Ascesian Empire
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The Ascesian Empire (IMPERIVM ASCESIANVM) was a large state that covered most of Ascesia at its peak and controlled north-western Lestria during the 1st millennia BCE and CE for approximately 1,200 years before its decay and partition into the Western and Eastern Ascesian Empires. It is known has the largest contiguous empire to have ever existed on Eshraval and it had a deep influence on world history as it allowed for the spread of Jakarism to Ascesia—unchallenged ever since—and Ascesian languages over Ascesia and Lestria and also up to the far lands of Ereana where the empire's language became the language of education and intellectuals.
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History
Introduction
The empire originated from the Dordanic civilisation that existed from 1800 to 700 BCE in modern day Savam. The founding of Ascesi on the year 1043 BCE—according to the Ascesian chronicles but relatively confirmed by archaeological evidences—marked the beginning of the Ascesian civilisation itself. From the 11th to the 7th century BCE Ascesi grew from a rather small city-state included in the larger Dordanic cultural area to a potent state—a time republican but monarchical since 850—that controlled the eastern coasts of the Sea of Ibothia within the modern borders of Savam and a tad beyond. Ascesi based its power on the wealth extracted from the control of the trade routes going along the southern coast of Ascesia from the Sea of Ibothia to the Medius-Messenic Basin, the traditional centre of civilisation in antiquity. Up to that point, Ascesi was culturally very influenced by eastern Ascesian states, notably in modern Armandia and Nation A27. Rivalry with these states would be from the 7th to the 3rd century a key development of Ascesian geopolitical strategy.
Early years
The Ascesian empire was officially born by 700 BCE - most historians support the recent hypothesis of 702 BCE - with the crowing of Sextus Sentius Aquilinus, previously king (REX), as DUX, literally "leader", rendered today as "emperor". The exact reason for the change of style—the pre and post-crowning regime stayed rather identical—is not really established today. Scholars believe it was essentially an act of prestige destined to internal politics. The change however marked the beginning of a new period of expansion for Ascesi, probably urged by growing commercial and political feud with the eastern states, and eased by the introduction of several military innovations. Indeed, another pillar of the Ascesian empire was its military that was extensively reformed from the 7th century BCE. The Ascesians abandoned the traditional military science practiced on the western side of the Medius-Messenic Basin to create a new way to wage war involving the use of more mobile troops—light infantry and cavalry—and a strong logistical organisation.
Dux Gaius II (599-571 BCE) was the first to take benefit of these innovations in military science on a large scale, wagging the Conquest wars of Gaius II for twenty years from 594 to 574 BCE. At the end of the wars the Ascesian empire extended its control to the complete shores of the Sea of Ibothia and had started to conquer the peninsula of Nation A14. These conquests meant Ascesi took control of the lucrative trade routes linking western and eastern Ascesia, imposing tariffs if needed and allowing its own merchants to progressively acquire a monopoly. The Ascesian merchant fleet also became the largest in Ascesia as soon as 550 BCE. The subsequent adoption of Jakarism as the empire's state religion by Dux Marcus III in 566 BCE helped to reinforce the imperial administration over the extending empire.
Conquest of the East
At the beginning of the 5th Century BCE the Ascesian empire main adversaries were located on its eastern frontier. In present day Armandia the numerous city-states were in the process in uniting themselves since the beginning of the 6th Century in order to counter the threat of the growing Ascesian empire. In 500 BCE two major confederations had emerged: the eastern Kamparlian League and the western Nimnoean League. They were respectively led by the cities of Kamparl (present-days Champbourg) and Nimno (present-days Fort-l'Empire). Further east the Caazian Empire dominated present-days Nation A28 and Nation A29 while the northern coast of Nation A27 and Nation A26 was controlled by a dozen of thalassocratic city-states and small kingdoms.
Circa 500 BCE the Caazian empire was the strongest opponent of the Ascesian empire and a major rival in trade as the Caazians controlled the southern tip of eastern Ascesia, effectively filtering all trade that was coming east from the Freta Mano Strait. In 498 BCE Dux TBD posed an ultimatum on the Caazians, requesting the end of tariffs and port fees for Ascesian goods and ships in Caazians ports (the Ascesians were applying exactly the same policy to non-Ascesians ships in their ports). The stark rebuttal of the ultimatum by Caazian sovereign TBC triggered war between the two powers, starting the 250 years-long Wars of the Oriental Peninsula.
