alternatehistory.com
Etruscan Religion
Many ancient peoples have become forever associated with a basal element of the universe; the men of Carchedon and their forebears, for example, with the sea, the men of Aigyptos with the earth. With our ancestors, the ancient Rasna, they are forever tied to the sky, especially lightning. But many do not understand what causes this association, what the actual importance of these things was to the ancient Rasna. Collecting, as I have been, sources from diverse periods and with detailed information on the beliefs of the Rasna, I will endeavour to explain to the interested reader the basic form of the Rasnatic relationship with the sky, and their belief in fate. This assembled together is what we call the Brontoscopia, which is a Hellenic word in origin meaning to ‘predict by thunder’.
The ancient Rasna believed that the sky was the source of all knowledge and power. Not only did they believe the major Gods to dwell in the lofty heavens, as did many other ancient peoples, they believed that the Gods dwelled in different districts of the sky. They understood thunder and lightning to be divine emanations, enlightening those with the correct knowledge as to the future, to the very fate of all who walked on the earth. By mapping these emanations to the correct districts of the sky they would have true understanding of divine intentions. Those who possessed true knowledge would themselves be able to summon lightning at will, commanding a fraction of the power of the Gods. East was considered a blessed district of the sky, home to many of the most benevolent and wise of the Gods, whereas the West was home to those of ill-intent. It is perhaps this reason why the Rasna clung so to Hellenic culture and knowledge, which fed their growth in their time of gestation.
This belief in the summoning of lightning would become crucial on a fateful day, the Battle of Destiny as it has been known ever since. At Felsine a great army of barbarians was confronted by an assembled Rasna army. Its leader would become known to history as Larth Unalisa, but at the time he seems to have been known as Larth Tulumnes clan Aule Arnthalisa. He led the forces of Veii alongside those of other Rasna cities against the assembled barbarian hosts. However, the Miracle of Felsine turned the tide of the battle; Larth Unalisa was able to call down lightning to strike the barbarian king, who fell down dead. The barbarian hordes fled, and a new fate was revealed for the Rasna people; one of greatness, and strength. Things would never be the same again. The Rasna had long believed that their civilization had an allotted time, a specific number of generations before their collapse, but the Battle of Destiny led to the acclamation of a Golden Generation, one whose length was open-ended. This, then, is why we call the Rasnatic Empire’s dynasties the Three Golden Generations.
To the King Thrasymakhos, say this from his servant Deinos.
Matters arose in Massalia which I was unable to extricate myself from, but I will return to Syrakousai as soon as I am able, and rather than keep you waiting, my king, I elected to send you this letter with a trusted messenger. My findings will be given to you, my king, in full when I am able to return, but here are the most important of my discoveries.
The reports of the Tyrsenoi kingdom showing preference for gods of the sky and thunder are accurate, perhaps even understated. In the lands of the Tyrsenoi proper they value above all their Gods which are lightning-throwers, in particular the three Gods they call Tinia, Uni, and the Athana of the Tyrsenoi that they call Menerva. Indeed they hold that through reading lightning the fate of individuals and the world can be determined. They also exalt Zan, and encourage those Hellenes within their kingdom to exalt him above all other Gods of the Hellenes. In addition, they encourage Gods of thunder among the barbarians that they control, ones named this, that, and the other such as Taranis or Euspiter. Truly, the kingdom of the Tyrsenoi is become the land of thunder.
