History of Caphiria: Difference between revisions

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 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

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 bondage. Over the course of his childhood and adolescence, Lanintius participated in numerous conflicts for Caraspia; he was a successful military commander and built a loyal bond with the men he fought with. With the support from both the army and the people of Venceia, Lanintius was in a position to vie for control over Caraspia, which worried the reigning king at the time, Juscargyrus. A jealous and paranoid ruler, Juscargyrus tried to have Lanintius assassinated multiple times but ultimately failed every time. Initially, Lanintius was unfazed by these assassination attempts and continued to defend and expand Caraspia's borders. However, in 490 BC, while Lanintius was pacifying a small rebellion, Juscargyrus ordered the kidnapping and execution of Lanintius' wife and 8-year-old son. Lanintius found out about this by an official messenger from Venceia, who is said to have traveled nonstop to where his camp was. Once the word spread throughout the camp, it eventually reached the ears of the rebels who were reported to have dropped their arms and swore personal allegiance to Lanintius in order to avenge his family. People from all around the Latinic region began disavowing Juscargyrus for his dishonorable actions and rallied behind Lanintius, who marched on Venceia with a furious passion.

===The Great Civil War===

This period of time, from 1070 - 1115 is known as the Civil War Era due to the dozen or so civil wars that took place over a period of four decades as contention for leadership and political groups vied for control over the massive and wealthy state. The most famous of these was between Marius Oratonius and Quinus Sator Alercius and the subsequent war between their successors and die-hard loyalists. The Civil War Era began as a series of political and military confrontations between Marius Oratonius and Quinus Sator Alercius, both of whom were looking to shift Caphiria in opposite directions. Oratonius wanted to continue to become an empire and spread Latin culture to the known world where Alercius wanted to bring back the politically conservative and socially traditionalist Republic. This led to the state splitting into two: a monarchy in the north and a republic in the south. To complicate things further, the spread and dominance of Christianity could no longer be shunned; up until this time, the official policy towards Christianity was negative, and at some points, simply being a Christian could be punishable by death. Oratonius used this to his advantage, officially converting to Christianity in 1079. While he isn't recognized as the first Imperator to convert to Christianity due to the circumstances, he is recognized as the first person to give it legitimacy within the Imperium. Oratonius was then seen as a man of God, a man on the right side of the war. This helped him win the minds of many who did not initially support him and ultimately gave him an edge that the elder Alercius did not have on his side, the side of the old guard. The Great Civil War was a fifteen-year-long politico-military struggle that was fought over most of Caphiria, Cartadania, Pelaxia, Talionia, and even Audonia. The culmination of the Great Civil War was the Battle of Silanus, where Oratonius' army defeated Alercius'. Oratonius himself sustained heavy injuries in the battle and died shortly before victory but told his general Lucius Legarus Pius to spare Alercius if they were to capture him since he had deserted from battle after surveying the landscape and figuring he was going to lose. Pius assumed command and took over the army and wasted little time in searching for Alercius. After several months of searching, they found him hiding in the Cimisi-Extressio region of Abderia, a city-state bordering the Lacio mountains. Abderia wanted no part in the war, quickly giving Alercius to Pius and true to his word, after bringing him back to Venceia, spared Alercius' life. He did, however, strip him of his power, status, and class; effective neutering if there ever was one. Pius then exiled Alercius in 1110 and spend the next five years putting Caphiria back together after the last several decades of disarray and borderline anarchy. Pius was as intelligent in politics as he was on the battlefield, and knew that the only way to solve the issues once and for all was a compromise. The stresses and strains of those years (chronic usurpations, military insurrections, simultaneous military conflicts across multiple frontiers) exposed the weaknesses in the Caphirian Republic and the Principate, forcing a radically different approach to governance.

==The Dark Period==

===Great Schism of 1615===

The culmination of theological and political differences between the Christian north and south was 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. Over the previous centuries during the Dominate era, the role of religion was under heavy scrutiny and skepticism. Ecclesiastical papers began being published condemning the Catholic Church over a number of issues in the late 16th century, with the Catholic Church producing its own propaganda condemning Caphiria's rise of imperialism and heretical ways. The Latin Christian community was being split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political, and geographical lines, with each side sometimes accusing the other of having fallen into heresy and of having initiated the division. In 1615, the formal break occurred when Imperator Pius XII formally announced that the Basilicæ Magni, the cathedral and home of the Caphirian Church would be breaking communion to form the Caphiric Catholic Church. This led to the combination of the secular and religious authorities and a new form of government, the caesaropapacy. The caesaropapacy meant emperors were regarded as greater than other mortals, though not quite as deities in their own right, further playing into the concept of princeps. For many years after, pro-Catholic factions continued to challenge the leadership of the new Caphiric Church. These factions, and the people that supported the Catholic Church still, were known as Traditionalists and were heavily persecuted and executed under heresy laws. This period is known as the Months of Bloody Sundays as it was common practice for the Imperator to simply execute any people who were not coming to church in protest. Traditionalists were executed under legislation that punished anyone judged guilty of heresy against the Caphiric Church. Ultimately, the Caphiric Church went through a series of reformations (The Reformations of 1627) and the church was renamed to the Imperial Catholic Church. There were only a handful of modifications, namely that the Imperator of Caphiria was given a number of ecclesiastical titles: Episcopus Caphiria ("Bishop of Caphiria"), Pius Felix ("Pious and Blessed"), Santissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father"), Vicarius Christi ("Vicar of God") and was named Pontifex Maximus, giving him the ultimate authority of presiding over the Imperial Church. This was codified in the Constitution of Caphiria as well as constitutionally establishing the Imperial Church by the state with the Head of State as its Pope. As time went on, the identity of the marriage of the Imperatorship with the papacy became less clear and eventually the emperor became recognized more for his legal authority, rather than his religious one.

===Dissolution of Western Provinces===

=== Veltorine War of Independence===

==The Fourth Imperium==