A continental empire
Early signs of decline
Enos wars
Division of the empire
| "Eastern" Ascesian Empire Western Ascesian Empire Former imperial lands under Enos control in 509 |
In 509 CE, the empire was completely disorganised. In the east the invasion of the Enos from Lestria had completely shattered imperial authority after their initial invasion in 465 - they actually had crossed into Ascesia a century earlier - and the sack of Ascesi 492. The Ascesian victory at the Battle of Meripontium allowed repealing the Enos further east and re-conquering Ascesi in 494. Many scholars believe that the empire could have recovered if Imperator Aulus XVII had not been killed at the Battle of Ponginae in March 498. The election of Sextus XXII, a young, inexperienced noble from lands in today's Nation A16 saw a considerable influence fight between the Eruses, eventually leading to the election of a week sovereign. Campaign against the Enos ceased, which allowed keeping and even extending their empire into the east - it would crumble by 580 - and a limited civil war immediately begun, plaguing the Empire until it was too late. In 509 the western Eruses, the most powerful at that moment, gathered in Aquae Sulis and seceded from the empire by electing their own Imperator : Spurius I of the Western Ascesian Empire.
The central part of the empire remained under the nominal control of Sextus XXII and continued to call itself the Ascesian empire. Modern scholars usually refer to this state as the "early" Eastern Ascesian Empire as the later Armandian Empire is more commonly referred as the Eastern Ascesian Empire. This empire would not survive long : in 521 Sextus XXII is assassinated while trying to emancipate from his overlords. Unable to agree on the name of a successor the Eruses all parted away, becoming nominally independent lords over their provinces and effectively ending the Ascesian empire. They would briefly form a coalition in 527 to fight Spurius I as he was trying to conquer the former central regions of the empire and again in 534 to figth the final Enos' westward invasion. Both times the Eruses succeeded in repealing the invaders but never managed to form a unified state again.
Government
Overall governmental structure
The Ascesian civilisation went trough several forms of government over its history, the empire only being one of these. As a city-state Ascesi experimented an early monarchy that was deposed by a republican government about 930 BCE. The Ascesian republic, that was founded on the idea of equal rights for all citizens but quickly became plagued with aristocratic tendencies, lasted for eight decades before it collapsed. It was replaced by an elective monarchy that would form the basis for the early imperial government.
The first elective empire (700 - 193 BCE)
(Ascesian potery c. 485 BCE)
The first elective empire lasted for five centuries and was a direct successor of the original monarchical system in place in Ascesi between 850 and 700 BCE. The Dux was elected for a life-long term by an ad-hoc body composed of representatives from the "citizens of the city of Ascesi and its metropolitan territories". In practise the members of this body happened in most cases to be members of the Conventus (assembly), a permanent legislative body composed of elected Magistrates. These magistrates were members of the aristocracy or wealthy commoners—their wealth enabled them to fund real electoral campaigns and popular public events—all living in or originating from the city of Ascesi.
Initially the Conventus maintained a strict separation of powers. The Magistrates were responsible for enacting laws and also performed judicial duties; the Dux was the sole recipient of executive power and shared authority over the military with the Imperator (general), an equivalent of a modern-era chief of staff. The Dux's authority was kept in check by the Conventus and while he had the opportunity to issue decrees, Conventus' laws were considered as "superior" in any instance.
This framework however allowed for the Magistrates to effectively rule the empire when the Dux happened to be weakened. The emblematic instance of this "Magistrates' empire" is the rule of Magistrates Ap. Calpurnius Corvinus and Ti. Verginius Florus that effectively ruled the whole empire thanks to their influence over the Conventus and the debilitated Dux Spurius IX between 303 and 287 BCE. If the Dux was weakened, the Imperator too had the possibility to wage a considerable political influence. During the constant conquests wars in the Eldamarian Peninsula (500-238 BCE), the Imperator would occasionally shadow the Dux in terms of prestige, wealth and influence. After 300 BCE and up to the establishment of the hereditary empire, the separation of powers remained fuzzy, changing according to the relative strength of the Dux and his party versus the Conventus.
