Fantastic Metropolis

If Pope Vigilius had taken the time to talk to Belisarius when the man came to call on him to apologize for the Emperor’s behavior (Justinian, typical to his nature, had ordered the man arrested when he excommunicated the Patriarch) instead of dismissing him, what would have happened? Imagine that the Pontiff and the General had compared their dissatisfactions towards the behavior of the Emperor (even in real history, as opposed to Procopius’ magnificently venomous version, Justinian had injured them both and was often found taking into his own hands tactical prerogatives that he could not truly understand, being weeks behind the lines, and he often acted as a one-man Ecumenical Council, abrogating the Pope’s decrees and usurping his powers) and if we assume that Procopius was a spy for the Emperor’s cabal, helping to maintain a web of spirit-sapping magic around Belisarius, we can also assume that the Pope would have the means to remove it. (After all, once you accept the idea that the Emperor is a demon, you establish the possibility that there are angels…)

Indeed, Belisarius’ name (a Greek corruption of the Slavonic words for “Bright Prince”) suggests that the man was a perfect candidate for the role, if only he had been awakened. After all, not even his harshest critics can argue that his early career was anything but a study in brilliance under pressure and tactical genius, that his character was not noble and honest (Gibbon waxes poetic over the man, but then again, so he does for almost anything) and that, had he not come under the twin misfortunes of Theodora’s disdain and his own wife’s profligacy with money and her affections, he could well have done what he almost did anyway and restored the Empire. Now, imagine his eyes opened to the treachery practiced on him by his own secretary, his wife, and his supposed friend and Emperor.

Soon, the armies of Byzantium return to Constantinople, their master following a new agenda. Since Justinian had already sent the Patriarch west to prostrate himself before Vigilius, none could argue where the true spiritual power in the Empire currently lasted. Imagine Justinian’s surprise when the Master of the Palace Guard and General of the West comes before him not in supplication… but with the sword. It would not have taken Belisarius long, honestly… he had more or less the entire armed forces of the Empire totally under his command, and the last thing Justinian would have suspected was his faithful hound, who had endured ostracism and exile and accusations without flinching and returned without hesitation to his side, of plotting. Indeed, marching into the palace and killing Justinian blatantly in the name of God would probably be the one plan no Byzantine would have expected. As such, Belisarius plants himself upon the throne, sends for the Patriarch, and indicates to him that the demon is dead, and a new day is dawning. A day where East and West will have but one emperor, and but one Church Father.

Imagine an Empire led by a revitalized Belisarius, instead of a cabal of demons and their compatriots. The Justinian persecutions of the Arians and Montanists and Jews stop, because while Vigilius might well want to continue them, Belisarius will not tolerate anything that reminds him of his former master and his treachery. The senatorial class is converted into a true advisory body. Anything that smacks of black magic is eradicated. It starts off so well, this theocratic empire that drives all traces of the Goths and Alemani and Vandals from the boundaries of the Empire. But would it stay that way? Belisarius, like most men, is only mortal… and he suffers from the zeal of the convert, having been roused to a terrible purpose. If Justinian was thought of as a warlike Emperor whose main failing was that he failed to follow up on victories, such is not a problem Belisarius suffers. He revives the ancient Roman custom of bringing outsiders into the social fabric through citizenship, and ties it into a religious proselytization unlike anything seen in our history, a Christianity that believes in allowing other faiths to exist under its umbrella but which also believes in spreading itself through violent conquest. Belisarius’ empire will allow you to believe what you want, as long as you tithe anyway. Worship how you choose, but pay us for the privilege. As bad as this might seem to us, it would be a massive improvement to the anti-Jewish ghetto in Constantinople, to the persecutions throughout the empire of Jews and Samaritans and Arians and Montanists. Byzantine genius for duplicity and diplomacy is turned against the barbarians, while amongst the Kingdom of Christ, such practices are considered abhorrent.

An empire that would be soon to have rivals. Mohammed was born in 570. What form would Islam take in the face of a united and strong Byzantium, with an overriding Christian ethos? Would it assume a more martial stance earlier in its development? The spread of Islam is one of the most rapid and surprising eruptions of power onto the world stage in history, and I have a very hard time imagining the years following the final Prophet’s birth without it. If Islam could not be spread into the Byzantine Empire by the sword, would it infiltrate it by preaching? Would the military direction of Islam go further east faster, descending into India, converting the nomadic tribesmen of the Mongolian Steppe? Would China, instead of embracing Buddhism, become an Islamic Nation with its own take on the message of the Prophet? Would the Magyars and Khazars and Khazaks submit, not to any man, but to Allah?