Bosporos (Ætas ab Brian)

From Alternative History

European provinces

Nations to speak of

Named after the straits beside Byzantium, the Hellenistic Bosporan kingdom was a large exporter of fish, slaves, and wheat for centuries, however much of the territory remained undeveloped and unexplored. It passed in and out of direct Roman influence and 'client-kingdom' status until 870(117) when its bedridden king Anaxigoras II officially willed his kingdom: "To the king of the Romans Hadrian and his successors". Anaxigoras' son Amnozos ruled Bosporos under the patronage and protection of Hadrian and Antonius until his death in 900(147) when Cæsar Antonius formally annexed the kingdom as part of the Empire. Even at this point, as part of the most powerful empire in the known world, Bosporos would remain underutilised and backward. It would be lost to Ostrogoth invaders in 940(187); partly reclaimed by Diocletian in 1046(293); reformed into a client-kingdom again in 1161(408) and then mostly lost again to the Huns in 1198(445); retaken by Zeno in 1229(476); and lastly collapsing from the stresses of the Miasmata in 1603(850).

A prince and his small army coming from the Kievan Rus, Sengus, reunited the cities in 1698(945) and brought stability and a temporary revival to the region's very profitable agriculture and fishing exports; managing to maintain a respectable military.

When Rome began to recover from the Miasmata and Germanicvs/Octavivs Civil War, Sengus was approached by the kingdoms of Parthia in 1705(952) to make a defencive agreement together with the Visigoths' Georgia-Caucus. History is uncertain if Sengus agreed to the defencive pact because he was simply anti-Roman, if he wasn't thinking ahead since at the time Rome was still weakened, or if he believed that Rome could be dissuaded from re-expanding into old territories. When Rome invaded the Buwayhid Confederation in mid 1712(959) Sengus sent a force of 3500 to join the Visigoth's 8500 as the pact called for. the 12 000 man force was defeated by 300 Legionaries and retreated back to Bosporos. With Parthia again under Roman control Sengus at first tried to repair relations with the Empire. This appeared to have succeeded and trade with Rome was re-established. Sengus's heir Mojomeir (r.1732(979)-1742(989)) began having difficulties with Rome as it began making demands of tribute and trade rights, eventually leading to Rome's reconquest of the kingdom 1740(987)-2(989).

With Bosporos again a Roman province, this time it received some greater attention for development, reaching similar civilised levels with the majority of the other provinces by the late 20th century(mid-13th). However, it was still poorly defended, and suffered more than any other Roman province during the Menguren Wars.