Survival of the Roman Empire

The Retaking of Italy
Julius Nepos, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire is overthrown by Magister militum, Orestes, who then proceeds to installing his son Romulus Augustus as Emperor. Legally, Nepos is still the Western Emperor and Romulus is not recognized by the Eastern Emperor Zeno.

The next year, Orestes and Romulus are killed by Germanic mercenaries who've become dissatisfied at not being allowed to take lands in Italy. The Germanic chieftain Odacer then takes control of all Italy.

Julius Nepos appears in Constantinople and requests the help of Zeno in order to rightfully return Roman rule to Italy and to regain his throne. It is unknown what Nepos says, but he successfully convinces Zeno to help him in this goal. Together they raise up a massive army and march on Italy.

In 1131 AUC, the armies of Zeno and Nepos take Rome and force Odacer and his forces south. The people of Rome rejoice, and the remaining Roman Senators declare Zeno and Nepos as saviors of Rome.

Zeno and Nepos then further pursue Odacer south, and he eventually flees to Sicily. Later, in 1132 AUC, Odacer's army is crushed at the Battle of Messena, and he and his commanding officers are crucified to make an example of what happens when Roman Rule is defied.

Consolidation of Power
Julius Nepos came to show himself as one of the most capable and competent rulers that Rome had had in a very long time. In his time he effectively reestablished Roman authority throughout the entire Italian peninsula and passes a series of reforms that were intended to rebuild and strengthen Roman institutions.

Nepos also sought to remove the need of the Roman army to use so many mercenaries to defend its borders. He upgraded and strengthened the military and in less then 10 years was able to drive the Franks out of Gaul and reestablish Roman rule in the province.

Julius Nepos also passes social reforms within the city of Rome effecting the whole of Italy. He rebuilt the senate and filled in with Roman citizens from all the regions of Italy. He also reestablished the Patrician class and created strategic alliances aimed at stabilizing his state against outside Gothic and Germanic forces.

To further improve Roman institutions Nepos sponsored massive building campaigns throughout Rome, Italy and Roman controlled Gaul. This greatly boasted the economy and by 1145 AUD Rome was quickly rising in dominance to once again rival Constantinople as a bustling Urban metropolis. People began to once again move from the surrounding country sides into the city due to the great increase in the number of available jobs.

Barbarian Uprisings
Since the time Nepos retook Gaul in 1139 AUC the Germanic tribes located in Germania east of Gaul have been attacking the fragile borders of the new Western Empire realized by Emperor Nepos. The newly trained and updated Roman army has so far been able to hold them back and hold the frontier but Nepos was aware that this would only be able to last for so long until the barbarians were once again successful in destroying the empire.

In 1142 AUC the two Roman Emperors, Julius Nepos of the west and Flavius Zeno of the East met in the Port city of Messena to discuss the ongoing barbarian onslaught that was threatening the empire. They devised a plan to ensure a buffer state separated the majority of the barbarian factions from actual Roman interests.

To accomplish these goals, Zeno employed Flavius Theodoricus (Theodoric the Great) who was king of the Ostrogoths currently living as foederati withing Eastern Roman territory. Theodoricus' men were becoming increasingly difficulty for the Romans to manage and this gave Zeno the perfect opportunity to arrange a deal that would benefit both sides.

Theodoricus was to command a combined force of his army along with some allied Roman legions to stabilize the lands bordering Gaul and Italy. He would instate a buffer zone that would be beneficial to the Romans and he would be allowed to rule the lands he took as king. This would be a protectorate of Rome and Theodoricus would rule under Roman authority.

In only 7 years Theodoricus was able to accomplish more then the Romans could have ever hoped for. They wanted him solely to set up a buffer state in order to get the Germanic threat away from Roman borders. Instead what he had successfully done is unite most of Germania under the Ostrogoth kingdom. In this 7 year campaign Theodoricus successfully crushed rival chieftains and implemented many Roman laws and organizational systems to the regions. He all but whipped out the German threat to Rome from the east.