Twenty Years' Anarchy

In the year 695 AD, Justinian II, the last emperor of the Heraclian line, was mutilated

and exiled to Chersonesus. In his place was crowned a military commander named Leontius.

After the latest defeats in the Caucasus, the local authorities in Lazika defected to the Arabs.

Indeed, now reunited after its second civil war, the caliphate resumed its

advance. Hassan ibn al-Nu’man was active in Africa. Without much resistance,

he conquered Roman territory and eventually took Carthage itself.

Fortunately, the imperials could count on berber allies to hinder Arab advances. Having succeeded

Caecilius, queen Dihya defeated Hassan at the battle of Meskiana. At about the same time,

a Roman expedition sent by Leontius recaptured Carthage. Now reinforced,

the troops of the caliphate besieged the city again. Outnumbered, the imperials retreated to

the Island of Crete. The capital of the exarchate was lost for good and razed to the ground.

Fearing punishment for the failure in Africa, the soldiery mutinied and acclaimed a naval officer,

Apsimar, as emperor. The usurper took the name of Tiberius III and sailed

to a plague ridden Constantinople. Benefiting from supporters inside,

Tiberius besieged and stormed the capital. As a now established Byzantine tradition,

the victors mutilated Leontius, then confined him to a monastery.

Tiberius repaired Constantinople’s

sea walls and repatriated Cypriot communities, initially moved to Cyzicus by Justinian II,

to their home island. By now, a new Theme had been created, this time for the Island of Sicily.

The emperor gave his brother Heraclius the exceptional title of Monostrategos,

giving him command of all armies in Anatolia. The latter led his

combined forces across the Taurus mountains. There, he encountered and

defeated enemy forces and raided the area before returning to imperial territory.

After this incursion, the Arabs retaliated with a counter-attack in Armenia. They

established a governor in the province as a way to assert a stronger control over the region.

In Italia, Theophylact was appointed the new exarch. At the time in Sicily,

he began the trip to Ravenna. In Rome, frictions occurred with the population. Pope John intervened

to cool off the tensions and Theophylact eventually reached the capital of the exarchate.

Armenia was a theater of competing influence between the empire and the caliphate. During

Tiberius’ reign, it was the Umayyads who controlled the area. However, the ever commutative

armenians rebelled, crushed the Arab garrison and turned to the Romans for assistance.

In Africa, another showdown between Dihya and Hassan resulted in the

defeat and death of the former. Striking a decisive blow against Berber resistance.

Meanwhile, the exiled Justinian plotted to regain his throne. He escaped Byzantine

authorities in Chersonesus and made contact with the Khazar Khagan from which he obtained

shelter and the hand of his sister. To imitate the past emperor Justinian I,

the bride took the name of Theodora. Tiberius learned of these events and wrote to the Khagan,

bribing him to get rid of the troublemaker. Two men were sent to kill Justinian but his devoted

wife warned the man in time and it was him who killed the would-be assassins. Theodora remained