[SS AAR] I am Skantarios! - Rebirth of the Eastern Roman Empire - **Complete**

[Skantarios]

The Laskaris Restoration of the Roman Empire, Part 1 (1450 - 1479 AD)

Historians refer to the early period of the Laskaris Dynasty as the “Laskaris Restoration.” This period saw the remarkable reigns of Emperor Theodoros I and (most importantly) Emperor Skantarios Laskaris. These two successive Emperors oversaw the reconquest of what was once the Eastern Roman Empire as well as huge stretches of territory in the west and the far east. During their reigns, the Roman Empire expanded from just a sliver of Greece and the city of Constantinople to territorial limits not seen since the time of Justinian. This explosion of conquest was due to two primary factors: the strength of the walls of Constantinople and the military brilliance of Skantarios. This is the history of that remarkable period of time.

Historians are fortunate in that the memoirs and diaries of Emperor Skantarios (and some of his generals) were published after his death. They tell in vivid detail the strategies, tactics, motivations, and political intrigue of that era. They are so copious that to tell the full story of the military campaigns of his time would fill volumes. Therefore, this narrative will concentrate almost exclusively on the operations that Skantarios himself participated in and only give cursory mention to the other generals of that era.

Where necessary, sidebars will be added to give better illumination in other theaters of war or to expand on certain aspects of the time that greatly affected Skantarios’s pursuit of the war.

The Early Years (1450 – 1453).

(see Prologue for events leading up to 1450)

The assassination of Demetrios provided the young Sultan Mehmet the perfect excuse to renew war with the Romans. Mehmet had long coveted Constantinople as the new capitol of his expanding Turkish Empire. In fact, Mehmet had recently offered Emperor Constantine XI lands in northern Greece if he would relinquish Constantinople peacefully. Constantine’s refusal to do so was the catalyst for Demetrios’s coup and led directly to the subsequent overthrow by Theodoros.

Following the successful coup of Theodoros and Skantarios in March 1450, few would have given the Roman/Byzantine Empire much hope for continued existence. The once mighty Roman Empire now consisted of nothing but the city of Constantinople and the Peloponnese. The treasury was essentially bankrupt and the succession squabbles and rebellion in recent years had robbed the Empire of most of its wealth, soldiers, landed nobility, and field commanders.

When Theodoros came to power, he not only had to deal with the Seljuk Turks but also deal with a fresh war with Venice. These were two of the most imposing empires of that age. The Seljuk Turks were generally acknowledged as the greatest land power in Europe and Asia, and Venice was considered the greatest sea power. The Romans, on the other hand, had only a tiny navy and very few troops. What troops they had were mostly new recruits to replace the losses following the Battle of the Hexamilion some three years before.

By the normal conventions of the age, the Romans should have accepted vassalage to the Turks and looked for expansion elsewhere. However, subservience was the antithesis of what Skantarios and Theodoros believed and what they preached when they had come to power. Also, in truth, there were no more concessions they could make to the Turks – there was simply no land left to give up. War was inevitable and would be prosecuted to whatever end it brought.



As Constantinople was the obvious focus of the Turks, Emperor Theodoros took charge of the city and its defenses. He bolstered the number of infantry defenders and recruited what archers he could. He even took the extraordinary step of sending away the Roman heavy cavalry in the city to Skantarios in the Peloponnese as they would be virtually useless in the defense of the city but might prove of value to the field army. Even the energy of Theodoros could not make up for all the military weakness of the city. The available manpower was very small and the garrison was woefully inadequate.

In the Peloponnese, Skantarios took charge of what meager field forces were available and made tireless recruiting drives to gather more men. It was a difficult sell to the peasantry that remained as no one believed they had much, in any chance. One bit of luck the Romans did have was that the Turks were myopically fixed on Constantinople and expansion north and the Peloponnese was, for the moment, forgotten and relatively secure. Skantarios used this one last base of power to strike out against the Venetians at Athens in a repeat of Constantine XI’s strategy in the 1440’s. Unlike Constantine, Skantarios did not come to raid but to conquer.

The Venetians were a ripe target for conquest. Although they possessed the largest navy in the world, they had neglected their land forces. The garrisons of their major cities were somewhat weak and their field armies were scattered throughout Italy, Greece, and the northern coast of the Black Sea. The animosity between the Romans and the Venetians went back all the way to the Fourth Crusade of 1203-4 which culminated in the conquest of Constantinople. Although relations had improved somewhat in the following centuries, their present collusion with the Turks put them in direct conflict with the Romans. Also, the territories in and around Greece were rich and Venetian merchant holdings would provide the Romans with desperately needed money. Finally, Skantarios believed he could take these cities without bringing immediate reprisals by the Turks. In this, he was proven correct.

In 1451, Skantarios took Athens by direct assault and expelled or killed all the Venetians administrators and merchants in the city. He then seized some Venetians ships in the harbor and made directly for Crete while leaving only a tiny garrison in the city. The crossing was done in secret and Skantarios was able to make landfall on the island. He moved quickly south and then fought a successful battle outside Iraklion that utterly destroyed the entire Venetian army and nobility on the island. Again installing only a tiny garrison at Iraklion, Skantarios returned after less than a month on the island back to the Peloponnese. In only one year, the Venetian power in Greece was eliminated and the Romans had almost doubled the territory under their control.

The success of this early campaign emboldened the Greeks who now flocked to Skantarios’s banner in Mystras. By 1453, Skantarios felt sufficiently strong to directly challenge the Turks by moving into Thessaly and laying siege to Thessalonica which he took in the following year.

Spoiler for New Method of Warfare: 

Skantarios’s "New" Method of Warfare

Skantarios understood that there was no hope to compete with the Turks in a war of attrition or even trying for parity with the masses of the Turkish troops. By most estimates of the 1450’s, the Turks outnumbered the Romans by something approaching a factor of ten-to-one. Therefore, the Romans must rely on new tactics to maximize their strengths, minimize the Turkish military dominance, and (above all) minimize casualties that the much reduced Roman army could simply not afford.

Skantarios realized that the strength of the Roman army rested not in the traditional infantry arm but with mounted forces. Skantarios had begun his career as an officer of cavalry and he would rely on his mounted soldiers throughout his career. He emphasized speed and shock as well as independent action. His captains were exhaustively trained by him to look for weaknesses in the enemy formation and to exploit them ruthlessly.

