They're all revolutionaries starting trouble with Roman emperor over island in the East (6)

I believe the answer is:

orient

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'the east' is the definition.
(synonyms)

I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.

(Other definitions for orient that I've seen before include "Rising earlier" , "43 [POSITION]" , "Align (relative to a specific direction)" , "Acquaint with position" , "Align relative to compass points" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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