It is a custom among the Tyrsenoi to dine with their ancestors in special rooms designed for that purpose in tombs belonging to Tyrsenoi families. This is not unusual information, and is likely known to you my king, but please be patient because this is a necessary preface to the next part of my report. Accordingly, with this custom in mind, the king of the Tyrsenoi feasts so with his ancestors. What was once a private ritual has now become a public festival, celebrated across the kingdom of the Tyrsenoi, because they hold the king to be master of the fate of the kingdom, and accordingly it is pious to share in the feast of the king with his ancestors. There are thus festivals all across the different districts of his lands. If the king wishes a day to strike the Tyrsenoi, one where they are vulnerable at the same time each year, there is no more suitable time that I can determine than during this festival of the king. I am aware that this would present difficulties, due to the length of the journey from Sikelia to any lands of the Tyrsenoi bar the region of Kapua and Neapolis, but this nonetheless represents a rare opportunity to find the Tyrsenoi vulnerable at the same time each year. They are a vigilant people, and it cannot be predicted as to when some Keltoi or other barbarian people might assault their frontiers to the north.
As for other kingdoms, do not trust to the Italiote League, disregard what anyone else has said to you about their willingness to attack the Tyrsenoi. On the one hand, the collapse of the kingdom of Amavadatos has robbed them of their main protector, and whilst this is in no way an insult directed towards my king and benefactor the Italiotes do not believe Syrakousai to be an equivalent protector to the now-collapsed Amavadatid kingdom. On the other hand, the followers of Pythagoras continue to grow in numbers and militancy in Italia, and many of the League’s members are concerned with suppressing any insurrection these cults might launch, in imitation of the last set of Pythagorean revolutions. My estimation is that such insurrections are likely to occur, but also that they might occur in the Hellenic poleis controlled by the Tyrsenoi. Speaking of Hellenic poleis, the polis of Massalia, from where this letter reaches you, is deeply unhappy with their conquest by the Tyrsenoi, even now, and would likely gladly revolt against their masters if they were attacked by a strong enough opponent.They believe that this or that apoikia founded by the Massaliotes in Iberia would aid them in this struggle, but I cannot determine if this is likely or not. The former territory of the Perseid kings is similarly an unknown quantity.
The sanctuary survived the tumult of the Second Golden Generation’s ascent to power, and under Larth Tinial clan Unalisa II the sanctuary complex was expanded yet further, with the foundation of its sacred bath complex. It was under this period that the region of Patavion became one of the wealthiest parts of the Tinian Empire, with the growth of Empire and growth of Aponos’ importance dovetailing to mutual benefit. This period of prosperity came to an end, however, with the great Boii invasion of the eastern Tinian territories. Their raids penetrated as far as the district of Patavion, and the sanctuary was sacked for its riches. The defeat of the Boii put an end to the invasion but with the Second Golden Generation on the rocks, the future of Aponos grew uncertain, and it lay in semi-ruin for some time afterwards. However, after the ascension of the expansionist Third Golden Generation, the Temple was refounded, and enlarged to become even greater than it ever had been before. It was also given a circuit wall closer to a fortification than a marker of a sacred precinct, and it is believed that Aponos had a garrison independent of the larger military base in Patavion proper. This had the unintended affect of giving the priest of Poseidon Aponos military power, and upon the collapse of the Third (and final) Golden Generation the Priests of Aponos were one of several armed factions in the Adriatic districts of the former Tinian Empire. This was to prove the final downfall of the old temple, as the Wenetic Kingdom under Adnama defeated the army of Aponos, and dispersed the priests from the site. It remained a site of baths and a fortified garrison but the temple was left ruined, and used for stone. Eventually a new sanctuary, dedicated to the Olikan faith, was founded on the site of the old temple, as is the case with most of the early Olikos temples.
This speech was delivered by Leukippos on the subject of a debate before Panhellen Kadmos, which was what the Symmachia’s policy towards the Henetic Kingdom, known as the Wenetic kingdom in the West, should be. There had been several recommendations of a friendly policy towards the kingdom, mostly because of its value as a bulwark against deeply unfriendly states to the Symmachia. Leukippos’ speech was delivered against the prevailing advice, and is the most stridently Olikan of all of his surviving speeches. Unlike many speeches delivered before the Panhellenic Bola we know the outcome of this speech, which successfully turned the tide of opinion towards the Henetoi, and resulted in a war between the two states. This is the moment in which Olikan religion was confirmed as a political force in Hellas and its territories, approaching a state of dominance it had hitherto not experienced.
