History of the Empire

In the legends of the Ancient Greeks, the first race of men was the golden race who sprung from the earth. They were subjects of Kronos and never grew old, spending their days laughing and dancing; death was no more terrible to them than sleep.

Following them was the silver race, growers of grain and eaters of bread, ruled by their womenfolk. They were long-lived but quarrelsome and ignorant; they never sacrificed to the gods, but neither did they make war on one another.

The brazen race followed them, falling like fruits from the ash-trees, ready-armed with bronze weapons. They ate flesh as well as bread, and loved warfare, being pitiless and insolent.

The fourth race was also a brazen race, but nobler and generous. They bore the blood of gods, and were the great heroes of the classical age. The myths say that they were created by the sons of the titan Iapetos.

The current race of man is an iron race, unworthy descendants of the fourth race. They have the heroism but none of the nobility of their ancestors, and share in the worst qualities of the sons of Iapetos: excessive daring (from Atlas); crafty scheming (from Prometheus); foolish stupidity (from Epimetheus); and rash violence (from Menoitios).

The first three races lived under the rule of the Titans, and some Seekers link their disappearance with the coming of the fourth race, who brought the worship of the faerie gods to Mythic Greece. These primal races might provide an interesting background for a magus or magical character through the Mythic Blood or Magical Blood Virtues (for the first three races) or the Faerie Blood or Blood of Heroes Virtues (for the fourth race).

The great historians of the ancient world were Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Polybios, who recorded various histories of classical Greece. They started an intellectual trend of de-mythologizing their subject, removing all mention of the gods, magic, and fate from their accounts, a convention that was aped by the historians of the Byzantine era. Kalliopeia of House Merinita claims to see the hand of a group of Magic Humans called the Warders of Mystery (Realms of Power: Magic, page 95) in this, although it is unclear whether she is suggesting that the historians are Warders themselves, their servants, or the victims of their bowdlerization. The Warders are devoted to hiding evidence of magic from the pages of history; and their meddling — if indeed they are responsible — has reduced the power of the faerie gods by preventing the repetition of their stories.

The great stories of Ancient Greece, concerning heroes such as Perseus, Theseus, Jason, Herakles, and Akhilles, are part of Greece's history. St. Jerome wrote a universal chronicle called The Chronicon in Constantinople in about 380 AD. In it, he related the events of the Bible to those of classical times based on a wealth of different sources. A small fraction of his timeline, along with modern dates, is given below:

Date Event

5201 BC Creation of the world

and Adam

2959 BC The Flood

2016 BC Birth of Abraham 1685 BC Prometheus steals fire from the heavens 1559 BC Kekrops, first King of Athens 1592 BC Birth of Moses 1347 BC Perseus slays Medusa to rescue Andromeda 1320 BC The theft of Europa 1261 BC Jason and the Argonauts 1235 BC Theseus and the Minotaur 1191 BC The Trojan War begins 1182 BC The Trojan War ends 1175 BC Samson slays the Philistines 1104 BC Eurystheus, first King of Sparta 1037 BC Solomon takes the throne in Jerusalem 776 BC The First Olympiad 683 BC Beginning of Athenian democracy 591 BC The Captivity of the Jews,

destruction of the First Temple

by Nebuchadnezzar

The Trojan War

According to Herodotus, the Phoenicians were the ultimate cause of the fall of Troy when they stole Io, a Greek princess. Later, Cretans landed at Tyre and stole Europa from the Phoenicians (although some say it was Zeus), and the Greeks — in the form of Jason the Argonaut — stole Medea from the king of Colchis. They refused to make restitution for these acts, since no compensation had been made for Io. With these events in mind, Paris the son of Priam of Troy resolved to have a Greek princess in retaliation. He abducted Helen and sparked off the invasion of Troy and the wasting of Asia by Greek forces under Agamemnon. The Roman de Troie, written by Benoît de Sainte-Maure in 1165 AD, begins with Jason's voyage to Colchis, which provokes Herakles' punitive expedition against Troy and its destruction for the first time. Hector, who led Troy's armies, is pictured

as the very flower of the chivalrous heroes of the classical age, whereas Akhilles, champion of the Greeks, is a base coward unable to defeat the noble Hector without resorting to trickery. The Roman de Troie ends with the return and death of Ulixes (Odysseus) at the hands of his own son by the witch Kirke.

The fall of Troy is the source of the enmity held for the Greeks by the Persians. They had always considered Asia Minor to be their territory, and the Greek invasion and subsequent colonization could not be permitted.

The outstanding beauty of the daughters of Greek kings shaped much of Greece's early history. To carry off such a woman, says Herodotus, marks a man as a rogue, but to retaliate for such a deed marks a man as a fool. Helen of Troy is vilified throughout history as the most perfidious of women, and used as an exemplum in sermons on the inconstancy of woman. This is a theme that should not be ignored in Mythic Greece. Players with beautiful female characters should be encouraged to take the Curse of Venus Flaw, especially if they bear noble blood, no matter how dilute. They may attract the attention of faeries born from the stories of Jason or Paris, who seek to derive vitality from attempts to recover the abducted beauty.

The formation of city-states (poleis) began the process of the urbanization of Greece. There were many hundreds of these independent city-states, which spread throughout the mainland and the islands into Asia Minor (Ionia), and also colonies throughout the Western Mediterranean region, particularly Sicily. Sparta (in Lacedaemon) was among the first to make its male citizens all equals, but this was a small fraction of the total population. Athens (in Attica) was the real innovator in the field of democracy.

Towards the end of the sixth century BC the emerging city-states came under threat from the Persians to the east. Darius I of Persia was the first Persian king to cross into Europe, taking Thrace (513). When the major Ionian states (Miletus, Chios, Samos, Phocaea, and Ephesus) rebelled against his rule (499–494), the two Greek states of Athens and Eretria (in Euboea) sent ships to help them, making war with the Persians an inevitability. The Persians took Eretria though treachery, and then moved on Attica with 20,000 men to confront Athens. They clashed at Marathon in a momentous victory for the Greeks; despite facing twice their number, the Greeks suffered just 192 casualties compared to the 6400 lost to the Persians.

Darius' son Xerxes I launched another attack on Greece in 480, taking Thessaly, Delphi, and Argos with ease. This time it was Sparta who raised the defense, convening the first Panhellenic Congress at Corinth in 481, at which 31 city-states granted the Athenian Themistocles supreme command over its forces, although overall inter-allied command remained in Spartan hands. The Spartan defeat at Thermopylae delayed the Persian forces long enough to save the Greek fleet at Artemisium from annihilation. The Persian fleet was eventually defeated in the battle of Salamis, one of the most famous naval victories of all time. Xerxes took most of his forces back to Asia after this defeat, but left behind a picked force of 40,000 men under General Mardonius to try again the next year. In 479 this force marched south, ravaged Attica, and occupied Athens for a second time. When the Spartan army marched to confront the Persians, Mardonius withdrew from Attica to Boeotia, intending to meet the Greeks on the plains where he could employ his cavalry to best effect. The Greek victory in the resulting battle of Plataea was the greatest land battle ever fought by the Greeks, finally driving the Persians out of Greece forever.

