Patraja: Difference between revisions

Patraja, officially the Confederated Republic of Patraja and Her Constituent Provinces, is a country positioned in the south of [[Sarpedon]], neighbored by [[Cartadania]] and [[Volonia]], and by unoccupied land to the west. Its natural borders are mainly defined by the Pelian Channel and its offshoot minor rivers, with the river Iunctus running through the northern capital of Patraja, Karneja.

Patraja is considered to have been founded as a conceptual area by the Latinic General Marcus Patrinius during an expedition to the South of the continent, wherein the general seceded from his kingdom to the north and formed his own Kingdom of Patraea. The artificially-constructed state soon fell to rampaging Slavic invasions to the nearby east, but the name had endured after the general's death in battle as the title of a local region in the area.

===Latin Migration and The Zanaeslav Union [??? BC - 260 BC]===

Patraja was originally settled as a Latin-Slavic warground after the collapse of the short-lived Kingdom of Patraea. In this melting pot of aggressive warring areas and mixing tribes, the unique Latinic-Slavic culture of Patraja first emerged in peace during the Zanaeslav Agreements, or the Union of Peace, which lasted from 312 BC to 289 BC. This tribal agreement of union and confederacy was a general peace and customs agreement and began the first sightings of a unique Patrajan culture, with an increase in migration and intermixing between the native Slavic and immigrating Latin peoples. The northern sections of Patraja in particular, though sharing a distinctly-Latin lean, were the first to unify into what was considered a true Patrajan nation. This area, perhaps in accordance to this, also partook very little in the chaos that followed after the collapse of the Agreements. Through various Latin, or perhaps Slavic, provocations unknown to historians at this time, the Agreements collapsed into tribal anarchy once more, lasting from 289 BC to 260 BC. Not much is known about the early history of the Latins and Slavs within the southern Sarpedonian continent, and even less is known about the various details leading up to the first signs of organization, but after 260 BC, more clear signs of both Patrajan culture and governance emerge.

===The First Kingdom and Republic of Peoples [260 BC - 70 BC]===

In 260 BC, the Patrajan tribal anarchy seemed to have come to a halt for the last time in history. A tribal chief, likely from a northern section of the region, named Anaeron, managed to gain control over the former-Union tribal lands through a mixture of bribery and war. Many attribute this seemingly-quick and absurdly-large endeavor to the man's cutthroat political strategies, though not much is known. After the conquest of most of the preliminary areas of what is considered Patraja minor today, Anaeron formed the Kingdom of Patarija, which he ruled from 260 BC until his death in 235 BC. This period of time began what is generally referred to as the First Golden Age of Patraja, where the actual culture of classical Patrajan as many know it today was formed. With a rudimentary-but-secure border preventing further Latin migrations from disorganizing local Slavic groups, King Anaeoron promoted a vast amount of cultural interludes between the populations. Many historians today consider this to be one of the earliest observations of intentional eugenic actions and laws. Indeed, at the height of the push for cultural integration in 245 BC, a new set of decrees generally referred to by historians as the Marriages of Culture Laws, King Anaeron passed orders of a minimum number of inter-cultural marriages to be reached per year. At the height of these demands, an inter-cultural marriage rate of 15% was often demanded. Many historians accuse this action, along with other strange acts of tyranny, such as the ill-funded Anaeoronic Walls, as proof of a declining mental state in the first King in his later years. King Anaeron from old age and passed on his Kingdom in the first peaceful transition of power in Patraja towards his son, Maxin.

The most particular spread of Christianity occurred in Western port-towns across the Pelian Channel, where word from neighboring continents and nations spread quickly. Things escalated in 18 AC as a public and unafraid Church of Patrajan Christians was declared in the same western regions. Though officially a collection of believers, the armament and clearly-defined boundaries of the CPC made it more of a proto-statist entity in direct opposition to the pagan Second Kingdom. In 19 AC, as the CPC spread in both number and territory across the western coasts, King Valerijin declared unofficial war against what he notably described as "a pretended-area of spineless heretics." The CPC's organization and near-statehood, meanwhile, made it more of a proto-crusader state than a defensive commission of churches. Led by several local theological rulers, it can perhaps also be described as one of the first Christian theologically-based governments. The Christianization of Patraja, taking place between 0 AC and 92 AC, therefore almost directly correlated with the Churchhood-Royalist War, taking place from 19 AC to 32 AC. Patraja's Christianization, as described by foreign historical specialist Matthew Welling, was "a religious war of total conversion and total victory, rather than a spread of ideas...Patraja's origins as a nation of Latinic religiosity and Slavic toughness perhaps even started out...after the total war for religion so early in its history."

In 32 AC, former King Valerijin was brought to a tribunal of rebel Konsals, Minor Konsals, vital Christian leaders, and several theologians, and was given a choice of either death at the cross, or to renounce, repent, and spend the rest of his days within a rotating list of dungeons. Valerijin chose the former, and was burnt in public days later to a crowd of thousands.

After the essential collapse of the leadership of the Second Kingdom, the swearing of loyalty and conversion of several Konsal's from the old regime, the Church of Patrajan Christians as it was known from 18 AC collapsed in on itself. Though the country was stable, with a semi-functioning provisional government only really capable of meager tax collection and border enforcement, decisions had to be made quickly about the formation of a new Christian state. It was not, according to sources, just a matter of creating a strong state, but a matter of the conversion of the whole nation. Patraja, at its core countryside, was still a deeply-pagan nation, and revolts in an adapted guerilla-style from those areas would not bode well for the organization of a new state. Some from the time, including a local self-proclaimed Cardinal Parin, argued that "if action is not taken within the year, we will be in a slow-war against the pagans for another century."

Action was, however, taken. After much deliberation, the Church and local authorities had agreed upon a creation of a new kingdom, for the sake of continuity with the positional traditions of the Patrajan state, and to conform to the expectations of the public. The transformation of Patraja to a fully-theologian state was briefly considered, but quickly shot down by the wishes of former Konsals to keep their centuries-old powers over regional affairs. In 33 AC, the public was informed of the creation of the Kingdom of Patraja - the first use of the now-modern term for the nation. Though the name is different, the title of the Third Kingdom will be used for brevities sake.

Weeks later, the public was told news of the selection of a new King; a relatively obscure war hero whose original name, in one way or another, is unknown to this day. The man took the moniker of King Paul I of the Kingdom of Patraja, and was coronated in late 33 AC. The third, Christian kingdom of the Patrajans had begun.

==Military==

''How large is your country's military? Is it large but poorly equipped or small and elite? Does your country have a martial tradition?''

[[Category:IXWB]]

[[Category:Patraja]]

[[Category:Countries]]

[[Category:Countries in Sarpedon]]