The great Byzantine general, George Maniakes, stood beside his horse, stroking the beast"s neck whilst he smiled to himself. So far so good, the past few days proving stressful beyond belief, but now he could allow himself a few moments to unwind. The main threat, Michael V, former Emperor of New Rome, was gone, ferried away to a distant and somewhat bleak monastery to live out the rest of his pathetic existence in isolation. Forgotten, and blinded. Fitting punishment for his excesses – his attempts to become a new Caligula or Commodus.
There were those in the senate who demanded the Emperor"s death, to set his head upon a pike, and then have it paraded through the streets to be spat upon and jeered at like some obscene manikin from the very worst of street theatres. Maniakes resisted, kn
