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Inspiration
We turn now to this man, Agnimitra, King of Awanti, Conqueror of the Kamboja, Conqueror of the west and eastern seas, King of Kings, Lord of the Four Corners. A conqueror without limits, a man without fear, a king with no equal. He was the first man of Bharata’s lands who turned his eye, his hand, westward, towards the Kambojas, to Parasika, and further west still, to Parada, to Yona. His name continues to strike fear and respect in the lands of the westerners, as it will do for all the cycles of the world, the blood of Bharata’s children is now forever associated with majesty across the known world. Why did he do these things? Why did he conceive of, let alone embark upon, such an extraordinary, not to mention challenging, expedition? None had done so before, the thoughts and actions of this man Agnimitra require explanation through their uniqueness.
Those of the west believed that they had planted the germ of this idea by the attack of the Parasika and Kambojas upon the frontier of the Sindhu that had occurred some twenty years before Agnimitra’s accession to power, either in the understanding that cosmic retribution was being enacted for their misdeeds or in the understanding that this drew the attention of men of Bharata’s realm to the activities and kingdoms of the far west for the first time. But this was not the first time that the Kambojas or Parasika had conducted such attacks, many such attempts had been made by the time of this man, Agnimitra, and this attack was not particularly different from those that had previously occurred, Kurusha and his sons had professed dominion over the Sindhu for some time previously. Neither was this the first time that the west had been known to the lands of Bharata, as a homeland for would-be conquerors and peoples clamouring for spice it was of no additional prominence than it had been for the last two thousand years. This notion regarding the invasion of the Parasika and Kambojas is entirely insufficient, inadequate, to explain anything about why this expedition occurred. If such a thing was the case why did no other king lead a similar expedition westwards? Why was the expedition not launched by Indramitra, the father of Agnimitra? This particular man, in this particular time and place, launched this particular expedition, not a host of kings, and none who were king at the time that the attacks were taking place.
We cannot look to the great Chanakya alone either as the germ of this extraordinary idea, as others have done; firstly, even such a capable and renowned advisor as he would not have been capable of such severe alteration of a man of Kshatriya rank as to render someone who had never considered such an extraordinary expedition into somebody who would indeed consider such deeds; secondly, he would have chosen the court of Agnimitra because of things in the character of Agnimitra, such a man as Chanakya had such gifts and intelligence that, despite his young age, he would have been able to go to whichever state would accept his aid, therefore he must have picked upon Awanti and its king Agnimitra for existing characteristics and strengths of Agnimitra. Can we perhaps say that it was the character of the father of Agnimitra, Indramitra, that was the seed of all that would come afterwards? We cannot agree with this tempting assertion, for we do not find that Indramitra had traits that would have been passed on to his son that would have encouraged such ambitions, nor had he traits that would have encouraged their opposites. Indramitra was not a Buddhist or a Jain, he was a devotee of Rudra in particular, so he was not of a school that specifically and particularly advocated nonviolence. Nor was he a Lokayati and obsessed with the expansion of material interests. Nor was he bloodthirsty or hungry for war in his time as the king of his state, he prosecuted whichever wars were expedient and just and primarily in the direct defence of his kingdom. He was not a man who sought to conquer all in sight but was prevented by circumstance, he warred as he wished and to his discretion. He was open-minded but not someone who could be simply persuaded of any new idea or pressing thought that was pushed into his path just like that. He was a good king to his people.
There is no evidenced human factor that can explain the western expedition of Agnimitra, so we must instead realise that the direction to this path came directly from Indra to the mind of Agnimitra. We can cite a multitude of direct evidence for this inescapable conclusion. The extraordinary and unique quality of the thought, the idea to conquer the far west, had never occurred to anyone before and has not in a serious manner entered into the mind of anyone dwelling in the lands of Bharata since that time. In addition, the success of such extraordinary action, not only conquering these lands but the orderly succession of the sons of Agnimitra to his new titles, demonstrates the divine will behind these actions. We can also cite other, recorded examples where Indra has come to kings and rulers in order to motivate them in order to pursue some extraordinary action no human would conceive; the coming of Indra to Devadramila, for example, or the western legends of Indra coming to Kurusha, a famous king among those people. It is the most logical solution to the vexed question of why Agnimitra did these things. Even Buddhist scholars agree with this conclusion, for the spread of their teachings through the sons and daughters of Agnimitra was all accomplished as a result of Agnimitra’s conquests, and thus they see that this drastic course of action was fated and desired by the Gods.