Given Skantarios’s experience with the Turks, he was also well-versed in the use of horse archers for their speed and ranged capability. He preferred the Greek-style Cavalarii horse archers but would at times resort to using native auxiliaries in this capacity. In many ways, Skantarios combined steppe warfare with the armored charges of the western knights. This combined style of warfare would prove devastatingly effective.

The downside of this cavalry-centric type of warfare was that it was costly in terms of money and would leave him outnumbered in almost every battle he fought – sometimes by as much as three- or even four-to-one.

The tactics relied on superb discipline and a level of trust amongst his captains that had almost never been seen before. There was little margin of error and many of his troops could not be easily replaced. It was a desperate gamble but the only hope for victory given the conditions of the time.

War with the Seljuk Turks Begins (1453-1459)

The Roman success up to this point was greatly aided by the Turks splitting their focus between Constantinople and northern expansion into the independent lands around Bucharest and Brasov. However, when Skantarios took Thessalonica, the Turks halted their northern advances and moved against both him at Thessalonica and Constantinople itself. They clearly intended on destroying the upstart Romans quickly and consolidating their holdings in Europe.

Theodoros was able to withstand the first Turkish assault on Constantinople in 1455. Meanwhile, Skantarios pursued a guerrilla campaign against the Turks in the Pindus Mountains of northern Greece for the next three years. By 1458, the Turks were obliged to weaken the garrisons of their eastern European holdings in order to concentrate their offensive power against Constantinople and reclaiming Thessalonica. The threat to the weakly defended Thessalonica compelled Skantarios to come down from the mountains and fight the Turks in the open. However, instead of the easy victory the Turks (and everyone else) expected, Skantarios destroyed the Turkish army and lifted the siege of Thessalonica. This marked the first defeat of a full Janissary army in modern memory. Skantarios followed up that victory with a quick strike west and seized the now weakly-defended fortress city of Arta on the Adriatic. These victories were extremely costly for the Romans but provided enough breathing room for Thessalonica to remain in Roman control and gave Skantarios time to recruit and train new troops.

In 1459, Constantinople successfully fended off a second Turkish assault. The twin successes at Thessalonica and Constantinople had enormous strategic repercussions as it convinced the Kingdom of Hungary to join the war against the Turks and form an alliance with the Roman Empire. This alliance was sealed through a royal marriage between Skantarios and Princess Maria of Hungary.

Spoiler for Campaign Map for 1459: 

National Boundaries in 1459 AD

Spoiler for Alliance with Hungary: 

Alliance with Hungary

Very early on, Theodoros and Skantarios realized the importance of gaining allies with the Catholic west. However, the staunch opposition of the Catholic Papacy to the Orthodox Roman Empire caused most nations in the West to either directly oppose the Romans or at least shy away from a direct alliance. Most Catholic nations, far removed from the Balkans and Asia, were also still asleep to the growing menace of the Seljuk threat. However, the Kingdom of Hungary, being much closer to the Turks was acutely aware of threat an expanding Turkish Empire would pose to their own borders. Even so, the Hungarian King Bela dared not anger the Turks for fear they would come in direct conflict. It had taken years to establish stable relations with the Turks following the disastrous defeats of Christian forces at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 and the “Crusade” of 1396 which ended in crushing defeat at the Battle of Nicopolis. What the Hungarians needed was some solid proof of an able partner to battle the Turks.

Skantarios gave them this proof after he defeated a full Janissary Army outside Thessalonica in 1458 and then followed that up with the seizure of Arta on the Adriatic coast. Coupled with the thus-far successful defense of Constantinople against repeated Turkish assault, the Hungarians could see, at long last, some weakness from the Seljuks. Princess Anna Laskaris, visiting the Hungarian court, was very active in proclaiming the renewed strength of the Romans and arranged for her brother, Skantarios, to wed the young daughter of Bela, Maria Arpadhazi. This marriage and the promise of joint military operations against the Turks were marked by many sources as being the turning point of Turkish expansion in Europe.

Within two years, the Hungarians had seized Sofia from the Turks. They also launched subsequent offensives toward Bucharest and Brasov but both of these were turned back by aggressive Turkish counter-attacks.

The Romans and the Hungarians would continue to be strong partners and there was frequent inter-marriage between the two realms. They also exchanged territory on three occasions (most notably in the Romano-Hungarian Land Settlement of 1529) which saw Hungarian influence expand north and consolidate Roman holdings closer to Constantinople.

The alliance between the Romans and the Hungarians would last for well over 100 years.

The High Point of the Romano-Turkish Wars (1459-1470)

Skantarios followed up his success at Arta with an assault on the mountain fortress of Scopia in 1459. By this time, he was playing a dangerous game of maneuver with the Turkish Army. Skantarios had insufficient strength to directly challenge the Turks and they were stymied in their efforts to locate the Roman field army. The Turks committed two full armies to destroying him but could not close with the elusive Romans. Skantarios exploited his knowledge of the land (and the sympathetic local populace) and continued to move north and south through the Pindus and avoided contact with the main armies. In classic hit and run tactics, he fought several battles against supporting columns of the Turks but only when the odds favored him.

On the diplomatic front, there was a severe setback when both the Egyptians and the Papacy declared war on the Romans in 1460. Conclusive evidence of collusion between the Egyptian court and the Pope was never found but the perception in the Roman Empire was that these two seemingly intractable enemies were working in concert under a secret treaty. There were indications in later years that the Pope and the Egyptian Sultan had drawn up a secret pact dividing the world between them with the Egyptians holding the east and the Pope in control of the west. The dividing line was to be Constantinople.

By 1463, the Turks had had enough of this game of cat and mouse. They forced Skantarios’s hand by laying siege to Thessalonica again with another full Janissary army while simultaneously committing another Janissary army to besiege Constantinople. This was a repeat of their tactics from five years before. As before, the loss of either city was rightly judged to be unacceptable to the resurgent Romans and forced Skantarios into an open field battle.

Skantarios had made good use of the past few years and recruited enough soldiers in the Peloponnese to bring his forces to rough parity with the Turks at Thessalonica. Skantarios led his men out of the mountains and, combined with the garrison of the city, delivered a crushing blow by annihilating the Turkish army outside the city. The defeat was so decisive that the Turkish army at Constantinople broke off their siege without a fight and returned to Adrianople.

