Magasevetus

Magasevetus (born Ćircio Monegra Baldolianti Tervarinus; 22 November 1876 - 16 June 1950) was a Caphirian statesman who reigned as Imperator of Caphiria for 39 years from 1911 to 1950. During his reign, Magasevetus became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. He dominated domestic politics with his series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations which helped bring Caphiria out of the worst economic crisis in its history. He spearheaded unprecedented federal legislation and took advantage of the Party of the Imperium and is responsible for transforming it from a farce into a political machine. He is responsible for helping to realign Caphirian politics and defining neoliberalism in Caphiria. During the early years of his reign, Magasevetus was incredibly popular and is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in modern Caphirian history, though he has been subject to substantial criticism, most notably for his critical role in the Second Great War.

Magasevetus' appointment of Galdo Bertocca in 1931 led to the rise of Caphiric Fascism and greatly contributed to the global unpopularity of Caphiria during the 20th century. His reign was also marked by political purges in proscriptions and was known to seize power by force and contributed to a destabilized power structure. After a series of unsuccessful conquests, Magasevetus became ill and increasingly relied on Bertocca to advise him. This allowed Bertocca to wield immense power and influence. After removing all political opposition through his secret police, Bertocca and his followers consolidated their power through a series of laws that transformed the nation into a totalitarian state. By the time Magasevetus had fully recovered and was attempting to remove Bertocca from power, he had already established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means. This led to a civil conflict that overlapped with the Great War and ended with Magasevetus regaining power and removing Bertocca and his followers from power.

Immediately after the end of the Great War in the summer of 1943, Magasevetus made the decision to exile Bertocca and his supporters, however this decision was extremely unpopular as seemingly all of Caphiria was in agreement that Bertocca should have be hung as a traitor to the Imperium. As a result, Magasevetus went on a six-year hunt to find and kill Bertocca. This manhunt turned to be an exercise in futility as Bertocca seemed to be one step ahead of Magasevetus, which further embarrassed the Imperator as he was quickly losing the favor of the public he had won from the war. Fueled by paranoia from both the people of Caphiria turning on him and from Bertocca plotting his revenge, Magasevetus held a secret meeting with the Chief Executive of INS - Caphiria's domestic intelligence and security agency - to launch a covert operation to find and assassinate Bertocca. This operation culminated in the 1949 Christmas Massacres, a horrific event of mass murder and executions in which over Bertocca and 47 people - 24 of which were civilian - were killed on Christmas Day 1949.

Magasevetus abdicated on 1 January 1950 in favor of his son Magasevetus II in hopes to further strengthen Caphiria in the post-war aftermath, but he was quickly assassinated. Following his abdication, Magasevetus went into self-exile in the Escal Isles to avoid being prosecuted for war crimes. However, he died several months later from neurosyphilis on 16 June 1950. He was posthumously tried and convicted of war crimes in 1955 and his remains were moved to Venceia in 1960.

Early life
Magasevetus was born Ćircio Ubalvano Baldolianti in Heriore, the capital of the province Hagentus on 22 November 1876. The Tervarinus Estate was relatively new and did not carry the weight and prestige of other house names, but his father Erassinico Iseli had become highly influential during the reign of Niceroslav and had gained the favor and trust of the Imperator. This led to a rapid rise through the aristocracy and nobility for the Tervarinus Estate; as an expression of his gratitude, Niceroslav gave Iseli 30 acres of land to construct his own villa.

This estate, the Villa della Carnicul, is where Ćircio spent most of his youth. From an early age, Ćircio showed an interest in politics, the military, and sports and was primarily tutored by Amaurio Ulbertaglio of Tauricim. Despite this, Ćircio was brought up in an authoritarian and militaristic household and expected to "show an exaggerated deference to his father"; both in private and public. Ćircio always had to get down on his knees and kiss his father's hand before being allowed to speak, even as an adult and he was expected to stand to attention and salute whenever his father entered a room.

As a result of the close relationship between his father and Niceroslav, Ćircio was able to observe the inner workings of Caphiric politics and frequently spent time traveling the Imperium with Niceroslav. This relationship began and grew partly as a result of Iseli's influence and partly due to the fact that Niceroslav had no heir apparent. In 1892, on his 16th birthday - the age of adulthood in Caphiria - the first major sign that Niceroslav was considering having Ćircio succeed him came in the form of naming Ćircio his adopted son. He was also given the honorary title, Duke of Heriore. The appointment of this title caused friction between Ćircio and his father, who was becoming increasingly paranoid that he was losing his son to the Imperator.

In an effort to control Ćircio, his father attempted to restrict his movements from the Villa della Carnicul which ended in a fist fight between the father and son. In 1895, Ćircio pleaded with Niceroslav to remove his father as his advisor and as head of Tervarinus Estate. Niceroslav agreed to do so two conditions: the first was that he would have to wait until his 21st birthday to assume the role of patriarch over his family; the second condition was that when the new millennium began, he would take the title "princeps juventutis" ("the first amongst the young") and become Niceroslav's heir apparent to become Imperator. Ćircio agreed and spent the two years before his 21st birthday finishing his education in Venceia.

In 1897 - on his 21st birthday, Ćircio assumed control of his family's affairs and become patriarch of Tervarinus Estate. Immediately after, he dismissed all of his father's friends from the Villa della Carnicul, sold off his father's racing horse collection (which numbered 1,000 horses) and cut down on extravagances to pay down the debts that his father had incurred in his wild efforts to subvert his son. Additionally, he banned his father from stepping foot on any property owned by the Tervarinus Estate until he ascended as Imperator. Ćircio spent the next 3 years traveling across the Imperium and frequenting other countries, gaining a reputation for his promiscuity, romantic affairs, and developing a penchant for fighting.

Early career
Ćircio returned to Caphiria in late 1899 to celebrate the new year and millennium, and to formally become heir apparent to Niceroslav. The arrangement that existed between Niceroslav and Ćircio was highly unusual for the time; there was no immediate investiture ceremony (tradition dictates that once a successor has been chosen, the Imperator must argue his choice before the Senate who will pass a final judgement) and without the Senate's explicit blessing there was no legitimacy to the line of succession.

Nevertheless, after the festivities of the new year concluded, Ćircio was indeed given the princeps iuventutis title by Niceroslav. Immediately thereafter, Ćircio was then enrolled at the Moncalieri Academy of Military Science in Magenevum Province, the Imperium's most prestigious military academy. As is the tradition upon graduating, Baldolianti was commissioned Legionary Grade I the following year. Serving within Legio LXIII, Baldolianti was mainly deployed out to the Imperium's various overseas possessions, most notably in Escal and Zaclaria.

Ćircio's tour in Escal was relatively uneventful and spent most of time engaging in peacekeeping.