Talk:History of Caphiria

The history of Caphiria has been among the most influential to the modern world, from the spread of the Latin language and Romance languages as a result to the creation of the Imperial Church to its vast contributions to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language, and society.

Caphirian history is divided into 6 distinct political ages, each having its own sociological eras:

• Ancient history (prior to 4th century BC) - covering Caphiria's earliest inhabitants and the establishment of the Latinic people

• The First Imperium (4th century BC - 890 AD) - a roughly one-millennium long period covering the formation of the city-state of Venceia in 480 BC, through the establishment of the Imperium of Caphiria in the 300s BC and its hegemony of Sarpedon, and ending with decades of political conflict and ultimately concluding with the Imperium's collapse after Bacchis Pavo Rahla seized power in 890 and attempted to reorganize the state

• The Second Imperium (900 - 1172) - Augustus Rahla attempted to restore political stability by establishing the "Second Imperium", which was supposed to be a hybrid government that pleased both the ambitious younger generation who wanted a populist government and the elder aristocracy who wanted to preserve the centuries-old institutions like the Senate. This government was plagued with issues from the start and quickly reignited more conflict which lead to lots of unrest and political splintering and culminated with the Great Civil War, a brutal 45-year civil war lasting from 1070-1115 which saw the collapse of the Second Imperium

• The Dark Period (1172 - 1283) - Following the Great Civil War, barbarians began attacking the weakened empire; the Senate agreed to let most of its provinces become pseudo-independent states controlled by local warlords while it usurped control over Venceia and effectively reverted back to being a Republican city-state. Eventually, Șerossaccir Odobricci, a Latino-Slavic warlord of Truřov (one of the established warlord states), began a successful military campaign of conquering his neighbors and reuniting the lost provinces of the empire. Șerossaccir would eventually march on Venceia and conquer the republic but rather than sacking the city he stands outside of it and accepts, under force of arms, the title of Imperator from the Senate, who also passes a bill that makes Șerossaccir the legal heir of the last recognized Imperator, thus establishing the Third Imperium in 1283

• The Third Imperium (1283 - 1782) - This period is marked by the reunification of the state, the creation of the Constitution of Caphiria, and the establishment of dozens of Latino-Slavic dynasties and cultural/political institutions. At the same time, this period features the Great Schism of 1615, where a break of communion between what are now the Levantine Catholic Church and the Imperial Church of Caphiria occurred. The Great Schism lead to the dissolution of the Western Provinces and the independence of countries such as Cartadania in 1621, Pelaxia in 1618, and Aciria in 1625. The final blow to the Third Imperium was the Veltorine War of Independence in the late 18th century, in which Caphiria lost its eastern provinces.

• The Fourth Imperium (1782 - present) - After the Veltorine War of Independence, the Imperium went through a major reformation period. The Senate expunged most Slavic dynasties and institutions and re-established Caphiric ruling dynasties and families, as well as forming the National Assembly and eventually creating the Corcillum.

Prehistory

The origins of Caphiria trace back to a geographic region called Latium that encompasses the southern part of Levantia and the northern part of Sarpedon. The region of Latium played a pivotal role in the development of a number of diverse cultural groups and civilizations. The lands of Caphiria were first colonized in a stable manner during the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic by people migrating out of the Latium area and across the Urlazian Sea. These settlements, usually of small dimensions, were generally built on hills and circumscribed with fortifications. The economy of these settlements was mostly based on agro-pastoral activities metallurgy and trades. After a period of considerable uniformity from north to south, the settlements began to show a process of regionalization. Starting around the 15th century BC, new regional tribes such as Adonerii, Pandrian, and the Idauronians began to appear. Although these new tribes shared many similarities with the preceding proto-civilizations, especially funerary customs, they also exhibited their own innovations. For example, Pandrian culture is identified by their hut-shaped burial urns; urns of the Idauronians are plain and biconical and were buried in a deep shaft. The hut urn is a round or square model of a hut with a peaked roof. The interior is accessed by a door on one of its sides. Cremation was practiced as well as burial. The style is distinctive. The hut urns were miniature versions of the huts in which the population lived, although during this period they also developed the use of stone for temples and other public buildings.

By the 14th century BC, however, the Adonerii tribe became the prevalent culture and would spread and dominate the region, laying the foundation for the Adonerii civilization. The civilization of the Adonerii, known as Adonerum, was a thalassocracy spread across the partial coastlines of what is now Urcea, Caphiria, Cartadania, and Burgundie. Adonerum was organized into city-states, with each city-state functioning as a politically independent unit; there is no archaeological evidence proving that the Adonerii viewed themselves as a single nationality. Moreover, the Adonerii were primarily united by the use of the Ancient Latinic language. As Adonerum spread further inland through trade and colonization, Latinic city-states such as the Olvucchorso and Lomincori tribes, the Veteraii people, the Herelaosics, and the Kastiasuns would begin to flourish and eventually compete for territory. Despite their frequent internecine wars, the Latinic city-states maintained close culturo-religious relations throughout their history. These typically manifested in the form of complex festivals with highly specific routines. These elaborate rituals had to be performed with absolute precision and, if any procedural mistakes were made, had to be repeated from the start.