With the seizure of Scopia and Arta, the Romans were once again in contact with Venetian territory. In 1465-66, Skantarios recouped the Roman field army at Scopia. It was there he came in contact with and defeated two consecutive Venetians armies, killing the Doge of Venice in 1465 and his successor the next year (Doge Barbus killed in battle, Doge Pietro executed when his ransom was refused).

In 1467, Skantarios came out of the mountains once again and seized the town of Durazzo from the Turks. The next year he took the citadel of Ragusa from the Venetians. Following the seizure of these two cities, Skantarios brokered a deal with the Hungarians to exchange both Durazzo and Ragusa for the fortress of Sofia. This was done to shield the Empire from the Papal-influenced Catholic nations of the West, further consolidate Roman control of the Balkans, and bring the expanding Roman territory in the west closer to Constantinople.

Spoiler for Campaign Map for 1469: 

National Boundaries in 1469 AD

Spoiler for Tide Turns Against the Seljuks: 

The Tide Turns Against the Seljuks

In the late 1460’s, the Turks were still the greatest military power in world. However, their expanding borders had brought them in conflict not only with the Romans but also the Venetians, the Hungarians, and (most importantly) the Egyptians. Basically, the Turks had overextended and could not adequately defend their recent gains while at the same time trying to finish off the Romans. Further, the spectacular victories of Skantarios in the field and the continued successful defense of Constantinople had shown that their armies were not invincible. This encouraged the Turks many enemies to forgo defensive operations and launch independent offensives against the distracted Seljuk Empire. In short order, the Turks were busy fighting off invasions from the Kingdom of Hungary, the Principality of Kiev, and the Egyptians.

The most damaging of these was the Egyptian offensive into Anatolia that put considerable pressure on the Turks from the east while Skantarios continued to press in the west. The Roman Empire and the Egyptians were unintentionally waging a very successful two-pronged assault on the Seljuk domains. By themselves, neither the Romans nor the Egyptians were a match for the Turks. Combined, however, they proved too much for the Turks to handle and so began the long, slow decline of Turkish military power.

Roman Victory in Eastern Europe (1471-1479)

The land swap with Hungary consolidated Roman holdings in Europe and provided a stable base for further offenses in Europe. An added benefit of the acquisition of Sofia was that Skantarios could now draw on the ethnic-Magyars and Serbs for fresh recruits in his army. These fierce tribal people had no love for the Turks and provided the Roman Empire with excellent heavy cavalry and horse archers. They provided a welcome relief for the already over-stretched peasantry of Greece.

The addition of these forces and the growing strength of the garrison of Constantinople allowed the Romans to embark on their most audacious offensive yet. In 1472, Skantarios and Theodoros collaborated on a dual assault with Bucharest and Adrianople as the targets. Skantarios, as he had done so often before, managed to avoid the main Turkish armies in Thrace and move north to assault the strong Turkish garrison at Bucharest. He annihilated the forces defending the city in a brilliant battle where he was outnumbered by more than two-to-one.

In the same month in 1472, Theodoros led the garrison of Constantinople out of the city and assaulted the fortress city of Adrianople. The defenses of the city had been compromised and the surprise attack quickly overwhelmed the Turkish defenders and brought the fortress under Roman control. Theodoros installed a strong garrison and then returned to Constantinople before the Turks could respond. In less than a month, the Romans had taken both cities and nearly expelled the Turks from Europe.

The Turkish reaction was swift. Within a year, they had laid siege to both Adrianople and Constantinople. Their hopes of reviving their fortunes in Europe were dashed however when the garrison at Adrianople won a very close victory when the Turks assaulted the city in 1473. Theodoros then successfully held off the Turks in their third assault on the city in 1474. The Third Battle of Constantinople was particularly significant as it was the first use of Greek Fire by Roman ground troops (Siphonatores) in several hundred years (the secret being rediscovered by Theodoros in the 1450’s). The destruction of the twin Turkish armies at Adrianople and Constantinople left the garrison at Brasov as the only significant Turkish force still left in Europe.

Later in 1474, the Romans were rocked by the murder of Emperor Theodoros at the hands of an Egyptian assassin. The death of Theodoros brought the Roman reconquest of Eastern Europe to a standstill for the next few years as Skantarios was obliged to return to Constantinople in order to establish firm control over the government and ensure the loyalty of the nobility.

By 1477, Emperor Skantarios was ready to take the field once again. Due to a lack of reliable generals at the time, he was forced to put Constantinople under the command his younger brother and heir, Vasileios who was only 16 at the time. Vasileios ruled the city jointly with his mother, the dowager Empress Maria, when Skantarios left for the north to finish off the Turks in Europe.

Skantarios took the bulk of the newly christened Imperial Army north for the assault on Brasov. The assault was delayed for a year as the Hungarians tried and failed to take the city themselves. By 1479, Skantarios was ready and assaulted the citadel and its powerful garrison. It fell in a bloody battle that saw almost 40% casualties for the Romans. Skantarios was criticized at the time for taking the fortress by direct assault and not either starving the garrison out or at least bringing up more troops. However, Skantarios had great need of haste for now all the great powers of Islam were aligned against the Romans.

Jihad had been declared on Constantinople.

Spoiler for Campaing Map for 1480: 

National Boundaries in 1480 AD

Spoiler for Causes of the First Jihad: 

The Causes of the First Jihad

The causes of the Jihad are still somewhat murky even to this day. What is known is that the Great Imam Aktimur of the Seljuks made the declaration. Why the Turks would incite the other Muslim nations for their stated goal can only be seen as desperation on their part. The loss of Brasov had closed off Europe to them and they were under severe pressure from the Egyptians in Anatolia. The once-mighty Turkish armies were in retreat and needed time and space to regroup.

The Turks reasoned that if they could siphon off some of the Egyptian strength in Anatolia against the Romans, then they would have an easier time holding and perhaps reconquering their holdings both in Anatolia and in Syria. The killing of Romans and Egyptians would only be to the advantage of the Turks. Also, the pull of holy war would incite more troops to the Turkish cause and bolster their armies for the coming battles with the Egyptians and Romans. Finally, the path to Constantinople for the other great Islamic powers led through Egyptian territory. If the armies of Jihad were to despoil these lands during their travels, they would further weaken the Egyptians and strengthen the hands of the Turks.