This advice I address to the Panhellen and his council, which I swear by all of the Gods is the best advice I have in my power to give. Panhellen Kadmos, foremost of the Hellenes, Defender of the Istros Frontier, Conqueror of Barbarians, I say this to you. I speak against this notion of allying with the Henetoi, entirely, utterly, without reserve and without hesitation. Those who have suggested otherwise are foolish and totally wrong about their suggestion. Why do I say this? Why do I speak against so many respected Hellarkhs? Because by this action we anger the Gods, and we anger the Gods because of the perfidious, sacrilegious Henetoi, because of the crimes against Gods and the cosmic order that they have committed in their time of unnatural governance over their corner of the world. Where is their usefulness when they destroy oracles and temples, as at Aponos? They are not bulwarks of strength against the forces ranged against our existence, against our mission to transform the world, they are one of those forces, for they threaten to upheave the entire cosmic order with their sacrilegious behaviour towards a sanctuary of Poseidon!
They expelled Hellenes that have dwelled in that district since the time of King Xerxes, priests who have worshipped and honoured the Gods in the same way, in the same time-honoured traditions that all of us acknowledge, respect, and conduct ourselves, for centuries! How can we consider them a potential ally when they treat our Gods this way? And make no mistake, when they treat our Gods this way they treat all Hellenes this way in exactly the same ugly, disrespectful and destructive way. Since time immemorial Hellenes have united by our language, our culture and education, and by our common worship of the proper Gods. An attack on the Gods is by its very definition an attack on all Hellenes, everywhere in the world! What qualities of the Henetoi set aside their profaning of the sacred and Hellenic sites which were set in their care? All kings, princes, and rulers have in their duty the sacred and unbreakable duty to preserve the temples to the Gods that exist in their territory, this cannot be abrogated! What respect do you, Panhellen Kadmos, owe a fellow king, this Adnama, if he does not value any of the sacred duties owed to his office!
The Tyrsenoi understood many things, and one of those things was the undertaking of proper respect towards the Gods, of honouring and displaying proper piety towards the Gods, but since the ending of their line their former territories are given over to disorder, to sacrilege and sack! How can we, the Hellenarkhs, stand before the Panhellen, stand in the sacred hall of the Panhellenic Assembly, and say that this bunch of immoral savages are better than this set of immoral savages? The Gods will not look kindly upon those who ignore profaners of the sacred, for there is a universal truth that lies upon all men, of all nations; the Gods must be respected. Men must respect their own Gods, and they must respect the precincts in their lands dedicated to the sacred Gods of other lands. This has been the law of civilized nations since before the ancient Kadmos gave us our writing and our civilized behaviour!
O Panhellen, named for this illustrious forebear, you cannot overlook this breach of the base laws of mankind. I have not now, nor ever, harmed any icon, ritual, or sanctuary of any Gods of the Henetoi in the lands of the Hellenes that I might have run across, and neither has any man who stands in this Assembly, for you are all excellent and civilized individuals who respect such things. These Henetoi have not accorded us and our Gods the same respect, and they must be punished accordingly! We must be the instrument of the Gods divine punishment, to restore the cosmic order, to make the Henetoi understand that the defiling of Hellenic sacred spaces will not go without divinely mandated justice, and to remind all the other savages that create disorder and moral disharmony in Hesperia that we are coming for them next! We shall be as King Xerxes, an agent of divine justice to punish crimes against the order of the universe and to keep the moral balance of the world intact! If some set of Keltoi or Germanoi or some other people far to our North were to some down, all of a sudden, in some great horde and pillage and defile Delphoi, or Dodona, or Lebedeia, would we simply sit and say that we should align with them, because their warriors are strong and they might prove useful against some other set of barbarians or the other? No! We would crush them with every armed Hellene, every armed ally of the Panhellen, that we could muster, from every corner of his domains! The Henetoi have destroyed the sacred oracle of Poseidon Aponos! This need not be repeated! This is a monstrous violation of sacred law and justice that has been perpetrated by this man who claims kingship over so much of the Adriatic coast. Talk no more of alliance, talk of how we shall uproot this king and destroy him and his confederates!
