>You are Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Augustus, the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Through force of will of your predecessors you've inherited a vast empire of unified faith. Your treasury overflows with gold and silver and the enemies of the empire cower and flee at the sight of your vast legions.
>Yet, at the same time that the east has prospered, the west has declined. Waves of barbarians attacked the western empire from without and religious upheaval between Christians and Pagans weakened the empire from within. For more than forty years now the western empire existed in name only. Now ruled by barbarians the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy promoted a policy of religious heterogamy and integration between the Italian Romans and the Goths. Becoming bolder over the years, the new Gothic king, Theodahad have just executed Amalasuntha, the pro-Roman queen of the Ostrogoths and long time ally of yours in the west.
>The entire Roman world is outraged and your greatest general, Belisarius, conqueror of Africa request your permission to launch an immediate invasion against Italy. At the same time emissaries from Theodahad has arrived in the capital pleading renewed loyalty to Constantinople and to you.
What do you do?
>>46219989
Go for a vacation in Thailand.
>>46219989
RENOVATIO IMPERII
REMOVE GERMANO
DEUS VULT
>>46219989
>What do you do?
Assuming I know what I do today? Forget about the West, go East. Let Belisarius grind the Persians down to a stump and conquer Arabia. There's not much of worth, but anything that prevents 1453 is a good thing.
Maybe send Beli to Italy after that, if he feels up to the task. If not, well... 1453 was prevented and expansion to the East (closer to India) was made. Look for trade opportunities (preferably naval as to avoid Persian territory) East. Gotta get that cashmoney.
Force the Jews to return to Palistina, then relinquish it as Roman territory. That land causes way too much trouble.
>>46223256
>Return Palestina to a divided people that have effectively become a non-factor in global politics
>That will prevent the Muslims from conquering the city their prophet claimed would fall to Islam
That city is not Jerusalem FYI.
>>46219989
Has the plague hit yet? Have the Persians invaded?
>>46219989
I sodomize my catamite!
>>46219989
Nothing you can do would prevent the Fall. A strong Emperor would not suffer a strong General. A strong general would eventually usurp the Emperor. Hari Seldon and the science of Psychohistory has predicted the Fall with 99% certainty.
>>46230499
>Sodomopoloi in charge of getting shit done
Worse than Ultrafags.
>>46219989
>your greatest general, Belisarius, conqueror of Africa request your permission to launch an immediate invasion against Italy.
Frame him for sodomy and treason, and have him executed. He's obviously a threat to my power, especially if he's getting pushy and making requests of me.
>Frame him for sodomy and treason, and have him executed. He's obviously a threat to my power, especially if he's getting pushy and making requests of me
It's unfortunately pretty much exactly what happened (minus the actual execution) after Belisarius went to Italy and started kicking ass there too. Had he had the emperor's full support all the time he might have conquered all of Europe.
>>46219989
Hey Procopius wanna see me take off my head?
