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It took the strategos less than three days to sign a peace with the Bulgarian nobles. In truth, many prisoners were exchanged, and one could say we achieved a tactical victory… maybe. Yes, it could be called that, since many villages of the Empire were burned and many people were captured—no one knows exactly how many—although so Bulgarian villages were burned as well. The damage, however, was far more limited on their side, since the Roman population in the burned villages was greater than the Bulgarian one. The problem was that many of the raids were carried out by the strategos' rcenaries, because if Imperial troops crossed the border, it could reignite the war between Bulgaria and the Empire.
But if Bulgarians, Slavs, Cumans, or any other rcenaries did it, that was different. Bulgaria could tolerate that. So we were in a conflict that, overall, we were losing considerably.
Still, if the strategos' information was true—and it probably was—Bulgaria was having problems with its harvest and knew it would be poor. In that sense, we won, because they failed to raid the real granaries of Macedonia or reach Thrace. The entire conflict remained local, and that was the idea. Now it remained to be seen what would happen with the Bulgarian famine, if it ca to pass, since they had many other places to raid—Pannonia, Serbia, Croatia, or the plains they had originally co from—to solve their hunger or harass other imperial themata while staying away from the Thema of Macedonia. For , that was fine, because it ant I wouldn't have to see my father flayed by Bulgarian iron or my mother violated.
So, with peace signed between the powerful Bulgarian noble and us, it didn't take long for to be given permission to return ho—much, much richer.
With the peace, Leon Skleros handed two chests: one with gold and silver coins for the prisoners handed over—around one hundred gold coins and about two thousand silver coins—which was my share for the prisoners, considering I had captured two hundred Bulgarian warriors. That ant an average of about two and a half gold coins per head, which was low considering the slave prices I rembered, but they were probably negotiating to make the skirmish as cheap as possible for both sides, and I ended up paying the price for that.
That woman and her two children must have been worth their weight in gold, but unfortunately the strategos didn't have the gold to pay in advance, and since he wanted this conflict to end more than anyone, he must have been scraping the bottom of the coffers—especially while financing the reconstruction of the thematic army after the defeats of the past decade.
But the real value was in the kilograms of silver I managed to extract from Bulgaria. There must have been around three hundred kilograms, since each ingot weighed roughly two kilograms—or six Roman pounds—and there were one hundred and fifty ingots. So there had to be about three hundred kilograms of pure silver, which should be equivalent to roughly five thousand gold coins if we use a one-to-twelve exchange with gold, or perhaps a bit more. It was a quick estimate, but enough to know I had beco very wealthy.
I would have liked to go straight ho, relax, and see the chaos waiting for at my smithy, since I hadn't left anyone managing it beyond paying salaries through the end of the year so everyone would keep working and orders would keep coming in. If things had gone missing, there was no way to know now.
But I had to accompany the strategos to discuss my paynt, so we quickly reached his fortress.
Before anything else, he began reviewing reports handed to him by a subordinate, who whispered things into his ear while the strategos visibly grew irritated by the news.
"Shit… first the Bulgarians, and now they cut the budget I already spent…" I heard the strategos mutter, cursing under his breath.
He began pulling out maps of the thema, reviewing them one by one, putting so away and leaving others out, until he stopped at one he clearly didn't like and jabbed it with his finger.
"What happened here?" the strategos asked.
The tourmarches studied the map.
"It seems a large family of thematikoi has consolidated land through their contracts, my strategos… if I'm not mistaken, almost the entire family is in the thema: the father, all his sons, and—" the tourmarches began.
"That's illegal. It goes against the laws on land accumulation. Go and strip them of the use of those klēroi; only the head of the family keeps the right as a stratiōtēs. This is how problems form—by doing nothing," the strategos said.
"At once," the tourmarches replied, leaving the room.
"Can you believe it? Abusing the system… thirteen mbers of the sa family with stratiōtēs contracts, each with land to work, then transferring the rights to the father—and apparently they bribed so idiot to make it legal. It's because of bastards like these that we lost to the Bulgarians… I'll leave them in rags," he said, clenching his jaw. "Thirteen good plots of land in one person's hands. Instead of thirteen n, we have one."
"Traitors… sabotaging the war effort," I said, shaking my head.
"Right, back to business. I promised you land instead of paynt for that woman's ransom," he said, reviewing more maps. Then he looked up. "Hey… how are you with ships?"
"Bad? I've never set foot on one in my life," I replied, incredulous.
"Bah… you adapt quickly. We have problems with the damned Muslims who took Crete. That island is now a hub for slave pirates who won't stop ravaging our coasts, and that's severely reduced trade and, therefore, taxes. Now they've slashed my budget brutally. I have to cancel a lot of military orders to balance the books, and on top of that I have to send n to the imperial navy. I was wondering if you'd be interested in the position; it would save from having to send my own n there," the strategos said.
"And you want to send a rcenary with no naval experience?" I asked, staring at him.
"In most cases you'd be stationed in so coastal village, guarding against pirate raids. I don't think they'll put you on a dromōn, but we need to defend the coasts. I can't take another hit like this to the budget," he replied.
