Peace returned to the heart of the empire after the great Anatolian war.
Old courtiers, one by one, faded from the stage of history. Abdullah retired soon after, and passed away quietly in his sleep. His seat as Chancellor was taken by Alexios, who guided the realm for a decade before meeting his own end, handing power entirely to the second generation. Cerberus, too, stepped down from his post as commander of the Varangians, the weight of his old wounds finally breaking him. He withdrew to his estate, entrusting the imperial guard to younger hands.
The young Emperor Leo, now firm in power after that epic struggle, began a series of sweeping reforms. He encouraged childbirth through subsidies and honours for large families, lowered taxation to revive trade, restored the Silk Road routes to the east, and promoted the cultivation of cash crops across Anatolia.