It is my experience, dear brother, that one can never underestimate the potency that a single strong-willed and gifted man possesses. On the one hand there is the founder of the Kingdom of Syrakousai to whom we are indebted, Gelon, whose deeds I need not remind you of, and whose dynasty is the forebear of our own. On the other hand there is Pythagoras, founder of that school which stalks Italia. In a way perhaps the Pythagoreans are a closer relative to ours than we would care to readily admit. The legacies that both men left behind, king and philosopher, have waxed and waned, and yet both still remain. We have endured Karkhedon, the Tyrsenoi, the Italiotes, all attempts to subvert our lands by foreign invaders no matter how close they came. The Pythagoreans have endured two waves of purges of their followers and friends that in both cases reduced them to quiescence for decades afterwards. And indeed, have they not attempted to gain control of poleis as would-be-kings by strength of arms? Those of a more cunning and indomitable bent have succeeded in writing lawcodes, ruling over poleis, even contributed to the constitution of the Italiote League. I say to you that there is a Pythagorean Kingdom in rivalry to our own, brother, in much the same way as the Italiote League once was and the Tyrsenoi now are. In the unsettled times ahead we must not underestimate the legacy of Pythagoras. We must not underestimate any great men who rise above the throng, for a man need not conquer land to sow the seeds of a mighty kingdom. A man need not wear a diadem or be sworn as magistrate to assemble an army. Cultivate them, tame them, or destroy them, but do not ignore men of this kind, brother. So I say to you that you must either court this man Eustrophos of whom you told me, or you must execute him.
THE FOUNDATION OF EUROPA BY C. BANUNA BESSA BOTTAL (1585 CE)
THE LEGACY OF RASNA
When Tyrsenia proper was, at last, breached by the Aouerni and their formidable battalions, it was over. The mighty oak that had grown to such heights was now being felled. The Rasnatic Empire, which had risen from obscurity to titan of Middle Europa, was to be no more. And yet, in the moment of destruction, seeds of the mother oak were to fall to earth, germinate, and sprout. The title of Mechlar was adopted, indeed fought over, by the Keltoi, with the kings of the Aouerni in particularly claiming the somewhat tautological title of Meklar Rix. The Aouerni in particular had already adopted many technologies and tactics employed by the Rasnatic armies, not to mention the fact that Ollorix, son of Leukerix the Conqueror, employed surviving battalions of Rasna to preserve his kingdom in the wars with the Sekani. The administration of the Rasna was utterly destroyed through most of Hesperia, but the shape of the world that would emerge was determined as much by the features of the Rasna as the Keltoi that had conquered them. In addition, there were prominent exceptions to this otherwise total destruction of civilized life in the former Rasnatic Empire. Kapua, the southern capital of the Rasna, was not prepared to fall without a fight, eschewing the fatalism of many of their northern compatriots, and it was prepared to take the hand of old foes in order to survive; the alliance between the resurgent Italiote League and Kapua was uneasy, given Kapua’s key role in the occupation of Italia by the Rasna, but these allies of convenience proved a bulwark that finally halted the unstoppable progress of the Keltoi down Hesperia. In the end, this was the moment that forever shifted Kapua into the Hellenic world, though their Rasna heritage has never been forgotten. Nonetheless, all of her subsequent strength she inherited from her Rasnatic forebears. In addition to Kapua, two other branches of the Rasna remained free of invasion at this time, and like Kapua they defied the destruction around them, determined to seize mastery of their fate. We are of course referring to the islands Korse and Sardo. These islands, which for so long had been the secondary breadbaskets of the Rasna, were an ideal refuge for fleeing Rasna or their subjects. In addition to their agricultural wealth and isolation they possessed harbours, hard timbers, military colonists, and hardy mountaineers. These bastions were ideally placed to launch a counterattack against the Keltoi, given sufficient preparation. However the disastrous civil war, that deadly feud which enabled the Aouerni and Sekani to launch their campaign in the first place, never ended in Korse and Sardo. So many things could, and should, have brought these islands together for mutual benefit in these times, but it was not to be. Thus Korse and Sardo were to remain at odds throughout the Keltoi occupation of Hesperia. Both states survived despite their conflicts, these skirmishes and wars between one another did not interfere with their survival, but these pointless wars did distract their men and ships from any notion of common enterprise, and indeed wasted both in fruitless wars that always resulted in stalemate. The greatness which came to both islands subsequently could and perhaps should have been achieved earlier. Nonetheless, they succeeded in preserving a measure of the Rasnatic Empire, and never lost sight of their origins. When we speak of Europa, we speak of a land made in the image of the Rasna, warlords who never even encountered the Rasnatic Empire remade themselves in the image of these fallen titans, called themselves after some variation of Lauxum, built cities, claimed the favour of Tinia and Uni. The most important seed of the Rasna was that of civilization itself, which spread across all of Middle Europa, and even further beyond, just as the Hellenes had first introduced civilization to the Rasna.
