Council of Ministers (Caphiria)

The Council of Ministers, also known as the State Ministries, is the collection of trans-parliamentary bodies that administer the functions of the executive branch of the Government of Caphiria. The council consists of several ministries, each led by a Minister of State, referred to as a praeministrro. These ministers are appointed by the Imperator, acting upon recommendations from the Prime Minister. The Council of the Imperium, which represents the core executive authority in Caphiria, includes all senior ministers. Additionally, under-secretaries may participate in its meetings at the discretion of the Prime Minister. The Council is supported by various minor officials and magistrates, tasked with executing the administrative functions assigned by the Prime Minister.

The responsibilities of a Minister of State extend to advising the Senate on issues within their purview, directing public funds towards both assigned and autonomously set goals of their ministry, and offering counsel to the Imperator as part of the Office of the Imperium. The role of a minister is notably demanding, encompassing both advisory and administrative duties. Inability to execute key governmental functions subjects a minister to potential prosecution by the Senate, jeopardizing their position. While the Imperium can operate temporarily without the Senate's functions, the absence of operational ministries would lead to a systemic collapse.

General structure

The minister of state (praeministrro) is the head of the ministry and is a member of the political class. The minister proposes the appointment of directors with general functions to the Office of the Imperium, directs administrative action, and takes decisions on important matters. There are also ministers without portfolio for competencies that do not come with budgetary autonomy (e.g. the Minister for relations with the Senate).

The Under-secretary (sottosegretario) is also appointed from the political class. The title derives from the fact that the minister is a Secretary of State. However, the Under-secretary is only an assistant to the minister - they aid the minister but cannot act in their stead. A ministry may have multiple nder-secretaries. Under-secretaries do not have any powers of their own, but only those delegated to them by the minister. If the powers conferred on an Under-secretary comprise a whole department of the ministry, they may be given the title of Deputy Minister.

The Executor of the Ministry (conglomeratio ministro) consists of the minister of state, the legislative office, and the specific secretariat, each with its own head. When the government changes, the members of the cabinet also change. The cabinet is empowered to assist the minister and coordinate activities of the ministry.

The board of administration (conglomeratio administratum) is chaired by the minister and composed of general directors and elected representatives of the personnel. It has an established structure and powers related to the organisation of laboring the ministry.

The General Secretary (secretarius generalis) is only present in some ministries (e.g. the Ministry of Diplomacy) and has powers relating to coordination.

Subdivisions of the ministry include departments, general directorates, divisions, etc. They are different in every ministry. Usually, the department is the highest level sub-division of the ministry, and the general directorate (direzione generale) is a second-order sub-division. In some ministries, however, there are no departments and the general directorates are the highest level sub-division. The basic units of the ministry are the divisions (divisioni), which may be divided into sections (sezioni).

Ministries of the Imperium

There are currently 15 distinct Ministries tasked with administering the Imperium. The magnitude of their responsibilities and corresponding size vary wildly from only a prime minister, with a single duty to fulfill, to thousands of minor officials who must micromanage resources for the empire.

Ministry of the Treasury

Minister: Supreme Financier (Mensarius Superbus)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $308,626,500,000

Administered by the Supreme Financier (Mensarius Superbus), the Treasury controls distribution of aediles and quaestores throughout the Imperium. An aedile is a magistrate with access to the treasury itself in Venceia - no one other than the 120 aediles can withdraw public funds. Their job usually consists of approving funds to various institutions, such as other ministries, in the central government. There are two Censores who audit their activity throughout any given year. Withdrawals made without the necessary approval, either from the Senate or another Ministry, are grounds for dismissal and prosecution.

A Quaestor is a magistrate employed to collect taxes from the Praetors across the provinces. No money can enter the treasury without documentation from one these ten scrupulous bureaucratic accountants. Their other tasks include tertiary auditing for the withdrawals from the Aerarium (federal treasury), representation of the Treasury in the Senate or other assemblies, and other kinds of financial auditing to identify corrupt or erroneous transactions.

