alternatehistory.com
Etruscan Law
It has become impossible to imagine the Tinians as having any other form of government besides that of the sacral monarkh. Goodness knows the Tinians became the model of monarkhia in Europa for the next five hundred years, and continues to inspire us to this present day, we take active pride in continuing to understand the gods via the divisions of the sky, and in building our cities to their sacred principles. However, at the time of the Persian Conquest the situation among the Tinians was radically different, a situation that has traditionally been ignored by the traditional scholars of our illustrious forebears due to their own bias in favour of strong, imperial rule. At that time of tumultuous change, of the Tyrsenoi poleis only Veii maintained its king still, the others all having adopted some mode of oligarkhic constitution or another, and this was the source of quite some discord between Veii, formerly the nominal head of the Rasnatic League, and the rest, in particular Tarchuna. Veii’s reputation is so grand that many are not aware that Tarchuna was actually the more populous, richer city, both as poleis and during the height of Tinian Empire. It is no small matter that this band of collegiate poleis, most of which had removed their kings, became a unitary state ruled by a single monarkh. Indeed, that monarkh originally ruled just one among many poleis, not even being the ruler of the grandest among them. What allowed the king of Veii to undertake such a mission, let alone succeed?
The answer of a hundred generations would be to point to the most famous event in Europan history, the so-called Battle of Destiny of 409 BCE. It is certainly relevant. The will of the Gods made manifest in a lightning bolt, all at once saving the North-Eastern districts of the Tyrsenoi and elevating the King of Veii to a man marked by the Gods. It is truly the stuff that shakes the foundation of the world. But this is only part of the story. For one, Larth Tulumnes’s metamorphosis into Larth Unalisa did not alter his legal status as ‘merely’ the King of Veii, at the time of his death he was still only the temporary head of the Rasnatic League. As the initial threat from the Keltoi ebbed, this emergency requirement for leadership ebbed also, and the leadership of all Tyrsenoi by the King of Veii was by no means ordained as permanent. In fact, this position may well have lapsed by the time of Amavadatos, for we find that the Tyrsenoi Lays refer to Arnth Unalisa as being appointed the leader of the League’s forces when the fleet of Perseus landed in Umbria in 380 BCE, and note the implication that he did not previously hold this position of command. The horde of Perseus was driven out of Lation by Amavadatos and his assembled confederates the next year, but we find that there was still enough of an intact army to give battle with Arnth Unalisa and the Tyrsenoi.
It is in this victory, not far from Veii itself, and the division of Italia by Amavadatos, that we should see the concrete and legal existence of the Tinian Empire begin to form. The threat of large Keltoi armies was now clearly one that was not simply going to go away, but likewise the Tyrsenoi were now dealing with a full Persian-style monarkh in the fullness of its military power, and one that had with the stroke of a pen rewritten the entire map of Italia. Capua, and by extension the Tyrsenoi, benefited from the Peace of Amavadatos, with the Hellenic colonies of Campania being assigned to Capua’s dominion, along with the western Safini lands. But this was small comfort to the Tyrsenoi, for they were now introduced to a far mightier and bolder force than the Hellenes, and additionally now much of Calabria had been given over to the renewed ambitions of Syrakousai. The time had come to take measures to prevent the Tyrsenoi being overrun, particularly as the major poleis of Rome had also been elevated to the status of Amavadatid client state, and awarded much territory, including that of Faleri, considered by the Tyrsenoi to be a close ally. It is with the Faliscan War, fought against Rome, that we can finally point to a concrete Tinian Empire, with the King of Veii as arbiter of an emerging single state, for upon the conclusion of the war the Faliscan territory, all of its borders and boundaries, are explicitly brought into the power of the King of Veii, not the poleis of Veii but under the protection of the King of Veii specifically. It is at this time that the title of Zilath Rasnal Tinial, king of Tinia's People is first found in documentation from Veii, Tarchuna, and other cities of the Tyrsenoi heartland. The People of Tinia had been born.
