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International Law
The three Italiote Leagues each left an indelible mark upon Hesperia, and none more so than in the matter of laws between poleis and between nations. It had not been standard practice among the Hellenes to consider such matters particularly important, with the general attitude being that every state was in an undeclared war with all others at all times. But the realities of life in Italia meant that this viewpoint was not sustainable, and with the foundation of the First Italiote League such things became a pressing issue. After the signing of the Peace of Aiskhylos with Qarthadast the League’s signatories decided the time had come to regulate affairs between poleis, so that the newly won peace would not be harmed by the proven tendency of Hellenes to squabble. They established the sacrosanct nature of ambassadors, learning well from the example of Sparta what happened to transgressors in that regard, they established that one poleis would not demolish or depopulate another as in the manner that Sybaris once had been, they established that matters of war would be subject to arbitration by a neutral member of the Italiote League.
Now it was not too long until Syrakousai withdrew from the First Italiote League, upon the installation of the new Pantarestid dynasty in that kingdom, but it nonetheless continued to respect these newly established laws, at least while the League continued to exist, and indeed avoided warfare of all kinds with fellow Hellenes through this period. Issues arose, however, after the breakup of the League, whereby the Italiotes were divided between Syrakousai, Kapue, and the Amavadatidai. Syrakousai no longer respected these established rules of the Italiote constitution, demonstrating a willingness to depopulate those cities it had gained hegemony over and to treat the Hellenes under the command of the Amavadatidai as though they were barbarians in the Italian Wars between the two powers. This is part of what ensured the collapse of Syrakousai’s control over Italia, and the creation of the Second Italiote League, for resentment grew so great that no armed force could hold the Italiote cities successfully, and once Megathenai was liberated the League immediately reformed itself.
The reinvigorated League resettled those poleis that Syrakousai had disturbed or depopulated as much as it proved possible, and for the first time guaranteed the integrity and territory of the League’s member states, effectively formalising their locations and borders permanently. The Second League, upon completing its refoundation, found that Hesperia was much changed from the time of the First League. Rather than a bewildering collection of kingdoms, poleis, tribes, and petty fiefdoms, Hesperia was now dominated by two large Leagues; the Tinian League of the Tyrsenoi and the Italiote League itself. It was clear that regulating affairs between the Tyrsenoi and the Hellenes was now as much a matter of diplomacy as warfare, with the First Zephyrian War resulting in a bloody stalemate. The Epizephyrian Treaty extended formal diplomatic and legal rights between the two powers of Hesperia, establishing the same inviolacy of ambassadors as between the Hellenic poleis, establishing the recognition of each League and its sovereignty, and creating a basic framework for the protection of prisoners, along with methods for their ransom or release.
This did not prevent further warfare between the Hellenes and Tyrsenoi, that was left to the Generation’s Peace signed at the end of the Second Zephyrian War. This established a total peace between the two Leagues, and a formal process for preventing further outbreaks of hostilities. The peace, it must be said, was better respected by the Tyrsenoi than the Italiotes; the Italiotes were able to conduct their conquest of Sikelia without any interference from the Tyrsenoi, whereas the collapse of the First Golden Generation’s rule in the Tinian League immediately resulted in the Kapuan War, a full invasion of Kampania by the Italiotes and their battalions. The Second Golden Generation, after repelling this invasion, did not conduct a reciprocal march on Italia. Instead, using merely the threat of their military response, they argued that the Italiotes had violated a sacred treaty, and demanded that there be compensation for these misdeeds. Not only did the Hellenes withdraw from all territories they had captured, Neapolis was awarded to the control of Kapue, without fighting additional battles or besieging the city at all. The Tyrsenoi, far from weakened, now seemed stronger than ever. This, and the desire for peace, prevailed upon the Italiotes to leave their northern neighbours undisturbed, whilst the Tyrsenoi themselves now considered the depredations of Keltoi on their northern frontier far more threatening than any threat the Hellenes might pose.