The Greek armies facing Darius I were wholly unprepared for the use of magic on the battlefield. The Persian king had brought with him a cadre of sorcerers (or yatus) who deployed their spells against the Greek forces. Supernatural creatures under the command of these sorcerers rent their way through Ionian and Thracian soldiers, and it was only in Attica where Athenian theurgists had mustered that they were seriously opposed. When Xerxes led his subsequent invasion, the Greek theurgists were more prepared for the yatus, although the defenders were still outclassed by the professional battle-magicians of the Persian army.

The Persians' principle magical aid came from the jinn, nasu, and the paririkas. The jinn were spirits of the natural elements who used thunder, dust storms, and earthquakes against the Greek armies, and waterspouts and torrential rain against their navies. The nasu were fly-spirits that appeared in immense numbers to bite the Greek warriors and defile their fallen comrades. The pairikas appeared in human form and were able to disturb the elements through violent winds and spontaneous conflagrations. The most powerful of the monsters under the yoke of Xerxes' sorcerers was an immense bull that filled the horizon like a mountain; its breath spewed flame, and its wounds spewed forth serpents and scorpions. It is said that in their desperation to combat such hideous monsters, the Greek wizards turned to the Witches of Thessaly and employed their chthonic magic to lay powerful bindings on the creatures, bindings that persist to this day.

Story Seed: Plague of Flies

The livelihood of a merchant connected to the covenant is under threat from clouds of flies that consume his goods and attack his pack animals and agents. They are being commanded by a rival, who has found a relic from the Persian Wars containing a bound nasu.

Story Seed: Amulet of Power

A Persian wizard, descendant of one of the yatus who served Cyrus, is collecting artifacts from old battlefields in search of his ancestor's amulet of power. The characters have unwittingly gained this item without knowing what it is, and the wizard will approach them, civilly at first. But he is not used to taking "no" for an answer.

The three victories of Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea are often seen as the beginning of European history, and gave the Greeks a sense of superiority and confidence in their abilities to keep the "barbarians" out of their land. The Greek states formed the Delian League, named after the meeting place of the confederacy on the holy island of Delos. Its purpose was mutual protection against Persia; together with retaliation, where possible, to avenge the Persian occupation.

The Peloponnesian War was fought between Sparta and Athens between 431 and 404. It was precipitated by widespread suspicion of the Athenians, who had suppressed several rebellions in Corinth, Euboea, Boeotia, and Samos, and moved the treasury of the Delian League to Athens where it had allegedly been spent on magnificent buildings and glorification of the city. Jealousy and fear among the Spartan leaders of the burgeoning power of their chief rival prompted them into action. The war paused indecisively in 422 when both war-leaders fell in the Battle of Amphipolos, and Sparta's allies of Corinth and Boeotia repudiated the so-called "Peace of Nikias" in years to come.

Athens' ambitions knew no bounds however, and they launched an expedition against Syracuse in Sicily, which ended in total disaster. Meanwhile the Spartans cut Athens off from its agricultural land and silver mines with fortifications in Attica, and rebellions in their subject-allies imperiled the city's grain supplies. In Athens itself, an oligarchic revolution overthrew the former government, and an unexpected alliance between the Spartan general Lysander and Cyrus the son of Darius II of Persia was the final nail in the coffin of Athenian power. In 404 Athens unconditionally surrendered to Sparta. Over the next fifty years alliances formed and failed, ably stirred by Persian treachery. The resultant chaos left the citystates of Greece vulnerable to a threat they had not yet considered.

The Battle of Amphipolos still rages in a Faerie regio in Thrace, where faeries take the part of Kleon of Athens and Brasidas of Sparta and their accompanying soldiers. Furthermore, both sides have numerous minor deities among their allies. Gods and men fight shoulder to shoulder against the enemy, Athene supporting the Athenian army, while Apollon and Artemis can be seen among the Spartan defenders. Ares is also present, honored by soldiers of both sides by bloodshed and the atrocities that come with war. Characters wishing to meet with one of the gods have the opportunity to do so here, if they can drag the divine attention away from the battle. However, they will have to participate in the battle to get close enough.

King Philip II of Macedonia

The Macedonians had remained aloof from Greek politics, despite being semi-Hellenized themselves. The kingdom had been a former vassal of Persia, but had refrained from committing itself during the Peloponnesian war. King Philip II came to power in 359 when his elder brother was killed in a war with Macedonia's non-Greek neighbors, the Illyrians. Upon taking power, Philip defeated the Illyrians and seized several Athenian dependencies in the Thermaic Gulf and Delphi, as well as attacking Thrace and the Chalcidian League. Athens accepted the Peace of Philocrates (346) which confirmed Philip's dominance in central Greece. Philip summoned the Panhellenic Congress at Corinth in 338 with a view to invading Persia. Soon after this assault began, Philip was murdered, possibly by Olympias, who was one of his wives.

Alexander the Great

In the romances of the 13th century Alexander, the son of Olympias, appears more than human. His hair was likened to a lion's mane, his eyes were of different colors, and his strength was immense given his modest height. He was brave, self-assured, and of noble character, but prone to violent temper and possessed of a huge sexual appetite. He was actually the son of the Egyptian sorcerer-king Nectanabus, begotten in secret on Olympias. Alexander was trained in sorcery by his father Nectanabus until he discovered his parentage, whereupon he slew him in a fit of rage. Alexander's education continued under Aristotle, and he became the model of a philosopher-king.

Alexander was 19 when his stepfather Philip died, and he was quick to seize power, vigorously promoting Philip's plans to invade Persia. In 338 he crossed the Hellespont at the head of an immense army of Macedonians and Greeks, and conquered western and southern Asia Minor. In the following year he defeated the Persian emperor Darius III himself, captured Tyre and Egypt in 331, and chased Darius into Mesopotamia, capturing Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis. Darius was murdered in Media, and Alexander assumed kingship in his place. Over the next three years, Alexander expanded his empire eastward. He explored the boundaries of the world by descending into the sea in a glass ball, flying through the air in a chariot drawn by griffins, reaching the realm of the blessed (where he was refused entrance), and discovering the wellspring of life. When the emperor found the water of life, he slew a dragon that guarded it, and sent his sister to bring him a drink. However, she spilled it, and he cursed her to become a half-fish. She is now Gorgona, a huge mermaid who haunts the Black Sea and the eastern Aegean.