We are not in a position of weakness but strength, for not only are our armies well led and victorious, but we are a pious nation that respects the Gods of the Hellenes and those of others equally well. We are agents of restoration of the divine order of things, we are in the prime of a strength that is truly unprecedented, under Panhellen Kadmos we can say that the Hellenes and our allies are even stronger than the grand coalition of Agamemnon, and have a far more righteous cause. Let us use this strength, let the Panhellen reach out his mighty hand to restore divine justice, to renew the Gods’ faith in our ability to carry out their will, to punish the wicked and exalt the righteous. Speak no more of alliance with the Henetoi! Speak of the movement of armies and the punishing of the impious! Do what is right in the eyes of God, and man! Panhellen, I beseech you, heed not those who ignore the perfidies of the Henetoi, consider their chastisement in the manner that seems fittest to you.
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 4:BAGAHA or THEOI
Extract from Archaeoteria Volume One by Lar Segeto (961 CE)
The Brontoscopia
CHAPTER 4:BAGAHA or THEOI
Extract from Archaeoteria Volume One by Lar Segeto (961 CE)
The Brontoscopia
Many ancient peoples have become forever associated with a basal element of the universe; the men of Carchedon and their forebears, for example, with the sea, the men of Aigyptos with the earth. With our ancestors, the ancient Rasna, they are forever tied to the sky, especially lightning. But many do not understand what causes this association, what the actual importance of these things was to the ancient Rasna. Collecting, as I have been, sources from diverse periods and with detailed information on the beliefs of the Rasna, I will endeavour to explain to the interested reader the basic form of the Rasnatic relationship with the sky, and their belief in fate. This assembled together is what we call the Brontoscopia, which is a Hellenic word in origin meaning to ‘predict by thunder’.
The ancient Rasna believed that the sky was the source of all knowledge and power. Not only did they believe the major Gods to dwell in the lofty heavens, as did many other ancient peoples, they believed that the Gods dwelled in different districts of the sky. They understood thunder and lightning to be divine emanations, enlightening those with the correct knowledge as to the future, to the very fate of all who walked on the earth. By mapping these emanations to the correct districts of the sky they would have true understanding of divine intentions. Those who possessed true knowledge would themselves be able to summon lightning at will, commanding a fraction of the power of the Gods. East was considered a blessed district of the sky, home to many of the most benevolent and wise of the Gods, whereas the West was home to those of ill-intent. It is perhaps this reason why the Rasna clung so to Hellenic culture and knowledge, which fed their growth in their time of gestation.
This belief in the summoning of lightning would become crucial on a fateful day, the Battle of Destiny as it has been known ever since. At Felsine a great army of barbarians was confronted by an assembled Rasna army. Its leader would become known to history as Larth Unalisa, but at the time he seems to have been known as Larth Tulumnes clan Aule Arnthalisa. He led the forces of Veii alongside those of other Rasna cities against the assembled barbarian hosts. However, the Miracle of Felsine turned the tide of the battle; Larth Unalisa was able to call down lightning to strike the barbarian king, who fell down dead. The barbarian hordes fled, and a new fate was revealed for the Rasna people; one of greatness, and strength. Things would never be the same again. The Rasna had long believed that their civilization had an allotted time, a specific number of generations before their collapse, but the Battle of Destiny led to the acclamation of a Golden Generation, one whose length was open-ended. This, then, is why we call the Rasnatic Empire’s dynasties the Three Golden Generations.
THE LAND OF THUNDER (253 BCE)
To the King Thrasymakhos, say this from his servant Deinos.