This led to the Golden Age of Hesperia, a peace lasting unbroken from the Ceding of Kapue to the rise of the Third Golden Generation’s control over the Tinians. Disputes continued to arise between the Tyrsenoi and the Italiotes, as they are wont to do between neighbours with great strength and plentiful interests, but these disputes were handled by negotiation alone. Thus these two powers both together advanced the Hellenic legacy of civilization, creating between them an international order of reason and rationality. This came to a shattering end when the throne of Tyrsena was captured by the Third Golden Generation, who sensed that the end was near for the Tinian League and the Empire of the Tyrsenoi. They believed that the only way to prevent this was to expand their control over Hesperia (and further afield) as much as possible, amassing men, horses, gold, land without end. So it was that Ati clan Rasna led his infamous campaign against Italia, breaking the joint peace, and committing many atrocities against the Hellenes in an attempt to break their will. So it was that the monstrosity of these deeds caused the Gods to send Leukerix against the Tinians. Such is the divine law that ultimately underpins the laws of nations. The Third Italiote League, reconstituting itself, no longer had a need for discourse with the north, as the Aouerni and Sekani were too barbaric and disorganised to engage in anything resembling regulated diplomacy. Instead they cultivated foreign allies and held the line against the Keltoi. But this network of friendship that they created, at first with Kapue, then with Utika, then with Korse and Sardinia, that is where the thread of civilized behaviour between different peoples was preserved, and where our laws of nations still in use today descend from, backed not by the threat of arms but by the law of the Gods.
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 6: NOMOS or DATA
THE LAWS OF NATIONS C. BRANON mp SAIMTA (1545 CE)
THE CAULDRON OF HESPERIA
CHAPTER 6: NOMOS or DATA
THE LAWS OF NATIONS C. BRANON mp SAIMTA (1545 CE)
THE CAULDRON OF HESPERIA
The three Italiote Leagues each left an indelible mark upon Hesperia, and none more so than in the matter of laws between poleis and between nations. It had not been standard practice among the Hellenes to consider such matters particularly important, with the general attitude being that every state was in an undeclared war with all others at all times. But the realities of life in Italia meant that this viewpoint was not sustainable, and with the foundation of the First Italiote League such things became a pressing issue. After the signing of the Peace of Aiskhylos with Qarthadast the League’s signatories decided the time had come to regulate affairs between poleis, so that the newly won peace would not be harmed by the proven tendency of Hellenes to squabble. They established the sacrosanct nature of ambassadors, learning well from the example of Sparta what happened to transgressors in that regard, they established that one poleis would not demolish or depopulate another as in the manner that Sybaris once had been, they established that matters of war would be subject to arbitration by a neutral member of the Italiote League.
Now it was not too long until Syrakousai withdrew from the First Italiote League, upon the installation of the new Pantarestid dynasty in that kingdom, but it nonetheless continued to respect these newly established laws, at least while the League continued to exist, and indeed avoided warfare of all kinds with fellow Hellenes through this period. Issues arose, however, after the breakup of the League, whereby the Italiotes were divided between Syrakousai, Kapue, and the Amavadatidai. Syrakousai no longer respected these established rules of the Italiote constitution, demonstrating a willingness to depopulate those cities it had gained hegemony over and to treat the Hellenes under the command of the Amavadatidai as though they were barbarians in the Italian Wars between the two powers. This is part of what ensured the collapse of Syrakousai’s control over Italia, and the creation of the Second Italiote League, for resentment grew so great that no armed force could hold the Italiote cities successfully, and once Megathenai was liberated the League immediately reformed itself.
The reinvigorated League resettled those poleis that Syrakousai had disturbed or depopulated as much as it proved possible, and for the first time guaranteed the integrity and territory of the League’s member states, effectively formalising their locations and borders permanently. The Second League, upon completing its refoundation, found that Hesperia was much changed from the time of the First League. Rather than a bewildering collection of kingdoms, poleis, tribes, and petty fiefdoms, Hesperia was now dominated by two large Leagues; the Tinian League of the Tyrsenoi and the Italiote League itself. It was clear that regulating affairs between the Tyrsenoi and the Hellenes was now as much a matter of diplomacy as warfare, with the First Zephyrian War resulting in a bloody stalemate. The Epizephyrian Treaty extended formal diplomatic and legal rights between the two powers of Hesperia, establishing the same inviolacy of ambassadors as between the Hellenic poleis, establishing the recognition of each League and its sovereignty, and creating a basic framework for the protection of prisoners, along with methods for their ransom or release.
