Ross Caesar, to be honest, it's hard to say what use such a title has.
As for the influence of this thing on Russia? It can be said that there is basically no influence. Who cares whether you are in Rome or not in Russia? You can't eat or drink. It's simply boring.
Moreover, the title of Caesar of Russia is also ridiculous. Do you want Rome to approve Rostislav's rule over Russia? This thing has to be added as "Caesar of the Romans" to be considered valuable. The Bulgarians had been struggling with Constantinople for a long time because of this.
.
But that would be recognition of the rule of Rome by foreign barbarians, which is absolutely unacceptable.
If you insist on saying that the only value of this thing is to use it to brag for the descendants of Rostislav, then nationalism will go through a wave of god-making, and some national myths will be invented, and finally it will be used to brag in the Internet era.
use.
However, if it is based on his own reputation, then it is quite valuable to do so. After all, a braggart must brag to brag about his awesomeness, but when it comes to negotiations, considering that this title is of no use now, adding this requirement is to give
Alexios raised the stakes, so he gave up the idea of claiming the title of Caesar.
It's not a big deal if he doesn't need a title. His project of making a name has long been on the road, and the printing workshops in Kiev are outputting his works every day.
Now there is a market for his works all over the Christian world. Although the total market size is very narrow, there is a market after all. Now his books are constantly changing hands all over the Christian world.
Relying on the influence of these works, his influence on future generations has long surpassed the title of Ross Caesar. He has achieved a landmark status in a series of liberal arts fields such as literary history.
Therefore, he didn't pay much attention to Ross Caesar. At most, he mentioned it when watching the race and chatting with people at the racecourse. Now it seems that Alexios has an eye on the racecourse.
But it doesn’t matter if Alexios wants to give him the title of Caesar, he is giving it to him for free anyway, so he doesn’t want it for free.
So after Rostislav reacted, he immediately brought his wife forward. If the Romans dared to give, he dared to ask for it. Zoe was obviously caught off guard, but as Rostislav's wife, she quickly adjusted.
The Grand Duke and his wife of Kiev knelt in front of the Ecumenical Patriarch, while Alexius stood beside the Patriarch. This made Rostislav raise his eyebrows. He immediately noticed the intention of this position.
Does it mean that Rus is a vassal of Rome?
Forget it, it was just a formal advantage. He was still crowned by the Ecumenical Patriarch, not suddenly replaced by the Roman Emperor. Since Alexios gave himself the title of Caesar, it didn't matter.
Many people in Hagia Sophia looked at the Grand Duke of Russia with curiosity. Many people saw this Grand Duke for the first time. Rostislav had been in this city after the war in Constantinople.
In various huge entertainment venues, in fact, apart from those who took the initiative to join in, not many Romans had seen him.
Then the Ecumenical Patriarch began to go through the formalities again, those clichés about the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the divine powers given by God. After completing these, the Patriarch put the crown on Rostislav's head, and said
After that, Rostislav could add the title "Caesar of All Russia" to his title.
After completing the ceremony, Rostislav stood up and didn't feel anything special. He just repeated what Alexios had done before. After he completed all this, thunderous cheers rang out in Hagia Sophia.
and applause.
Grand Duke Rus understood that these were not for him, but for Alexios.
Now, Rostislav finally understood what Alexios wanted. From the perspective of those who knew the inside story, this was just the emperor trying to please the barbarians who intervened forcefully, but the public did not understand the inside story.
After today's ceremony, he became a barbarian mercenary recruited by Alexios with his own prestige, and the barbarian monarch even bowed to him during his coronation ceremony.
"I was tricked a little bit..."
Rostislav muttered with some dissatisfaction, and his eyes met with Alexios. The emperor gave him a friendly look, which took away all the emotions Rostislav wanted to vent through his eyes.
But these were not harmful to him. In fact, the loss of reputation was negligible. What Rostislav did not expect was that Alexios' performance was not over yet.
"Everyone, everyone, please be quiet. We have a ceremony next."
With a wave of Alexios's hand, a boy brought up a box. The box was very beautifully made, with gold and silver threads outlining the scene of "Three Kings Coming to Court" in detail.
Seeing this box, Rostislav was stunned. He could tell at a glance that it was a relic box, and the Romans present knew better. This was a box used for top-level relics, and Constantinople
The top holy object, isn’t it something related to Jesus himself?
Everyone was quiet. This was the first time for 80% of the people to see such a sacred object. On the other side, the Universal Patriarch opened the relic box at the signal of Alexios.
"This is an autographed letter from Jesus himself to King Edessa. Even in Constantinople, where there are many holy objects, it is extremely precious. Here, we will give this holy object to Rostislav of Russia.
Vladimirovich Rurik, after this we will also select a group of saints' holy objects to be presented to the Grand Duke of Russia. May these objects with God's blessing make the Christian cause of Russia more prosperous, and may the glory of God last forever.
Stay."
"Forever!"
Countless voices shouted such sounds, these sounds were louder than ever, as if the entire dome of Hagia Sophia was shaking.
Rostislav, who had now stood aside, could only lament Alexios's good tactics in turning the sending of holy objects into a positive political event for him. However, what Rostislav did not expect was that the emperor's operation was not over yet.
"It was also here that I made a request to the church. Everyone, you all know that the armies of the pagans are now rampaging across our land. Our empire is in ruins, with death and ruins everywhere, and the empire
The treasury is now empty. Therefore, I ask the church to provide the gold and silverware in various churches to the empire and melt them to increase military expenditures."
These words were obviously unplanned. Rostislav keenly noticed that the expression of the Ecumenical Patriarch was as ugly as if he had eaten a fly. However, the emperor had already guided public opinion, and he could only agree to it anyway.
"Of course the church will provide gold and silver to the empire, but no matter what the reason is, these things are used to worship God. The empire can borrow these, but the emperor, as the borrower, must express repentance to God."
Having said this, the Patriarch paused to whet everyone's appetite, "The emperor must sleep on the floor of Hagia Sophia for three nights in unlined clothes to express his repentance to God."
Rostislav immediately looked at Alexios, but Emperor Komnenos's expression did not change at all. "Of course, there is no problem. It is what I should do to repent to God, and I will also use this to repent of the robbery."
Capital Confession.”
Alexios completely used his strength to wash away all the guilt on his head in one go. The expression of the Ecumenical Patriarch became even worse. He was beaten by the emperor again and lost another constraint.
The emperor's important bargaining chip can be said to have been lost at the expense of both his wife and his troops.
However, the next change in Patriarch's expression surprised Rostislav. His gloominess actually lasted very short, and when he made such an expression, he had his head hidden in his robe. Except for those of them who stood tall,
Being so close, the people below could not actually see his expression.
Damn, they are all human beings.
Rostislav sighed in his heart, and at the same time insisted on staying away from the political situation in the imperial capital. He did not want to quarrel with the Greeks.