Imperium of Colosse
The Imperium of Colosse is among the oldest human polities in the entirety of Colossia, with most scholars agreeing that the city of Colosse was the first permanent human settlement on the continent. The Imperium once ruled almost the entire continent, but has declined to an impoverished rump state over the last century. Colosse has governed as a constitutional monarchy with a powerful senate ever since its defeat in the Third Ciprosian War, but still retains traces of the strict hierarchy that existed under the previous autocratic monarchy.
Structure
The Imperator
The Colossean Imperium is ruled by an Imperator or Imperatrix, who rules according to the polity's constitution, with cognatic primogeniture determining succession. However, it is currently in a state of interregnum, in which case the Imperial Senate is supposed to elect a new monarch, but has thus far failed to do so.The Senate
The Imperial Senate is made up of 99 representatives from throughout the Imperium, with the citizens of each catepanate electing one or more senators to represent them. Most catepanates elect only a single senator, while larger ones elect multiple, and Colosse itself enjoys 33, who represent the interests of the city's various districts, guilds, and noble families. The Senate acts both as the Imperium's legislative body, and its highest court of law. When there is no monarch, or the monarch is temporarily unable to govern, the Senate elects a Regent from among its members to act in the monarch's stead.Catepenates
The rapid decline of Colosse in the 8th and 9th centuries saw its old systems of governance become obsolete and unwieldy. As such, following the Third Ciprosian War, a new basic subdivision was established, called the catepenate. These almost entirely abolished the separation between civil and military authority, with the kephale of each catepenate acting both as its civil administrator and military commander. Each kephale is appointed by the crown (or regent), and is given the right to collect rents and raise soldiers from the catepanate. A kephale can be an individual, appointed for life, or an organisation such as a monastery. In larger catepanates, kephalai sometimes delegate some of their duties to lesser “merikai kephalai” (usually referred to as merikes). Each catepanate is also supposed to have a crown-appointed judge, known as a dikastis, but in practice some smaller catepanates share a single dikastis.Judges
Justice is primarily dispensed by the dikastis (judge) of each catepanate, who holds nearly unchecked legal power. Corruption is common among the dikastes, with the only chance of recourse being to appeal to a higher court, a privilege generally reserved for patricians and requiring the approval of the kephale. Above the local dikastes are the imperial dikastes who periodically visit each catepanate in a region on a yearly circuit to judge severe crimes and appeals. The three major cities, Colosse, Ambrako, and Neoprakos, each have their own permanent imperial dikastis and multiple regular dikastes. The Senate serves as the highest court of law, usually judging only the most serious crimes, such as treason committed by important patricians and kephalai.Culture
Classes
Despite the democratising reforms imposed on Colosse by Agrinon after the 3rd Ciprosian War, Colossean society remains largely hierarchical. There exist four broad classes within Colosse: slaves, freefolk, citizens, and patricians. Following the postwar reforms, slavery exists primarily as a punishment for crime, and is no longer an inheritable status. Freefolk make up a small portion of the population, and are primarily those living in self-governing racial enclaves, such as halfling communes and dwarven biergs. Most people in the Imperium are lowborn citizens. Of these, most are freeholding farmers living in villages of 200-300 people, with each family owning somewhere between 5-30 acres. A smaller number live in towns and cities, practising a trade or working as wage-labourers. Some citizens also live on the estates of patricians, working alongside slaves for room, board, and a meagre wage. At the top of the social hierarchy are the patricians: noble families who typically own considerable personal lands or established mercantile enterprises. They make up the bulk of the ruling class, with the vast majority of senators, kephalai, dikastes, and professional soldiers being patricians.Social Expectations
