Politics of War - Ep. 3

Varagian Guard new Recruits

Constantinopole, Byzantium

Every year, the Varagian Guard celebrates the day of the new recruits. This year the celebrations will be of special significance as this new line of recruits are for the first time drafted, with legal aprovement from the Scandinavian nations.

The Varagian Guard has changed over the years, ever since 911, for over 1000 years they have protected and died at the side of the Emperor's of Byzantium. We must remember always the great battle of Mazinkert, or the Great Battle of Constantinopolis 1453, and all other battles were the Guard was present. They are the most enduring Imperial Guards of all The Roman Empires.
Glory to the Varagian Guard!

Bizantine policy and etiquette

Nova Academia, Byzantium

This is written by me Claudio Francicso Moreno Delapietra scribe and councilor to the Light of the World the heir of Julius Caesar; Alexandros I of the Anghelos Dinasty.

My family is Italian from the city of Genoa, but we have called the Jewel of the East, the mighty city of Constantinopolis our home for many hundreds of years.
This is a small essay to be read by the leaders of the world, so that in their communications with the „Ivory Throne” will know the correct etiquette and customs.

Alexandros the 42th emperor of the Angelos line is 29 years old, he was born a Profirogenetos (born in purple) as his father and his father’s before him. He is the head of the church and the head of the empire. Byzantium has no government apart from the word of the Emperor.

In 32 years in service under Ioan X Angelos and under Alexandros, I have never seen the Emperor send a personal letter to any heads of state or to met a head of state, the Emperor has servants that talk to the others in his name, his life is a ritual, since early morning when the servants of the Sacred Palace sing "The sun has awaken" reffering to the Emperor.

Any of you that will have the chance to see him will be trained in the ways of the Sacred Palace. Understand this is not because he is vane or arrogant, but because the institution of the Caesars is older than all your houses put together, the Byzantines take great pride in the fact that they are the oldest civilization in Europe, and that during the Dark Ages when the west was only about sickness and war, poetry and art called them home.

The Empire

The tide changed in 1453; right as Basileos Profirogenetos Constantine XII was about to be the last Emperor, of an Empire that for 1000 years since the IV century stood alone from his brother in the west, salvation came.

The history books tell of mighty ships appearing in the Golden Horn, the Genovese ships bringing food and soldiers came, in the great naval battle of May 1453 admiral Balthogu of the Ottoman Empire lost his fleet and the tide turned. Only days later Belisarius of the Bucellarii, smashed in Nicaea Hassan’s army.

The day of our rebirth came with Theodosius of the Angelos family. In the night of 29 May 1453 came the night attack on the Ottoman camp, demoralized by the defeat in the Golden Horn and the sinking of their fleet the Turks ware defeated. Three days later Mehmet II faced again the byzantine army led by Belisarius in a pitched battle.

The defeat was an utter disaster.

With Adrianopolis in Christian hands and rebellions in Bulgaria, Walachia, Moldavia, Serbia and Albania, the Ottomans had to retreat to Anatolia with great loss of life.

100 years we have waged war under the Angelos Dynasty to push them out of our lands. In the end the Empire of Eastern Rome was victorious.

We now are older than any of the nations in Europe and only China is a nation older than us, 1900 years have passed and the line of Rome is unbroken, we have been here since before any other nation was even imagined, and we will be here long after all will be forgotten.