careers for these penitent souls, women across provinces were given the opportunity to enter silk production, embroidery and other areas of the textile supply chain. Such a programme had the benefit of giving the state the ability to expand its production of goods especially silks for rogai and exports. It also allowed plenty of urban poor to create stable incomes which could dissuade them from resorting to more desperate careers and lifestyles in clandestine fields that would otherwise go untaxed.

Paired with Church support in educating these folk and especially tending to children who were living in poverty due to their parents' unfortunate circumstances Alexios was able to win much popular support among the lower strata of society. However, the intervention, despite its immense success, had left him wary of Church wealth, while he would be a hypocrite to denounce its fortune given his own contributions to enriching it he still feared that it was perhaps accumulating more resources than he would find reasonable. In an effort to relieve his paranoia he had ordered his Exisōtai and Apographeis to assess and record a cadastral survey of Church lands along with the assortments of tax exemptions and other privileges each institution held from the emperor. It was through this that he hoped to more carefully restrain excessive generosity towards the Church whilst also ensuring he could fairly uphold what privileges it was entitled to.

He also issued legislation limiting grants of land and property to monasteries past certain income thresholds along with a cap on their land purchases. This was part of his efforts to boost economic productivity among monasteries, by leaving land open to other buyers he could create competition in markets and ideally force monasteries to invest more into new or upgraded capital rather than simply buying land to extend output. It also helped that it would prevent monasteries with certain tax exemptions from extending the amount of land that would become untaxable.

Another internal reform that he undertook was the creation of the Kouratoria of Philopatium. This was created by consolidating the Episkepseis used to finance the imperial family into a single coordinated body based in the Palace of Philopatium. Its Kourator would work in conjunction with Adrianos to regulate household finances to take care of the emperor's kin but also ensnare anyone who could be involved in seditious activities. It also held the benefit of pooling resources to increase state revenues used to fund family rogai without necessarily increasing the overall burden on the treasury to improve the estates in the Kouratoria. In conjunction with this there was also the creation of the roga for 'dependents', anyone in the great oikos who was a dependent of Alexios was to receive a fixed stipend from the proceeds of the Kouratoria in order to handle their living costs. The exception to this would be those who had high offices, and thus salaries, which barred them and their family from receiving the stipend.

To augment his standing for his next campaign he also sought to improve security in western Anatolia. Along key roads he sent a plethora of scouts which, paired with the knowledge of locals and provincial forces including converted bands of Turks, rapidly accrued the intelligence needed to dislodge troublesome marauders from the highlands.

Once this was completed he decided to turn to a more personal matter. Having been educated in Greek and Roman classics he had developed quite a fondness for plays and other forms of theatre. Though banned centuries ago it had been clandestinely maintained with some plays even being permitted at the emperor's pleasure. Alexios sought to liberalise the performative arts and annulled Justinian I and Justinian II's legislation on theatre. In its place he promulgated a new novel, its drafting prompted much horror in the Church and Patriarch Michael even visited the Great Palace to plead with the emperor not to subject his subjects to such debauched practices. Fortunately, Alexios's officials had been prepared for such a protest, knowing their Basileus's desires would be opposed by Michael, they had drafted a very liberal piece of legislation, one which could be scaled back immensely and thus give the illusion of a great compromise. Paired with a bribe of 450 pounds of gold to the Church they were able to push through with the publication of the novel.

Theatres across the capital and empire were to be reopened, this alone would create an abundance of jobs in construction and repair across ancient ruins. The formalisation of acting via the creation of regulatory guilds was also implemented. Men and women would be given the right to perform both old and new plays. Obviously to satiate the clergy there was a prohibition of any plays that denigrated Christian values or tradition and a similar prohibition against mockery of the emperor and his immediate family (conveniently leaving out his extended family as a way of stirring up trouble that could flare rivalries and keep them distracted with petty issues). The result was expected to be quite fruitful, by formalising so many jobs and removing the taboo from viewing such performances the amount of taxable revenue for the state was expected to rise immensely. Especially given that the decline of industrial prices and rise in incomes now left many households of dynatoi, paroikoi, georgike and stratiotai with a new amenity to consume for their entertainment. This of course had the double benefit of helping disseminate imperial propaganda through an additional avenue beyond the performances in the Hippodrome.

To further supplement this amenity he issued a charter allowing communities to claim tax exemptions or subsidies for the res publica. Only 300 claims were to be allowed and would ideally manifest in the form of new roads, bridges, leper colonies, hospitals, orphanages, libraries, bathhouses and schools. He also opened up imperial patronage circles by suggesting the possibility of rewards in the form of offices and 'imperial generosities' to those monied men who could help their communities with such projects.

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October-December 1149

Such practices of open generosity paired with earlier tax cuts and his new Akritai helping curb Turkish marauders had done a great deal for his reputation. Whenever he did leave the capital to answer petitions he was lauded with praise via panegyrics and peasant chanting. In emulating his father and investing a greater proportion of resources into amenities and not just pious houses and fortifications he had been able to inadvertently create a class of 'highlanders' who had emerged in the mountainous parts of Anatolia and now helped project stronger control alongside assisting the logistics of his father's many fortresses.

