Recaps

Vitus conquered Konya, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Antioch, and Aintab while Romanus learned about the identities shaping the empire’s neighbors. Vitus returned to Constantinople amid unrest over Venice and began addressing the empire’s debts, appointments, and civil service.

• Romanus questioned Vitus about Italian and Greek identities, while Vitus argued that Europe’s emerging national identities made a universal Mediterranean empire impossible.
• Vitus invaded the Konya Plain, captured Konya, and defeated Uzun Hasan’s allied forces before turning east to recover Cappadocia.
• Vitus abandoned an attack through the Cilician Gates, took Kayseri, and captured a Venetian arms ship bound for the Ottomans.
• As Constantinople faced unrest over Venice and John VIII considered retiring, Vitus continued his campaign, drove the Ottomans out of Cilicia, and took Adana and Antioch.
• Vitus captured Aintab, established border districts under Marcus and Damien, and left Romanus in Konya to command reserves.
• Vitus returned to Constantinople, met John VIII, and said he planned to seize Euboea and the Ionian Islands to disrupt Venetian trade.
• Vitus learned the empire owed 1.6 million Florins, ordered annual civil service examinations, and settled church and provincial arrangements for the recovered territories.

Vitus reorganized the empire’s government, advanced military and industrial preparations, and navigated mounting tensions with Venice while war erupted among neighboring powers. Uzun Hasan’s rise after Bayezid II’s death left the Eastern Roman Empire facing a stronger White Sheep state on its frontier.

• Vitus ordered Carlo to establish a department to handle military affairs, finance, justice, and diplomacy, while restoring Constantinople’s municipal funding and prioritizing everyday facilities.
• Vitus assessed Venice’s naval strength, fortified the empire’s coasts, and moved forces to Greece, deciding to delay war until the empire was better prepared.
• Ilya expanded the Borderland Region, organized examinations for local candidates, and judged Kuban Town’s brick defenses strong enough for likely attacks.
• Romanus inspected the eastern frontier, rejected Georgia’s request to join its campaign, and concluded that the empire should remain defensive until it had dealt with Venice.
• Vitus advanced civil-service examinations, inspected the Smyrna warship and mine technologies, and planned Army and Navy Schools while the Cabinet’s paperwork failures disrupted administration.
• Vitus dissolved the Imperial Council, established the Cabinet-led Administrative Plan, appointed Carlo Finance Minister and Ilya Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, and reorganized the ministries.
• After Charles VII refused to join the conflict, Vitus prepared to fight Venice, while Jean Coeur explored Constantinople’s textile trade and planned a Dividend Certificate Exchange.
• Uzun Hasan mobilized the White Sheep tribes as the Ottomans and Black Sheep went to war, then declared war on Jahan Shah after Bayezid II was killed and claimed regency over the Ottoman heir.
• Uzun Hasan’s forces drove back the Black Sheep, and Vitus ordered frontier troops and Georgia to strengthen their defenses against the White Sheep.

Vitus and his commanders waged a prolonged war against Venice, capturing Euboea and defending the straits while Roman forces raided Venetian shipping. Venice’s new commanders failed to secure support for an attack on Cyprus, and Vitus prepared Romanus to lead the Konya Legion against the growing threat from Egypt.

• Vitus bought Jean Coeur’s failing stock exchange and planned to reorganize it as the Rome Stock Exchange, while Coeur turned to shipping insurance and joined the exchange commission.
• Venice’s envoy Jacob Foscari asked Pope Eugene IV to support Venice against the Palaiologos, but Cardinal Julian Cesarini said the Holy See would remain neutral and urged Venice to negotiate.
• Constantine ordered the frontier army into level-two readiness, dismissed officers who minimized the threat, and sent 905 exiles to Cappadocia.
• After the Scala and a Venetian warship fought over a captured smuggling ship, Vitus called a war council, planned attacks on Venetian holdings, and authorized merchant ships to privateer under Admiralty oversight.
• Krezer’s forces landed on Euboea, captured Chalcis after a siege, and took Modon and Coron after their defenders fled, while Boranov’s Dragoons later rescued villagers and helped Felix’s crew fight off Venetian marines.
• Vitus and Fabius prepared for a long war as Venice’s fleet failed to force the fortified Dardanelles, and Marcello Canal was dismissed after losing ships and failing to cripple the Roman fleet.
• Lucca Soranzo abandoned his proposed Cyprus attack after Venetian mercenaries refused to support it, then sent Elion Daltino to seek the sultan’s aid, but the sultan chose to attack Antioch instead.
• After learning that transport ships from Crete had carried suspected firearms to Egypt, Vitus appointed Romanus to command the Konya Legion and advised him to gain experience against an easier opponent while defending the frontier.

Romanus and Cohen led campaigns that retook Crete and crippled Venice, while Vitus oversaw the empire’s growing military and naval efforts. Venice surrendered its fleet, territories, and treasures, and the story left Romanus returning to Constantinople as Crete became an imperial province.

• The Mamluks besieged Karak Fortress, but Romanus arrived with reinforcements and forced the sultan to withdraw.
• Fabius led the Eastern Roman fleet against Venice, winning a costly battle that left Cohen in command and began the campaign to retake the Aegean islands.
• Boranov’s forces captured Moudros on Lemnos, while Vitus authorized funding for the navy and a church to honor fallen naval officers.
• Cohen’s fleet harried Venetian ships and fired rockets at Candia Harbor, then joined the army’s campaign to seize the Ionian Islands and Crete.
• Romanus’s army defeated the Venetians on Crete, captured Chania, and besieged Candia as Romanus abolished the farmers’ one-third tax.
• Cohen’s rocket attacks on Venice set fires across the city, and Young Loredan negotiated a surrender after the Great Council removed Foscari.
• Romanus and Young Loredan signed terms requiring Venice to surrender its fleet, arsenal, treasures, and hostages, while Venice ceded surrounding territories and joined an alliance.
• Romanus brought the recovered Four Gilded Bronze Horses and relics to Constantinople, and Vitus approved Crete’s new provincial administration and ordered the Venetian hostages settled in the Rhodope Mountains.