I feel like I’ve tried EVERY option and yet I can’t get this outcome 
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Thank you so much! I’ll let you know about that. There’s going to be some more coverage of the simultaneous alliance and struggle between the populist faction backed by the Tribune and the matrician faction backed by the Consul within Iudia which I think you’ll find interesting.
The Empress is definitely an authoritarian ruler who thinks power should be centralized within the imperial apparatus, so there’s shades of Justinian there, especially given she does delegate policy-making authority to certain confidants such as the MC rather than micromanaging Iudia’s governance. Some of the characters I’ve taken bits and pieces from a variety of places to make, like the Empress who broadly represents the “soldier emperor” type that Rome and Byzantium had a complicated relationship with, others are directly inspired by particular people in history.
The pseudo-constitution thing is of course not inspired from Roman history, considering Rome had an unwritten constitution and fragmented body of law (which is where the Code of Justinian comes in again). But I thought there was no reason why someone such as the Consul who is bent on clawing back power for the Senate from a powerful imperial apparatus couldn’t come up with the idea. Whether she succeeds is something the MC will determine, of course.
I’ll repost the guide for this route, if it isn’t working as intended let me know so I can look for any bugs.
At character creation, choose a male or trans female character (if you choose a sexuality that isn’t attracted to women, you’ll need to put a point in Subterfuge), then when prompted select that you enjoy the Empress’ intimate favor. At the end of the Training Yard or Library sequences select the dialogue option where the MC comments that Augusta has too much of them in her. You’ll be asked to confirm this on the subsequent page.
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Will ROs descriptions be added to this page? It would be great to learn more about them and who they are.
There’s only one canon path and that’s being best parent to Augusta, and no one can tell me otherwise.
A little tangential, but I wonder if there are eunuchs in this story. They are quite a staple of Eurasiatic empires, and have had a large degree of influence in any given period, especially during the Byzantine Empire (there is not enough time in the day to mention all the eunuchs who held high office). Since they were employed because they lacked the necessary (*cough) “prerequisites” (*cough) for holding the lead position itself, I figure they would fit neatly into the context of Iudia.
Question is now, again off-the-track I go, will there be a possibility of a Glorious Revolution (establishment of parliamentary/Senate supremacy over the monarchy), or even a Charles I situation (ruler gets executed ala Louis XVI)? If the former, long live Res Publica! If the latter, however, Ides of March anyone?
I don’t see Julia bending before the Senate, so the only way remaining would be to, well, have her executed. So, in either scenario, she is out of the picture. Then what? Restore the Republic? Have Augusta become a sort of constitutional Empress? Have someone else, someone potentially more sympathetic to the Senatorial tradition( wink wink nudge nudge) take over? So many juicy possibilities, all full of HUGE drama and HUGE historical repercussions within the world of Shattered Eagle.
Now comes the time where I attempt to guess historical persons from whom Julia traces her traits. First that comes to mind is Aurelian (270-275), since he was clearly a quite good general (Restorer of the World, after all), but he did get assasinated quite early into his reign, so lacks longevity.
Additionaly, it is hard to pinpoint if Iudia is in 3rd century Crisis mode (aka the time where Rome liked civil wars, a lot), or is rather in a post-Diocletian period, where civil wars take place less often and there is a certain limited continuity between dynasties (Constantinian or Theodisian dynasties). If the former, I would put forward the underrated Gallienus (253-268) as potential inspiration for Julia, since he removed even farther the Senate from military power by appointing at the head of armies only Equestrians, when until then the custom was for Senators to have it. This would go well with Julia’s dislike of the Senate. Yes, most emperors didn’t particularly like the Senate, but not many actually moved against them.
If the latter, there are many possibilities, starting from Constantine I himself and ending with Theodosius I (we don’t talk about Theodosius’ successors, palace emperors don’t fit Julia). They are all monotheistic worshippers, so like Julia, and also active field commanders.
Now we go into the byzantine Byzantine history (yes, that is a pun, hang me if you must). And the first inspiration that comes to mind is the very first Byzantine soldier-emperor, Maurice himself (582-602). HEAVILIY focused on the military (he even wrote a book about it, still available today). So focused, in fact, that he got killed for it. Apparently, having your men campaign in the middle of winter north of the Danube is not a pleasant experience.