With his popularity now assured there seemed to be little that could inhibit his foreign policy plans and he turned to preparing his army. The adaptation of 'heavy' crossbows alongside ballistae for the battlefield were producing promising results, alongside the Menaulatoi they could produce a more credible threat to Latin and Arab heavy cavalry and perhaps even negate their battlefield supremacy. As for his own cavalry the results were more mixed, Manuel's introduction of more westernised training and technique had certainly done well in improving the capability of kataphraktoi and kilbanophoroi, armour had been slightly redesigned to be a bit lighter and more protective and the men were more flexible in their proficiency with an array of weapons. However, the lack of a sufficient quality of horses was still an issue, the Cappadocian breed now under Danishmendid control was now more easily accessible courtesy of their vassalage but the Turkish dependency on their local horses meant there was still a limited supply and thus high prices. There had been suggestion that Alexios could disseminate his personal assortment of Arabian horses, but they were expensive and required high quality maintenance and would be difficult to replace for such a large corps of men. For now he would have to accept the futility of the matter.

On the upside his siege train was operating perfectly. A large stock of dismantled trebuchets were in caches across various Aplekta and in Adana and he also had the materials stocked to build many other weapons for the upcoming sieges. To support them he had sent spies to collect information on the state of his planned targets and the viability of recaptures in a single march. For domestic affairs he also organised a permanent regency council, it would be staffed by Eupraxia, Patriarch Michael, the Protovestiarios, Logothete tou Dromou, at least two Mystikoi, one army official, either the Megas Doux or the Megas Droungarios tou Stolou and there would be optional seats for one Sebastokrator (probably Andronikos) and for John in the event that Alexios opted not to take him on campaign.

As for the army itself he sought a cosmopolitan composition. He would summon the 500 Serbian cavalrymen per his dues as suzerain of Serbia, the 4,000 remaining Antiochene troops, 2,800 soldiers from the County of Edessa, 900 infantry from the County of Tripoli, 200 mercenaries from the Assassins, 2,300 Danishmendid cavalry (in exchange for 9,000 Hyperpyra) and 15,000 Roman soldiers. With one of the largest armies of the century at 25,700 souls (and thousands more in support staff and camp followers) there was a great degree of confidence in the success of the expedition both among the court and his allies who were over the moon at the prospective size of the army.

Unfortunately, it also came with one of the largest logistical burdens his logisticians had ever faced. To support this he appointed several ad-hoc quartermasters, one for every three Taxiarchies in his army. The Optimatoi as a Theme was also converted, at least in part, back to a piece of logistical apparatus to support this force. Thousands of carts and pack animals were to be assembled from the Metata (state stud farms) and Chartoularata. Furthermore, local Kastrophylakes and Doukes were ordered to oversee the requisitioning of vast quantities of food at fixed prices, paired with the procurement of an unfathomable quantity of arrows, javelins, shields, swords, spears, pikes and parts for armour including lamellae and chain links. A corps of scouts was designated from picked light cavalry units and accompanying detachments of spies and civilian scouts including men with contacts in Syria and Nur ad-Din's domains.

The marching trail was to be along three courses, each heavily scouted and fortified with the temporary relocation of unaffiliated provincial forces into highlands to ambush Turkish bands seeking to plunder any baggage train. The army would scatter across the Anatolian highlands and coast to lighten the burden on locales before ejecting onto the Cilician plains where a large area outside Adana would allow the Doux of the theme to help the emperor effect a junction with allied troops. To keep discipline on such a large marching column additional Tagmatophylakes would ride up and down parts of the line to maintain a strict formation and if needed address the needs of troops in situ.

To maintain some speed the requisitioned supplies would be collected by the army from designated depots. The army would begins its 'rallying' march from Chrysopolis and collect most of its siege tools from the arsenal in the Mangana quarter of the capital, from there it would march to Nicomedia and wait for men assembling at Malagina who would bring another share of supplies. They would then pivot west to Lopadion to collect another batch of supplies and split the army up. From there the three columns would collect supplies and men from various points in the Themes of Samos, Thrakesikion, Mylasa, Cibyrrhaeots, Seleukia and Kilikia. Once the army assembled a new wave of scouts would assess the situation and report back to the emperor with recommendations for the next phase and report on Zengid measures.

Of course such a large affair would not go unnoticed by the Muslim world. Having now regained some footing against the Crusading hordes of Christendom they weren't going to let some upstart emperor undo that in a single brazen campaign. To this extent Roman diplomats hoped to drag in other powers. The Georgians and Alans, in exchange for guarantees of Roman aid agreed to try and check Muslim efforts to aid Mosul and Aleppo south of the Caucasus, Fatimid Egypt would be deterred with bribes and a truce with Jerusalem, as for Damascus a more aggressive approach would be taken. Knowing that it wasn't necessarily willing to commit to defending its Zengid neighbours especially in fear of their ascendancy the Roman coalition would deploy soldiers to Tripoli in the hopes of forestalling any plans to aid Nur ad-Din and, if needed, sober them up to the reality of joining the impending war.

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