Eastern Roman Empire
Constantinople
A few weeks later
Thousands of people awaited the arrival of the key figure in the war, the Legatus Legionis Leo Flavius Junior and Lucius Belissarius.
Upon entering Constantinople, the two Legatus Legionis had different reactions, one was nostalgia for the city in which he was born and the other was enthusiasm for a city as grand as it was Constantinople for a few centuries until the disastrous 11th century and the Fourth Crusade that would seal the Eastern Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire.
Being welcomed by the local population as heroes, trumpets were played in the streets and church bells were rung throughout the city, until both military leaders of the Caesarian Empire arrived at the Hippodrome of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Emperor Constance II, was there with thousands of people who were applauding them, until the emperor waves to the crowd who becomes quiet and the emperor says:
"Dear brothers of Roman blood, your deeds against the savage Lombards and the Germanic tribes have earned you the title of Germanicus Maximus, You deserve it for your deed, something our ancestors would be proud of for putting these barbarians in their place! The Lombards have been contained, but a new threat is forming in the Middle East, but for now we must remain vigilant against such a threat that is advancing at this moment towards Persia, but we have to stop it the threat of the crescent moon which is spreading at a very high rate and could become the greatest threat to the Eastern Roman Empire." says Constance.
The rest of the ceremony was quite short, titles were given to the Caesarian military leaders and nothing very relevant would happen during that day but the next day something would happen that would change the history of the Caesarian Empire.
Constantinople
RoyalPalaceofConstantinople
Onedaylater
It was another sunny day in the Eastern Mediterranean, Leo and Lucius had earned their title and when they were going to visit the city, a messenger arrived and said:
"My Lord, I came straight from New Rome to Constantinople to show you this letter that comes from Senator Aetius Favarus and talks about the rule of his uncle, our Caesarian Emperor Lucius I." said the messenger.
Leo takes the letter, opens it and reads the letter and what was written in it.
Dear Legatus Legionis Leo Flavius Junior, your uncle our Caesarian Emperor Lucius I, is unfit for the Caesarian throne, he managed to stagnate our economy and now we are in a crisis.Your uncle may be a great lawyer and a notable Roman jurist, but he is a terrible politician. If he were there in the Old World he would have been assassinated in the second month of his rule and I say more, he would be like the last Western Roman emperors, he would be a doormat of either the Visigoths or the Ostrogoths.I know he was important to the Bard War, but remember that the one who was supposed to be the heir to the Caesarian throne was Antonius Severus and not Augustus Flavius, his father.He has no idea how to govern our nation, whether the Lombard War is officially over or still ongoing does not matter, what matters is that our nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and you will have to stop him from ruling or another adventurer may proclaim himself Caesarian Emperor and take the Caesarian throne for himself.I apologize for writing this letter to the esteemed Legatus Legionis of the 10th Legion, but believe me, the atmosphere in the Forum of New Rome is chaos and anyone who steps forward could trigger another civil war.
Senator Aetius Favarus, Majority Leader of the Caesarian Senate.
When Leo read the letter he felt a mixture of anger and ambition, angry because he was a Phocas I-style incompetent and is tarnishing the honor of his family, ambition because his father only left the throne because he showed himself to be someone who would maintain the stability of the Caesarian Empire and perhaps when he was old, he would pass the throne to Leo, but what happened now is a blessing from God that fell upon him, now being a Roman with the title of Germanicus Maximus, He now had a great chance to show that he was worthy of succeeding to the Caesarian throne.
Leo then asks Lucius:
"Should I dethrone my uncle or should I remain loyal to my uncle who has never even fought in a battle and mocks our soldiers who fight in the Old World?" asks Leo
Lucius Belissarius, at 57 years of age and an advocate that Leo should take the throne at 18, did not hesitate and replied:
"Dear Leo, this throne is yours by right, your uncle is incompetent and was only elevated to the throne because you and I were fighting the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula, my men are ready to dethrone the incompetent Lucius I." Lucius replies.
With this in mind, they bid farewell to the Eastern Roman Emperor Constance II, then they boarded the ship Romulus they had brought and headed towards New Rome.
CaesarianEmpire
ProvinceofNewRome
New Rome Forum
Now
On December 15, 641, the Forum was in chaos, senators were arguing fiercely about who should succeed to the throne, they were talking about attempted assassinations,until noises are heard from outside the Forum that began to increase, until Leo entered the Forum with Lucius and spoke to the senators:
"Senators, I am Leo Flavius Junior, son of Emperor Augustus I, I have come here to claim what is rightfully mine, the Caesarian throne.Unlike my uncle who is a very vain man, I managed to defeat the wild Lombards who tried to invade the land of our ancestors but I and my friend the Legatus Legionis Lucius Belissarius we managed to defeat the Lombards and they are out of the Italian Peninsula, in the Iberian Peninsula we control the Western Mediterranean Sea. What my uncle did during the period I was in Italy fighting against the Lombards? As heir to the Caesarian throne, I ask that you unite to remove my uncle from power as soon as possible, otherwise someone will proclaim themselves Caesarian emperor and start a civil war." spoke to the senators Leo.
As there was a crowd armed with revolvers outside the Forum, the pressure was so great that even the senators who were in favor of Lucius voted to depose Lucius, ending with the votes of 28 x 0, the senate elected Leo Flavius Junior as Leo I, Emperor of all the Romans, but there was one last step left, to depose his uncle and save the Caesarian Empire from bankruptcy.
TheodosianPalace
Onehourlater
The now ex-Emperor Lucius I, hired warriors to defend the Theodosian Palace, but apparently it had been more than an hour since everything had gone silent and he was crammed into a room, until a soldier enters the room and says:
"He is there, my emperor, you can enter the room." says the soldier.
Leo, now as Caesarian emperor, entered the room and said:
"You can get up, uncle, I would never kill you, but I need to know from your own mouth what you did to make the economy stagnate like this." says Leo.
The former emperor stood up and spoke:
"The senators were discussing how to have a monopoly on the slave trade and were asking to enslave the native peoples and the Celts, I refused and with that they rebelled and took all the s their goods to Constantinople, in addition to them using counterfeit coins with no value to pay peasants, which is generating a mass revolt and thus we have reached this economic stagnation." said Lucius.
With this revelation, Leo knows he will have to use his military influence against the senators and says:
"I'm going to deal with the senators and they're going to pay dearly for trying to destroy our country. Don't worry, uncle. I won't kill you, but the people hate you from the bottom of their souls. So follow my soldiers and they will take you to Port Paulus Theodosius and there will be a Romulus ship waiting for you that will go to Ravenna, that's the most I can do now go with the soldiers with a monk's hood so no one notices you, now you can leave here." says Leo.
Lucius I, leaves the room and the soldiers put on a monk's hood and take him to Port Paulus Teodosius, this being the last time he would set foot in his homeland.
Now an emperor truly entered who would drastically change the history of the Caesarian Empire, but now a Caesarean Golden Age was near and would last for about 200 years.