This did not prevent further warfare between the Hellenes and Tyrsenoi, that was left to the Generation’s Peace signed at the end of the Second Zephyrian War. This established a total peace between the two Leagues, and a formal process for preventing further outbreaks of hostilities. The peace, it must be said, was better respected by the Tyrsenoi than the Italiotes; the Italiotes were able to conduct their conquest of Sikelia without any interference from the Tyrsenoi, whereas the collapse of the First Golden Generation’s rule in the Tinian League immediately resulted in the Kapuan War, a full invasion of Kampania by the Italiotes and their battalions. The Second Golden Generation, after repelling this invasion, did not conduct a reciprocal march on Italia. Instead, using merely the threat of their military response, they argued that the Italiotes had violated a sacred treaty, and demanded that there be compensation for these misdeeds. Not only did the Hellenes withdraw from all territories they had captured, Neapolis was awarded to the control of Kapue, without fighting additional battles or besieging the city at all. The Tyrsenoi, far from weakened, now seemed stronger than ever. This, and the desire for peace, prevailed upon the Italiotes to leave their northern neighbours undisturbed, whilst the Tyrsenoi themselves now considered the depredations of Keltoi on their northern frontier far more threatening than any threat the Hellenes might pose.
This led to the Golden Age of Hesperia, a peace lasting unbroken from the Ceding of Kapue to the rise of the Third Golden Generation’s control over the Tinians. Disputes continued to arise between the Tyrsenoi and the Italiotes, as they are wont to do between neighbours with great strength and plentiful interests, but these disputes were handled by negotiation alone. Thus these two powers both together advanced the Hellenic legacy of civilization, creating between them an international order of reason and rationality. This came to a shattering end when the throne of Tyrsena was captured by the Third Golden Generation, who sensed that the end was near for the Tinian League and the Empire of the Tyrsenoi. They believed that the only way to prevent this was to expand their control over Hesperia (and further afield) as much as possible, amassing men, horses, gold, land without end. So it was that Ati clan Rasna led his infamous campaign against Italia, breaking the joint peace, and committing many atrocities against the Hellenes in an attempt to break their will. So it was that the monstrosity of these deeds caused the Gods to send Leukerix against the Tinians. Such is the divine law that ultimately underpins the laws of nations. The Third Italiote League, reconstituting itself, no longer had a need for discourse with the north, as the Aouerni and Sekani were too barbaric and disorganised to engage in anything resembling regulated diplomacy. Instead they cultivated foreign allies and held the line against the Keltoi. But this network of friendship that they created, at first with Kapue, then with Utika, then with Korse and Sardinia, that is where the thread of civilized behaviour between different peoples was preserved, and where our laws of nations still in use today descend from, backed not by the threat of arms but by the law of the Gods.
A RESPONSE TO THE ANCIENT ASSERTIONS OF C.BRANON mp SAIMTA BY BRIGYA mp TOLOMBA (1551 CE)
It is one thing to wish to seem cultivated in matters of arkhaioteria. By all means, refer to Varvarines as Keltoi, Kaba as Kapue, or Aohni as Aouerni. There is a certain patter in scholarly matters that one finds hard to resist, and there is every reason to wish to blend in our refined society, to have people pay attention to your thoughts and not your dialect. All to the good. It is entirely another to put down the achievement of your own ancestors so as to be judged a good, civilized Varvari, praising instead (and exclusively) the lofty deeds of the Illenes, who of course have never wanted for praise or sympathy in the writings of humankind. When good printing material is spent on the subject of the culmination of international affairs in Hasbairdha is it so much to ask that the author commits himself to being more than an Illenophile with more enthusiasm than sense? Apparently this is too much for C. Branon, and in case any have had the misfortune of taking his volume for instruction it is time to demonstrate the fundamental cracks in his artifice.