Matters arose in Massalia which I was unable to extricate myself from, but I will return to Syrakousai as soon as I am able, and rather than keep you waiting, my king, I elected to send you this letter with a trusted messenger. My findings will be given to you, my king, in full when I am able to return, but here are the most important of my discoveries.
The reports of the Tyrsenoi kingdom showing preference for gods of the sky and thunder are accurate, perhaps even understated. In the lands of the Tyrsenoi proper they value above all their Gods which are lightning-throwers, in particular the three Gods they call Tinia, Uni, and the Athana of the Tyrsenoi that they call Menerva. Indeed they hold that through reading lightning the fate of individuals and the world can be determined. They also exalt Zan, and encourage those Hellenes within their kingdom to exalt him above all other Gods of the Hellenes. In addition, they encourage Gods of thunder among the barbarians that they control, ones named this, that, and the other such as Taranis or Euspiter. Truly, the kingdom of the Tyrsenoi is become the land of thunder.
It is a custom among the Tyrsenoi to dine with their ancestors in special rooms designed for that purpose in tombs belonging to Tyrsenoi families. This is not unusual information, and is likely known to you my king, but please be patient because this is a necessary preface to the next part of my report. Accordingly, with this custom in mind, the king of the Tyrsenoi feasts so with his ancestors. What was once a private ritual has now become a public festival, celebrated across the kingdom of the Tyrsenoi, because they hold the king to be master of the fate of the kingdom, and accordingly it is pious to share in the feast of the king with his ancestors. There are thus festivals all across the different districts of his lands. If the king wishes a day to strike the Tyrsenoi, one where they are vulnerable at the same time each year, there is no more suitable time that I can determine than during this festival of the king. I am aware that this would present difficulties, due to the length of the journey from Sikelia to any lands of the Tyrsenoi bar the region of Kapua and Neapolis, but this nonetheless represents a rare opportunity to find the Tyrsenoi vulnerable at the same time each year. They are a vigilant people, and it cannot be predicted as to when some Keltoi or other barbarian people might assault their frontiers to the north.
As for other kingdoms, do not trust to the Italiote League, disregard what anyone else has said to you about their willingness to attack the Tyrsenoi. On the one hand, the collapse of the kingdom of Amavadatos has robbed them of their main protector, and whilst this is in no way an insult directed towards my king and benefactor the Italiotes do not believe Syrakousai to be an equivalent protector to the now-collapsed Amavadatid kingdom. On the other hand, the followers of Pythagoras continue to grow in numbers and militancy in Italia, and many of the League’s members are concerned with suppressing any insurrection these cults might launch, in imitation of the last set of Pythagorean revolutions. My estimation is that such insurrections are likely to occur, but also that they might occur in the Hellenic poleis controlled by the Tyrsenoi. Speaking of Hellenic poleis, the polis of Massalia, from where this letter reaches you, is deeply unhappy with their conquest by the Tyrsenoi, even now, and would likely gladly revolt against their masters if they were attacked by a strong enough opponent.They believe that this or that apoikia founded by the Massaliotes in Iberia would aid them in this struggle, but I cannot determine if this is likely or not. The former territory of the Perseid kings is similarly an unknown quantity.
THE LEXICON OF HELLENIC RELIGION (1704 CE)
Απονοσ (Aponos): Aponos was originally a small urban area near to Patavion with a sanctuary dedicated to an eponymous God Aponos, of relatively obscure origins but probably a god relating to healing and waters. The Perseid kingdom, under Perseus II, transformed the site; his patronage resulted in the construction of a large temple to ‘Poseidon Aponos’, and it was promoted by Perseus as a unifying element in his diversely populated state, with right of access guaranteed to those who were allied to him or subject to his rule. This period also saw the prominence of Aponos’ oracular site rise, and by the end of the 4th century BCE there are references to it as a famed oracle in the literature of other Hellenic regions such as Italia and Hellas proper. When the Tinians conquered the Perseid state they absorbed many of its institutions wholesale, especially those that helped to glue their new territories together. This resulted in the profile of Aponos increasing even further, receiving pilgrimage and respect from the large territories of the Tinian state. This was despite its lack of association to any kind of thunder god, and was noted on this basis by several commentators, including Sethre Sethral, the famed Tinian philosopher.