Aside from its magistrates, the Treasury employs approximately 50,000 ratiocinatores (accountants) to keep the financial records and organize future spending according to legislative intentions. These people perform the groundwork of the Treasury, ensuring that no debts are forgotten, no money disappears, and no project is left to the wayside.

As for the Mensarius Superbus himself, his duties include administering treasury workers in general, writing the national budget according necessities and plans recorded by his accountants, and speaking with the Imperator on financial matters as a primary member of the Officium Imperialis.

Ministry of Justice

Minister: High Judge (Magnus Judex)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $881,790,000,000

Administered by the High Judge (Magnus Judex), the Ministry of Justice arranges the album judicum - a list of every licensed jurist eligible for judging cases in a lawful court - and decides on the time and place of sessions in every Caphirian court of law. The Supreme Court (Tribunalis Ultima) in the center of Venceia is presided over by the Magnus Judex and is the highest court of Caphirian law. Decisions ruled as part of a proceeding in the Supreme Court cannot be overruled elsewhere, unless the relevant law is changed by senatus consultum. Presiding over this court is one of the primary functions of the ministry.

Ministry of Diplomacy

Minister: Chancellor of Diplomacy (Proprinceps)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,068,645,500,000

Administered with little oversight by the Chancellor of Diplomacy (Proprinceps), the Ministry of Diplomacy is responsible for Caphiria's diplomatic, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs (as well as for providing support for its citizens who are abroad) and is responsible for public security, immigration affairs, prisons and road traffic safety.

The Ministry of Diplomacy is split into two principal offices: The External Office and Internal Office, responsible international and domestic relations respectively. The External Office has the ability to deploy diplomats to foreign governments or institutions and maintains foreign embassies in other countries. Within the External Office is the Department of Immigration, which manages issues of immigration and asylum for refugees. The Department of Immigration is also responsible for the regulation of immigration and preventing illegal immigration as well as the integration of legal immigrants (professionally, linguistically, housing).

The Internal Office is responsible for the general interior security of the country (with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes), including maintaining control over the, the granting of identity documents (passports, identity cards) and driving licenses through the Provinces, acts as liaison between the central government and local governments, and handles the logistics and organization of political elections, at the national and provincial levels.

As the most knowledgeable minister regarding foreign affairs, the Chancellor of Diplomacy is often the closest advisor of the Imperator - historically, it was his status as the emperor's second that required such knowledge of him. When the office was created in 1860 CE, it was also the second most powerful position in Caphiria, allowing its occupant to make decisions on behalf of the emperor. Today, it remains one of the highest offices in a nobleman's cursus honorum, often sought out instead of Princeps Senatus. The control and responsibility of a position tasked with managing the relations of Caphiria with foreign powers is hard to understate. In practice, a Proprinceps often makes the decision whether or not to pursue closer or more aloof relations with another country and, in the past, they have had far-reaching consequences for the first contact with other nations.

Ministry of Culture

Minister: Master of Culture (Maecenarius)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $923,780,000,000

Administered by the Master of Culture (Maecenarius), the Ministry of Culture has an essential role in fostering the national and international reputation of Caphiria. This ministry serves three goals: to promote and celebrate Caphirian culture, to foster scientific development, and to oversee the preservation and adaptation of Latin and protect other languages. Every national sporting event is planned and executed by this ministry, as are major appearances of an emperor to the public. National celebrations such as the anniversaries of the founding of Caphiria are also designed completely by members of the Ministry of Culture.

However, social planning is far from the ministry's only function. It is also tasked with guiding the development of Caphirian cultures, enforcing the Latinisation of smaller cultures into the "red cloth" of Caphiria. This is less important now than it was during the colonization of Ranaella or the annexation of Veltornia but it remains an ongoing task. Last but not least of its functions is the direct management of public media such as the national newspaper, public radio, nationwide television broadcasts, and international distribution of Caphiravian television, radio, movies, and other pieces of culture.

