Corinth

Between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece lay the narrow Isthmus of Corinth, currently controlled by the Eastern Roman Empire. North of the Isthmus of Corinth lay the Duchy of Athens, an Ottoman vassal.

As far back as ancient Greece, some sea merchants had saved time by dragging their ships overland from the eastern side of the isthmus to the western side, or vice versa.

With its unique geographical advantages, Corinth quickly prospered. To defend against invasion, the locals built the early Corinthian Wall.

In the sixth century, Justinian built a new wall across the Isthmus of Corinth. Since it stretched for six miles, it was called the "Hexamilion Wall," serving as the gateway between the Peloponnese and the north.

In 1415, Manuel ordered the long-abandoned fortifications rebuilt. Due to a lack of funds, the rebuilt wall was shoddy. In 1422, Ottoman forces breached it with trebuchets and light cannons, then rampaged across the Peloponnese, looting and abducting a large number of people.

"Actually, Father and Second Brother should have spent more money on it. Even borrowing from the Italians would have been better than letting the Ottomans plunder our lands."

Vitus reached a rise and surveyed the dilapidated wall. It rose from the reefs of the Saronic Gulf to the east, stretching along the narrowest part of the isthmus to the Gulf of Corinth in the west, like a giant beast crouched upon the earth.

Up close, collapsed rubble lay scattered at the foot of the wall, and withered weeds swayed gently between the stones. Some sections of the wall were a different color from the rest, clearly patched up only recently.

A few minutes later, Vitus met Psilos, the commander of the garrison. His first reaction was to berate him for his negligence.

"An army of two thousand approached, and you didn't react? If Centurione or the Duke of Athens marched down from the north to attack, how long could you hold out?"

"Your Highness, we have only eight hundred men, but we're expected to guard six miles of wall. On top of that, we're responsible for the repairs. Most of our men are busy hauling stones. We simply can't manage everything."

Psilos tried to fob him off with a string of complaints. Vitus impatiently dropped the subject. He climbed the tower and looked over the vast stretch of mountainous land north of the wall. At the top of a slope, he could just make out an abandoned temple, whose ruins served as a makeshift watch post to keep a constant eye on the Duchy of Athens to the north.

According to the garrison, the temple had been dedicated to Aphrodite. Unfortunately, the Venetians had removed the statue inside, which was probably now displayed as a collectible in some villa.

(Note: Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, corresponded to Venus in Roman mythology.)

That evening, Vitus stayed in his room to write a battle report.

"Father, I captured the main towns of Achaea and took Duke Centurione and a large number of nobles prisoner. This evil force that had usurped our land is no more. Below is a detailed account of my campaign, along with an overview of Achaea..."

After writing nearly three pages, Vitus rubbed his aching wrist and added a note:

"In early December, I inspected the Hexamilion Wall. Its condition is terrible. The garrison is busy patching gaps with stones—a pointless effort, done merely to keep up appearances. I doubt those repaired sections could even withstand an attack from a medium-sized trebuchet.

"The Ottoman lands are vast, and the empire is powerful. The sultan has spent heavily to recruit European blacksmiths and cannon founders, and their artillery technology continues to advance. At this rate, sooner or later they'll catch up with the technology of Italy and cast even larger siege cannons.

"I recommend changing the design of the wall. Instead of building it high, make it low and thick enough to withstand bombardment from heavy siege cannons. I've included a rough sketch with this letter. I call it the 'Trace Italienne.'"

A week later, Vitus returned to Andravida. The city lay in the western part of the peninsula, about ten kilometers from the coast. It had one of the few plains in Achaea, making it the best choice for a capital.

In the days that followed, Vitus busied himself with restoring order. He issued a decree requiring the leaders of every settlement to appear before him in Andravida by a set deadline.

Achaea's settlements could be divided into four broad types: villages, towns, monasteries, and manors.

Villages varied in size, usually ranging from twenty to two hundred households. They were managed by prosperous farmers and respected elders.

Achaea had only three towns left: Kyparissia, Andravida, and Patras. Vitus had yet to appoint civil administrators, so the captains of the garrisons were managing them in the meantime.

The lands owned by monasteries were usually exempt from taxes. The abbots handled all their affairs, much as they did in Western Europe.

Large estates owned by the wealthy were known as manors. Most of their owners had once been Achaean nobles, but they had since died or fled. Only twenty-five local gentry remained.

Vitus spoke with them one by one, recording the population, livestock, and farmland of each settlement. After consolidating the figures reported from across the region, he found that Achaea currently had a population of seventy-two thousand—less than a third of the population of Morea!

"The people are impoverished, and the land is sparsely populated. It's even worse than it was in the Classical era, two thousand years ago."

After learning the population and approximate output of his lands, Vitus realized he couldn't afford to maintain a large standing army. He scrapped his earlier plan and kept his field force at one thousand men.

In addition, each of the three towns had a two-hundred-man militia for routine policing. The militia were not part of the regular army. The villages under each town provided able-bodied young men for service, rotating them every six months. Their upkeep was far cheaper than that of the Tuna Legion.

In January 1425, after the situation in Achaea had completely stabilized, Vitus terminated his mercenaries' contracts and paid their remaining wages and return passage. Before they parted, he remarked to Piero:

"Mercenaries are certainly good fighters, but they're far too expensive. By my estimate, the entire year's tax revenue from Achaea wouldn't be enough to pay two thousand mercenaries."

Piero said, "Mercenaries take on enormous risks, so they deserve enormous rewards. You've served as a mercenary yourself, so you understand the difficulties of the trade. If you need anything in the future, remember to contact me. We can negotiate the price."

In late January, a reply arrived from Constantinople. The emperor stuck to his usual approach, telling Vitus to act cautiously and not provoke the Ottoman-controlled lands to the north. As for repairing the "Hexamilion Wall," Vitus and Theodore were still expected to work out the details themselves and contribute money and labor. Constantinople couldn't provide financial aid.

The emperor had also sent a team of civil officials, led by Savard, an old acquaintance who had attended Vitus's engagement ceremony in Florence.

Leaning back in his chair, Vitus listened as Savard introduced the twenty officials one by one, listing their names, specialties, and previous positions. When the introductions were over, Vitus didn't assign them posts right away. Instead, he had the guards bring in tables, chairs, paper, and pens.

"You have one hour to complete the test. Discussing it with one another is strictly forbidden."