novelraw Chapter 277: Outlander
Chapter 277: Outlander
The audience ceremony concluded. Guided by a eunuch, Niels stepped out of the imperial palace. Outside the gates, the civilian official Tytus had already been waiting for a long time.
"Congratulations, my lord. I look forward to working with you," Tytus said. He had also received an appointment; he was the new financial officer of the Varangian Guard.
The financial officer was responsible for distributing military pay and supplying provisions, as well as collecting the empire's share of the spoils of war. In certain special and necessary situations, the financial officer could even take over command of the guard.
The eunuch's task ended there. Afterward, Tytus led Niels toward the guard encampment, briefing him on relevant matters along the way.
Simply put, the Varangian Guard did not belong to the conventional military system. Instead, they were the emperor's personal royal guard, responsible for protecting the palace, repelling foreign enemies, and suppressing rebellions.
As outlanders, barbarian mercenaries lacked local roots and were naturally ostracized by native factions. Their only reliance was imperial power, leaving them with no foundation for rebellion. Because of this, they earned the emperor's favor, and their salaries were significantly higher than those of Greek soldiers.
Calculated out, an ordinary mercenary's annual salary amounted to two pounds of silver, provided they covered their own weapon expenses. Niels's annual salary reached three hundred pounds, equivalent to eighty percent of his total income during his time as a lord.
Furthermore, this did not even account for the emperor's bounties. Combined, Niels's annual income easily surpassed that of the vast majority of bureaucrats.
"This... this is simply too much."
Only now did he truly comprehend the immense wealth of the Eastern Roman Empire. No wonder they viewed all the inhabitants of Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, and Western Europe as nothing more than rural barbarians.Of course, the cost of living in Constantinople was equally exorbitant. A single miliaresion silver coin, weighing about 2.27 grams, could only purchase seventeen liters of wheat.
Niels used his clumsy arithmetic skills to make a comparison, discovering that the same weight of silver could buy two to three times as much grain in Britain as it could in Constantinople.
The prices of other goods were just as steep. If a mercenary spent lavishly, they would burn through their hard-earned money before they even realized it.
Suddenly, the carriage pulled over to the side of the road. Niels did not understand what was happening, but Tytus lifted the window curtain for a glance and lowered his voice. "Up ahead is the convoy of the 'Caesar', Bardas. All idle personnel must make way."
Looking at his new superior's bewildered face, Tytus gave a brief overview of the Eastern Roman Empire's political landscape.
As the supreme ruler, Michael III rarely handled state affairs himself. Instead, he delegated them to his uncle, Bardas, and conferred upon him the title of "Caesar," which essentially meant co-emperor or vice-emperor.
Niels's tone shifted slightly. "Two emperors?"
"What of it? During Diocletian's reign, he even established a tetrarchy: the Eastern Roman Empire had one Augustus, an emperor, and one Caesar, a vice-emperor, and the Western Roman Empire had the exact same setup."
Tytus suppressed the contempt in his heart and continued explaining the situation to this easily startled barbarian.
As early as six years ago, Bardas launched a coup d'état with the support of Michael III, overthrowing the regency of Queen Mother Theodora and placing her under house arrest in a monastery.
Afterward, Bardas deposed the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and nominated his ally Photios to take the position. Because Photios lacked the necessary seniority, this appointment faced opposition from multiple factions, including the Papacy in Rome.
Regardless of outside gossip, Bardas gradually seized control of the empire's administrative, financial, and ecclesiastical affairs. As time passed, his authority continued to grow, eventually infiltrating the most sensitive domain of all: military power.
After listening to the financial officer's introduction, Niels subtly discerned the man's political leanings. However, being a newcomer, he dared not express any opinions lightly, choosing instead to play dumb and bluff his way through the rest of the journey.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the guard barracks in the southern part of the city. As a royal guard in the truest sense, the Varangian Guard's station was located very close to the imperial palace, situated right in the core district of Constantinople. Its footprint was somewhat limited, resulting in a highly compact overall layout.
Entering the barracks through the north gate, a relatively open, hard-packed courtyard presented itself. It measured about two hundred yards long and one hundred yards wide, serving as a ground for various daily training exercises.
On the left side of the courtyard were the dining hall, a small chapel, a storehouse, and a public bathhouse, which was a common sight in the Eastern Roman Empire.
On the right side of the courtyard were rows of long, rectangular barracks. A decurion and his nine subordinate soldiers shared a communal dormitory. Personnel such as centurions, deputy centurions, standard-bearers responsible for the century's flag and internal finances, and buglers enjoyed their own private cubicles.
Following the direction the financial officer pointed, Niels saw several independent courtyards situated to the southeast. These were provided as residences for the guard's higher-ranking officers. They were not particularly spacious, perhaps to prevent the barbarian commanders from indulging in pleasure and letting their combat prowess atrophy.
Directly south of the courtyard lay the armory and stables. Although the Varangian Guard consisted primarily of heavy infantry, the military officers and messengers still required horses, and draft horses were needed to pull supply wagons during marches.
At the same time, there was a small door opened on the south side of the courtyard. Niels stepped outside and discovered the magnificent, azure expanse of the Sea of Marmara stretching out before him, its surface dotted with merchant ships sailing to and fro. His mood suddenly brightened.
"Phew, not a bad location. I think I'm suddenly starting to like this place."
Returning to the courtyard, the financial officer Tytus was publicly reading the emperor's royal edict. Niels observed the gathered guard members. There were twelve centuries in total; counting the grooms, servants, and other auxiliary personnel, they amounted to one thousand three hundred men.
The soldiers were generally equipped with chainmail and lamellar armor. Some of the taller, heavily built men wore two layers of armor—an outer layer of lamellar armor over an inner layer of chainmail. This was enough to render them immune to the vast majority of thrusts and slashes. Just standing there, they exuded an indescribable aura of intimidation.
In terms of weaponry, the soldiers were unaccustomed to the Varangian Axes issued by the empire. Instead, they primarily used two-handed axes or commissioned blacksmiths to custom-make Northern European single-handed swords. Given this preference, the Varangian Guard was also known as the Axe-Bearing Guard.
"My name is Niels. I imagine you all have heard my name and the tales of my deeds..."
Relying on his years of experience leading troops and the five hundred supplementary soldiers he had brought along, Niels easily took control of this army. That evening, he summoned the financial officer Tytus and three veteran centurions to inquire about the disastrous defeat the guard had recently suffered.
The circumstances were quite straightforward. During a campaign in Anatolia, the guard had been positioned on the far left flank of the front lines. Midway through the battle, they were struck by a heavy cavalry charge, throwing their formation into chaos. Subsequently, the guard fell under the siege of an infantry force several times their size, while also being repeatedly pelted by javelin throwers. They suffered catastrophic casualties until allied forces finally arrived to reinforce them.
"Javelins can indeed pierce armor, so why don't we use them?"
The guard members were generally tall and brawny, making them perfectly suited for throwing javelins. Niels felt it was necessary to supplement their arsenal with some long-range striking methods, but a certain veteran centurion quickly voiced his rebuttal:
Most weapons required the soldiers to purchase them out of pocket. Throwing spears were consumable items that needed to be repaired or even replaced after every single battle. The soldiers simply did not have the money for that.
"Is that all?" Niels looked at Tytus beside him. "Suppose I pay out of my own pocket, could we hire blacksmiths to forge throwing spears?"
"Of course you can, but your salary will not be distributed until the end of the month."
Niels could not care less. "Then find someone to borrow it from. Since you claim the commander of the guard holds such a revered status, it shouldn't be hard to secure a loan for such a trivial amount, right?"