The hereditary empire (193 BCE - 174 CE)
The hereditary empire—established by the "850 a.u.c Decimine Massacre"—principally brought change to the upper levels of the imperial government. The most significant change was obviously the new nature of the imperial throne, hereditary by uterine primogeniture and that fully shifted to the Imperator office, according to the ruling of the first hereditary Imperator, Decimus XIV (193-179 BCE). The position of Dux was completely removed and the Imperator thus assumed alone executive and military powers. The Convenus was not re-established after the events of the Decimine Massacre but a body of elders, initially chosen by the Imperator and then maintained by peer-selection, was installed in 174 BCE to assist the Imperator for legislative duties. Judicial power was assumed by a pyramidal structure of justices, called Judico (judge), elected by the aristocracy and wealthy urban commoners.
Despite the reinforced authority of the local administrations, the hereditary empire proved to be stable at first. Decimus XIV installed what could possibly be described in modern terms as a military dictatorship, strongly linking his power to his control over the imperial armies. Decimus and his successor kept the army loyal by paying its member well above the average of the times. They effectively created alongside the traditional aristocracy and wealthy commoners (merchants, land owners, etc.) a new class of wealthy soldiers whose upper echelons considered themselves as aristocrats. They held a large, albeit unofficial, power over the hereditary empire during its whole duration. The so-called "officers" are also responsible for the end of the Decimine dynasty in 1 CE and the elevation of Q. Rufius Fimbria as Quintus VI. At the turn of the first and second centuries, conditions started to degrade in the empire economically and politically. The Great Droughts of 87-92 that hit most of southern Ascesia had provoked a lingering economic crisis that was worsened by growing difficulties to collect taxes efficiently and the cost of large construction programs by Aulus XI (47-69) and his son Quintus VII (69-97). Furthermore the empire had started to loose ground on its marches: in the west Ternic people were once again invading the empire's territories and more importantly in Lestria the southern Enos had started to attack the empire's holdings in 98. The empire was still resisting these pressures but it was in a difficult situation, which eroded the prestige of the monarchs. It suffered several rebellions by provincial lords in the 120-140s but the monarchs managed to maintain their power for the time being. By the accession of Sextus XVIII to the imperial throne in 167 however, the imperator had lost most of its traditional supports in the civil society and the military was becoming increasingly hostile. This proved instrumental in allowing the deposition of Sextus XVIII in 174.
The second elective empire (174 - 509)
The restoration of the elective monarchy in 174 at the conclusion of the War of the Ballots led first to a period of transition. Opposition between the restorers defending a complete return to the pre-decimine institutions and the integrationists advocating a fusion between the old and the new imperial systems led to stark debates that could not get concluded until 179. Power was vested into a extraordinary magistrate office that rotated every 6 months. Ser. Velleius Corvus, ruler for the second semester of 178, even moved the imperial top administration to Urbs sacer (Sacrebourg) in an effort to appease the debates. In 179 when the debate concluded with the victory of the integrationist faction, Ascesi become the capital of the empire again. The new incarnation of the imperial institutions took a form combining the two previous iterations. The Conventus was re-established as the supreme legislative and judicial authority, although the judiciary system of elections by the upper classes of local judges was maintained until 183 (when all free men could vote for these elections). Executive and military authorities were separated again at the provincial level with the re-establishment of the Imperator minor position but the Imperator remained the sole recipient of executive and military authority for the whole empire. The Imperator position became elected as the former Dux position was. Although the Eruses lost their military rights (despite it being instrumental in deposing the hereditary empire) they remained more powerful than their peers of the first electoral empire. L. Fabricius Trio, leader of the integrationist faction, was elected Imperator in the fall 179 as Lucius X (nicknamed Ferator pacis, the "bringer of the peace").
Although the second elective empire was designed to be more stable than the first by integrating some elements of the hereditary one, this goal failed due to a continuous deterioration of economic conditions, increasingly sluggish bureaucracy and external pressure. The defeat at Judocum against the united Enos marked the beginning of a long process that would tore down the mightiest empire Eshraval ever witnessed.
