Kommodos III

Holy Emperor and Autocrat of the Aromans and Equal-to-the-Apostles Kommodos III
Kommodos' Official Photo
Holy Emperor of Arome
Incumbent
Assumed office 14th March 2005
Prime Minister	Gregorios Traiektonos
Preceded by	Theodosios VI Makrembolitissos
Personal details
Born	Kommodos Mikhael Iakoumos 8th of March, 1943 (81) Adramittion
Nationality	Tagmatine
Spouse	Theoktiste Iakouma
Children	3
Parent(s)	Theofylaktos and Laodike Iakoumos

Kommodos III is the Holy Emperor of the Greater Holy Empire of Tagmatium. Born Kommodos Mikhael Iakoumos, he was elected to the Leopard Throne on the 14th of March, in the aftermath of the Civil War of 2005. He has risen from relatively humble origins, as the son of a minor minister, to become the ruler of Arome. Kommodos has led Tagmatium through several crises, such as the Tarragat Island War, the AdSoc War, the Great Europan Collapse and the Sentist War. He also was a driving force behind the Treaty of Chisinau, when Sovereign Imperium of Machina Haruspex and Tagmatium finally put aside their centuries-long feud and signed an alliance. Through this period, Tagmatium has once again become one of the great powers of Eurth and the nation has seen a steady rise in prosperity and standards of living.

During Kommodos' reign, there has also been a focus on environmental policies, with efforts to reduce Tagmatium's use of fossil fuels continuing and investment in renewable energy increasing significantly. His rule has also been marked by a level of militarism, with an increasing amount of the nation's governmental budget going towards the military and the Tagmatine Armed Forces readily intervening in foreign nations abroad. The military has been a key supporter of the Holy Emperor, something which no Tagmatine monarch could afford to be without. The start of Kommodos' reign did not see the Senates reconvened after the Civil War and the political freedoms of the Tagmatines has generally fallen. However, an annoucement in May 2020 suggested that Kommodos was planning on re-introducing democracy, with the Senates of Arome, Europatorion and Tagmatika to reconvene. As yet, there has been no concrete date set. The Anglian War postponed attempts to bring democracy back to Tagmatium and it became the largest crisis of Kommodos' reign.

Early Life

Born on 8th of March, 1943 in Adramittion, at the height of the Long War, where parts of the bureaucracy of the government had relocated. Kommodos Mikhael Iakoumos is the second son and third child of Theofylaktos and Laodike (née Neopolitissa) Iakoumos. Theofylaktos was a hypologothetes (Anglish: under-minister) in the Logothesion ton Barbaron (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), one of many in one of the largest ministries in Arome, and was little more than a minor functionary. His grandfather, famously, was merely a provincial coal merchant, if a relatively successful one. This fact has often caused conflict with the more aristocratic elements of Tagmatium's political elite.

Kommodos spent his early years in Adramittion in the west of Tagmatium, where some of the administrative parts of the Imperial Government had been moved after the Shelling of Europatorion at the start of the Long War. There is often a propensity amongst Aromans to create almost hagiographic accounts of their rulers' lives, but the truth is that Kommodos was not especially remarkable. Kommodos was a good student at a respected but impoverished provincial school. He then attended the University of Heiropolis, which was not as famous as the major universities but known as a centre of learning, especially for those headed into bureaucratic anonymity in the vast organisations of the government.

Career

Early Career

After graduating, he followed the example of his father and went into service of the Holy Imperial Government. He worked his way up through the ranks of the Logothesion tou Dromou (Anglish: the Ministry of Post), the interior ministry of Tagmatium. Kommodos attained the position of Logothetes tou Epanorthotiou (Anglish: Minister of Rectification) and was responsible for overseeing the postal censoring programme. This was not considered to be a glamorous role and one suited to someone who was neither aristocratic or particularly well connected. Kommodos came to privately support the government-in-exile based in Euandria, finding the increasingly secular and brutal rule of the Rule of the Admirals intolerable, especially after the crackdowns against pro-democracy protestors in 1989. Ultimately, Kommodos was able to use his position of postal censoring minister to aid the coup against the Admirals and support Theodosios Makrembolitissos' attempt to gain the Leopard Throne. This was primarily done through subverting the censoring of letters, which helped to spread support for Makrembolitissos and make the wider population aware of the excesses of the military regime. Ultimately, much of the army and the air force, consisting mainly of professional soldiers tired of serving a regime they felt did not act in their interests, revolted against Admiral-Emperor Methodianos XX. After a brief gun battle in the capital, Methodianos was convinced that resisting would cause a wider war and abdicated. The Epistrageion (High Command) invited Theodosios Makrembolitissos to take the throne.