Let us consider the author’s total silence on the matter of the Perseid state. Though not greatly long-lived the kingdom of Perseus had an immense impact on northern Hasbairdha’s matters of international law. The Kingdom itself was formed by a formal, signed, treaty of alliance between its constituent members and the person of Perseus himself. These constituents were of many different peoples, including the elder part of the Varvari stock, who had already dwelt in northern Hasbairdha for some time. For many of these peoples it was the first time any had been tied to a formal, sovereign document, or to any kind of recognised sovereignty at all. The foresame kingdom also engaged in formal relationships with its neighbours, not only the nascent Tinian Empire but also with others called Keltoi by the Illenes. Some of these exact same treaties, establishing borders, trading rights, the penalties for breaking hospitality, were used by the Tinians as their way of gaining control over these districts when they began to expand eastwards along the Bodha river. The Tinians might have taken the land by the rule of spear but they governed them by the rule of law, laws that were already in place.
This then flows straight into the next key development the author ignores completely, which is the matter of the Maghail treaties between the Tinians and the Varvari peoples that they variously allied with, resettled, hired as warbands, and conquered. In many cases formal title was given, under the divine authority of Uni, both with regard to the existence of various peoples as distinct from others and to their entitlement to various segments of land. The relationship between Tinians and Varvari, from the Empire’s beginning to its end, was never simply that of conquered and conqueror, let alone that between even ‘barbarians’ against a cultivated power, but of particular groups in constant negotiation with the authority they saw as overlord, paymaster, guarantor, or at times holy sovereign. All of this constitutes a formal, legal process of equal development to that between the Tinians and Illenes, and of far greater complexity.
Though far be it from me to suggest rushing to the defence of the vaunted Illenes, we nonetheless find that the author does not even correctly praise those he hails to the many heavens. The Illenes, whom he credits as having no legal framework between their city-states whatsoever, were apparently themselves simply attacking whomever they liked, whenever they liked, with no repercussions, until the coming of Parcleih to Hasbairdha. A cursory, let alone critical, reading of Herodotos alone would furnish the skilled scholar with knowledge of regulated affairs; they would see, for example, the detailed description of the Delphic Alliance which protected the sacrosanct temple at Delphi from harm, and which also protected the members of the Alliance from one another, as the terms of the treaty specified that members could not destroy or depopulate one another’s cities, or cut those cities off from water supplies even at a time of war; they would also see the institution of proxenia, whereby a formally recognised citizen of one city would represent the affairs of another, and host the formal ambassadors of that represented city. They would find the establishment of Leagues between cities, the Italiote League was far from the first Illenic pact between sister-cities that had been constructed or thrown together.
It is typical of that certain kind of arkhaiterist that Hasbairdha be made out to be some magnificent but violent wilderness, mainly filled with savage tribes and barely civilized city-folk, where the Illenes are either the only civilized people at the time of Parcleih and his successors or in becoming civilized civilize the rest of the great peninsula. This is a simple, comforting truth that blinds the author and reader both, preventing them from true understanding. But our author decided to go one step further than that, and assert that the arrival of Leukerix represented the end of diplomacy and formal treaties between the North and South of Hasbairdha. Now, it is one thing entirely for people to argue what form of harbingers the Aohni were, it is understandable that there is dispute when for many of the Tinians it represented catastrophe, and when it resulted in such a wholesale destruction of the old order. It is quite another to claim that your own people, the Varvari, were brutish savages incapable of actually understanding or engaging in the laws of nations. It’s quite incredible to assert that the Later Aohni Confederacy, the legendary head of a hundred nations, was not capable of complex political theory. Are we to believe the assembled host of Leukerix was brought together by pork, rum, and vague gesturing in the direction of the Tinian Empire?
