Caithos

"The great port city of Caithos lies along the crystal waters of the Gold Coast that sparkle as they cordially part to make way for galleys carrying exotic goods and fragrant spices from over far waters, where myriad diverse peoples from distant lands bustle about its narrow streets past walls overgrown with ivy, the smells of cardamom and sandalwood waft through the sea air, and untold fortunes change hands: golden coins exchanged under the eternal golden sun."

―Lord Valêttia, "In the Court of the Sun King"

Caithos (/ˈkaɪθoʊs/, /-θuːs/; Tira Vellan: Καίθους [ˈkʲeθus]; Boeupseian: Καιθοῦς [kaitʰûːs]), also spelled Kaithus or Kaithous, is the capital and largest city in Tira Vella. The city lies along the Bay of Caithos in the Boeupseia region of the Gold Coast. It is one of Tira Vella's principal seaports and the centre of Gold Coast culture. Caithos is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities, and the oldest in Tira Vella, inhabited since the fourth century BCA, and with recorded history going back to the first century.

History

Caithos was originally a Karanesian settlement known as Canaštrehān (ΚΝϢΤΡΕΗΑΝ) in Arxian, perhaps from Karanesian "kana hoiana": "calm water", settled sometime during the fourth century BCA. During the Archaic Period, it was an independent Karanesian city-state, before they were displaced by the Arxians in the first century. During the Arxian Empire, it served as an important port in the centre of the territory. Very little evidence of Arxian culture remains in the city today.
In 550, the city was seiged and taken by the Boeupseians, Tira Vellans from the east whom had rebelled against the weakening Arxian Empire. Several other Tira Vellan states followed suit and carved up much of the empire's northeastern territory into several independent states in what became a 400-year period known as the Tira Vellan Tetrarchy. During the Tira Vellan Tetrarchy, Caithos served as the capital of Boeupseia.
In the 1060s, Boeupseia under Polemos II conquered the other three major Tira Vellan kingdoms, as well as the Arxian Empire. This following period, known as Old Tira Vella, under Boeupseian hegemony would see the power and importance of Caithos grow even more, as it became the centre of the Gold Coast.

Type

Large city