High Official

After the overthrow of the Admiral-Emperors, he was appointed as the Khartoularios (Anglish: High Chancellor) under Theodosios IV. This was both a reward for his support for the now-Holy Emperor but also because he was one of the few ministers of the old regime who could be trusted immediately. As Khartoularios, Kommodos was viewed as a cold and distant figure, preferring to be in the background whilst Theodosios and the Mesazon (Anglish: Prime Minister) Maurikios Amfonos were the more visible of those in the highest offices of state. Theodosios became very popular amongst the people of Tagmatium, known for both his genuine love for his people and his willingness to improve their lives after years of economic stagnantion. Amongst the first actions instituted by the new government was attempting to heal the fractured country. Although there had been very little violence during the regime change, as Theodosios' coup was virtually bloodless, Tagmatium was still divided. The Holy Emperor favoured mass pardons as a way to bring the country back together. Kommodos is said to have opposed this, favouring harsh punishment for those who had led the oppression of the Aroman people. The infamous Political Military Police (Laimiaic: Politiki Stratiotiki Astynomia, PSA), the secret police of the old regime, was disbanded and much of the personnel tried and imprisoned. This included the commanding officer, Leon Basilikos, who was imprisoned for life. However, this caused some discontent amongst the pardoned members of the old regime, as Basilikos was viewed as merely a soldier serving his superiors, especially since Methodianos was allowed to retire to a monastery as a monk.

The first main controversy was the establishment of the Esoteriki Epitheorisi Pliroforion (Anglish: Internal Intelligence Inspectorate), a secret police in the mould of the PSA, in 1997. It was set up to monitor those who might try to weaken the new regime but was explicitly a temporary measure and it was championed as a necessity by Kommodos, who drew on his experience as Logothetes tou Epanorthotiou. It has never been disbanded. Later, a young, almost unknown scion of the ancient military and aristocratic Kommenoi family, Filipos Kommenos was appointed Kouropalates (Anglish: Chamberlain) in 2002, in order to help smooth the relationship with the armed forces. The four led Tagmatium as it recovered from the decades of the Admirals' rule. During this period, Tagmatium followed something of an isolationist tack, although Kommodos would have prefered that the country set itself back on the wurld stage. The largest blow to Theodosios' government was the death of Patriarch Bonifatios VII of Trapezon in 2004 and the events that followed. The Patriarchate of Trapezon was long considered to be the most conservative part of the Englightened Aroman Church and it was seen by both Iakoumos, Amfonos, Kommenos and Theodosios as an opportunity to install a more pliant patriarch. They undertook a conspiracy to have Amfonos appointed to that role, through rapid tonsuring, appointing as a priest and then election as patriarch. This sent shockwaves through the establishment of the Church but quickly backfired - Amfonos, now Nikolaos IX, became as much a hardliner as his predecessor. If not moreso, as he had something to prove.

Civil War of 2005

The assassination of Theodosios in Petrion on 28th of January, 2005, sparked a civil war. Kommodos led Tagmatium through this conflict and showed he was much more than a background player in Tagmatine politics. It was a brief if brutal conflict, that saw much of the Basilikoploimon, the Tagmatine Navy, rebel, alongside roughly a third of the Basilikostratos, the army. Crucially, the Basilikoaeroporeia (the Tagmatine air force) remained loyal and air power won out over the rebels, although there was also very little support amongst the civilian population. The main cause for the rebellion was a combination of discontent amongst the members of the military that had been part of the government of the old regime, as well as the manner of the appointment of Nikolaos IX. It had aimed to set Leon Basilikos on the Leopard Throne. In the aftermath, a general election was held to fill the vacant Leopard Throne. Riding high as the leader of the loyalists during the Civil War, Kommodos won election to the Leopard Throne and became the new Holy Emperor and Autocrat of the Aromans and Equal-to-the-Apostles on the 14th March 2005.

Personal Life

Kommodos Iakoumos was married on $date to Theoktiste Iakouma. Together they have 3 children and x grandchildren.