We skip a few…centuries and we arrive to Nikephoros II Phocas (963-969). Bloody brilliant general, one of the greatest Byzantiun ever saw, but also really, really unconcerned with much else. Deeply religious (some even say he is a proto-crusader), perhaps even too religious for the aristocracy’s liking, also authoritarian to the point of disregarding public opinion and the egos of the elites (which is a big no-no). So authoritarian, in fact, he turned against him his own allies and had him killed.
And, of course, finally, we have Basil II the Bulgar Slayer. Again, heavily focused on the military (so much he didn’t care to marry and have an heir of his own), religious as per the norm, great general, and a really ruthless person (he is called Bulgar Slayer for a reason; 15.000 blindings after defeating the enemy is not something you see often).
Anyway, as a conclusion, it is highly likely that Julia herself, besides having her own traits, derives some of her personality from multiple historical characters. We still lack information about whether she undertook reforms or not, but it seems she was busy for most of her reign with stabilising the empire/ defeating opposition and opponents, and I doubt she changed much in the structure of the state. Most likely, that role will fall upon the Prefect.
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Sure! I can probably take a good deal from the Codex entries they have for it.
Ah, another excuse to nerd out. I’ll take it!
First off, for eunuchs, there are no doubt eunuchs in the imperial bureaucracy just like there were in the Byzantine bureaucracy, but they aren’t nearly as institutionalized. For a Watsonian explanation, it’s because the calculus is different. Eunuchs were trusted with the apparatus of state because they were seen as emasculated, not true competitors for the throne. Byzantines had an obsession with the “wholeness of body” being a qualification for Emperor, which explains the habit of mutilating deposed emperors or claimants for the throne (though this wasn’t foolproof, like Justinian II crafting a golden nose prosthetic and taking the throne once more, which is kind of boss, ngl) Eunuchs were reviled for being sneaky and blamed for terrible things and the assassination of Emperors, but there was never a eunuch Emperor for a good reason. Now, in Iudia, the masculinity of men is not really a threat to the matriarchy, and as such eunuchs are not a very common phenomenon. If anything, making eunuchs might be seen as improving the social status of men, which is not what much of the powers that be want.
The Doylist explanation is that if eunuchs were as institutionalized in Iudia as they were in Byzantium, the male!MC would probably be one, and I didn’t want to do that from a writer’s perspective.
On a potential glorious revolution/monarchial head-loss…we shall see what happens, won’t we?
Now, for your guesses on Julia’s inspiration, she has a bit from a lot of places. The destruction of Cadanu for instance was inspired by Titus’ (funny bit of irony there, no?) destruction of Jerusalem, though obviously an even more extreme event.
Aurelian was one of them, as the Empress has spent her reign patching the Empire together, one rebellion and invader after another, but the biggest inspiration by far was in fact Basil II. His authoritarian rulership, constant and effective military campaigns, his piety, and his ruthless cruelty towards his enemies. She also only has a single heir, much like Basil only had his brother. I studied 11th century Byzantium a lot for my minor so Basil was a good example of the strengths and flaws of the “soldier Emperor” (For all that his victories are praised, there’s a reason why the Makedonian dynasty was doomed by his rule).
I would say the Empire takes pieces from the Principate and Dominate as I’ve mentioned before, but we’re much more in a post-Diocletian era. As will be shown in the next flashback, the Galerian dynasty (to which our dear Emperor Consort belongs) ruled Iudia for several decades prior to Julia taking the throne. It was her unwilling marriage to Titus that ended up giving her legitimacy as a continuation of Galerian rule, in fact, which is why she hasn’t been able to get rid of him.
As for reforms, Julia is authoritarian and military-minded, but unlike some of the soldier Emperors, she is canny enough to know where the limits of her expertise are. That’s why she has the MC as her confidante, to delegate authority to those trusted (as much as she can trust anyone) few with more skill and experience in areas of policy-making. So the potential of reforms does primarily stem from the MC, not her.
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Julia is married to the nephew of the former empress as a political move and the previous empress was assassinated, upon which Julia marched her legion to take power by force of arms. This does not seem like fantastic dynastic separation to me, and reeks of the Crisis period and its civil wars.