The sanctuary survived the tumult of the Second Golden Generation’s ascent to power, and under Larth Tinial clan Unalisa II the sanctuary complex was expanded yet further, with the foundation of its sacred bath complex. It was under this period that the region of Patavion became one of the wealthiest parts of the Tinian Empire, with the growth of Empire and growth of Aponos’ importance dovetailing to mutual benefit. This period of prosperity came to an end, however, with the great Boii invasion of the eastern Tinian territories. Their raids penetrated as far as the district of Patavion, and the sanctuary was sacked for its riches. The defeat of the Boii put an end to the invasion but with the Second Golden Generation on the rocks, the future of Aponos grew uncertain, and it lay in semi-ruin for some time afterwards. However, after the ascension of the expansionist Third Golden Generation, the Temple was refounded, and enlarged to become even greater than it ever had been before. It was also given a circuit wall closer to a fortification than a marker of a sacred precinct, and it is believed that Aponos had a garrison independent of the larger military base in Patavion proper. This had the unintended affect of giving the priest of Poseidon Aponos military power, and upon the collapse of the Third (and final) Golden Generation the Priests of Aponos were one of several armed factions in the Adriatic districts of the former Tinian Empire. This was to prove the final downfall of the old temple, as the Wenetic Kingdom under Adnama defeated the army of Aponos, and dispersed the priests from the site. It remained a site of baths and a fortified garrison but the temple was left ruined, and used for stone. Eventually a new sanctuary, dedicated to the Olikan faith, was founded on the site of the old temple, as is the case with most of the early Olikos temples.
The Speeches of Hellenarkhs (1641 CE)
Leukippos of Naxos’ On the Piety of the Henetoi
Leukippos of Naxos’ On the Piety of the Henetoi
Introduction
This speech was delivered by Leukippos on the subject of a debate before Panhellen Kadmos, which was what the Symmachia’s policy towards the Henetic Kingdom, known as the Wenetic kingdom in the West, should be. There had been several recommendations of a friendly policy towards the kingdom, mostly because of its value as a bulwark against deeply unfriendly states to the Symmachia. Leukippos’ speech was delivered against the prevailing advice, and is the most stridently Olikan of all of his surviving speeches. Unlike many speeches delivered before the Panhellenic Bola we know the outcome of this speech, which successfully turned the tide of opinion towards the Henetoi, and resulted in a war between the two states. This is the moment in which Olikan religion was confirmed as a political force in Hellas and its territories, approaching a state of dominance it had hitherto not experienced.
Text
This advice I address to the Panhellen and his council, which I swear by all of the Gods is the best advice I have in my power to give. Panhellen Kadmos, foremost of the Hellenes, Defender of the Istros Frontier, Conqueror of Barbarians, I say this to you. I speak against this notion of allying with the Henetoi, entirely, utterly, without reserve and without hesitation. Those who have suggested otherwise are foolish and totally wrong about their suggestion. Why do I say this? Why do I speak against so many respected Hellarkhs? Because by this action we anger the Gods, and we anger the Gods because of the perfidious, sacrilegious Henetoi, because of the crimes against Gods and the cosmic order that they have committed in their time of unnatural governance over their corner of the world. Where is their usefulness when they destroy oracles and temples, as at Aponos? They are not bulwarks of strength against the forces ranged against our existence, against our mission to transform the world, they are one of those forces, for they threaten to upheave the entire cosmic order with their sacrilegious behaviour towards a sanctuary of Poseidon!
