The Ikarian Empire
Of all the nations that inhabit Yeia, its to us, the Ikarians, whom the gods have granted the power to rule over all nations. Pacomius, Ikarian writer, ca. 119 BP
For many centuries the world have only two great Superpowers, the Seris Empire and the Ikarian Empire. And during that time, the realm of the Ikarians was the most powerfull state on the continent of Teria, by far.
From his capital of Ikaria, one of the largest cities in the world, the Ikarians controlled a vast amount of wealth,resources and armies. They were a proud nation of warriors and statesmen who considered themselves to be the paradigm of civilization. Indeed their advances in architecture, military tactics and weapons were unmactch at their time.
After its demise in 460 AP, many have reclaimed the legacy of the Empire of the Ikarians, on their ancient homeland their descendants still fight for "restoring" the old empire while other realms, previously subjected to the might of the Ikarians, now find themselves free to create their "own destiny".
Organization and Structure
At the top of the organization was the Emperor and the imperial family. Below them was the aristocracy, formed by the old families of Ikaria and the provincial aristocracy. Together they formed the Ikarian Senate, the legislative and consultive body of the Empire. From them two consuls were elected each year. They would direct the politics alongside the emperor.
There is also a gabinet of ministers, such as the minister of finances, that in earlier times was called a quaestor and in the last centuries of the empire as Master of the Sacred Treasury, the Imperial Chancellor, called the Master of Offices, among other members of the Imperial Burocracy.
In terms of the religion structure, the Emperor was the highest authority. He was the interpreter of the will of the Gods, and the one who could perform the sacrest of all rituals. Below him was the High Priest, who had to be named by the Emperor himself.
Finally, the military was organized (while the frontier of the empire consolidated) into the frontier's legions who where highly trained and very well equiped and the reserve or interior army, who was also of very good quality but his main task was to guard important strategic enclaves or trading routes, but also to assist the frontier legions when their presence was needed. The Supreme commander of the imperial armies was the Emperor, but many Rigas, as thats the name for emperor in the Ikarian language, decided to delegate their military duties to experienced, loyal men called the Masters of Soldiers. The navy had also a version of this office, called the High Admiral of the Fleet. Both commanders had to cooperate with each other and follow the instructions of the Emperor and the Senate.
The provinces were ruled by governors called eparchs, usually for a period of 4 years, they were usually senators, mostly former consuls but also men with military experience.
History
The Ikarians started their journey as a migrating tribe belonging to the Yavana culture, to which the Oronai also belong, around the years 1200-1100 BP. Once their ancient homeland west of the Albine Mountains became dry due to climatic change, the Ikarians fled to the east, crossing the mountain ranges and settleling on the western regions of the Peninsula of Moria. There they created a league of city states with a hegemon as its leader, but around 1000 AD this league had turned into an Empire and the elected hegemon into a elected monarch, the Emperor. In a dangerous world the Ikarians placed all their energy and focus on the military, both to defend themselves and to conquer new land, because that they eventually needed, as their population increased rapidly. First they conquered the indigenous tribes of the easterb regions of the Peninsula and colonized the island of Aros. Then, they moved south and after a series of wars that lasted over 50 years, from 750 to 700BP they conquered and assimilated their Kallian cousins who inhabited the fertile Kallian Plains. After this successes the Ikarians didnt stop their imperial ambitions and proceded to sail beyond the known islands, to the east, where they "discovered" the Island of Vatia, populated by the Pueye tribes, who were still living in the neolithic. So the conquest was easy despite some resistance in the mountain regions of the island, and after its annexiation to the Empire the island was quickly colonized by the Ikarians and some Oronai mercenaries. Finally the last great conquests of the Ikarians happened in the 2nd century BP when, fighting alongside the Seris in a coalition to put an elven prince on the Green Elf throne, the Ikarians annexed the entire northern coastline of the kingdom of the Green Elves in exchange for their help. After all of this the Empire consolidated its borders, but at the end of the 2nd century AP, the Empire was showing symptoms of decadence. Incompetent emperors, corrupted burocrats and ambitious generals provoke a series of disastrous civil wars, one of which led to a Seris invasion of the country and a humiliating defeat of, until that time, invincible, Ikarian Legions. Other fenomenon such as bad harvests and the incursions of Nord raiding parties didn't help to the recovery of the Empire. Barbarian incursions increased enormously on the frontiers until a gigantic coalition of Nords, Crorai and Nomads made the frontier armies collapse at the 4th century, just when the empire seemed to be recovering and ruled b again by good, competent emperors. But they clearly lacked the resources their predecessors had and in an space of 60 years, not only the barbarians had occupy the entire north but also led siege to the capital, Ikaria, which fell on Autumn of 460 BP, with the last emperor fighting on the walls of the city while part of the senatorial class, the imperial family and of the population of the city was fleeing from the dissaster.