The Ministry of Culture also coordinates the scientific development underway in centers of research throughout the Imperium, deciding where to allocate research grants and what to prioritize for national research programs. A distinct position, Doctor Naturalis (Scientific Specialist) exists to directly update the Senate and Imperator on current and breakthrough science. With regards to the preservation of Latin, The Ministry of Culture employs the Praeministrum Linguarum (Minister of Languages), principle responsibilities including the translation of documents and laws into the regional legal languages, employing mediators in international events, and selling translating services to major guilds.

Ministry of the Tribunate

Minister: Plebeian Tribune (Tribunus Plebis)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: N/A

Solely consisting of the Plebeian Tribune (Tribunus Plebis), this ministry exercises the jus intercessionis, i.e. the veto against harmful legislation. The sole purpose of the Tribune is to prevent legislation that disenfranchises the class of society which cannot hold other offices or that roots economic inequality in the law. A Tribune is elected every lustrum from well-educated members of the Plebeian Order by popular assembly of the citizens of Caphiria.

Because of this, the Ministry of the Tribunate is not considered a ministry in the formal sense and it is purely a ceremonial honor to empower the plebeian class; it does not show up on the governmental budget and the Plebeian Tribune is payed a salary from the government as a non-parliamentary magistrate.

Ministry of Defense

Minister: Prime Minister of Defense (Praeministrum Custodiem)

Headquarters: Arzercavalli, Magenevum

Annual budget: $6,739,395,000,000

Administered by the Prime Minister of Defense (Praeministrum Custodiem), the Ministry of Defense is responsible for coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the Imperial Armed Forces. The Ministry is the single largest employer in the world with over 9.5 million active-duty servicemen and women. Adding to its employees are 3,000,000 national guardsmen and 19 million reservists - the largest reserve force in the world. The Ministry also employees an additional quarter million civilians, bringing the total to over 30 million.

The Ministry of Defense is divided into the Department of Military Defense (DMD) and the Department of Civilian Defense (DCD); the former contains the three subordinate military departments: The Department of the Legion, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. The DMD also contains the two sub-branches of the military: the Urban Cohort, and the Praetorian Guard. The Department of Military Defense has statutory authority to conduct all the affairs of the uniformed services. It organizes the peacetime distribution of soldiers throughout the Imperium, sets military wages, communicates military policy to the public, and mediates requests for broad military policy from the Senate with the strategy of the Legion high command. This places the ministry at the forefront of the discrete machinations of the Imperial Armed Forces, being informed of every operation needing government clearance. There is no rank with greater military authority than the Legate of Military Defense - only the Imperator and General of the Imperial Armed Forces have equal command and imperium (executive power). The Legate of Military Defense has the unique access to the empire's satellite defense network and shares access codes for other weapons of mass destruction (e.g. Particle Bomb) with the General. As a way of coordinating national policy with military strategy, the Legate of Military Defense attends every meeting of the Caetus Legati (Gathering of Legates) where both global strategy and local tactics are designed.

On the other hand, the Department of Civilian Defense maintains the static defenses of the Imperium, initiates new defensive installations on land, and organizes the peacetime distribution of national guard units across all castra (miitary bases). The National Guard of the Imperium (Castellanae Imperiae) also falls under the jurisdiction the DCD, making up the only civilian force within the military. The Department of Civilian Defense is responsible for ordering, coordinating and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the defense policy. It determines and oversees: the policies of defense, military alliances, the conduct of war, and most importantly he expenses and budget of the military. The Department of Civilian Defense also contains the Office of Advanced Research and Development (O-ARD), which is responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.

The DMD is led by the Legate of Civilian Defense, who despite having civilian status, is the most influential civilian within the military of Caphiria. The Legate of Civilian Defense is a component of the Caetus Legati, representing athe dministrative and civilian backbone of the Caphirian military-industrial complex.

