Adonerum

League of the Adonerii Foedus Adonerii
14th Century BC–570 BC
The extent of the Adonerii League in ca. 750 BC The extent of the Adonerii League in ca. 750 BC
Capital	Vetera
Common languages	Ancient Latinic
Religion	Old Latinic
Government	Kingship (city-states)
History
• Established	14th Century BC
• Defunct	570 BC
Today part of	Caphiria Lucrecia Urcea

Adonerum was a thalassocratic ancient Latinic civilization, that originated on Urlazio. It included the partial coastlines of what is now Urcea, Caphiria, Cartadania, and even as far south as modern-day Lucrecia, though some later colonies loosely associated with Adonerum would reach to the northern Odoneru Ocean. The civilization spread out of the Latinic homeland on Urlazio primarily across the Odoneru Ocean and Urlazian Sea from the 14th Century BC with the latest colonies being founded in the 700s BC. The Adonerii civilization was a loose confederation of city-states formed as the Adonerii League primarily for the purpose of common defense and expansion of trade opportunities, with a council of local rulers convening infrequently and irregularly in Vetera to discuss the affairs of the League. The League experienced its peak in the 7th century BC and sharply declined due to the growing influence of periphery cities (particularly Urceopolis and Venceia but also others, like Cana) in addition to a series of changing climates and natural disasters on Urlazio, which would destroy many cities like Vetera and render several others crippled as urban population centers dissolved into scattered rural villages. Throughout its history, the cities of the Adonerii league would clash with the Latin tribes of the interior of Urlazio, and the series of natural disasters and economic decline strengthened the Latins of the interior relative to the Adonerii over the course of 650-570 BC. The final dissolution of the league came with the conquest of Urlazio by the interior Latins who formed the Latin Kingdom, after which time the cities of Levantia formed the new league-state of Great Levantia.

Over the course of its long history of colonizing, Adonerum became the primary driver for the spread of Latinic culture during the Latin Heroic Age, with its colonies forming the early nuclei of cities for civilizations that would later become Urcea, Caphiria, and Burgundie. It additionally had far reaching consequences as initial settlers spread north and east into Levantia and west into Sarpedon, forming a wide variety of Romance cultures along the way alongside strains of more pure Latinic cultural heritage in some of these areas. The Latin language and its various regional versions - in addition to Romance languages it spawned - form the nucleus for language in northern Sarpedon as well as southern Levantia. Most scholars consider Adonerum the direct forebears of the Latino-Romance civilizations prevalent in the 21st century.

History

In around the 19th century BC in Urlazio, new regional tribes such as Adonerii, Pandrian, and the Idauronians began to appear. Although these new tribes shared many similarities with Urlazic-speaking peoples on the adjoining coast of Sarpedon, 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 was 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 was 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 16th 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 and Cartadania with minor colonies as far afield as 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. During this time, the Adonerii began rapid overseas colonization. The motivations for expansion are varied, but most historians believe that the Adonerii sought less equatorial climates which would allow increased agricultural output which, in turn, would allow for increased population in the core regions of Urlazio. Many scholars also believe the related theory that Urlazio's agricultural output could not keep up with the growing population of Latins, who were overpopulating the island.

The first Adonerii colonies outside of Urlazio were erected in around 1500 BC in northern Sarpedon (modern Caphiria) across the Urlazian Sea, whose relatively gentle waters allowed easy seafaring to the continent. The earliest Adonerii settlers lived among other Italic peoples on the extreme coastal littoral of northern Sarpedon, and most scholars believe these people were eventually integrated into the Adonerii colonial society. Archaeology suggests that colonization increased in pace around 1200 BC, with new cities being established all along the shores opposite Urlazio as far west as what is today northeastern Cartadania and as far east as northeastern Thessia. During this time, the Adonerii came into more heavy contact with the Ancient Istroyan civilization, adopting many of its cultural and social mores. Many of these Latinic colonies coexisted with Istroyan ones in Thessia and Halfway. During this later portion of this period, Crotona and Tromarine were also site of Adonerii colonization.