It is true that the Aohni were, at first, not forthcoming when it came to the matter of formal diplomacy with those they failed to conquer. But in this period of initial conquest many of the levy warbands of the Aohni were practically small fiefs unto themselves, heeding almost no direction from higher forces, not once they had tasted Hasbairdhan plunder, and the organised core of the Aohni army and government were almost immediately engaged in their fierce war with the Sagani. The southern border of the newly-won Aohni kingdom was neglected, that cannot be denied. But this situation did not last; after all, was it not formal treaty that established the border of Illenic and Aohni spheres of influence as the Tebra river? The period of diplomacy between the Aohni and Illenes did not last long, because the Aohni Empire that had destroyed the Tinian was itself being consumed, there was soon no Aohni presence in Hasbairdha to be negotiating with formally. It is more than a cheat to claim that the Aohni, and by extension all Varvari in the post-Tinian interregnum, were incapable of actual diplomacy.
A kind of silt has descended upon our understanding of civilization, and who is responsible for the current order of things. Depending on who is asked any combination of the Iellenes, Tinians, Carthagines, or even Persians are ultimately responsible for anything and everything contributing to anything good, advanced, or simply tolerable. Even the Varvari are willing to stake their own claim to achievement or civilized life on the foundations of the Tinians and Illenes, and apparently this now includes treating Varvari heritage as some embarrassing barbarism that by a process of years and special potions has been lifted from our souls and bodies. Quite what being Varvari is, according to C. Branon, I couldn’t possibly determine. When did we lose the ability to defend ourselves from these accusations? When did we start to become embarrassed at ourselves? One can call pride in one’s own nation at the expense of all else a kind of delusion, this is certainly true, but ignoring relevant facts underpinning our lives because of what other people have told you matters about the past is no less a delusion. I will tolerate it no longer, and neither should anyone else claiming the name of Varvari, whether you live in the Alba mountains, or Aohnia, or Madhlain, or Breisa, or even some distant corner of Ladhio. My hope is that, understanding all of this, C. Branon’s cravenly tome will be forgotten to scholars, sooner rather than later, and more distantly of all I hope that C. Branon might one day come to some understanding of what it is to actually comprehend the human past.
Let us consider the author’s total silence on the matter of the Perseid state. Though not greatly long-lived the kingdom of Perseus had an immense impact on northern Hasbairdha’s matters of international law. The Kingdom itself was formed by a formal, signed, treaty of alliance between its constituent members and the person of Perseus himself. These constituents were of many different peoples, including the elder part of the Varvari stock, who had already dwelt in northern Hasbairdha for some time. For many of these peoples it was the first time any had been tied to a formal, sovereign document, or to any kind of recognised sovereignty at all. The foresame kingdom also engaged in formal relationships with its neighbours, not only the nascent Tinian Empire but also with others called Keltoi by the Illenes. Some of these exact same treaties, establishing borders, trading rights, the penalties for breaking hospitality, were used by the Tinians as their way of gaining control over these districts when they began to expand eastwards along the Bodha river. The Tinians might have taken the land by the rule of spear but they governed them by the rule of law, laws that were already in place.
This then flows straight into the next key development the author ignores completely, which is the matter of the Maghail treaties between the Tinians and the Varvari peoples that they variously allied with, resettled, hired as warbands, and conquered. In many cases formal title was given, under the divine authority of Uni, both with regard to the existence of various peoples as distinct from others and to their entitlement to various segments of land. The relationship between Tinians and Varvari, from the Empire’s beginning to its end, was never simply that of conquered and conqueror, let alone that between even ‘barbarians’ against a cultivated power, but of particular groups in constant negotiation with the authority they saw as overlord, paymaster, guarantor, or at times holy sovereign. All of this constitutes a formal, legal process of equal development to that between the Tinians and Illenes, and of far greater complexity.
