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Anno Domini 830, November-18-30
Marching to Constantinople, or rather sailing there, sounded very easy only on paper, since having to move with a considerable army toward the capital would sound as if someone was thinking about taking the crown.
If I did not have the invitation for the triumph and the permission for my army to march through the streets of Constantinople, this would easily be the proper way to make everyone in the capital lose their minds accusing me of treason if they noticed that an army composed mostly of foederati was approaching.
Since new forces were needed for the military preparations, because I knew very little about what I would be facing. I knew the tactics of the Saracens, although much depended on the territory and on what they sought to accomplish, since Egypt was a rich and densely populated region, but it would mostly depend on the war and on how much popular support we would have from the Copts now that there was a possibility they could return to the imperial yoke.
Within the governorships I recruited Varangians and Slavs, taking with me 15,000 Varangians, recruiting 6,000 men who had just arrived, in addition to gathering again around 10,000 Slavs that we already had, along with the Serbs.
So our forces were around 35,000 men with whom I would march toward the capital, and it did not take long for us to form the groups that would sail and the other group that would simply march toward the capital.
So with Hakon's family we sailed toward the capital, stopping for a while in Târgoviște, since it was the main colony of the foederati and the most active frontier, since we had to pick up one of Sigurd's brothers, because there were many Varangian and Slavic troops here guarding the frontier in case of any attempted attack by the tribal forces that existed to the north.
The city had developed well, although the Greek presence in the city was the largest among all the cities that had begun to be built north of the Danube, even so it still had a strong influence from the Svear and Slavs in its construction, since many settlers continued arriving from the northern lands.
To the point that I doubted there would even be something like a Viking kingdom in England, considering that most Varangian migration would now go toward these lands, especially considering that they had been invited and above all would not need to fight to obtain large expanses of fertile land, in addition to being encouraged with cheap materials and security.
So while we stopped in the region I observed that there were fortifications of the foederati and the Romans distributed all across the Danube, blocking the most common crossings where the tribes would move. While I moved through the area by ship I noticed that there was some kind of gathering between the foederati and the Greeks.
Observing the event from the ship I noticed that it was not a friendly one, since I saw steel being drawn while we sailed, which forced us to disembark and go speak with them.
"More foederati." one of the Greek men said while pointing at us when they saw us approach.
"Alright, alright… what is happening here?" I said looking at the group of men who were arguing.
The eyes of the Greeks lit up when they heard me speak and they immediately approached me.
"The foederati demand that we hand over the loot. We fought against a group of Slavs that tried to cross the Danube and they were crushed, and we only took our share, the one that belongs to us." the kentarchos said pointing toward the Varangians.
"No… lies… we…" the Varangian said with difficulty speaking Greek.
"I speak your tongue, son of the north. Explain to me what happened and let the All-Father witness your words." I said looking at the Varangian, and both groups stared at me.
"We fought… against the Slavs… we fought well, resisted their charges and won. When we were about to begin looting, the Greeks arrived and took everything. When they told us that they would distribute what belonged to us we waited, but we never received our share. Several of ours had to go to Valhalla without their earthly possessions, since much of the loot was for that." the Varangian replied lowering his head.
I turned and looked at the Greek kentarchos who was attentively watching what was happening.
"You are going to bring the loot. You are going to speak with your commander and if he does not return what he stole from the foederati I will make sure he is sent to the worst pigsty I can find." I said looking at him without the slightest restraint.
"But… you do not even have military authority over us." the kentarchos said.
"No, but I do know who does, so I recommend that you do not seek problems with the foederati. Rome once made the mistake of abusing them and they gave us problems, so go back and bring the loot that belongs to the Varangians, which from what I was told is all of it. And if everything is not there you will have many problems." I said seriously while looking at the tagmata forces that were in the area.
I began to inspect the region, since apparently there were many frictions between Greeks and foederati, due to the existence of many disputes over loot, since they usually fought every week against some raiding bands that tried to reach the area and were forced to retreat, unless they were desperate enough to cross.
So I had to listen to many abuses that the local foederati had suffered from the Greek officers, since apparently Sigurd's brother had been complaining to the emperor about this, but surely that had been left for last, since it must not have been important for Roman politics.
Since normally, even with all the terrible shit that happened to them, they still felt superior now that they were recovering their lost glory. They surely had their egos through the roof and this must have become more and more common, ignoring that we needed the foederati considering that we had several fronts to defend and that it was better for foederati to die than Romans.
But it seemed they wanted that and were trying to take advantage of the situation as much as possible.
Because there were several complaints about what had happened, so I had to restore order and speak with the commanders of the fortifications about their punishments once they were in the capital.
After partially resolving the problem, losing several days speaking with commanders and seeing how widespread the dilemma among the tagmata soldiers of the region was, after spending days resolving the matter we finally resumed the journey toward the capital on the ships that could navigate the Danube.