Alexander had three wives, two mistresses, and countless lovers, both male and female, but had only two known children. Both sons died before they reached their majority. When he was campaigning in Hyrcania in 330 BC, Queen Thalestris of the Amazons came to Alexander's camp and announced her intention to bear his child. Alexander gave his army 13 days' rest while he fulfilled this request. When Thalestris left, she announced that she was indeed pregnant. What happened to this child is a mystery.

Alexander's conquering ambition was checked by the rebellion of his armies, who were unwilling to press on further into alien lands. He returned from the East to put his empire in order, executing rebellious governors and dealing with plots against his person. He arranged governance of his empire in collaboration with the conquered people, which he symbol-

ized by marrying the daughter of Darius III. However, in 324 he contracted a fever aggravated by a wound suffered in India, and died of the infection.

Forty years of hostilities between Alexander the Great's former generals and wouldbe successors followed his death, ending in the emergence of three major warring kingdoms: Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Seleucid Empire. The cities of Alexandria and Antioch — capitols of Egypt and Seleucid Syria respectively — became the centers of Hellenistic culture rather than Greece itself. Macedonia remained dominant over Greece, Thrace, and Anatolia, but it was not until King Antigonus II Gonatus (284–239) that the impoverished kingdom's fortunes were reversed and a new line of monarchs governed Greece. Throughout this period Athens retained its pre-eminence, despite having to accept a Macedonian garrison thanks to several rebellions. By 229 it had gained sufficient wealth as a commercial power to buy out the garrison. Another prominent power in Greece was Rhodes, which expelled the Macedonians following Alexander's death, and repelled a siege by one of his would-be successors. Rhodes rivaled Athens as the principal Aegean commercial state, and was the headquarters of international finance and banking and exchange in partnership with Egypt.

The Leagues

Perhaps the most important development of the Hellenistic age was the evolution of the leagues: confederacies of cities acting as a political unit. In the past the leagues had been dominated by one preeminent city, whereas the cities of the Hellenistic leagues were equal partners. The Achaean League arose from the states south of the Gulf of Corinth, whereas the Aetolian League comprised those states to the north, and was later joined by Pergamum and Rhodes. Both leagues were ruled by an assembly open to all male citizens. The Boeotian League constituted a third power, while Athens, Euboea, Elis, Messenia, and Sparta remained independent. In 267 the Aetolian League rebelled against Macedonia but was defeated, and the subsequent invasion of the Macedonians also marked the end of Athens as a independent, democratic, and politically powerful state. Sparta remained hostile to the Achaean League, and invaded in 227, but the Achaeans allied with King Antigonus Doson of Macedonia which lead to the final defeat of Sparta in 222.

Roman Governance

Rome's waxing imperialism became an important factor in the affairs of Hellenistic Greece. King Philip V of Macedonia's provocative alliance with Hannibal in 215 led to Roman military intervention in Greece which ended in 205 with the Peace of Phoenice, a treaty of mutual co-existence. However, Philip's continued ambition to expand his kingdom in Greece, in the Aegean, and along the Adriatic caused further military action from the Romans and a Macedonian defeat at the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197. In 190 BC the greatest of the Seleucid monarchs, Antiochus III, invaded Greece and was similarly humbled by the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia and stripped of his possessions in Asia Minor. From then on Rome had no serious rival in the Aegean or the Middle East. The former Seleucid lands were given to the Roman allies of Pergamum and Rhodes. After a decisive Roman victory over Perseus, the son of Philip V, Macedonia came under Roman rule in 168. The Greek peninsula succumbed in 146 after the Battle of Corinth, although some Greek poleis managed to maintain partial independence. The Aegean islands were added in 133, and in the same year, Pergamum in Asia Minor was bequeathed to Rome at the death of its king. Several poleis, including Athens, rebelled against Roman rule in 88, but were crushed, and the land was devastated.

The stable government of the Roman Empire meant a time of peace and prosperity for nearly 250 years. Life in Greece continued much as it always had, and Roman culture became highly influenced by the Greeks through epic stories, poetry, and philosophy. In the first century after Christ, Greece and much of the Roman East embraced Christianity, following the efforts of Paul of Tarsus who preached in Athens and Corinth. When Diocletian came to power in 284 AD, it was obvious that no one ruler could hold together the whole empire, and he divided it into four prefectures, adopting a joint Augustus to rule alongside him and two subordinate Caesars. The eastern prefectures were the Praefectus Praetorio per Illyricium (most of mainland Greece and Crete) and the Praefectus Praetorio per Orientem (Thrace, Asia Minor, Judea, and Egypt). The center of gravity of the empire was pushed ever eastwards, with Constantine establishing a new capital and Christian city at Byzantium, renamed as Constantinople in 330 AD. Although theoretically governed by joint rulers, the empire gradually broke into an Eastern and Western half. While Rome itself was eventually sacked by barbarian invaders and fell before them, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive.

After severe persecution of Christians by the Roman state had led many to martyrdom, in the fourth century the Roman Emperor Constantine promulgated an Edict of Toleration of Faiths, including Christianity. His saintly mother Helena was a staunch Christian, yet despite her influence it was a miraculous sign seen in the sky before the battle of Milvian Bridge that led to his eventual conversion to Christianity.

Constantine developed an interest in ecclesiastical matters, and following a council on doctrinal matters called by 12 bishops that produced disputed edicts, Constantine called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, where bishops of the whole Church affirmed true doctrine. This was the first of the great Oecumenical Councils of the Church, which define correct belief. Constantine himself had been a devotee of the mysteries of the pagan cult of Sol Invictus, but he was baptized upon his deathbed.

Constantine created a new Roman Capital at the small city of Byzantium, naming it Nova Roma Constantinopolis, and following his death it was known simply as Constantinople.

The Gothic Yoke

During the brief return to paganism under Julian the Apostate (361 – 363), God allowed the Huns, Goths, and other barbarian peoples to move increasingly across the Danube against the empire. In 378 at the Battle of Adrianople the Eastern Roman Empire's army was almost annihilated, and the Gothic army reached Constantinople. They occupied the city as "advisers" until 400. In that year an elderly beggar woman at the gate insulted a Goth. When the Goth struck her,

locals came running to her aid. A riot ensued, and the Goths trapped within the city were wiped out. The Goths left, never to return.

With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire continued to maintain Roman tradition and customs. A succession of glorious emperors led an empire which at its height included much of the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Italy, and Southern Europe.