RESISTANCE BY BRIGANZIA ENI-ARMORIG (537 CE)
THE EXAMPLE OF THE HELLENES
It seems to me, albeit as a humble outsider who has no relation to the Hellenes or their culture, that without the invasion of the Persians their western colonies and kingdoms would not have achieved such heights as they did. Without the influx of Hellenes into Syrakousai, albeit driven by the existing power of the greatest city of the Hellenic world, could Syrakousai have pushed the Qartadastim out of Sikelia altogether? I would wager not. Given the latter strength of that mighty nation, before its sundering, I would have said that eventually the Hellenes would have been conquered by the might of Qarthadast, or at best held the Qartadastim at bay in an uneasy stalemate that slowly ground down Hellenic sovereignty over their colonies on the island. Perhaps they would have had to subject themselves to dominion of another great power in their desperation to fend off their ancient rivals. We can express similar statements over the power of Massalia, which conquered and settled western Liguria, along with fortifying their borders and planting military colonies all across their territory. Their sea power was always strong, but this is not a good way of guarding a continental interior from a multitude of foes. Their wider territorial claims were only possible because of the influx of fellow Hellenes into the city, allowing for occupation of the surrounding territories, and this greater power also gave them a stronger hand in dealing with their immediate neighbours. I see no reason to doubt that Massalia too would have either been overcome by its neighbours or would have resorted to bending the knee to another in order to remain sovereign in some fashion.
And what of Italia? When the great exodos came from over the sea, in their multitudes, the cities of Italia were potent but divided, narrowly treading the line between opulence and decadence. The Hellenic refugees renewed and repurposed the Italiotes; without the refugees from Athenai there would have been no Megathenai, without Megathenai who would have brought the Italiotes together? In the time of Empedokles and Perikles the Italiotes were still regularly threatened by many of the other peoples of Hesperia, and it is likely that one among those primitive peoples would have eventually emerged supreme, with the Italiotes presenting a desirable and divided target for conquest. Without its increased population and strength would Syrakousai ever have founded Issa, and would Issa have had the strength to expand as it did into Illyria? Without Xerxes and his conquest of Hellas there would have been no such influx, no such conquests, no such bulwarks against various other peoples. What would have become of the Hellenes? At the time of Darieos and Xerxes they were a people on the cusp of greatness but short of achieving it. I wager that they would have contented themselves to their same insular squabbling, their small vision of the world. Indeed, it is not just their western colonies that were affected by Xerxes, he expanded the horizons of all Hellenes, making them party to and part of a far larger world. The same will be true for Amorika in these troubled times, no matter the forces ranged against us we will ultimately emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before. We are heir to the martial tradition of the Keltui, and draw our refinement and civilization from multiple sources to create a distilled and cohesive whole. We will overcome the Ettelingi and be the stronger for it.
INSPIRATION BY DUBA BEN ASHREAMEN
EXTRAORDINARY IDEAS
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 5: SPOROS or CIHYA
CHAPTER 5: SPOROS or CIHYA
THE SEEDS OF HISTORY BY UPALI (c.120 BCE)
AGNIMITRA
AGNIMITRA
We turn now to this man, Agnimitra, King of Awanti, Conqueror of the Kamboja, Conqueror of the west and eastern seas, King of Kings, Lord of the Four Corners. A conqueror without limits, a man without fear, a king with no equal. He was the first man of Bharata’s lands who turned his eye, his hand, westward, towards the Kambojas, to Parasika, and further west still, to Parada, to Yona. His name continues to strike fear and respect in the lands of the westerners, as it will do for all the cycles of the world, the blood of Bharata’s children is now forever associated with majesty across the known world. Why did he do these things? Why did he conceive of, let alone embark upon, such an extraordinary, not to mention challenging, expedition? None had done so before, the thoughts and actions of this man Agnimitra require explanation through their uniqueness.