After several days sailing by sea once we left the river, we had before us the capital of the empire, shining with all its abundance, since hundreds of ships could be seen docking in its ports to trade, coming from every direction in search of the commercial center that united east and west.
Normally I would disembark at the port where I had always arrived because of its closeness to the palace, but since I was traveling in drakkar ships this would cause more problems than benefits for the sake of saving a few minutes or hours docking at another port, so we simply disembarked with the general population, feeling the welcoming blow of the city.
"Yep… just as I remembered it, it is still terrible." I said after taking a deep breath and looking at the crowded markets in the area.
"I would say even worse." Sigurd said covering his nose while moving his shoulders trying to get comfortable, something that clearly annoyed him.
"The last time I came here we did it as merchants and now this city finally receives us as jarls… but that does not change the fact that the place is overcrowded and the smell is terrible." Hakon said with a wide smile while we disembarked.
I noticed that the harbor guards did not take long to approach us, but a few looks and me pulling out an invitation from the emperor showing our presence was enough for the harbor guards to stop bothering us while all the important people descended from the ships.
The families of Hakon's sons and some noble Slavic families, as well as some Vlach families who had accompanied us, also did not take long to react the same way anyone would after setting foot in the queen of cities.
Disgust. The smell hit them and we quickly began moving toward the imperial palace area followed by our guards while people stepped aside because of the presence of so many Varangians and Slavs in the streets.
Where we quickly managed to pass into the residence of the imperial palace, where the Scholai received us as always, taking away weapons and some parts of armor, but welcoming us with smiles.
Without much waiting we passed by many people who were waiting for an audience with the basileus and it did not take long before we were brought into the throne room, where we found Theophilos listening to an envoy.
The moment we entered, Theophilos dismissed the envoy with great speed. Apparently he was some diplomat from the Carolingian Empire who was quickly removed from the throne room.
Then Theophilos received us, ignoring the court and moving us to a more private area in his personal office.
"Oh my good general… it seems you bring many victories that you can tell me about, but tell me, how is the situation in the foederati kingdom. I already have some words from several officers who went to the region to inspect certain things, but obviously I prefer hearing it from you before some aristocrat annoyed with the situation tells me." Theophilos said quite pleased to see me.
"Well, I can say that the situation is stable. The Varangians have settled and are beginning to form their own armies to defend the entrances to the Carpathians, in addition to fortifying everything with the help of the Vlachs and Slavs. Other than some problems from people who do not want to cooperate with the defense, that would be all… well, and some conflicts with the tagmata helping defend the Danube… apparently it is quite common for them to steal the loot of the foederati after combat. That creates friction." I said nodding while sitting in the chair they offered me.
"I see… I will speak with the strategos. It is no longer Skleros. In the end I removed some administrative responsibilities from him, since he said it was too much for him to handle so much, so I established a strategos fully dedicated to the defense of the region. It seems he already relaxed discipline… but well, it is not like I can do much. So much expansion has left us dry of good candidates for the position, since the best ones occupy more important regions protecting frontiers, and since it was your people there I assumed I could place someone not as good." Theophilos said.
"Excellent… let us hope the new strategos is instructed not to do the same, since losing the trust of our foederati friends would mean having them as enemies… so I hope you find a way to make him understand that he must stop allowing stupidity." I said pointing toward the Varangian jarls accompanying me.
"Certainly… any specific reason why you chose them and not the Slavs, considering that they were the largest group according to the census information I received?" Theophilos asked observing the sons of Hakon, who lowered their heads before him.
"Loyalty. Relatives of my hird Sigurd, so I am entirely sure they are trustworthy and will do everything possible to defend the frontier, since that was our agreement, so hopefully those complaints they sent you will be resolved soon, since we will need them for that defense." I said with a slight smile while pointing toward Sigurd's brother, who was responsible for defending that region.
"Understood… do they speak Greek?" Theophilos asked before clasping his hands together.
"Yes, all of them." I answered immediately.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, members of the Varangian aristocracy. Let us hope our relationship will be fruitful. For now you are my guests within my quarters, unless of course you would prefer to stay in the residences of Basil, who has more than enough space to accommodate all of you." Theophilos said.
Hjalmar leaned toward me.
"What is safer?" he asked quietly into my ear.
"Stay with me, or you will become the target of political intrigues from the Roman aristocracy trying to take advantage of your position in your governorships." I replied almost without hesitation.
"Speaking for my brothers and father, I thank you for the invitation, basileus rhomaion. Without a doubt your display of generosity will not be forgotten among our people, but because of our… presence, it could result in some kind of damage to your authority, so we prefer to stay with the one we consider trustworthy. Strategos Basil." Hjalmar said using his very refined Greek.
"Ha… well Romanized and in little time… they will be excellent subjects for the empire… you may withdraw. I have some matters to attend to, but the triumph and banquet will be in two weeks." Theophilos said with a smile.
"Thank you." I said lowering my head and heading toward the exit of the palace so we could go to my mansion.
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