Justinian

One of the greatest Byzantine emperors, if not the greatest, Justinian is most renowned for his legal reforms, having commissioned a great Codex of Roman Law that was created by the lawyer Tribonian. Personally deeply pious, yet decidedly non-conformist — he is said to have believed that Christ was fully divine but not also fully human — his subsequent return to true doctrine came about through the personal intervention of Pope Agapetus I. Justinian married a low-born dancer, Theodora, causing a scandal, but she proved a magnificent empress. His military conquests expand-

Throughout history, Constantinople has been shaped by the apparently spontaneous will of the people manifesting in riots and popular uprisings. Since the fall of the city this has not occurred, leading some to speculate that it was a side effect of the ancient bindings upon the city. Another strong possibility, however, is the personal interest of three demons in Constantinople: Golab, called "Foe of the Seraphim," and his lieutenants Hulikang and Nike (described in Realms of Power: The Infernal, pages 70–73). Hulikang and Nike entertained themselves for centuries, despite the powerful wards that reduced their power, by each "managing" a circus faction whose influence came to spread throughout politics, business, and almost every other aspect of city life. As sponsors of the Green and Blue factions, the only thing that could unite the two demons was the prospect of a lessening of their own power, or another demon's attempt to sponsor another faction. The Green and Blues declined in power and influence after the ninth century, and now the demons are suspected by some to be leading "Frank" and "Venetian" factions, but the truth of this is unknown.

ed the empire through southern Italy.

Justinian's generals Narses and Belisarius were among the great captains of history, achieving spectacular conquests. Justinian fostered a culture of careful civic administration, scholarship, and with the building of the great church of Hagia Sophia (See Chapter 7: Constantinople, Hagia Sophia), gave his capital city its most beautiful landmark. Autocratic and determined, his brilliance proved unpopular, for his efficient imposition of taxation caused much resentment.

In 532 a riot broke out in the Hippo-

drome, with the Blue and Green circus factions manipulating the crowds. The mob set fires that consumed much of the city, and the emperor prepared to flee. Only the Empress Theodora stood firm, saying she would rather stay and die in the city than run, and forcing Justinian to remain and face the crisis. Justinian acted decisively, sending troops into the Hippodrome. Thirty thousand people died there that day, massacred by Justinian's troops, ending the "Nika Riot" (the name taken from the crowd's cry of "Nika!" — "Victory!"). Their ghosts still haunt the area (see

Constantine had a vision in which he saw an old hag who, upon his approach, became a beautiful young damsel who he seized and kissed. A short time later he had a second vision of his mother, Helena, who told him that the maiden would be his till the end of time. The spirit of a pope then appeared, and the secret was revealed — the maiden was a symbol of Byzantium that, through Constantine's actions, will be reborn in splendor. A third vision from God now revealed to him that his plans for the city were guided by God's hand, and showed exactly where the boundaries of the city must be laid out. Constantine led a great procession, and guiding a plough with his own hand walked the boundaries of the site, boundaries that lay far beyond the ancient walls of Byzantium. By this rite he bound the local spirits and created a potent Divine ward that endured for many centuries.

The binding took the form of the Sol

Invictus (see Realms of Power: The Divine, page 70) Method and Power of Invocation/ Cursing effects. The wards are currently disabled following the Sack of 1204, but were as follows.

God's City

Invocation/Cursing Level 50 Effect

The Might of Faerie and Infernal creatures within the walls was reduced by 10, with a penetration of 20. In Justinian' s day these were extended to the new walls by a great rite.

Walls of the City of God

Invocation/Cursing Level 50 Effect

Invaders attempting to storm the walls suffered three additional botch dice on all stress rolls. This effect was likewise transferred to Justinian's walls later.

This rite endured down the centuries, until in 1204 somebody removed the palladium, the item that was central to the rite, from under the Column of Constantine. The palladium lay in a sealed underground vault along with several other relics. These included the 12 baskets that contained the fragments of loaves and fishes from the feeding of the 5,000, the axe used by Noah to construct the Ark, the jar that contained the perfume the Magdalene poured on the Lord's head, and the crosses of the two thieves from Golgotha. These potent relics are also missing, but if the palladium and the relics were restored, the binding would be reactivated and the wards would once again protect the city.

The exact nature and form of the palladium are unknown, as is its current location and the identity of the thief.

Chapter 7: Constantinople, and the Mob in Constantinople, earlier.)

In the latter years of Justinian's reign, two monks were persuaded to smuggle some silkworms, and the secret of silk manufacture, from the distant East. This luxury product has been produced in Constantinople, Thebes, and Thessaloniki ever since, and has greatly assisted the creation of the near-legendary wealth of the capital.

Phocas

In 602 the populace of the empire was enraged by the costs of the endless wars against the Avars, a steppe people who had invaded from the north. The army mutinied and a charismatic young officer, Phocas, was proclaimed emperor. Emperor Phocas' brief and destructive tyranny led to the collapse of the wars against the Slavonic peoples, who now settled across Greece unimpeded. In 610 a revolt by the son of the Exarch of North Africa finally ended Phocas' tyranny, which had seen many executions of prominent citizens, including even the ex-empress and her three daughters. Phocas was captured and brought before the exarch's son, Heraclius, who, enraged, struck off his head on the spot. Acclaimed as emperor, Heraclius' accession was greeted with joy by the people of the capital, sick of the horror and oppression. Phocas' head was lost, but many in the crowd said it continued to speak after it was severed from the tyrant's body, and a demon may still dwell within it.

War with Persia

In 626, Persia invaded. Emperor Heraclius sued for peace, but the Persians were determined to overthrow the Christian empire in the name of their Zoroastrian religion. Forced to fight, Heraclius defeated the Persians at the Battle of Nineveh, destroyed many Zoroastrian temples, and recaptured the True Cross that the Persians had captured. The Persians were never again to trouble the Byzantines, for a new enemy had arrived in the form of the Islamic Arabs, and Persia was to collapse before their onslaught.

The Arab Threat

Within a few decades of the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslim Arabs had overthrown the Persian Empire, and by 711 had forever destroyed Byzantine North Africa, subsuming it in the vast and highly expansionist Caliphate. Twice the Muslim armies reached Constantinople, with fleets and an army besieging the city from 674– 678, and 717–718. From this point onwards the provinces of the empire in Asia Minor were to act as a bulwark against Islamic expansion into Eastern Europe, and continuous warfare followed. However, after reaching a natural border south of the Anatolian mountains, the Arabs largely contented themselves with raids into Byzantine territory, and diplomatic and mercantile contacts were to continue throughout the centuries that followed. Mosques were built in Constantinople, initially for the benefit of Arab prisoners, and later for the trading community. This state of affairs persists.