Though far be it from me to suggest rushing to the defence of the vaunted Illenes, we nonetheless find that the author does not even correctly praise those he hails to the many heavens. The Illenes, whom he credits as having no legal framework between their city-states whatsoever, were apparently themselves simply attacking whomever they liked, whenever they liked, with no repercussions, until the coming of Parcleih to Hasbairdha. A cursory, let alone critical, reading of Herodotos alone would furnish the skilled scholar with knowledge of regulated affairs; they would see, for example, the detailed description of the Delphic Alliance which protected the sacrosanct temple at Delphi from harm, and which also protected the members of the Alliance from one another, as the terms of the treaty specified that members could not destroy or depopulate one another’s cities, or cut those cities off from water supplies even at a time of war; they would also see the institution of proxenia, whereby a formally recognised citizen of one city would represent the affairs of another, and host the formal ambassadors of that represented city. They would find the establishment of Leagues between cities, the Italiote League was far from the first Illenic pact between sister-cities that had been constructed or thrown together.
It is typical of that certain kind of arkhaiterist that Hasbairdha be made out to be some magnificent but violent wilderness, mainly filled with savage tribes and barely civilized city-folk, where the Illenes are either the only civilized people at the time of Parcleih and his successors or in becoming civilized civilize the rest of the great peninsula. This is a simple, comforting truth that blinds the author and reader both, preventing them from true understanding. But our author decided to go one step further than that, and assert that the arrival of Leukerix represented the end of diplomacy and formal treaties between the North and South of Hasbairdha. Now, it is one thing entirely for people to argue what form of harbingers the Aohni were, it is understandable that there is dispute when for many of the Tinians it represented catastrophe, and when it resulted in such a wholesale destruction of the old order. It is quite another to claim that your own people, the Varvari, were brutish savages incapable of actually understanding or engaging in the laws of nations. It’s quite incredible to assert that the Later Aohni Confederacy, the legendary head of a hundred nations, was not capable of complex political theory. Are we to believe the assembled host of Leukerix was brought together by pork, rum, and vague gesturing in the direction of the Tinian Empire?
It is true that the Aohni were, at first, not forthcoming when it came to the matter of formal diplomacy with those they failed to conquer. But in this period of initial conquest many of the levy warbands of the Aohni were practically small fiefs unto themselves, heeding almost no direction from higher forces, not once they had tasted Hasbairdhan plunder, and the organised core of the Aohni army and government were almost immediately engaged in their fierce war with the Sagani. The southern border of the newly-won Aohni kingdom was neglected, that cannot be denied. But this situation did not last; after all, was it not formal treaty that established the border of Illenic and Aohni spheres of influence as the Tebra river? The period of diplomacy between the Aohni and Illenes did not last long, because the Aohni Empire that had destroyed the Tinian was itself being consumed, there was soon no Aohni presence in Hasbairdha to be negotiating with formally. It is more than a cheat to claim that the Aohni, and by extension all Varvari in the post-Tinian interregnum, were incapable of actual diplomacy.
A kind of silt has descended upon our understanding of civilization, and who is responsible for the current order of things. Depending on who is asked any combination of the Iellenes, Tinians, Carthagines, or even Persians are ultimately responsible for anything and everything contributing to anything good, advanced, or simply tolerable. Even the Varvari are willing to stake their own claim to achievement or civilized life on the foundations of the Tinians and Illenes, and apparently this now includes treating Varvari heritage as some embarrassing barbarism that by a process of years and special potions has been lifted from our souls and bodies. Quite what being Varvari is, according to C. Branon, I couldn’t possibly determine. When did we lose the ability to defend ourselves from these accusations? When did we start to become embarrassed at ourselves? One can call pride in one’s own nation at the expense of all else a kind of delusion, this is certainly true, but ignoring relevant facts underpinning our lives because of what other people have told you matters about the past is no less a delusion. I will tolerate it no longer, and neither should anyone else claiming the name of Varvari, whether you live in the Alba mountains, or Aohnia, or Madhlain, or Breisa, or even some distant corner of Ladhio. My hope is that, understanding all of this, C. Branon’s cravenly tome will be forgotten to scholars, sooner rather than later, and more distantly of all I hope that C. Branon might one day come to some understanding of what it is to actually comprehend the human past.
- Daeres
- Word Count: 2.6k