Evidence suggests that the first Adonerii forays into Levantia - traditionally viewed as the "second wave of colonization" - came just after 1000 BC, with it being widely believed that centuries of interaction with the ancient Istroyans had improved the seafaring abilities of the Adonerii, making regular traversals of the Sea of Canete possible. Early settlement was largely isolated to small colonies being established opposite Crotona on what is today Urcea's western shore. Unlike the establishment of their cities in Sarpedon and adjoining the Istroyan world, however, the colonization of Levantia was a very violent process actively opposed by indigenous Gaelic peoples, which slowed the pace of inward expansion. The mostly navigable Urce River became the primary corridor of the Adonerii into the Levantine interior and also became the center of Latinic peoples in Levantia, with Gaels having significant presence in the interior away from the river even throughout Antiquity. The city of Urceopolis was established relatively far inland at a favorable location and quickly grew as it was one of the few safe and reliable trading hubs in the Levantine interior. The equilibrium of power in Levantia seems to have shifted to the Latinic settlers around 700 BC, as new colonies were established in rapid succession between 700 BC and 500 BC in Levantia while several new ones were also built during that time in Sarpedon. Many of the legends of the Latin Heroic Age came to be during this period.

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. The changes in climate destabilized the economic and political situation in the Adonerii world abroad, as colonies began to resent obligations for grain levied upon them from their nominal allies Urlazio. It is estimated that more Adonerii Latins lived outside Urlazio than on it by 650, straining relations. Many overseas cities left the league in the 590s BC, and in 570 BC the remaining members of league itself were conquered by the emergent Latin Kingdom, which unified the island into a single Kingdom for the first time in its history. After the dissolution of the league the cities of Levantia gradually fell under the sway of Urceopolis, which would come to establish Great Levantia in time. 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, under whose sway Caphiria would be established.

Society and culture

This Arx, found in Lariana, is typical of the structures built in the countryside by the Adonerii.

The Adonerii are well known for construction of Arxi, a kind of tower-fortress. These structures dot Urlazio and some remnants can be found in Urcea and Caphiria as well, though due to the more heavily populated nature of those countries many were disassembled for their stones. 18th century historians and archaeologists originally believed these to be some kind of religious-burial site as remains were found around most Arxi, but scholars today generally agree that they were for military application, and that they served a function in the Urlazio countryside enforcing a system of control. The majority of the Adonerii cities were on the coast of the island, and political control over the semi-nomadic and pastoral tribes of the interior proved difficult. The Arxi are thought to have served as administrative "checkpoints" for passing herds in addition to generally exerting control over inland smallhold farmers by the nature of their presence throughout Urlazio. While the Arxi do not seem to have played a prominent role in the life of most Adonerii, due to their archaeological prominence and many surviving examples they are the structures closest associated with the ancient civilization.

Religion

In archaeological survey of Adonerii cities and settlements, temples and cultic structures are exceedingly common. The Adonerii pantheon already included many divinities that were subsequently encountered in the earliest periods of Great Levantia before the growth of the Cult of the Stategod. The Adonerii elevated gods related to the sea and rivers into pride of place.

Economy

Further information: Pre-modern global trade

The Adonerii cities were primarily fueled by mercantile activity and Odoneru Ocean commerce, establishing extensive trade networks that stretched from Vallos to Ultmar. The Adonerii civilization at its peak was not especially involved in natural resource extraction, instead relying on native trade partners in places where it colonized to provide those materials to the trading network. Urceopolis, as an example, entered prominence as a central trading point where Gaelic tribes provided raw materials to the Adonerii in exchange for foreign goods and coins. The furthest flung colonies of the Adonerii, then, served as "extraction points", where the goods of locals could enter the ancient Occidental world without need for large sprawling empires or the need for large groups of slaves, which many Adonerii successor states would later employ.