Those of the west believed that they had planted the germ of this idea by the attack of the Parasika and Kambojas upon the frontier of the Sindhu that had occurred some twenty years before Agnimitra’s accession to power, either in the understanding that cosmic retribution was being enacted for their misdeeds or in the understanding that this drew the attention of men of Bharata’s realm to the activities and kingdoms of the far west for the first time. But this was not the first time that the Kambojas or Parasika had conducted such attacks, many such attempts had been made by the time of this man, Agnimitra, and this attack was not particularly different from those that had previously occurred, Kurusha and his sons had professed dominion over the Sindhu for some time previously. Neither was this the first time that the west had been known to the lands of Bharata, as a homeland for would-be conquerors and peoples clamouring for spice it was of no additional prominence than it had been for the last two thousand years. This notion regarding the invasion of the Parasika and Kambojas is entirely insufficient, inadequate, to explain anything about why this expedition occurred. If such a thing was the case why did no other king lead a similar expedition westwards? Why was the expedition not launched by Indramitra, the father of Agnimitra? This particular man, in this particular time and place, launched this particular expedition, not a host of kings, and none who were king at the time that the attacks were taking place.
We cannot look to the great Chanakya alone either as the germ of this extraordinary idea, as others have done; firstly, even such a capable and renowned advisor as he would not have been capable of such severe alteration of a man of Kshatriya rank as to render someone who had never considered such an extraordinary expedition into somebody who would indeed consider such deeds; secondly, he would have chosen the court of Agnimitra because of things in the character of Agnimitra, such a man as Chanakya had such gifts and intelligence that, despite his young age, he would have been able to go to whichever state would accept his aid, therefore he must have picked upon Awanti and its king Agnimitra for existing characteristics and strengths of Agnimitra. Can we perhaps say that it was the character of the father of Agnimitra, Indramitra, that was the seed of all that would come afterwards? We cannot agree with this tempting assertion, for we do not find that Indramitra had traits that would have been passed on to his son that would have encouraged such ambitions, nor had he traits that would have encouraged their opposites. Indramitra was not a Buddhist or a Jain, he was a devotee of Rudra in particular, so he was not of a school that specifically and particularly advocated nonviolence. Nor was he a Lokayati and obsessed with the expansion of material interests. Nor was he bloodthirsty or hungry for war in his time as the king of his state, he prosecuted whichever wars were expedient and just and primarily in the direct defence of his kingdom. He was not a man who sought to conquer all in sight but was prevented by circumstance, he warred as he wished and to his discretion. He was open-minded but not someone who could be simply persuaded of any new idea or pressing thought that was pushed into his path just like that. He was a good king to his people.
There is no evidenced human factor that can explain the western expedition of Agnimitra, so we must instead realise that the direction to this path came directly from Indra to the mind of Agnimitra. We can cite a multitude of direct evidence for this inescapable conclusion. The extraordinary and unique quality of the thought, the idea to conquer the far west, had never occurred to anyone before and has not in a serious manner entered into the mind of anyone dwelling in the lands of Bharata since that time. In addition, the success of such extraordinary action, not only conquering these lands but the orderly succession of the sons of Agnimitra to his new titles, demonstrates the divine will behind these actions. We can also cite other, recorded examples where Indra has come to kings and rulers in order to motivate them in order to pursue some extraordinary action no human would conceive; the coming of Indra to Devadramila, for example, or the western legends of Indra coming to Kurusha, a famous king among those people. It is the most logical solution to the vexed question of why Agnimitra did these things. Even Buddhist scholars agree with this conclusion, for the spread of their teachings through the sons and daughters of Agnimitra was all accomplished as a result of Agnimitra’s conquests, and thus they see that this drastic course of action was fated and desired by the Gods.
A LETTER OF BASILEUS DEINARKHOS TO BOULAGORAS OF AKRAGAS (27 CE)
ON EUSTROPHOS
ON EUSTROPHOS
THE FOUNDATION OF EUROPA BY C. BANUNA BESSA BOTTAL (1585 CE)
THE LEGACY OF RASNA
RESISTANCE BY BRIGANZIA ENI-ARMORIG (537 CE)
THE EXAMPLE OF THE HELLENES
And what of Italia? When the great exodos came from over the sea, in their multitudes, the cities of Italia were potent but divided, narrowly treading the line between opulence and decadence. The Hellenic refugees renewed and repurposed the Italiotes; without the refugees from Athenai there would have been no Megathenai, without Megathenai who would have brought the Italiotes together? In the time of Empedokles and Perikles the Italiotes were still regularly threatened by many of the other peoples of Hesperia, and it is likely that one among those primitive peoples would have eventually emerged supreme, with the Italiotes presenting a desirable and divided target for conquest. Without its increased population and strength would Syrakousai ever have founded Issa, and would Issa have had the strength to expand as it did into Illyria? Without Xerxes and his conquest of Hellas there would have been no such influx, no such conquests, no such bulwarks against various other peoples. What would have become of the Hellenes? At the time of Darieos and Xerxes they were a people on the cusp of greatness but short of achieving it. I wager that they would have contented themselves to their same insular squabbling, their small vision of the world. Indeed, it is not just their western colonies that were affected by Xerxes, he expanded the horizons of all Hellenes, making them party to and part of a far larger world. The same will be true for Amorika in these troubled times, no matter the forces ranged against us we will ultimately emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before. We are heir to the martial tradition of the Keltui, and draw our refinement and civilization from multiple sources to create a distilled and cohesive whole. We will overcome the Ettelingi and be the stronger for it.