Whatever the real reasons, in short order all five of the great Islamic powers of the day (the Seljuks, Egyptians, Persians, Moors, and Mongols) were at war with the resurgent Roman Empire.

[StGene]

I think a retelling from the point of a historian will enable us to see the affect that the decisions of Skantarious had reaching far into the future, rather than the immediate affects of destroying and demoralizing the enemy.

[Dan the Man]

This is awesome work Skantarios! I was hoping you had more for us! I can't wait to read the whole thing!
For now, +rep

[Valandur]

Wow, nearly 50 000 views. I'm loving these bonus posts, keep it up! +rep.

[Karnage]

Still loving it. Keep up the good work my friend

[Devildogxs]

Absolutely amazing AAR and just love the bonus materials.

[Vampire1016]

Great

[Treize]

How about a short epilogue where you defeat the Persians and capture all of Arabia?

[Thokran]

I think he's leaving that for the sequel, Legacy of Skantarios, planned for the far-off future.

I'm really digging these bonus updates. Your work on I am Skantarios! is an inspiration to us all! Thanks!

[Dan the Man]

I think he's leaving that for the sequel, Legacy of Skantarios, planned for the far-off future.

I'm really digging these bonus updates. Your work on I am Skantarios! is an inspiration to us all! Thanks!

Agreed!

[Concrete]

Nice update. (Nice waiting for first post on the page.)
Cheers mate.

[Tim1988]

I've finally finished reading this AAR after a period of about a month or so. It has been a great read, one that I have truly enjoyed. I honestly thought when I started reading it that I would get bored before the end due to its great length. However, I have been proved wrong. This is a truly epic AAR, a wonderful piece of work, and all the time put into it really shows through with the quality of the writing. I'm also liking these bonus updated from a historian's perspective. It adds a new dimension to the story. +rep

[Skantarios]

The Laskaris Restoration of the Roman Empire, Part 2 (1480-1510 AD)

The First Jihad (aka “The Great Jihad”) Begins (1480-1483 AD)

The call to Jihad was well-received throughout the Muslim world. In less than two years, there were three full armies at the gates of Constantinople and many more on the way. In the 1100 year history of the city, this was the greatest threat to ever face the Romans. Despite the legendary strength of its city walls, it was clear that Constantinople could not stand alone. Therefore, Skantarios gathered the weakened Imperial Army and began his way back south in defense of the great city.

However, he was forced to detour east and north when the Kievan Rus launched a massive invasion along the Black Sea coast with Bucharest and Sofia as their objectives. Although the Rus shared the Orthodox faith with the Romans, they were intent on expanding their borders by any means possible. The Rus felt that the Jihad offered them the perfect opportunity to strike across the chaotic Danube border and make a territorial grab while the Romans were distracted and weakened.

However, to the surprise of the Rus, Skantarios struck first. In April of 1481, he descended out of the Carpathian Mountains and ambushed the leading elements of the Rus invasion force. Quickly dispatching the first army, he then proceeded to fight three more battles over the course of the next five months. Driving all before him, Skantarios hurled the Rus back across the Danube and annihilated the entire invasion force, including the heir to the Principality. Not content with expelling the Rus from Roman territory, Skantarios then attacked the remnants of the invaders at the fortress of Iasi and killed them all. What was left of the garrison in the city surrendered on the promise of safe conduct north.

This whirlwind offensive not only reestablished the Danube River as the northern border of the Empire but marked the first time that Roman arms had moved across the river in several hundred years. Skantarios’s victories were so decisive that the Rus would not trouble the Romans again for over 30 years.

The year of 1481 also saw two other major developments for the Romans. The first was the successful defense of Constantinople (the fourth since the beginning of the Laskaris dynasty) and the invasion of Sicilians along the Adriatic.

The Sicilians, like the Rus, judged that the call to Jihad was an opportunity to both make a land grab in Greece and gain favor with the Pope (who was now openly hostile to the Romans). The Romans and the Normans of Sicily had a long history of conflict going all the way back to the 1070’s and the reign of the brilliant Norman general Robert Guiscard. Their timing now, as then, was exquisite. With the Romans distracted by the Jihad and the invasion of the Rus, they had no troops to send to the garrison forces along the Adriatic. The fortress of Arta would have to stand on its own.

It was also during this time that the Laskaris family grew in size with two important additions. The first was the marriage of Princess Anna (Skantarios’s sister) to the Hungarian general Benedek Buzad. The second was the adoption of Genessios Ksiros by Skantarios. Both of these men would play very important roles in the battles of the coming years.

Spoiler for Skantarios and His Generals: 

Skantarios and His Generals.

The success of Skantarios in the early years attracted several remarkable personalities to the Roman cause. The first to join was Benedek Buzad, a powerful Hungarian noble who had already made a name for himself serving in the court of King Bela of Hungary. He was the highest ranking, non-family member of Bela’s court. However, he became enamored with Anna Laskaris, sister of Skantarios. She persuaded him to renounce his loyalty to the Hungarian crown and become adopted into the Laskaris family through marriage. By changing loyalties, he was suspect from the beginning despite his royal ties. However, with the Germans pressing the Hungarians and threatening the Roman frontier, he was the choice of Skantarios to lead the Roman relief army. His unbroken string of successes with a numerically and qualitatively inferior army showed that he was not only a loyal commander but also a capable one.

The second general of significance was Genessios Ksiros. He began his career as a member of Skantarios’s bodyguard; later rising to its commander through ability and attrition. After the birth of Skantarios’s third daughter, he was adopted into the royal family and named as the personal heir of Skantarios. However, Skantarios’s brother, Vasileios, was already the official heir to the Empire, so any hope of ascending to “the purple” was out of the question. He fought ably for the Empire throughout his life despite having an early setback at Smyrna where he lost virtually his entire army when attacked by a large force of Turkish Janissaries. Later, he was Skantarios’s counterpart in the drive through Palestine and Egypt and was then given overall command for the offensive against Persia.