Iconoclasm

The conflict with Islam led to two major developments. The Byzantine Empire was divided in to themes, military provinces each with their own standing army that also served as administrative districts. Secondly, there followed a century of intense theological controversy that was to have huge effects on the military and political scene, as the controversy between the Iconoclasts and Iconodulists broke out. Iconoclasm was favored by militarily aggressive emperors, and military successes were attributed to Divine favor resulting from these religious reforms and suppression of the veneration of icons. Ultimately the pro-icon Iconodulists triumphed, however, under Empress Irene (752–803).

In 800 the Byzantines began an aggressive campaign to retake Greece from the Slavonic tribes who had settled there. This was partially to try to reestablish land routes with the West as the Mediterranean was now infested with dangerous Arab pirates, who continue even in 1220 to prey upon shipping.

However, since 680 the situation had changed, with a new Turkic people, the Bulgars, having created a highly successful state in the Balkans. Despite the missionary activities of the monks Cyril and Methodius that resulted in the conversion of Bulgaria to Christianity in 864, the Bulgarian Empire was to fight with the Byzantines for control of the Balkans throughout the second half of the ninth century. The Bulgarians were to prove dangerous and worthy opponents, and continue to be so, their fortunes often favored by House Tremere.

The Macedonian Dynasty

In the 10th century the empire began a period of military re-ascendancy, marked by the recapture of Antioch and Tarsus from the Muslims, and, by 1019, by the complete conquest of the Bulgarian state which now became part of the empire. Crete and Cyprus were taken back from Arab pirates with the aid of Greek Fire and the fine war galleys of the imperial navy. Mainland Greece was freed of Slavonic control, and the southern Italian peninsula as far north as the Papal States held. Only the loss of Sicily to the Saracens in 902 clouded the resurgence of the empire. In 971 an army of Kievan Rus invaded Bulgaria, and soon approached Constantinople. A total of 12 cavalry charges failed to break the Rus ranks, but the 13th charge, led by Emperor Ioannes I in shining golden armor, broke the Rus and proved decisively the superiority of the Byzantine troops.

The Macedonian Dynasty (from the Theme of Macedonia, that is Thrace) ruled from 867–1056, and led a military and cultural renaissance which saw Byzantine power reach its apogee. The emperors and empresses of this dynasty introduced a form of military conscription into peasant militias, and built a highly successful war machine that enjoyed huge success. The elite troops, the Byzantine kataphraktoi (heavily armored cavalry), developed a new wedge formation that smashed opponents' units and drove deep into enemy forces, routing them. Mercenaries continued to be employed, and the imperial bodyguard remained the Varangian Guard, comprised first of Norse axe men and then after 1066 largely of Anglo-Saxon warriors who had fled the Norman Conquest of England. (See Chapter 3: Customs and Culture of the Greeks, The Imperial Guard)

Basil the Bulgar-Slayer

The reign of Basil II from 976 to 1025 saw the highest point of Byzantine military success. He completely subjugated Bulgaria, reestablished the ancient northern frontier, and pushed east across the Taurus Mountains, beyond Lake Van. His reign saw the conversion of the Russians to Christianity, though at the expense of allowing an "illegal export," the marriage of his sister Anna to Vladimir of Kiev. Basil in exchange received the use of 6,000 Rus mercenaries, but the marrying of a porphyrogennetos ("born in the purple") Byzantine princess outside the empire was forbidden by law and said by many to promise disaster. Basil's brilliance was undoubted, yet so was his ruthlessness, for after the Battle of Kleidion in 1014 it is said he had 14,000 Bulgar prisoners blinded, leaving only one in a hundred with his sight to lead the others back to the Bulgarian capital. On seeing his army return home, Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria dropped dead of a heart attack. Likewise, Basil had the right hand of each of his Bedouin captives lopped off, and repeated the mass blindings while fighting against the Georgians. Perhaps this cruelty is why God punished him by allowing him to die without an heir.

Zoe and Theodora

The end of the Macedonian Dynasty was presided over by two of the many empresses who had marked Byzantine rule. Women are, despite the social conventions and conservatism of Byzantine life (Chapter 3: Customs and Culture of the Greeks, Women), able to ascend to the highest office in the land, and the rule of Zoe and Theodora demonstrates the extreme importance the notion of being born porphyrogennetos (see Chapter 7: Constantinople, Birthing Chamber) had achieved in court life. Zoe had four consorts, who effectively ruled in her name, and was addicted to the acquisition of magical amulets and automata, some of which may survive. Following her death her last husband, Constantine IX Monomachos, was deposed in favor of her sister Theodora by the mob, as always active in the politics of the capital.

Tragedy at Manzikert (1071)

A new people had arrived in eastern Asia Minor, the Seljuk Turks. In a series of brilliant campaigns they reached Baghdad, and on converting to Islam were to become the real power behind the Caliphate for decades to come. The Seljuks took up Islam and jihad with fervor, and in 1071 at Manzikert met the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanos Diogenes. The Byzantine cavalry attacked repeatedly, but the Seljuk horse archers fired and retreated, in classic steppe tactics, until at nightfall the Byzantines fell back towards their camp. The commander of the Byzantine reserves, Andronikos Doukas, deliberately betrayed the emperor and fell back, allowing the emperor's capture in the confused night retreat.

Doukas' betrayal of the emperor was motivated by political concerns at home, not love for the Seljuk Turks. Four years before, Romanos had been arrested on charges of treason for plotting a coup against the reigning Doukas family. Sentenced to death, he was brought before the Empress Regent Eudokia, but so charmed her that she not only pardoned him but married him, bringing him to the imperial throne. The Doukas family wanted revenge, and when Romanos foolishly trusted the reserve to Andronikos Doukas his fate was sealed.

Romanos was better treated by his captor, the Seljuk leader Alp Arslan, who arranged surprisingly favorable terms and released him from captivity. Oh his release after only a week of captivity, he was met by the Doukas with troops loyal to the traitor, and brutally blinded. Romanos died of an infection shortly afterwards, and Andronikos repudiated the peace treaty. The outraged Seljuk Turks moved swiftly west, conquering all before them. By the treachery of Andronikos the Byzantines lost the Anatolian Plateau, breadbasket of the empire, as the Seljuks overran it and began to colonize the sparsely populated highlands.

Following Manzikert, the strategos (general) Michael VII seized power, and two other generals rebelled and made their own bids for the throne. Nikephoros Botaneiates succeeded and briefly ruled, before a third strategos, Alexius Komnenos, carried out a daring coup that put him on the throne. Alexius Komnenos came to power surrounded by enemies, both in court intrigues and on his borders, but is recalled in his daughter Anna's biography The Alexiad as a heroic figure who saved the empire.