local administration
As the empire grew it was supported by a strong administration whose bureaucracy proved to be the empire's greatest strength and defect at the same time. The strongly literate, bureaucratic culture inherited from the Dordanics was kept and improved. Tax collection and justice were pillar of Ascesian administration that were installed over all the newly conquered lands. The tax collection service was particularly ubiquitous, controlling also matters related to property and trade. Initially centralised in Ascesi, imperial administration started to get devolved as the empire grew. It however always kept a pyramidal structure where Ascesi-based bureaucrats kept the upper-hand. Until the middle of the second elective empire, the imperial administration presented the most resilient face of the Ascesian government. It continued to operate according to its sometimes centuries-old regulations and procedures even in times of political or military turmoil. It also allowed integrating into a single state considerably different and distant cultures. The Magistrates (during the elective empires) and the Rectors (the sovereign's ministers) jointly overheaded the administration but in practice it was administrated by the TBD (Prefect of the empire). The Prefect of the empire was a non-political position appointed for a term of generally ten to fifteen years. This helped shield the administration from turmoil although it was not unheard of a Prefect of the empire being sacked by an opposing faction to the one that appointed him. As the need for decentralisation increased, prefects and minor prefects were appointed in provinces to manage local matters. The Prefect of the empire was originally Ascesi's prefect and was elevated to an higher position in 551 BCE.
Decentralisation was a direct consequence of the considerable enlargement of the empire's territory—by 306 BCE it stretched from the extreme south-western point to the east extremity of Ascesia and had already a hold on Lestria. Large provinces were crafted out of smaller administrative divisions and the local administration received large power that were previously centralised in Ascesi itself. We already mentioned the prefects that managed the imperial administration. On the political side a system of governorates was introduced in 502 BCE. Each province was led by an Erus (lord) that was appointed by the Dux (later the Imperator). The Eruses were the repositories of executive authority in their provinces, which allowed them a great deal of freedom although they were ultimately subordinate to the imperial authorities in Ascesi. During the hereditary empire some Eruses seats were made hereditary too (usually as a reward to faithful governors or to buy their favour) and gained more power. Justice was devolved to local judges appointed by the Conventus in Ascesi (although direct appeal to the Conventus remained possible and was often favoured by commoners), a system that would later be replaced by direct election by the aristocracy and wealthy commoners during the hereditary empire. The 170 Decree of Naturalisation that gave every free men living in the empire citizenship prompted the restitution of judicial power to elected assemblies in 183 CE at the local and empire-wide level (the decree's original intent was to gather popular support for Imperator Sextus XVIII, widely unpopular in most social classes outside of the capital city). During the elective empires military power was handed at the provincial level to an Imperator minor.
While the bureaucracy inertia became a great weakness of the Ascesian Empire by the end of the second century only, the devolution of power was a problem for most of the empire's existence. Some Eruses or Imperators minor could gather a considerable deal of influence, especially the ones from the wealthiest provinces. Some used their influence to secure more autonomy, while others actively plotted to usurp imperial authority. If the central power was weakened—notably during times of feud between the Dux and the Imperators or the Conventus—ambitious provincial governors could try their chance. Several civil war started in this fashion while a powerful Erus proclaimed himself sovereign of the whole empire. Another common uprising was a province trying to break away from the empire. Until Imperator D. Herennius Malleolus seized power by force in 193 BCE the government in Ascesi had always managed to maintain or re-establish legitimate power. Five usurpers reigned as Dux between 700 and 193 BCE, until the sixth established the hereditary empire. On the other hand the Eruses were instrumental to the return to elective monarchy when they waged the War of the Ballots (171–174) against the Imperator.
Military
The empire's strength relied a lot on its army and its navy that effectively allowed it to conquer and then control a territory and trade routes stretching over 7,000 km. The Ascesians were able fighters and were responsible for a number of innovations in military science and technology that gave them a significant advantage over their rivals for numerous centuries.
Land armies
Until the advent of the empire, the Ascesians had been fielding armies in line with the military tradition of the Dordanics, itself comprises into the greater military traditions of Eastern Ascesia and the western Medius-Messenic Basin overall. The old Dordanic way to wage war was centred on the use of heavy infantry. Heavy armoured soldiers would form compact formations and battles would essential turn into a match to determine which side was able to move its formations quickly enough to disorganise and crush enemy formations. The armoured soldiers formed the elite backbone of the army but had to be supported by a large number of auxiliaries, including archers and cavalrymen. As manufacturing the heavy equipment for the armoured soldiers was expensive - both in money and manpower - the auxiliaries were very lightly equipped. Often they looked like nothing but peasants or city-dwellers yielding a bow, sword or spear. While the auxiliaries played the first role in some important battle and wars of the pre-Ascesian times, they heavy armoured infantry remained the focus of all military action.