Ministry of Intelligence

Minister: Director of Intelligence (Rector Ingenio)

Headquarters: Pharos, Magenevum

Annual budget: $1,121,133,000,000

Administered by the Director of Intelligence (Rector Ingenio), the Ministry of Intelligence is tasked with conducting various intelligence activities to support the foreign policy and national security of Caphiria. It does this mainly though the use of its Auctores (Agents), who are highly skilled in espionage and other clandestine operations. The Ministry of Intelligence is divided into two departments, one for civilian intelligence and one for military intelligence.

The Department of Military Intelligence (DMI) contains agencies such as the Office of Naval Intelligence, Office of Reconnaissance, Office of Geospatial Intelligence, Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Office of Analysis, Resarch, and Intelligence, and the Intelligence and Security Command. The DMI also includes the Urban Cohort, Praetorian Guard, and the Office of Security Affairs.

Running counter to the DMI is the Department of Civilian Intelligence (DCI), the collection of intelligence agencies that operate outside of the military of and report directly to the Imperator and the Caetus Legati. The two principal agencies of the DCI are the Advenarum Administratio (AA) and the Internum Notitia Securitatis (INS).

The AA, commonly known as the Advenarum, is tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the Imperator. The Advenarum has no law enforcement function and is mainly focused on overseas intelligence gathering. Unique to the Advenarum is that it is the only agency within the government authorized by law to carry out and oversee covert action at the behest of the Imperator with carte blanche discretionary power. It exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as Task Force VII and Division DCCLXXVII. On the other side, the INS is responsible for domestic intelligence and security within the Imperium and serves as the principal federal law enforcement agency. The INS is the leading counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization and has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes. Unlike the AA, the INS operates exclusively within the borders of the Imperium and employs about 66,200 uniformed staff, including about 4,000 special forces troops.

Censorial Assembly

Minister: Censores

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $314,925,000,000

The 18 Censores (Censors) of the Comitia Censoria (Censorial Assembly) are sacrosanct magistrates tasked with safeguarding the principles of the Constitution of Caphiria. Their task is to oversee the executive for constitutional violations, intercede against legislation which violates constitutional law, prosecute magistrates for poor moral and legal conduct, and uphold public morality by example and education.

Ministry of the Church

Minister: Chief Augur (Princeps Auspex)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $4,199,000,000

Administered by the Chief Augur (Princeps Auspex), this ministry coordinates the Ecclesia Catholica with both the government in general and the Pontifex Maximus. Most of its interactions with the government is to deliver administrative commands from the Imperator to the College of Pontiffs but it also provides theological counsel from the expert College of Augurs, official Catholic theologians and interpreters of the Bible.

Ministry of Infrastructure

Minister: Minister of Power (Praeministrum Navitas)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,816,067,500,000

Administered by the Minister of Power (Praeministrum Navitas), this ministry maintains the infrastructure for power generation in the Imperium, establishes safety and efficiency standards for the electrical power industry, and oversees the operations of nuclear reactors, hydroelectric dams and power lines.

The Ministry of Infrastructure also includes the Department of Transportation. Administered by the Magister Vehicularum (Master of Transportation), the Department of Transportation maintains infrastructure for public transportation within the Imperium including viae publicae, subterrae, caeliporta, navaliae, and railways, safeguards the blueprints for the imperial transportation network, sets speed limits when changes are necessary, and monitors the flow of traffic throughout the Imperium. Most autoki (cars) manufactured in the last decade have autonomous features that plan routes and directly control the vehicle. These systems interface with a network run by the Ministry of Infrastructure that tracks the movement of every vehicle on a public highway by a combination of satellites surveillance, global positioning systems, and automation software. Communication between millions of cars at once ensures incomparable efficiency on all public highways despite frequent interaction with human drivers.

Ministry of Education

Minister: Minister of Education (Praeministrum Ludones); Most Educated One (Eruditionis)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,601,918,500,000

Co-administered by the Eruditionis (Most Educated One) and the Praeministrum Ludones (Prime Minister of Education), this ministry establishes the national curricula for upper schools (universales et academiae) and lower schools (grammatici) , enforces absolute adherence to this school system, sets entrance standards for students and professors at the university and academy level, confers teaching licenses and sends delegates to directly hand out degrees to graduating doctores.