Southern Italy and Sicily had fallen to Norman mercenaries who had instituted a brilliant and successful state, and with the fall of the city of Bari marking the end of Byzantine power in southern Italy, the kingdom of Sicily prepared an invasion fleet to carry the war to the empire. In 1081 King Robert Guiscard sailed to Durazzo, taking the city with 1,300 Norman knights and a similar number of Saracen cavalry, plus foot soldiers. The Byzantine army was defeated, and the Sicilians advanced across the Greek mainland, checked only by a revolt at home that forced Robert to return. His son, Bohemund, assumed control of the expedition and continued the war, taking Macedonia and much of Thessaly. In the autumn of 1084 a terrible plague broke out in the Sicilian camp, ending the conflict.

The Pecheneg Threat (1091)

In 1091 a new danger arrived in the form of an great force of Pechenegs, fierce steppe nomads. The Byzantines allied with a related people, the Cumans, and the Pechenegs were almost annihilated in the victory of Levunium. The survivors sued for peace; from this time on surviving Pecheneg light cavalry along with the Cumans have been used extensively in Byzantine armies.

Pope Urban, moved by appeals from the emperor for assistance, preached a great crusade to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslim lords who ruled there. Alexius was dismayed, for he had wanted mercenaries to fight with him against the forces of Islam, not crusaders who were likely to take former Byzantine territories and not accept his suzerainty. He prepared carefully to meet the crusading armies as they arrived from the West through the Balkans, stockpiling food and assigning Pecheneg and Cuman cavalry to police the armies as they traveled through the empire.

Despite Alexius' best efforts, the crusaders despoiled the countryside. They burned towns and pillaged as they proceeded, clashing with Byzantine troops and constantly harried by the steppe troops Alexius had sent, who killed stragglers and tried to protect the innocent citizens of the empire from the Latin marauders. When they reached Constantinople, Alexius refused to convey the armies by ship to Asia Minor until he received formal oaths of homage and a promise to restore former territories of the empire to him. A tense standoff followed, with the crusader lords refusing. Alexius used his troops against the crusaders when they offered violence, and withheld supplies from their encampment outside Constantinople until the crusaders acquiesced, giving grudging oaths to restore former Byzantine lands captured or do homage for them.

The disasters that befell the crusaders and eventual success in retaking Jerusalem are chronicled elsewhere, but only one lord, Raymond of Toulouse, upheld his promise to restore former Byzantine territory. Many crusading forces attacked and sacked Greek cities in Asia Minor. Both sides felt a bitter sense of betrayal, and relations between East and West deteriorated sharply, with Westerners blaming the disasters on Byzantine effeminacy, duplicity, and treachery, and believing the empire had willingly betrayed them to their foes.

Genoa & Pisa (1111)

1111 saw a new enemy in the form of the fleets of the Italian city states of Genoa and Pisa, which assembled off the Ionian coast and threatened to attack the empire. Fighting the Turks again in Asia Minor, Alexius was forced to grant them considerable trading concessions. Such concessions had already been granted to the Venetians in the trade with Constantinople, and led to the situation that persists today where Greek merchants are severely disabled in comparison with the benefits enjoyed by their Italian rivals within the empire. The long-term effect has been a decline in native trading, and the loss of the Byzantine fleet, as the empire has relinquished its maritime ambitions to Westerners.

Despite palace intrigues, Ioannes II Komnenos succeeded his father. A deeply pious man of unusual ugliness and dark complexion, he was known as "Ioannes the Beautiful" or "Ioannes the Moor".

Ioannes revoked the unpopular rights of the Venetian merchants that gave them an advantage over Byzantine merchants. The Venetians responded by raising a fleet and seizing many of the major islands of the empire, and Ioannes was forced to restore their immense privileges within the empire to re-

The third emperor of the great Komnenos dynasty, Manuel was every bit the noble lord — tall, athletic, a great huntsman, and an energetic warrior. Scandalously, he was also a great lover and seducer of women, and his conquests are still proverbial today. Manuel faced the challenge of the Second Crusade (1143–49), which saw a further deterioration in relations with the crusaders, more violence and looting by the crusaders, and ultimately complete disaster for the crusading forces.

War with Venice

In 1171 the Genoan colony at Galata was burned to the ground. Emperor Manuel immediately blamed their commercial rivals the Venetians, and 10,000 Venetians in Constantinople were imprisoned, their ships and property confiscated. The Venetians raised a great fleet and sailed to attack the empire, but while they were at Chios a terrible plague broke out and the Venetian fleet limped home, bringing the plague and death back to the city. Peace terms were agreed upon, and the prisoners released.

The Sicilian Conflict

The Kingdom of Sicily had not forgotten its ancient enmity towards the empire, and seized Corfu. A Venetian fleet and Byzantine army attacked, and succeeded in retaking the island. Unfortunately this success came only after the Venetians had openly expressed their contempt for their allies. Venetians staged a mock parade on the imperial flagship they had taken in a brawl with their Greek allies, and held a mock coronation of a Saracen eunuch in a marked comment on the Komnenos' swarthy complexions. A more ominous omen was the raid by Sicilian ships which sailed right up to the walls of Constantinople and fired a few arrows over into the very grounds of the imperial palace as a gesture of defiance.

Plans to attack the Kingdom of Sicily were ended by a Serbian uprising, but eventually a disastrous campaign to attempt to retake the southern Italian possession was undertaken, in alliance with papal forces.

The death of Manuel left his infant son as heir, under the regency of his mother Mary. A series of plots and coups led to the triumph of Andronikos I Komnenos, who is still remembered for his legendary cruelty, use of torture, and execution of political enemies. The coup that brought him to power is remembered with horror by the Latins. The mob ran out of control, killing very Westerner they could find in the city. Women, children, even the sick in the hospitals were dragged from their beds and murdered in a tremendous bloodbath that pushed relations with the West to breaking point.

In spring 1185 the Sicilian army returned, taking Durazzo, which surrendered without a fight, and advancing down the ancient Via Egnatia. In August they took Thessaloniki and carried out a general sack and massacre, most notable for the terrible acts of sacrilege and desecration of a type formerly unknown in Byzantine history. Thousands of the inhabitants died in the madness of rapine and loot and sacrilege, and it seemed this fate would soon befall Constantinople.

Andronikos ordered the immediate imprisonment and execution of many hundreds more political enemies and their families. A mob arose rescuing many of the condemned and gathered in the Hagia Sophia. At dawn after a night of speeches and plotting, the mob ran out through the streets, calling all citizens to arms against the emperor. Andronikos was out of the city at his country villa, but returned with a detachment of troops and ordered them to shoot at the mob. The soldiers refused, and Andronikos, realizing his danger, tried to flee, but was seized. Starved for several days, he had one eye burned out, and then, laden with chains, was sent out backwards on a donkey to face the howling mob. They tortured him horrifically until he finally expired. His mutilated ghost still rides the streets on nights of the dark of the moon, calling out for the mercy he refused others. The mob pillaged the palaces, and carried off a fortune in gold and silver, as well as many priceless relics that were lost forever.