The Ascesians were the first to introduce changes into this warfare style. In the 680-670s BCE chain mail was introduced into the Ascesian army which proved a fundamental change. Chain mail indeed was considerably less expensive and time-consuming to manufacture than the Dordanic-style plate armours (although still more than leather armours). The Ascesians went on equip their elite troops with these armours but quickly handed them to auxiliaries too. The consequence of this move was that the difference between heavy and light troops started to fade so that by the 650s BCE the Ascesian army was completely reorganised compared to other traditional Dordanic armies: medium and light infantry was now the core of the system.
Chain mail armoured soldiers formed the first pillar of the new Ascesian army. Clad in a hauberk made of iron, they were also protected by an helmet usually made of bronze (cheaper to produce) and a large wooden shield. Some units had their shields plated with copper, bronze or (rarely) iron. This basic equipment essentially remained unchanged for the next 1,000 years although details such as the shield size and helmet design changed according to trends. Similarly for offensive weapons, the equipment remained mostly consistent: a short stabbing sword and, depending on the soldier's unit, one short thrusting spear or two throwing javelins. At various times units yielding longer slashing swords also existed but the focus remained on spear and javelin units. The second pillar was the light infantry. These soldiers were usually equipped with leather armours instead of chain mail and had smaller shields (sometimes none at all). Their offensive weaponry was more diverse, from range weapons such as bows or slings to close combat weapons such as short stabbing swords and maces. Cavalry was similarly equipped, with led to a large harmonisation of the Ascesian army compared to its rivals. During most of its history before the economic decline of the second elective empire, the Ascesian empire always maintained a certain level of quality for its military equipment despite its mass-production (mass-production in these times was typically of low quality) and extensive funding required.
Coming together with this new equipment was the adoption of new tactics also in the mid 7th century BCE. The Ascesians' innovation was to bring more mobility to their troops. While traditional warfare required tightly packed formations to move as a single man to crush any opposition, requiring complex manoeuvres of these formations so one could break another one, the Ascesians progressively implemented a much more "disorganised" style of combat. Ascesians units would typically stay packed together during the early advance on the enemy or when receiving a charge. On the other hand while attacking they would take advantage of their lighter equipment by throwing their javelins en masse and then performing sudden formation breaks, swarming the enemy under a mass of seemingly disorganised soldiers. These "breaks" were actually quite organised and choreographed by the Ascesians, allowing them to strike quickly at weak points. Mobility on the battlefield was emphasised and the Ascesians did not hesitate to retreat if that was at their advantage, only to come back one hour later from another direction. On the other hand cavalry was always used in as a compact block charging the enemy when infantry swarming had disorganised it enough. Cavalry was also used to protect the army's flanks when the enemy was also relatively mobile (typically the case in western Ascesia). These new tactics proved efficient until the middle of Wars of the Oriental Peninsula (498-238 BCE) when their eastern rivals started to adopt similar tactics. Post mid-4th century Ascesians tactics focused again on formations battle but kept the "swarm" tactic and regularly used it.
Although the traditional Dordanic-style armies had allowed the Ascesians to grow from a small city-state to a realm encompassing much of modern Savam, it is only the adoption of these new warfare techniques in the 7th century BCE that allowed them to conquer a continent-spanning empire.
The Ascesian army however would have been nothing without the logistic supporting it. The imperial bureaucracy was devoted to maintain a well-equipped standing army in peace and provide all the necessary food and goods to larger armies in war. Manufacturing the equipment was expensive but the efficient tax collection allowed for the empire to fund its armies. A service was devoted to insure bread supplies to the armies will in campaign, with bread produced in large quantities in the empire's core and exported (usually by sea) to the war theatre. Soldiers also supplied themselves on the land when invading enemy territory. This same practice during civil wars on the empire's territory was the source of great condemnation from the administration and scholars but was common when provincial lords in rebellion could not use the centralised logistical system to support their forces. Proving the army with adequate supplies was actually for most of the empire's history a major political question and failure to do so triggered revolts inside the army ranks. This was notably one of the reasons (along with failure to deliver high enough wages) for the fall of the Decimine dynasty that was ousted by a rebellion of generals led by Q. Rufius Fimbria in 1 CE. Some modern scholars also consider that the funding required by the army was so great that it led to constant expansionism to find new funding sources, a quest that ultimately doomed the empire.