Deference is expected to be paid to those of higher social status: in formal settings, people are expected to greet those of higher standing than them by kneeling (on the left knee, the right knee is reserved for the Imperator). Those of equal standing greet each other with a bow, while those of higher standing greet their lessers with a nod. Reasonable requests by patricians are expected (but not legally required) to be carried out by their lessers regardless of compensation (though a patrician who fails to reward their lessers is viewed negatively). As appearance is the primary indicator of social class, people are expected to dress to their station: patricians wear expensive, vividly-dyed cloth with expensive fur trimmings, citizens wear respectable clothes of a single kind of fabric and lesser furs, freefolk are expected to wear clothing from their culture, and slaves are restricted to basic clothes.History
Early History
The city of Colosse was established some time in the early first century after the Discovery, in a natural harbour where early explorers claimed to have seen giants roaming the land. Its strategic position on the Inmarium coast and near the entrance to the Ciprosian sea made Colosse wealthy and populous, and it quickly grew to become the largest human city in the known world. The Imperium of Colosse was established in 117 YD, but at this time had few dreams of military expansion beyond wars against the native lizardfolk and their draconic masters.The Wars of Faith
In 197, however, Imperator Zemim I reportedly received a vision from the Five, urging him to unite all of Colossia under a single banner, and to spread the worship of them by any means necessary. Upon being granted miraculous powers and the promise of unending life for him and his subjects without the strict requirements of Teghneism, he began his conquests. Zemim, with immense magical power and military insight granted by the Five, swept aside all resistance and conquered the entirety of the Ciprosian in under ten years. After his initial conquests, Zemim ordered the construction of a great temple complex and military fortress in the eastern Ciprosian, on the site where the two prongs of his invasion met. This site would eventually grow into the city of Hagios, but in the short term was used as a base of operations for further conquests. Zemim himself went east with one army to conquer the Mekonite Desert, while two of his most loyal generals, Titos and Stelios, took armies north and south, respectively. Zemim and Stelios were largely successful, but Titos was killed trying to invade the Nicilian Khaganate, the only realm able to resist the Colossean invasion. Even after Zemim's death and the subsequent Mekonite schism, Colosse continued to expand at the expense of the remaining states of Colossia, only reaching its maximum extent in 326.Stagnation and Decline
Following its conquests, Colosse experienced a golden age of economic prosperity, as it dominated the continent for centuries. Despite occasional internal conflicts and wars with its Nicilian rival, Colosse remained largely stable for centuries. This began to change in the mid-8th Century, when the Encroaching Cold Began. Ura's 1,600-year climatic cycle reached its midpoint, and the southern hemisphere began to cool as the north warmed. This not only put material pressure on the Imperium, but spiritual as well, as many began to see the Encroaching Cold as divine displeasure with the Imperium. In 753, after careful planning and secret coordination, many cities throughout the Empire rebelled simultaneously, beginning a 6 year civil war that would see the near-total collapse of Colossean hegemony. Unable to directly reconquer its erstwhile subjects, Colosse began efforts to covertly undermine them, even as its imperators progressively became more tyrannical, seeking to extract as much as possible from their remaining subjects in the hope of raising a strong enough force to reclaim their lost lands. This strategy reach its height some time prior to 820, when Imperator Valentinos began seeking the aid of unnatural entities, including the Death Knight Zalduun Riteres, and eventually the Demon Prince Orcus. His extreme measures ultimately resulted in his downfall, when most of the continent united against Colosse in the Grand Coalition, defeating Valentinos and his demonic master in the Third Ciprosian War, with the help of the Heroes of Sorligien. Following the war, Colosse was reduced to a mere rump state, and was forced to adopt a more democratic government, similar to Agrinon's. Colosse was nearly annexed by the Ciprosian Regnum in 839, but this attempt was prevented by the diplomatic intervention of Nicilia and Oshagm. Colosse now finds itself without an Imperator, ever since Imperator Gavriil and his son Manolis died (in 831 and 838, respectively), as orcs and lizardfolk threaten the northern frontier, and religious and political turmoil wracks the Imperium.
Founding Date
117 YD
Capital
Demonym
Colossean
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Complicated History
Despite centuries of conflict, Nicilia now protects Colossean independence for pragmatic reasons.
Complicated History
Despite historical enmity, many in Colosse and the Ciprosian Regnum seek peaceful unification.
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