The third general was Vitos Vasilidis. He was a common soldier known more for his handsome looks and love of a good party (and good women) than for his soldiering skills. [His romantic skills were infamous after "disgracing" two princesses from the respective courts of the Kievan Rus and Poland.] However, after leading the able defense of Nicaea, he was given command of the forces in northern Anatolia and tasked with retaking both Sinope and Trebizond. His successes against the Turks around the Black Sea then earned him the command of the field forces against the Second Jihad against Constantinople. Although this campaign was much smaller in scale than the first Jihad, Vitos showed his brilliance in command again and again. He would later serve loyally and ably against both the forces of Novgorod and Mongols.

Even given the normally-convoluted machinations of royal lines, Vitos’s status in the Laskaris family was unique. He began as the adopted son of Genessios (Skantarios’s adopted son) but later became Skantarios’s son-in-law following his marriage to Likenia Laskaris. So, at the same moment, he was both son and grandson to Skantarios (and brother/son to Genessios).

The Roman Counter-Jihad (1484-1491)

By 1484, Skantarios had returned to Constantinople with the Imperial Army. Over the course of the next seven years, he (and the Roman Army) would fight no less than 14 battles against the forces of the Jihad in the ultimately successful defense of Constantinople. The successful “Counter-Jihad” would solidify his reputation as the greatest general of his age and one of the best in history.

There were several close calls for Skantarios throughout this period. One of the gravest came in 1490 when, after being weakened in three previous battles earlier in the year, he was attacked by a full army of Turkish Janissaries at the Battle of the Bosporus. This was an epic battle of annihilation on both sides. The Turkish Janissaries were defeated but they inflicted over 70% casualties on the Roman Imperial Army. Skantarios later remarked that it was the first time he ever contemplated retreat during an engagement and the closest he came to losing his own life on the battlefield.

By 1491, the last of the great Jihad armies had been defeated. The death toll on all sides had been enormous (although much more so for the Muslims). Accounts of the time said that the mass Muslim burial mound outside Constantinople covered the size of a modern football field and reached a height of over 30 feet.

Economically, the Jihad was very damaging for the Romans. Trade was brought to a standstill and the enormous cost of recruiting and arming troops had bankrupted the treasury. Further, the area around Constantinople was utterly devastated. The Muslim armies had pillaged every village and burned every farm for many miles in all directions. Their many campsites littered the area with refuse and caused disease for years for the returning populace. It would be many years before the countryside recovered.

For all the fury of the Jihad, the Romans still controlled Constantinople and their field armies had passed a crucial test. They emerged from the Jihad stronger than ever and ready to resume the offensive against to the Muslim east. The Turks, ironically, emerged the great losers from the Jihad. Contrary to the initial intent of the imams, the Jihad only served to strengthen both the Romans and the Egyptians. For the Turks, they lost virtually all of their holdings in Anatolia either during the Jihad or shortly thereafter. Turkish power would never fully recover from those losses.

The swirling battles around the capitol had not been the only action during this period. The Roman General Genessios led an army into Anatolia and seized the strategic fortress of Canakkale while Skantarios had seized both Nicaea and Ankara in 1486 and 1487, respectively. All did not go well during this first phase of the Anatolian invasion, though, as Genessios was heavily defeated outside Smyrna by the Turks and Ankara was seized by the Egyptians only four years after its capture.

Spoiler for The Significance of Constantinople: 

The Significance of Constantinople

It is hard to overstate the importance of Constantinople for the Romans. For centuries, Constantinople was the greatest city in either the western or eastern world. At its peak, it held more than 400,000 inhabitants inside the city walls and another 600,000+ outside of them. It was also enormously rich. Its people boasted that 2/3 of the wealth of the known world resided within its walls.

Despite its power and wealth, the fortunes of the city followed those of the Empire. The slow decline of the Empire that began with death of Basil II in 1025 had seen the city shrink and retract decade after decade. Plague, war, an intrigue caused much of the population to either be killed or flee to safer areas. The heaviest blow, however, came at the hands of fellow Christians. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade had seized the city and so thoroughly looted and burned it that it never fully recovered. The great religious and cultural artifacts of the Greek and Roman world had been carted off to Western Europe and now adorned Latin cathedrals or decorated feudal castles. Even after the Romans took the city back in 1261, the now fragmented Empire could not recover what had been lost. The populace was only a fraction what it had been before and many quarters that had once housed bustling mercantile or residential areas were now cleared and used for farmer’s fields.

Although Constantinople was a mere shadow of its former glory, it was still of absolute vital importance to the Roman Empire. The city’s unique strategic location was just as important in the time of Skantarios as it had been in the time of Constantine when he founded it as his new capital. Beyond its location, it had been the capital of the Empire for over 1100 years and held an almost mythic quality to not only the Romans but also the rest of the world.

Constantinople was frequently described as the beating heart of the Roman Empire; and, indeed, it was. In fact, the Romans did not refer to it as Constantinople at all but rather just as “The City” (no other description being necessary). As long as the Romans held the city, there was an Empire. Should the city fall, it was widely believed that so, too, would the Empire. In the early years of the Laskaris Restoration, this was obviously true as the "Empire" consisted of the city and little else. However, even when the Romans began to make spectacular territorial conquests, it was still the indispensable epicenter of Roman power. The loss of the city was not only unacceptable but also unthinkable.

Constantinople held enormous political, military, economic, and religious significance. Politically, it was the seat of the Emperors as well as the administration. Although the power of the Emperor followed him wherever he went, the administration remained in the capital and it served as a nexus of communication for all Imperial edicts. Militarily, the city was the only place in the Empire where such important units like the Siphonatores (Greek Fire) and Scholarii (heavy cavalry) could be trained and equipped. It controlled access to and from the Black Sea and was the crossroads from Asia to Europe for any army. Economically, the city’s great harbors, wharfs, and factories supplied much of the Empire’s income. The city’s silk works were the only ones outside of Asia and the tariffs brought in from trade were invaluable to the Empire (and highly coveted by everyone else). Religiously, Constantinople was the center of Christian Orthodoxy. It was the seat of the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and the epicenter of religious power given form in the immense church of Hagia Sophia. In every way, Constantinople was vital to the Roman world.

Even when the Empire expanded to mammoth proportions, there was never any question about moving the capital to another, more centralized location. It was still “The City” and the heart and soul of the Empire.