Adonerum would reach its peak around the 9th century BC when a confederation of several Latinic city-states formed the Adonerii League. Although there is no consensus on which cities were in the league, Olvucchorso, Lomincori, Vetera, Urceopolis, Toulonium, Portus, Coria, Arelate, Aarteia, Philaridon, Venceia, and Barduli are generally considered to be part of it. The Adonerii League was created primarily for the common defense against other Latinic tribes and the expansion of trade opportunities. It was governed by a council of local rulers that met infrequently in the city-state of Vetera, which became the de facto capital. The League was an early example of a "world economy"; they were among the greatest traders of their time and owed much of their prosperity to trade. At first, this trade was internalized within the league itself but quickly expanded as trading and colonizing spread across the Occidental world. Because of their expansive network of city-states and colonies, the Adonerii were able to trade a wide variety of things: wood, slaves, glass, dyes, textiles, silver, tin, gold, bronze, wine, and more. The Adonerii established commercial outposts throughout the world, many of which still exist today. As Adonerum's wealth and influence continued to grow over the next several centuries, strategically important city-states began to grow their own influence and become more important than the league itself.

The Adonerii League fell into rapid decline in the 7th century BC due to a series of changing climates and natural disasters that destroyed key trading cities and gave rise to other cities that would quickly outgrow the confederacy (particularly Urceopolis and Venceia). The first notable event occurred in 631 when Andromaleos, a submarine volcano in the Urlazian Sea erupted, and a catastrophic volcanic eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 wiped out several key cities. Ashfall from Andromaleos choked off nearby plant life, causing starvation of the local population. Some sites were abandoned or settlement systems significantly interrupted in the immediate aftermath of the eruption. As the Adonerii were a sea power and depended on ships for their livelihood, the Andromaleos eruption likely caused significant economic hardship to the League. Several other natural disasters occurred over the next century, continuing to negatively impact Adonerum and its ability to recover. By the 600s BC, a series of natural disasters had ruined Vetera and crippled Adonerum which led to a power vacuum, and dozens of smaller tribes like the Agaro, Visustrati, and Camplectați broke out for control over the territory. In 570 BC, the Adonerii League was formally dissolved after which time the cities of Levantia formed the new league-state of Great Levantia. Two major city-states emerged as successors to Adonerum: Urceopolis in the north would settle in Levantia and Venceia in the south would settle in Sarpedon.

The coastal city Venceia was established in 814 BC during the golden age of Adonerum after a large Latinic tribe settled in the area. Venceia took advantage of the power vacuum left by the Adonerii civilization, quickly asserting its dominance and becoming an established city-state, and within a few centuries and had begun colonizing in its own right. After the fall of Adonerum, the city-state of Venceia called itself Latinic, effectively birthing the Latinic people. The Latinics claimed to be the direct successors to the Adonerii, as they share the same language (the Latin language evolved from Ancient Latinic), ancestry, history, and culture. The Latinic civilization approached colonization differently than their Adonerii predecessors; instead of relying on a network of city-states, they relied on Latinisation, the use of acculturation, integration, and assimilation of newly incorporated and peripheral populations. This strengthened and spread the use of the Latin language and the Latin culture across the Sarpic continent. However, the region was plagued by constant warring factions and this time was marked by chaos and political instability.

This regional instability was exploited by a Latinic general by the name of Lanintius. Lanintius was born in Venceia in 527 BC during a five-year interregnum, during which he was sold several times into slavery. Over the course of his childhood and adolescence, Lanintius participated in numerous conflicts for Venceia. He was a successful military commander and built a loyal bond with the men he fought with. After a failed assassination attempt carried out by Venceia in 502 BC, however, Lanintius rallied all of his supporters to pledge their allegiance to him, and that he would rule the future. Lanintius went on a series of decisive battles, sacking numerous towns and cities across the coast. In 493 BC, Lanintius unsuccessfully tried to storm Venceia. He would try two more times between 493 and 491 BC, finally sacking Venceia in 490 BC, at 37 years old. Lanintius spent the next decade continuing to conquer neighboring cities and towns until he had carved out a decently-large chunk of the northern Sarpic coast.

In 480 BC, Lanintius founded the Kingdom of Caphiria.