Ministry of Health

Minister: Minister of Health (Praeministrum Valetudo)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,049,750,000,000

Administered by the Minister of Health (Praeministrum Valetudo), the Ministry of Health is responsible for protecting the health of all citizens of the Imperium and providing essential human services. It is responsible for governing healthcare, the healthcare industry, public health and health-related NGOs. The Ministry governs and regulates the activity of medical professionals, hospitals and clinics in the country.

It also developed the Imperial Food Pyramid to guide food and meal planning. The divisions show healthy intake of water, fruits and vegetables, starches (bread, biscotti, pasta, etc.), protein (meat, cold cut meats, eggs, fish, etc.), milk and dairy, and occasional uses (oils, sweets, and alcohol). The pyramid is intended to represent the variety of foods eaten over an entire week, averaged into daily portions.

The responsibilities of the Ministry of Health also extend to the governance of federal medical facilities, medical education and manpower development, epidemiological and environmental health monitoring and health statistics, control of infectious diseases, development of health regulations, the development of federal standards and recommendations for quality assurance, and the control and licensing of drugs.

Ministry of Environment and Horticulture

Minister: Minister of the Environment (Praeministrum Truculenter)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,259,700,000,000

Administered by the Minister of the Environment (Praeministrum Truculenter), the Ministry of Environment and Horticulture is responsible for the development of the Imperium's policy on environment, sustainable development, fight against climate change and the direction of a more ecological and productive social model. It oversees, manages and regulates the farming, fishing, food, animal welfare, bio-security, and forestry sectors of the Imperium. It also supports the agricultural production, soil conservation, rural development, agricultural market regulation, and financial stabilization of the farming sector.

The Ministry is also responsible for developing the legislation in water, shores, environment, hills, meteorology and climatology affairs, though it does not deal with weather manipulation. It also is responsible for: suggesting and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the agricultural, fishing and food policy; managing the hydraulic, maritime and terrestrial public property; representing the State at the international organizations belonging to these affairs; coordinating the actions, cooperating and setting up the design and the implementation of all the policies which affect the Provinces and the remaining public administrations' competencies sphere, promoting their involvement through the organizations and the suitable resources.

Because of the scope of its responsibilities, the Ministry of Environment and Horticulture is structurally one of the densest ministries within the Imperium. It maintains over a dozen departments and it also has some autonomous bodies which belong to the Ministry but they have their own budget.

Ministry of Meteorology

Minister: Minister of the Climate (Praeministrum Caelum)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,154,725,000,000

Administered by the Minister of the Climate (Praeministrum Caelum), the Ministry of Meteorology is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. It is also directly responsibility for the usage, maintenance, and upkeep of the weather manipulation systems and protocols that are used across the Imperium.

The Minister of the Climate is not able to alter any of the three principal weather manipulation tools at their own discretion; any modifications to the systems must be approved by the Senate as climate control is strictly regulated.

Ministry of Commerce and Trade

Minister: Minister of Commerce (Praeministrum Commercium)

Headquarters: Venceia, Caphiria

Annual budget: $1,049,750,000,000

Administered by the Minister of Commerce (Praeministrum Commercium), the Ministry of Commerce is concerned with economic growth and commerce development and promotion in Caphiria. It is responsible for regulating foreign trade, civil industries, metrology, technical standardization, and has jurisdiction over a broad policy area, containing Caphiria's industrial/trade policies, energy security, control of arms exports.

Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, and helping to set industrial standards. This Ministry of Commerce and Trade's main purpose is to create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and improve standards of living for all citizens within the Imperium.

Within the Ministry of Commerce and Trade is the Department of Labor, which is responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, reemployment services, and some economic statistics. Its purpose is to foster, promote, and develop the well-being of the wage earners and job seekers, improve working conditions, advance opportunities for profitable employment, and assure work-related benefits and rights.