Vigiliex

Also known as *St Bjorn the first*

### Introduction

Vigiliex is the ruler of the Byzantine Empire and goes under the name: Basileus Constantine VII. His parents, Alexandrios II of Greece and Anastasia III of Bulgaria were hiding in Thessaloniki after the 1st Balkan war broke out. They had a child 2 years before in Tel Aviv called Charles (LoganCreeper50). They had 2 children while they were in Hiding: Anastasia and Constantine. After the war, they formed a union with Coptic Egypt and Serbia to defeat the Remaining Ottoman forces in Istanbul (Constantinople) and the rest of Anatolia and the Levant. There were multiple battles to take Istanbul, but they were proving unsuccessful. The 8th Greek-Ottoman War broke out and their coalition Smashed the Ottoman forces in Jerusalem, Thessaloniki and Ankara. Their main goal, Istanbul, was besieged. They took 7 months to breach the gates and kill the Sultan Mehmet IX. Sadly, Anastasia and Alexandrios died of the Byzantine Plague in 1797. The nation was split into 3 nations: Israel, owned by the oldest and most devoted to God, Byzantium, Owned by the Middle child and wealthiest of the 3 and Rome, Owned by the youngest and most influental. They have all formed a union to rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire and make it reach beyond the previous empire ever could have gone.

### **Pre-Ottoman Defeat (1773-1796)**

#### Childhood

Constantine was a clever boy who had quite a following in the town of Thessaloniki. He remained there for most of his childhood under the supervision of his Uncle, the Mayor of Thessaloniki. His group of children became a massive one, and their goal was to overthrow Ottoman Rule. His uncle didn't know this, so that would save his position as mayor. Everything went well until his 16th Birthday. There was an Ottoman genocide on the town. The surprised group took arms along with any civilian that could fight and beat the Ottoman raiders and Generals back. This prompted a series of rebellions in Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian and Serbian people's land to overthrow the tyrant rulers. This lead to the 2nd Balkan war.

#### Early Adulthood and 2nd Balkan War

During the rebellion, Constantine became known as a fearsome warrior and powerful general. He lead the forces to Skopje to help their Macedonian bretheren. His parents joined the war after the 2nd Battle of Thessaloniki where Rebel forces outnumbered 20:1 emerged victorious. There was a march to Istanbul when his parents' army and the rebel army united. Duke Charles of Jerusalem joined the fight when their army landed on the port after he emerged Victorious in the Battle of Jerusalem and was given the title of Duke by the Egyptian King. Around this time he was in a relationship and was given her blessing to win this fight. When they reached Istanbul the Ottomans asked for a treaty immediately. The war was over. In Thessaloniki, parties raged on for weeks on end.

#### Interwar Period

The mayor of Thessaloniki, Palladius, declared that the Balkan states are considering uniting to create a new Byzantine Empire. Being a direct relative to the last emperor, Palladius was elected to become the first Emperor of the newly restored nation. Being castrated by the Sultan for disloyal behaviour, he gave the title of heir to Constantine for leading the rebellion against the Ottomans. The son of the previous Sultan, Mehmet, decided to overthrow his father and take over the broken empire. This lead to threatens of reconquest by the Sultan. As a result, talks of the Byzantine union had come to a final agreement and Palladius was crowned the First Emperor of the Byzantines.

### **Ottoman Wars (1796-1800)**

#### Assassination and War

In late 1796, Mehmet had grown worried of Palladius' union. He decided to send assassins to his residence and then burn Thessaloniki to the ground. Palladius died on the 4th December 1796 and the capital was burned to the ground. At 26, Constantine was then crowned as the new emperor. As a result of this attack on the capital, Constantine got unanimous support to declare war on the Ottoman Empire. Many rebels in Anatolia took advantage of this, such as the Armenians, to join the Byzantines and cut Ottoman supplies. The Ottoman Army was severely demoralised from the previous rebellions and the fear of Constantine's military alliances. The battle of Thrace in 1799 ended in a crushing defeat of the Ottoman army, deciding the fate of the war. The capital was moved to Istanbul and was renamed back to Constantinople. Mehmet lived out his days in exile, across the Middle East. The 2nd Byzantine Empire is now secure.

### **The Mansa Musa of the Byzantines (1800-1810)**

#### Acquiring the Wealth

With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, a new trade route was set up from Athens to Cairo. With rare fish being found across the Black Sea, the Empire flourished and became wealthy fast. The main recipient of this was Constantine VII, as many of the ships were state owned and fueled construction across the empire. At one point, he became one of the wealthiest people to ever exist, giving Mansa Musa a run for his money. The empire then organised a treaty with the newly formed state of Tel Aviv.