Spoiler for National Boundaries - 1489: 

National Boundaries for 1489

War with Egypt Begins (1492-1499)

Fresh on the heels of his victory over the armies of Islam, Skantarios took the reinforced Imperial Army and crossed over into Anatolia (Asia Minor). He first lifted the siege of Canakkale and then made straight for the site of Genessios’s defeat at Smyrna. He quickly took and sacked the city (the sack was especially brutal since the Turkish governor had earlier refused to bury the Roman dead from the Battle of Smyrna). Skantarios then pushed east and took the mountain fortress of Isparta

The capture of these two territories now brought the Romans into direct conflict with Mameluke Egypt. The Egyptians had made serious inroads into Anatolia during the period Jihad and, combined with the Romans own entry into Anatolia, had confined the Seljuk Turks to only a few holdings along the south and east coast of the Black Sea.

The subsequent struggle for Anatolia would last the next five years and see massive battles throughout the peninsula with little to show on either side. The fluid maneuverings and rapid territorial gains of the past years were ended. The war between Egypt and the Romans was bogging down into a blood-soaked stalemate. The Romans under Skantarios continuously prevailed but they were slowly losing the greater war of attrition against the much more numerous (and wealthy) Egyptians.

Further stress was put on the resurgent empire when the Germans began pressing against the Hungarian frontier which forced the Romans to come to the aid of their Magyar allies.

Spoiler for War with Germany: 

War with the Germans

In 1494, the Hungarians came under severe pressure from the Germans. The Germans had broken out from Central Europe and were concentrating their forces in conjunction with the Teutonic Knights for a massive expansion to the east at the expense of Hungary and their ally Poland.

The Hungarians had enjoyed stable relations with the Romans for years and had not conducted any large scale military operations since their limited success against the Turks some twenty years before. Their military had stagnated and their generals were inexperienced. In short, they were unprepared for the German onslaught. By 1496, they had lost the important fortress of Kassa in the Carpathian Mountains and were about to lose the major city (and their capital) of Esztergom.

The Hungarian King Bela now called on his Roman allies for aid. The Hungarian princess Judit Arpadhazi (sister of Skantarios’s wife, Maria) proposed another marriage alliance with the Roman Empire. She would marry Skantarios’s younger brother and heir, Vasileios, in return for military assistance against the Germans.

Skantarios agreed to these terms for several reasons. First, the familial bonds between the Romans and the Hungarians demanded that some aid be sent. Two, the strong alliance between Rome and Hungary was the cornerstone of the Empire’s security in Europe. He could not stand by while his ally was overrun. Third, he could not allow the northern border of the empire to be threatened by the expansionist Germans when he was concentrating for a major push against the Egyptians. The Germans were clearly a threat and would not relent until they had overrun all of Eastern Europe. Finally, the German's persistent claim to be “The Holy Roman Empire” was a standing insult to his own claim of being the modern-day Roman Empire. Now that he was in a position to do something about it, he could not hold back.

Once he had made the decision to come to Hungary’s aid, the only question was who could be sent and what forces could be mustered. The Romans had not fielded a large field army outside the Imperial Army since Genessios had entered Anatolia in 1484 (and then had it slaughtered by the Turks in 1488 outside of Smyrna). Although they had quickly recovered from that loss, the lesson was still fresh in Skantarios's mind. He was also short on field commanders as Genessios was needed to support Skantarios in Anatolia and Vasileios was required to stay in Constantinople to secure the capitol against rebellion and the intrigue of the Council. Therefore, the obvious (and best) answer was Skantarios’s brother-in-law, Benedek Buzad.

Benedek was intimately familiar with the terrain having been born and raised in Hungary. Further, he was familiar with all the Hungarian generals who he would have to coordinate with. Although he was still considered something of a traitor by the Hungarian court for having gone over to the Romans when he married Anna, he was still respected as an able general and administrator.

Benedek was given charge of the newly christened “Army of the North” which at first existed more on paper than as a coherent fighting force. Wasting no time, Benedek ordered new levies of infantry and cavalry but, for the moment, had to make do with whatever garrison forces he could strip from the northern cities and the mercenaries he could hire in the region. It was not much of a force but would have to do as time was of the essence. Hungary was teetering on the brink of destruction.

Spoiler for National Boundaries - 1499: 

National Boundaries for 1499

The Raid to Egypt (1500-1504)

The swirling battles in the Anatolian mountains and plains were slowly wearing down the Roman army. The Egyptians were now the primary enemy and had become masters of not only their home country of Egypt but also of the Levant, Syria, Cappadocia, and much of eastern Anatolia. Their armies were pushing east into Mesopotamia and north into the Caucuses. The great wealth of their lands and their massive population dwarfed anything the Romans could muster and they were confident of winning a long war of attrition.

What was needed at this point was a new Roman strategy to break the back of the Egyptians while still preserving the gains made in Anatolia. Skantarios decided on a bold plan to cut his ties with the Roman provinces and take the Imperial Army by sea to raid Egypt itself. The rich cities of ancient Egypt were not only tempting prize but were also of key strategic importance as they supplied much of the wealth and manpower of the Egyptian armies. If Skantarios could successfully raid Egypt, it would not only cripple the economy of the Egyptian empire but would also be a severe blow to the Mameluke ruling dynasty.

It was a bold and risky move. The Egyptians, despite their losses, were still very strong in Anatolia and the Imperial Army was the only field force capable of fighting them. Removing Skantarios and the army from Anatolia would take away both the strongest fighting force and their most able general. Also, should the Emperor be lost, Roman power and support would be broken. Further, the Romans were still very weak in naval power and would have to strip all of their coastal defenses and the Home Fleet to provide ships for the invasion.

Skantarios formulated his plan in absolute secrecy. The cover story for the army and the Empire was that the Romans were launching an invasion of Cyprus to be followed up with an invasion of the Cilician coast (Adana). Only his most trusted advisors and captains were informed of the actual scheme and then only as they were loading the ships. To prevent word of his plan being captured, he did not send a letter to his brother, Diadohos Vasileios, in the capitol advising him of the plan until he had already reached the port of Iconium. The army itself was not even told of their true destination until they reached the island of Cyprus. For the frontier cities of Ankara and Iconium, they were garrisoned with strong militia and trusted to Genessios and a lesser general named Aleksios.