"If I accept… would you do a favor?" I asked, thoughtfully.
"That depends," he replied, folding his hands.
"Wherever you send , can you send my father there as well?" I asked with interest.
"Your father is a rankless soldier… of course I can," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Good. Then I accept," I replied without hesitation.
"Good. Now, about the land… would you be interested in land at Ainos? It's a small but fortified town, an important point for river trade on the Evros and the diterranean. That way I can place you as support in the local garrison, and I'll transfer your father there as well," the strategos said.
"Good. Thank you," I replied, genuinely relieved to finally pull my family out of the wolf's jaws—even if that ant facing pirates at sea. It was still better than the Bulgarians, who could break through the border at any mont, given the weakness of the thematic armies.
"Very well… look, choose from the marked lands," the strategos said, pointing at the map.
"I like the ones along the river to the south. All those lakes should make fertile land, I imagine…" I said, indicating the lands surrounding the Evros near Ainos.
"Fine. I suppose this will support around three thousand five hundred people. You know the conditions: the land will now be yours, but you must pay taxes to the emperor and all the rest. You are assigned to the garrison of Ainos in case of pirate activity, until I call you again if the Bulgarians move. Are we agreed?" he asked.
"Yes… thank you," I replied, standing up.
The strategos handed all the necessary docuntation for ownership of several plots of land in the area, which had belonged only to the State until now—about thirty hectares in total, including several arable fields along the Evros and a number of lakes that had ford there.
I imdiately went to my smithy to see how things were and whether it had been burned or looted. It was a good sign to see several guards posted around it. I quickly began going through the accounts for the illiterate smiths: they had devised an ingenious thod to track their work, forging small iron figures representing the objects produced. They marked them with ink and placed them on sheets of papyrus, where they simply had to be counted to tally the inco.
I cross-checked that information against the gold and silver in the smithy's chests, and it almost matched perfectly. A few silver coins were missing, but all the gold was there—probably a counting error or simple trust in what had been handed over.
So there was far less chaos than I had expected.
Finally, I walked ho to deliver the good news, though I knew my father might not like it at all.
As I entered the house, I heard voices in the dining room and moved forward while removing my helt and mail coif.
"Do you really have the nerve to be here?" I said, staring at Grigor, who was sitting next to my father drinking beer, while my mother brought in plates of hot food.
Grigor's expression changed imdiately as I t both his gaze and my father's.
"Basil… I'm glad you've returned. It's a great relief that everything is over," my father said, embracing .
"For now," I replied, returning the embrace. "For now, father… everything went well, and I was very lucky," I added, setting my helt on the table.
"Basil, we have lamb stew. Would you like a plate? We weren't expecting you, but I can give you my portion," my mother said, smiling brightly.
"It's fine, mother. I'm not hungry," I said, sitting down.
"Well, you arrive at the perfect mont, my son… Grigor's daughter—we're planning her engagent, and to unite our families I thought it would be a good match. Grigor will provide a dowry of thirty nomismata so you can have your own house and children," my father said happily.
"Oh… I see… I'm afraid that won't be possible, father. I have orders from the strategos to go to Ainos," I said with a smile, looking at Grigor. "And you do as well," I added,with the orders from the strategos in hand.
"What? How? I'm assigned to the garrison of Adrianople," my father said, pointing at himself.
"Not anymore, father. You're now assigned to the garrison of Ainos, responsible for watching the sea for pirates. We need to leave as soon as possible. I'm afraid there won't be a marriage," I replied calmly.
"You could still marry, my son… Maria is a sweet girl, and there are still years before that. This was only the idea of an engagent. Besides, your grandparents tried several tis to unite our families through marriage," my mother said, trying to diate.
"Yes… but I don't have ti, mother," I said, showing the land titles. "A landowner like must ensure his new lands are worked as soon as possible in service to the Empire—and that's a lot of work. We need to start moving imdiately," I said, placing the papers on the table.
"But… this is our ho," my father said.
"The duty of a stratiōtēs obliges you to comply, father. It's an order from the strategos," I said, tapping the papyrus.
Grigor took it and read it.
"In his own hand, Bardas… the strategos himself wrote this letter. I have no idea how you convinced him," he said, shaking his head.
"While so stayed behind doing everything they could to protect a walled city, I captured a Bulgarian noblewoman along with the children and grandchildren of Bulgarian nobles and handed them over to imperial control in exchange for compensation in land. When the strategos decided to send to Ainos, he also decided to send my father, strip him of his lands near Adrianople, and grant him land there instead," I replied with a smile.
Grigor sighed. "There's nothing to be done, Bardas… official orders. We'll see what happens when things calm down. Maria still had years before being fit for marriage anyway," he said, standing and leaving the house.
"Mother, father, we have much to do," I said with a smile. "The harvest yields will be sent to us once collected, so you don't need to prepare for that—or rather, you'll never have to worry about money again. , and I'll make sure you live better than ever."
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If there are spelling mistakes, please let know.
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