INSPIRATION BY DUBA BEN ASHREAMEN
EXTRAORDINARY IDEAS
Not all ideas are the seeds of great things, but we know of many extraordinary people who had an idea unique to themselves, and who then did extraordinary deeds. If the idea comes from the outside in, was it one inherently fated to be successful, given the huge numbers of unsuccessful ideas people have? If the idea comes from within, what is it that tells people that their idea is a good one, since this instinct applies equally to extraordinary deeds and failures? Are these people made of different stuff, or are they and history’s big failures made of the same kind? Can we even conclude that all extraordinary, successful ideas are of the same kind? Take ‘Alika, the man who took the West Qanani from their homeland of ‘Awakim to the Whale Coast. Was his idea, was his fundamental being, of the same kind as Ashtazira who first sailed the ocean between Idonia and the lands of the Emerald Forest? Or of Bida, who first contacted the West Qanani by navigating around the Emerald Forest? Was it the same kind as Bobal of Tinjha’s abortive attempt to reach India? Are these ideas and these people, concerned as they are with discovery of new lands, from the same source as ideas concerning politics and warfare? Was ‘Alika a man of the same firmament and design as Ajhnimitr of India?
My instinct is to say no, these different ideas are not from the same source, these men are not of the same design. The unique quality of these ideas is derived from the unique quality of the person that generates them. For a start, how many have an extraordinary idea but never act upon it? Part of the uniqueness of the extraordinary individual is the commitment to achieving the idea in a practical way in any fashion whatsoever. Then again, there are those ideas that only a particular person could have generated, and I would rather believe the human body and mind to be an active creator rather than a passive producer, specifically that the act of thought can and will produce unique and particular thoughts. In other words, I do not believe the idea was born with us, I believe the idea is born by us. Rather than coming from a stream, where all the ideas swim around until fished out, ideas are forged from raw materials. Thus ‘Alika created the idea, and the execution, of the migration across the western Ocean to the Whale Coast. Bobal was likewise responsible for his idea, its execution, and ultimately its failure. His idea was not predetermined or fated to result in death and disaster, this was caused specifically by his lack of forethought and his decisions on the journey. We are not destined to failure, we create failure by making poor decisions, or executing actions in an ineffective manner. We are not passive receptacles of divine inspiration, we honour our divine creators by the creations of our own, along with choosing to do the right thing.
TELEO or AKUNAVAM: END OF CHAPTER 5My instinct is to say no, these different ideas are not from the same source, these men are not of the same design. The unique quality of these ideas is derived from the unique quality of the person that generates them. For a start, how many have an extraordinary idea but never act upon it? Part of the uniqueness of the extraordinary individual is the commitment to achieving the idea in a practical way in any fashion whatsoever. Then again, there are those ideas that only a particular person could have generated, and I would rather believe the human body and mind to be an active creator rather than a passive producer, specifically that the act of thought can and will produce unique and particular thoughts. In other words, I do not believe the idea was born with us, I believe the idea is born by us. Rather than coming from a stream, where all the ideas swim around until fished out, ideas are forged from raw materials. Thus ‘Alika created the idea, and the execution, of the migration across the western Ocean to the Whale Coast. Bobal was likewise responsible for his idea, its execution, and ultimately its failure. His idea was not predetermined or fated to result in death and disaster, this was caused specifically by his lack of forethought and his decisions on the journey. We are not destined to failure, we create failure by making poor decisions, or executing actions in an ineffective manner. We are not passive receptacles of divine inspiration, we honour our divine creators by the creations of our own, along with choosing to do the right thing.
- Daeres
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