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Felt kind of bad for Titus at first, but that was before he was transphobic
Now he can eat shit lmao
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Titus actually needs an award or something for the amount of flaws he has 
, brother is a walking, breathing red flag, can’t wait to see his reaction as I slowly take everything he holds dear, not even his art shall be safe! (if given the opportunity of course)
welcome to the club
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I mean, it’s not like we stole his wife. He abandoned her willfully. The only reason they are together is for political maneuvering.
She slept with prefect on her wedding night.
I don’t think it counts as abandoning her when she never gave him a chance.
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She doesn’t have to give him one though.
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I will say all of this will be crystal clear in the next flashback.
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Never said she did, but in that case he can’t be blamed for “abandoning” her when their marriage was already dead before the vows were read.
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Shower Thought: There are other ROs besides Julia. No joke, my brain just didn’t acknowledge the fact they existed until after I went to buy some 
.
My deepest apologies to Plinia, Ceto, Amalrik and Darius.
Now that I laid them out and I think about it, are their names references to Pliny, Cato, Alaric and Achaemenid Dariuses?
Now that I laid two famous Senators’ names and I think about them too, is there a cursus honorum in Iudia? Does Julia hold a consulship herself from time to time? I do remember reading about Roman Emperors (and heirs) liking to reinforce their auctoritas through consulships. If that’s the case, will Augusta get to hold one such position in the story, eventually?
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Lol, by virtue of being a pre-established romance and head of state, Julia does play a bigger role in Chapter I. But Chapter II will focus less on the imperial family and more on the broader cast of characters and deepening your connections with them. I’m already 25% through it, which is kind of nuts given how little time off I’ve had to write with this past week and this coming week. You can probably expect Chapter II in the third week of May, at this rate.
Pretty much, though they’re mainly inspired by different historical figures or pastiches of historical figures. Some are almost 1:1, others lean more towards OCs I’ve spun from whole cloth.
Not as much. There’s more separation between the Senate and the Empress in Iudia, having maintained a bit more independence than the Senate did at this period of Roman history. The Co-Empress title is what she’ll be holding throughout her heirship, which I always thought was a neat feature of late-Roman/Byzantine politics. Kind of a fusion of a deputy to delegate to and a ruler-in-training.
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Senators often complained about emperors taking too many consulships, and emperors later abolished the civilian consulship so as not to risk an ambitious consul showing them up (and to abolish the last vestiges of the republic) so it’s cool that in this setting, the Senate has managed to keep the consulship for itself.
Re: names, Amalrik also brings to mind the Amaling dynasty of Ostrogothic kings. It’s a cool name.
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The Senate is definitely more independent here than it was in the real 4th/5th century Rome, mainly so that they can be a real power bloc to be allied with. What happens next, we’ll see!
It is! I’ve mainly referred to him as the Legate as both useful short hand for the reader in the very beginning, and also because he’s a man with two names and two peoples, caught between worlds. I’ve enjoyed writing him in Chapter II so far for sure.
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That’s excellent! There’s some recent scholarship suggesting the Senate was more influential in late antiquity than we previously thought, but yeah they were never truly independent — they needed the emperor to give them public office, which their very identity as public servants depended on. Otherwise, they were just generic rich folks and not different to any other rich folks in the Empire.
Which brings to mind that discussion with the consul about provincial appointments. Naturally Consentia would understand the importance of office holding to the Senate’s self-identity and independence. I liked the one scholarship option that essentially maps out to the imperial (military) versus public (civilian) “senatorial” provinces. The empress didn’t seem too pleased about it though XD.
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Oh that’s interesting! I had thought that the conflict between a more powerful Senate feeling its oats and the Imperial apparatus would be interesting. Ahistorical, yes, but hence the fictional setting lol.
That is what I was thinking writing that option, and yeah, the Empress is going to be displeased but she wouldn’t be asking the MC to deal with them if her position didn’t need to be shored up. What she wants is to break the Senate, as she explains, but she’s pragmatic to know when to take a hit in the interests of her long term power.
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Do you know where that’s mentioned? I don’t think I caught that, and I want to see the context of that conversation for sure!