Isaac II Angelos (1185–1195)

The popular uprising that swept Isaac to power spread to Thessaloniki, where during peace negotiations a sudden attack by the outraged citizens and imperial army routed the Sicilians. The invaders fled in terror, being massacred in the general uprising which followed.

Earlier Byzantine emperors had realized the threat crusading armies passing through to the Holy Land represent, but Isaac was not able to prepare as efficiently. While many of the crusaders sailed directly to the Levant, the army of Frederick Barbarossa came overland through the empire, and Isaac was terrified. He sent two ambassadors to the crusaders to arrange peaceful conduct, but on arrival they immediately betrayed him by encouraging Frederick to seize Constantinople and the throne. Frederick marched to Phillipopolis and occupied it, before sending envoys to arrange for the safe conduct of his men across the Bosphorous, but Isaac seized the envoys and threw them in prison. The crusaders took Didymotichum, and seemed ready to attack Constantinople before Isaac agreed to their terms for safe passage and had them ferried across the Bosphorous. In April 1195 Isaac was overthrown in palace coup, and blinded, by his own brother Alexius III Angelos.

Alexius III was, though it seems scarcely possible, a worse ruler than his deposed brother. Deeply unpopular, he began his reign by levying the Alamanikon, a high tax designed to provide tribute to the German crusaders. Frederick Barbarossa had drowned in Cilicia while crossing a river, but the Emperor Henry VI managed to extort this tribute from Alexius, and it was to prove fatal to the Byzantine Empire. In Morea, Leo Sgorous carved out an independent state, and throughout the mainland local rulers sprang up, as centralized administration and authority broke down.

After decades of catastrophe and worsening relations with the West, the overthrow of the Byzantine Empire occurred almost by chance. The Fourth Crusade had been preached to recover Jerusalem, but its real aim was to seize Damietta in Egypt, for only after Egypt was defeated did the crusade leaders feel they would be able to retake the Holy Land. A great agreement was made between the leaders and the Venetians. Each crusader would pay a sum of silver, in exchange for which a vast fleet would be constructed by the Republic of Venice, to ferry the crusaders to the Holy Land (or Egypt).

Many crusaders did indeed assemble at Venice. The crusade leaders, however, could not pay the agreed sum, and many crusaders died of hunger or disease as they were left ill-supplied for months on a marshy island in the lagoon. Finally the Venetians offered a compromise solution. One of their vassal cities, Zara, on the Adriatic coast, had recently rebelled. If the crusaders agreed to stop off there and take the city back, the Venetians would reduce the sum owed, and the crusade could continue. Desperate, the crusaders agreed, and besieged and then sacked Zara, a Christian city. It was while at Zara that the situation changed.

Prince Alexius

Prince Alexius, son of deposed Emperor Isaac II, approached the crusaders. Alexius had escaped his imprisonment and fled to the West seeking allies against his uncle, Emperor Alexius III. He made the crusaders a remarkable offer of wealth and military support. By diverting the crusade to Constantinople, and putting the rightful rulers back on the throne, the crusade would ultimately retake Jerusalem much more easily. As no fighting was anticipated, or very little, it seemed an excellent offer. The crusaders and Venetians, after much discussion, accepted the offer, though some left to sail direct to the Holy Land.

In the summer of 1203 the crusaders set up camp at Scutari and Chalcedon, two miles across the straits from Constantinople on the coast of Asia Minor. They faced 30,000 men of the Byzantine army, and at least an equal number of armed civilians ready to fight them, large contingents of Genoese and Pisan soldiers in Constantinople, and the formidable walls of the city. The crusaders paraded Prince Alexius around the walls, but there was little sign of the popular joy at this return he had led them to expect, and the gates were firmly shut against them. After a month's siege, Emperor Alexius III unexpectedly fled the city into exile, leaving by night. Facing only light resistance the crusaders entered the city, and the young prince was proclaimed Emperor Alexius IV. He ruled alongside his blind father Isaac II, restored from prison to the throne.

The reunion of father and son may well have been touching, and their elevation back to the imperial throne a surprising reversal of fortune, but the crusaders eagerly awaited fulfillment of the promises made to them. The new rulers proved unpopular with their subjects — forced to raise taxes to pay off the crusaders, and finding themselves unable to keep the promises made at Zara, popular feeling was running high against both the emperors and their Western allies camped outside the city walls.

In August a disaster occurred which made a rebellion almost certain, when a gang of crusaders attacked a small mosque in a suburb just outside the city walls. The worshipers put up a brave resistance, and many locals ran to their defense, forming an angry mob. Driven back by the citizens, the crusaders threw burning torches into local houses, and a fire broke out. The wind carried the sparks over the wall into Constantinople itself, and the Great Fire began. For three days the fire burned out of control, consuming the homes of the poor and wealthy alike. On the third day it finally burned out, but a vast swathe across the city of 440 acres had been reduced to blackened ruins. In 1220 this huge expanse is still a field of ashes.

The Venetian Doge Dandolo, realizing the impossibility of the situation, suggested that the crusaders must seize the city, yet from August until January they waited, negotiating with Alexius. Alexius by now had become hardened against the crusaders' demands, and was preparing to fight, but in January 1204 the mob of Constantinople rose and took matters in to their own hands. They gathered at Hagia Sophia, and seeing his chance another Alexius, known by his nickname of Murzuphlos, conducted a brutal palace coup. Isaac and Alexius were swiftly murdered (though some say Isaac died of old age and shock on being taken prisoner again), and Murzuphlos was crowned Emperor Alexius V. He immediately prepared the city's defenses and repudiated the crusaders' claims, and it became clear war was inevitable. Once again the crusaders would have to take the city by force.

The Second Siege, April 1204

The crusaders planned a second assault. The walls had been significantly reinforced by the Byzantine forces, who had also built wooden towers atop the wall to counter siege engines, and stockpiled rocks and oil. Both sides had siege machinery, soaked in vinegar to prevent combustion, and both sides employed Greek Fire. (Though the accounts of the balls of flame trailing smoke hurled at the ramparts by the attackers may well indicate a Flambeau magus was aiding the assault.) The Venetian ships had ladders lashed to the mast tops, and tried to sail in close to the walls, but they failed. A few brave knights managed to scramble from the ladders onto the walls, but they were all killed or captured. After a few days of prayer, the expulsion of all prostitutes from the camp, and inspiring speeches, a second assault took place. This time first one, then a second tower was taken. Then a man-sized hole was made from a ship brought hard up against the walls, and the warrior cleric Aleaumes of Clari hurled himself through the tiny gap, straight at the Byzantine soldiers massed on the other side. Incredibly they fled, and more and more crusaders poured in after him. It was a single boatload, but enough to cause disarray among the defenders, who panicked.