Skantarios landed on Cyprus in early 1500 and took the island with little effort. The battle is only memorable in that it encompassed one of the idealized chapters of Skantarios’s life. During the final assault on the citadel, his cavalry failed to charge through the breach at his order. Skantarios seized his banner and charged through the breach alone against more than eighty to one odds. Calling back to his men, he shouted: “Will you let your Emperor die alone?!” and then plunged into the midst of the Egyptian cavalry. At the sight of their leader fighting alone, the masses of his horsemen charged through with a fury and killed the entire Mameluke garrison. This act, along with many others, cemented the reputation of Skantarios as being brave to the point of almost being foolhardy.

While on Cyprus, he finally apprised his soldiers of his plan for an unsupported raid onto the Egyptian mainland. Without exception, the entire army enthusiastically agreed to the plan and the raid was launched in the following spring. Avoiding the much more powerful Egyptian fleets, the Romans landed on the Egyptian coast in 1502. The surprise was complete and the Egyptians nearly powerless to respond.

Moving with incredible speed, the Romans took and burned Alexandria, Cairo, and Damietta in one season. All governmental structures were systematically destroyed, the citizens slaughtered, and the cities burned. After re-embarking on the fleet, the Romans then took and burned Gaza the following spring.

During the entirety of the raid, something on the order of 60,000 Egyptians were killed and over 80,000 florins of loot was taken. For his actions, Skantarios was now known as “the Malevolent.”

The cities of Egypt were quickly retaken by the Mamelukes but it was a hollow victory - there was almost nothing left. In fact, the cities became more of a hindrance to the Egyptians as they tried to rebuild the devastated infrastructure of their homeland and added little to the economy or military power for the remainder of the war. This raid broke the back of the Egyptian economy and dealt a severe blow to the prestige of the ruling Mamelukes from which they never fully recovered.

The Egyptians and Turks were not idle during the raid but the Romans were able to withstand the invasions with General Vitos defeating the Turks at Nicaea and Aleksios and Genessios defeating the Egyptians at Iconium and Ankara.

Spoiler for The Mercy of Skantarios: 

The Mercy of Skantarios

Skantarios was very well known for his lack of compassion for captured soldiers or the civilian populace of captured cities. He often ordered wholesale executions of defeated armies and towns to be sacked or razed. In some instances, he would offer captured soldiers up for ransom knowing full well that their home government would not or could not pay. Some say he did this to salvage his reputation instead of just ordering their execution on the spot. Others say he did this to hold up the enemy governments up to ridicule for not paying the ransom of their subjects. The executions had the double effect of making it more difficult for his enemies to raise fresh armies (prospective soldiers being less eager to join when they know that their rulers would not ransom them) as well as instilling fear in opposing armies. He showed particular ruthlessness when dealing with captured Muslim soldiers although he also ordered the execution of thousands of Venetian, Genoese, Spanish, French, and even Papal soldiers when the need arose.

On the rare occasion when Skantarios would release prisoners, it was usually with an ulterior motive in mind – such as to lure the garrison of a city out to battle or have them lead him to a hidden force. When that end was accomplished, he showed no compunction about killing them – however uneven the odds or unfair the circumstances.

Skantarios’s reputation became so dreaded in later years that his mere presence in the field would cause large numbers of the enemy to desert rather than fall into his hands during battle, or worse, after it. For many of his enemies, he was (in)famously known as “Skantarios the Merciless” – a moniker he proudly repeated.

Skantarios was equally brutal with the civilians in captured cities. He often sacked cities in order to overawe the remaining populace or acquire money for future conquests. In some cases, he did it to make a point or to cripple the economy of his enemies. He razed and exterminated several of the largest cities in the Islamic world such as Cairo, Alexandria, Mecca, and Medina as well as sacking other notable areas such as Damascus, Ankara, and Iconium. In these cities alone, over 100,000 civilians were killed by the Romans.

Spoiler for Resistance is Futile: 

From his diaries, we know that Skantarios was greatly troubled by his own actions. He even wrote of the nightmares he suffered in later life which included the images of enemy soldiers being executed. However, his pity did not move him from the cold-blooded but rational (from his perspective, at least) conclusion that he did not want to face the same enemy soldiers twice.

In later years, his own generals and even some of his enemies adapted his name to justify their own actions. When a general was about to order the execution of prisoners or the sack of a city, they would often say that they were going to show them “the Mercy of Skantarios” – in effect, no mercy at all.

Conquest of Anatolia and Cilicia (1504-1506)

Skantarios landed back on Anatolia in early 1504 and moved immediately to take the ancient fortress city of Caesarea. He followed up this victory with the seizure of Adana in 1506.

By 1506, Egypt was in dire straits. Despite their large territory, they were reeling from the destruction of their home country and the defeat of their armies in Anatolia. They were also fully engaged in a war with the Persians to the east and were now having difficulty coming up with new forces to meet the Roman and Persian onslaughts. Therefore, they decided to revive the earlier tactic of the Turks and declare a Second Jihad to take Constantinople. Their hope was to leverage the power of all the Muslim nations to break the power of the resurgent Romans with one combined attack.

The Second Jihad was much smaller in scale than the First Jihad. The great Muslim nations had not recovered from their losses in the first campaign and showed decidedly less enthusiasm. Given the tepid Muslim response, Skantarios decided that he could continue his campaign through Syria and the Levant and leave the defense of the city to his brother and the up-and-coming General Vitos.

Spoiler for War with Germany: 

War with Germany: Conclusion (1501-1514 AD)

In the war against the Germans, Benedek retook Esztergom in 1501 and defeated another large German army later that year. The city of Esztergom was returned to the Hungarians and Benedek moved east to retake Kassa (captured for a second time by the Germans in 1502) which he successfully assaulted in 1505. He then defeated two large German armies in 1506 and another in 1507; which effectively ended the German advance into Hungarian territory.

The Germans continued to attempt to expand east but were defeated at every turn. In 1509, Iasi was successfully defended by the garrison under the command of General Kalamodios. In 1510, Benedek defeated another German army at Kassa. The last gasps of the German invasion was defeated at Halych in 1513 and again in 1514.

The Romans had defended their allies and restored a stable northern border. Despite a continued state of war for the next 15 years, the Germans would never invade again.