They expelled Hellenes that have dwelled in that district since the time of King Xerxes, priests who have worshipped and honoured the Gods in the same way, in the same time-honoured traditions that all of us acknowledge, respect, and conduct ourselves, for centuries! How can we consider them a potential ally when they treat our Gods this way? And make no mistake, when they treat our Gods this way they treat all Hellenes this way in exactly the same ugly, disrespectful and destructive way. Since time immemorial Hellenes have united by our language, our culture and education, and by our common worship of the proper Gods. An attack on the Gods is by its very definition an attack on all Hellenes, everywhere in the world! What qualities of the Henetoi set aside their profaning of the sacred and Hellenic sites which were set in their care? All kings, princes, and rulers have in their duty the sacred and unbreakable duty to preserve the temples to the Gods that exist in their territory, this cannot be abrogated! What respect do you, Panhellen Kadmos, owe a fellow king, this Adnama, if he does not value any of the sacred duties owed to his office!
The Tyrsenoi understood many things, and one of those things was the undertaking of proper respect towards the Gods, of honouring and displaying proper piety towards the Gods, but since the ending of their line their former territories are given over to disorder, to sacrilege and sack! How can we, the Hellenarkhs, stand before the Panhellen, stand in the sacred hall of the Panhellenic Assembly, and say that this bunch of immoral savages are better than this set of immoral savages? The Gods will not look kindly upon those who ignore profaners of the sacred, for there is a universal truth that lies upon all men, of all nations; the Gods must be respected. Men must respect their own Gods, and they must respect the precincts in their lands dedicated to the sacred Gods of other lands. This has been the law of civilized nations since before the ancient Kadmos gave us our writing and our civilized behaviour!
O Panhellen, named for this illustrious forebear, you cannot overlook this breach of the base laws of mankind. I have not now, nor ever, harmed any icon, ritual, or sanctuary of any Gods of the Henetoi in the lands of the Hellenes that I might have run across, and neither has any man who stands in this Assembly, for you are all excellent and civilized individuals who respect such things. These Henetoi have not accorded us and our Gods the same respect, and they must be punished accordingly! We must be the instrument of the Gods divine punishment, to restore the cosmic order, to make the Henetoi understand that the defiling of Hellenic sacred spaces will not go without divinely mandated justice, and to remind all the other savages that create disorder and moral disharmony in Hesperia that we are coming for them next! We shall be as King Xerxes, an agent of divine justice to punish crimes against the order of the universe and to keep the moral balance of the world intact! If some set of Keltoi or Germanoi or some other people far to our North were to some down, all of a sudden, in some great horde and pillage and defile Delphoi, or Dodona, or Lebedeia, would we simply sit and say that we should align with them, because their warriors are strong and they might prove useful against some other set of barbarians or the other? No! We would crush them with every armed Hellene, every armed ally of the Panhellen, that we could muster, from every corner of his domains! The Henetoi have destroyed the sacred oracle of Poseidon Aponos! This need not be repeated! This is a monstrous violation of sacred law and justice that has been perpetrated by this man who claims kingship over so much of the Adriatic coast. Talk no more of alliance, talk of how we shall uproot this king and destroy him and his confederates!
We are not in a position of weakness but strength, for not only are our armies well led and victorious, but we are a pious nation that respects the Gods of the Hellenes and those of others equally well. We are agents of restoration of the divine order of things, we are in the prime of a strength that is truly unprecedented, under Panhellen Kadmos we can say that the Hellenes and our allies are even stronger than the grand coalition of Agamemnon, and have a far more righteous cause. Let us use this strength, let the Panhellen reach out his mighty hand to restore divine justice, to renew the Gods’ faith in our ability to carry out their will, to punish the wicked and exalt the righteous. Speak no more of alliance with the Henetoi! Speak of the movement of armies and the punishing of the impious! Do what is right in the eyes of God, and man! Panhellen, I beseech you, heed not those who ignore the perfidies of the Henetoi, consider their chastisement in the manner that seems fittest to you.
- Daeres
- Word Count: 3k