Murzuphlos was close by, and rallied his men before charging the invaders, when street fighting began in earnest. That night Berthold of Katzenellenbogen's men began another fire which spread quickly. Meanwhile, the small force of crusaders within the city tried to work out a plan to either force the Byzantines to an open battle, or to let their colleagues still outside gain entrance. It was not to prove necessary, for that night Murzuphlos slipped away into exile.

Constantine Lascaris (brother of Theodore) was elected by the people as emperor that night in the Hagia Sophia, once it be-

came clear that Murzuphlos had fled. In the morning he too realized the city was now indefensible, as the troops and even the Varangian Guard were pouring out of the city, deserting their posts and taking what the chronicler Niketas famously called "the road to perdition." The city was lost, and Constantine Lascaris fled.

The Sack of Constantinople

Agreements intended to reduce rapine and attacks on civilians forgotten, for three days the city was subjected to a brutal and violent sack. While a three-day looting after a siege is normal practice to repay the troops, the sheer savagery and violence of this attack left observers stunned, as did the violation of even nuns and the desecration of the holiest artifacts and altars. Utter madness seized the crusaders, and everything that could be stolen was taken with as much force as was required, and piled high at central repositories for later sharing out. The streets ran scarlet with the blood of the murdered. The horror of those three days and three nights still haunts those who witnessed them, as the ghosts of the slain haunt the streets.

Following the Fall of Constantinople, the agreement between the crusaders and Venetians first drawn up in March 1204 was implemented. The emperor was to receive direct dominion over one quarter of the empire; three eighths were to go to the Venetians, and three eighths to the other crusader lords.

The first issue was who was to be appointed emperor, and an electoral college of six Venetians and six crusaders was appointed to settle the issue. With the Venetian Doge Dandolo declining to be a candidate, two strong contenders immediately emerged: Boniface of Montferrat; and Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders. After lengthy deliberations and as a result of Venetian influence, Baldwin IX was appointed Emperor Baldwin I, and Boniface (who was related by his brother's marriage to the former Byzantine imperial dynasty) set off to capture his own kingdom, Thessaloniki. Meanwhile Byzantine leaders fled to Arta where the state of Epiros (Chapter 5: Greece, Epiros) was set up, and to Nicaea where another Byzantine successor state developed, the Empire of Nicaea (Chapter 8: Anatolia, Empire of Nicaea.)

The Thessaloniki Crisis

By the terms of the agreement, Boniface should have received as-yet unconquered lands in Anatolia. Now-Emperor Baldwin was horrified when instead Boniface marched towards Thessaloniki, as it was clear he planned to take the empire's second city. Boniface desired independence from Baldwin, and the crusaders began to split between pro-Lombard and pro-Flemish factions. Boniface captured Adrianople, a city held by Baldwin, and Baldwin raised an army to confront Boniface. Only the patient diplomacy of the Venetian Doge Dandolo prevented a civil war breaking out almost immediately after the capture of the empire. Adrianople was restored to Baldwin, and Boniface secured Thessaloniki and was welcomed by the Greek populace there as rightful lord of the city. (See Chapter 5: Greece, Kingdom of Thessaloniki)

The Death of Baldwin

Emperor Baldwin began a campaign in Asia Minor with the aim of ending the resistance from the city of Nicaea where many Byzantine exiles had fled. He came close to capturing Nicaea, but the attempt to introduce feudalism in mainland Greece caused a revolt in Thrace, with the rebels supported by an invasion by the Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan. On April 14, 1205, the Bulgarians ambushed and inflicted heavy losses on the Latins at Adrianople, and Emperor Baldwin was captured. His fate remains unknown, but it seems likely he died in captivity. Some have said that he was due to be ransomed when he made improper advances on the Bulgarian Tsar's wife, but persistent rumors of his being seen in Flanders still circulate, and there are curious whispers about House Tremere having more knowledge of his fate than they are willing to share. The indiscreet Redcap who started the Tremere story has since died after being thrown from his horse, and the thenmagistrates of the Tribunal of Thebes were not willing to pursue the matter.

Emperor Henry, 1205–1216

Baldwin was succeeded by his brother Henry who was crowned Emperor Henry I on August 20, 1205, when news of Baldwin's death in captivity arrived at Constantinople. By this time the Latin Empire was under immense pressure from the Bulgarians and Nicene Greeks, and was reduced to a narrow strip of territory around Constantinople.

Married to Agnes of Montferrat, Boniface's daughter, Henry enjoyed better relations with the Kingdom of Thessaloniki, but the two Latin states were still cut off by Greek rebels and Bulgarian forces until a series of successful battles brought them back into contact by land in 1207. Henry then sought peace with Tsar Karolyan.

Agnes died in 1207, and in 1216 Henry married Maria of Bulgaria, daughter of Karolyan and stepdaughter of the current Tsar, Boril. She is popularly believed to have poisoned Henry, and fled the court following his sudden death in 1216, though other rumors attribute his murder to the hands of Count Oberto of Thessaloniki. Maria's current whereabouts are unknown, but disquieting Hermetic gossip links her to the dark magical practices of the Daughters of Erichtho.

Emperor Peter, 1216–1217

The crusaders once again elected a new ruler, Peter II of Courtenay. A brother-in-law of Emperor Henry, he had not been on the Fourth Crusade. He somewhat unwillingly set off to his new empire, stopping to be crowned by the pope in 1217. Peter landed at Durazzo, with 5,500 men, but was seized by the ruler of Epiros, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and imprisoned. He is believed to have died a prisoner in 1217 or 1218, almost certainly murdered, though like Baldwin his body has not been found and no grave is known, leading to rumors of his survival.

Empress Yolanda, 1217–1219

Peter's wife, Yolanda of Flanders (Henry's sister), did successfully reach the city by ship. From 1217 until 1219 she ruled as regent, achieving peace with both Bulgaria and the Empire of Nicaea, and marrying her daughter, Marie de Courtenay, to Theodore Lascaris, the Nicene emperor. On her sudden death in 1219 the throne was offered to her eldest son, Phillip of Namur, but he declined the honor. His younger brother Robert of Courtenay has now accepted the title, and will be Emperor Robert, but he will not arrive in Constantinople until 1221, leaving the empire leaderless in 1220

The Empire of Nicaea has just renewed hostilities after three years of peace, so the Latin Empire is once again at war, and the prospects do not appear bright.