Conquest of Syria (1507-1509)

Despite the call to Jihad on Constantinople and the threat it represented, Skantarios continued his campaign in Syria. He took the great cities of Antioch, Aleppo, and Tripoli all in 1507. The Egyptians attempted to make a stand south of Aleppo in 1509 but their mostly militia army was crushed by Skantarios. This battle highlighted the great changes in fortune between the Romans and the Egyptians. The professional, veteran Roman army ably led by Skantarios utterly annihilated a large but inexperienced Egyptian army composed almost entirely of militia and led by a young Mameluke general not out of his teens.

The conquest of Syria set up the Romans for the next stage of their reconquest of the east - Jerusalem and the Holy Lands. The city had been lost by the Romans to the Muslims over five hundred years before (and taken and lost again by the Crusaders 300 years ago). As it had so many times in the past, Palestine was a crossroads of battle and its fate would determine the winner of the Roman-Egyptian war; and perhaps the struggle between Christianity and Islam.

Spoiler for Second Jihad: 

The Second Jihad (1506-1516)

The Romans, although somewhat concerned, showed remarkably less alarm for the Second Jihad. The garrison of the capitol was strong, the defenses tested, the supplies ample, and their leadership ready. In fact, it was not until they had completed the reconquest of Anatolia was General Vitos recalled with his field army to defend the city.

The Muslims response to the call to Jihad the second time was much reduced from the response for the First Jihad. The memories of their great defeat in the First Jihad were still fresh in the minds of the more established Muslim generals and the only the young nobles who were too young to participate in the First Jihad showed any enthusiasm for the Second. Also, the quality of the armies was decidedly less in the Second Jihad as many of the professional companies had either been killed off in the First Jihad or were allocated to conflicts closer to the Muslim homelands.

The Second Jihad got off to a slow start and the first Jihad armies did not arrive until some four years after the initial call went out. When the armies did come together, the Second Jihad suffered from some of the very same problems as the First. The rivalries amongst the Muslim powers were just as evident and their lack of cooperation was astounding. The Muslim armies would not combine their efforts nor would they support each other when battle was offered outside the city. The Jihadists of different nationalities would stand idly by (often mere miles away) while the Romans savaged their brothers in set-piece battles.

The Mongols, Persians, and Turks showed only lukewarm support for the effort although they each committed two large armies. These armies were defeated piecemeal by General Vitos in a series of engagements around the capital in 1514-1516.

From the Moorish perspective, the Second Jihad was a complete disaster. They sent two armies by sea to Constantinople but both fleets were ambushed and sunk in the Bosporos Straits by the Roman Home Fleet. Their armies were destroyed without ever having set foot on European soil. The only survivors were sold into slavery in the markets of Canakkale. Sending those two large armies served to dilute the forces available to resist the Spanish pushing east from Iberia. In the years of the Jihad and shortly thereafter, the Moors lost over half their holdings in Africa and never fully recovered from the loss of soldiers or territory.

However much the Moors suffered in their support of the Second Jihad, it paled in comparison to how much the Mameluke Egyptians fared. In fact, it could be said that their support for the Jihad (which their own rulers had called for) was a deciding factor in their fall to the Turks and gave rise to the short-lived Ottoman Empire.

The Mameluke Egyptians committed two strong armies to the effort and they were the first to lay siege to the city. However, the Mameluke generals withdrew from the siege without attempting an assault when armies from Persia and the Mongols arrived. These two Jihad armies continually delayed their attacks and were therefore not available to defend their own homelands or the sacred cities from the assaults of Skantarios. In fact, these two armies played no part in any further conflict. When Skantarios took Medina and the Mameluke regime collapsed, most of the Egyptians soldiers simply abandoned the Jihad (and the Egyptians) in disgust and went home.

In every respect, the Second Jihad was an unmitigated disaster for the Muslims. Constantinople was never seriously threatened (in fact, it wasn’t even assaulted) and the Muslims went down to heavy defeat in every battle. Two of the great Muslim powers (Egypt and the Moors) were irrevocably weakened by their support and would never reclaim their former greatness.

It is the great irony of the two Jihads that the nations that called the holy war were to ones to suffer most greatly from it. The First Jihad broke the back of Turkish military might; the Second Jihad caused the fall of Mameluke Egypt.

Spoiler for National Boundaries - 1510: 

National Boundaries for 1510

[Soulstrider]

Awesome

[Dan the Man]

Great work!

[Vampire1016]

Fantastic

[dezikeizer]

Superb job with the overview. It really adds to the perspective to have it from a historian's point of view. +rep
Just a few things:

playing a dangerous game on maneuver

I think you meant: playing a dangerous game of maneuver.

In the same month on 1472

I think you meant: In the same month in 1472.

invaluable to Empire

Shouldn't that be: invaluable to the Empire.

advising him of plan

That would probably make more sense as: advising him of the plan.
dealt a severe blow the prestige

I think you meant: dealt a severe blow to the prestige.

[TemplarX]

Great work! You're really good at this!

[ER5013]

This is the greatest fan work I have ever seen with my own eyes. You have an excellent writing skill. As of now, I have not seen any fan writing as good as your AAR. (Then again most fan writings I've seen are tween created BS). My only wish is that Skantarios would have outlived the Pope. That would have probably gained him more territory (The Pope that Skantarios killed in one-on-one combat. I think that pope lived to be 75+ish)

P.S:This was the last thing I read before the server's crashed. I was going to register after I finished reading the main story.

[Skantarios]

Thank you all for the positive feedback for the historical bonus posts! This has been more of an exercise in writing than truly doing another version of the AAR. I only really wanted to illuminate the story a bit more and try this style of narration to wrap this up properly and get ready for the next AAR.

@dezikeizer -thanks for the edits! I made them right after I saw your post. Always appreciate the help as my only editor is, well, me...and I miss a great deal.

@Soulstrider, Dan, Vampire1016, and TemplarX. Glad you all are still following this. I know it doesn't have quite the "punch" as the original AAR but I hope it is still somewhat enjoyable to read in its own right.

@ER5013 - Thanks for your very kind words and glad to have you on the forums! I agree that it would have been nice to have Skantarios live a bit longer but finishing the conquest of Italy was as good of a place to stop as any. I thought for a long while about just conquering Pisa and killing the Pope (again) but I thought this was maybe a little more realistic and had the added benefit of making the Pope a vassal and all that entails both in the game and the alternate history.

I am just about finished with the last of the historical posts. It's all written and just about formatted. I was set back (as were we all) when the servers went down but I should have it up shortly.