Ikarian Empire in 100 BP
Disbandment
(...) The emperor died fighting at the foot of the Great Tower, as, once he was ashured that his family was already departing with the fleet alongside many refugees, he ordered his servants to put on his armor and to gave him his weapons and rushed in company of the imperial guard to the walls to direct the defense. When he was finally dead he'd killed more than a hundred barbarians.Then a tremendous sack was commited, oh Gods, why these crimes, why this destiny has to happen to the Ikarian peoples, what crimes did we and our rulers commit to anger you?. Houses were burn, men, elderly were killed and women and children where sold as slaves, they were of course the population that couldn't flee.After all of this attrocities against the Ikarian people, the barbarians proceed to commit attrocities against the allmighty Gods as they then entered into the Great Temple, kill the high priest and his servants and turned down the altars and used them as tables and seats for eating, drinking and festing. they cut the gold from the statues of the divinities and the silks that were decorating the upper floors. They trown away and spilled the wine, the water and the milk of the Sacred Libations.
In 401 AP, during the War of Dawnfall as it is known to the Blatians, the northern frontier collapsed and a coallition of nords, Crorai and nomads, alongside many other barbarians, invaded first the north of the Kallian Plains and then turned east to the Moria Peninsula. To the amaze of the Ikarians, in 459 AP they decided to attack the city during the festival of Abbon Shabai,a sacred feast and holiday to the Ikarians. Despite being unprepared at first the Ikarians managed to repell the attack and even recieving reinforcements by sea.
But at the end, in summer of 460 AP, parts of the walls of the city collapsed and the barbarian coalition forces entered the city and set it ablaze. The last Ikarian Emperor died defending its capital, gaining time for thousands of civilians, senators and even the rest of the Imperial family to scape. Until days of looting, the city looked like an squeleton of a city.
After the fall of the capital the Empire quickly dismembered. The barbarians occupadied the old frontier provinces while the rest of the territory fell under the rule of provincial governors or old mikarian military commanders who turned into petty kings and warlords. In the west, around the city of Blati, the Blatian Empire was created by one of the sons of the last Ikarian Emperor, Servius, who considered himself as the legitimate Ikarian Emperor. To the North, after recieving Snow elven help, other of the sons of the deceased Emperor, Afranius, created the kingdom of Cloudia, also considered by its rulers as the legitimate continuation of the Ikarian Empire.
Meanwhile, the islands of Kea and Aros became either ruled by the family of the last ikarian governors or became divided into city-states before being incorporated into Blati and Cloudia respectively. The exception to this situation was the island of Vatia, where, after a century of war between city-states, the Republic of Vatia was founded.
Territories
The territory of the Ikarian Empire was huge in comparison with the territories of its successor states. The control the Kallian Plains and the Peninsula of Moria plus the islands of Keas, Aros and Vatia. The Ikarians also controled the northern coast of what is today the Kingdom of the Green Elves and have a system of client kingdoms or protectorades, ruled by vasal kings such as the Kingdom of the Snow Elves, The Kingdom of Oronia and even at a point the Kingdom of the Green Elves.
Of those territories the Kallian Plains where the jewel of the crown, very fertile and full of natural resources, they attracted Ikarian inmigrants even just after their conquest. There they mixed with the native Kallians, also another davidovian people, creating the blatian culture that today is the dominant in the territories once held by the empire.
The Ikarians also colonzied the islands of Keas, Aros and Vatia, and today the empire's legacy is present of the ethnicity of their peoples, their culture and language.
Military
Of course the main strength of the Ikarian Empire comes from its military, long considered the best in the world. The Ikarian army was organized into legions, and at the height of the Empire's power there were around 30 legions, each composed of 4000 men and between 350-500 horsemen.
Foreign Relations
Through their long history, the Ikarians had different attitudes towards their neighbours. Some became vasal kingdoms of the Ikarians after a conflict or just for protection against other more powerful enemies. For some time, there were some wars between the Green Elves and the Ikarians for setting the frontier between both nations, but after that relations were very friendly aside from some Ikarian interventions puting and depossing elven kings.
Same happened with the Seris Empire. During most of their history despite competing for seeing who was the strongest nations, relations between both empires were surpirsingly good. The seris didn't want to expand into Teria, neither the Ikarians into Karia, although there were some tensions due to the posession of the island of Vatia by the Ikarians. The only war between both states happened in the 3rd century AP and although the Seris won and the Empire's prestige was humilliated, relations improved again in the following decades and the Seris Empire became an ally to the Ikarians even to the bitter end.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Our faith is the gods make us greater
ca.1000 BP - 460 AP
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Successor Organizations
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Demonym
Ikarians
Government System
Monarchy, Crowned Republic
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Traditional
Legislative Body
The Ikarian Empire had a Senate, which helped the emperor ruling the state. He advises him in matters of state, and was the body in charge of making and aproving the laws.
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Official Languages
Related Professions
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Related Ethnicities
Comments