The Tinians were a nation of strict boundaries and division, just as in their period of being the Tyrsenoi, and as we have just seen the monarkhs of Veii tailored their rise to power in some accordance with these principles, even as their unprecedented control over the Tyrsenoi peoples shattered every practical notion of fixed boundary between their poleis. The precedent of Lars Porsenna was widely utilised as a precedent for the actions of Arnth Unalisa, but all early references to Lars Porsenna portray him more as the leader of a temporary coalition of the Tyrsenoi poleis (just as Larth Unalisa had been), with the exception of Eastern Hellenic sources which refer to him as the King of the Tyrsenoi. It seems that the fiction of the poleis having separate, sovereign borders remained vital to internal cohesion well into the Empire’s history, given the discovery of tular border stones dedicated well into the time of the Second Golden Generation. The Tinian monarkh was seen, and wished to be seen, as preserving the traditional and sacred divisions of the Tyrsenoi despite his violation of all prior precedent. He did so by forming a rule above their traditional society, rather than being the monarkh of Veii he was the monarch of all Tyrsenoi. The poleis of the Empire were not obliterated under the rule of one among them, but instead brought into the protection of the Emperor.
This was also to the Emperor’s advantage because now he was only subject to sacred law, not to constitutional law, being above the powers of the traditional Tyrsenoi zilath. He was the intermediary of all Tyrsenoi with Tinia and Uni, and therefore subject to them in the judgement of his deeds. This was not as stabile a solution to maintaining power as they would have liked, however, for this inevitably led to the notion that a successful overthrow of any particular Tinian Emperor was divinely ordained. This added the spice of chaos to the ordered table which the monarkhs of Veii had carefully laid out after the reign of Arnth Unalisa. Nonetheless, it was not until the Third Golden Generation, over three centuries after the establishment of the Empire, that fatal and complex division arose between the constituents of the Tinians. Notably, the Third Golden Generation abolished the divisions between the poleis, according to their forebears an immense crime against the Gods and their divinely ordained division of the world. The invasion of Leukerix was divine retribution. The Tyrsenoi certainly believed this to be the case, and I see no reason to doubt that this specific action, the removal of sacred boundaries, was a leading cause and not, as many have asserted, the conquest of Italia. So sacred law created the Tinian Empire, so sacred law pulled them down.
To the Sacred Warrior, the Guardian of all the Rasna, the Master of the Four Directions, the Zilath of Zilaths, may the Gods forever have fated lightning to strike down your enemies, may your body be golden, may your generation last a thousand years.
I beseech you, oh great lord, to hear my dilemma, to listen to my argumentation, and to intervene to aid me, though I be not worthy of arguing that our destinies ever entwine.
I am Ramtha Alfial, daughter of Marce Alfial, citizen of the shpura of Clevsin. I am mistress of a household, both that left to me by my father and that which I have acquired through my own means. My homestead came to me from my father, along with many possessions which I will not bore you with listing exhaustively. I am married to a lauthi, a freedman who is Larth Temukle, and together we have a son and a daughter. This marriage is in accordance with the law of Clevsin, which permits the marriage of citizens with freedpersons, and was conducted with all rites and rituals as would be correct for such a sacred deed. Likewise, in accordance with the law, my son and my daughter cross the boundary from their father’s status as freedman to the arena of citizenship. But my cousin, Vel Alfial, who dwells in in Felsina, he has made claim of violation of sacred law against my marriage and against my children, and has attempted not only to claim that my children may not inherit my property but also to seize my property; in addition to my homestead in Clevsin I also possess, from my own money and in my own name, a house in the boundaries of Capeva, and this he attempted to have men of his household seize, and when they could not do so he filed a claim with the maru of Capeva, who has sealed the property up.
I beg that, with the full force of sacred law, you remind Vel Alfial, the people of Clevsin, and the people of Capeva, of the legitimacy the marriage I have undergone, and the sacred law that underpins both that and the status of my children by this man Larth Temukle. The truth of the situation is manifest yet Vel Alfial, my own blood, confuses matters for the civil authorities so much with his lies and constant demands, along with the reputation he has earned for his military service on the frontier, that the situation has reached impasse, and a fear seizes my household of what profane deeds may occur prior to the truth being correctly perceived. I beg that you cut through the flimsy shields he has erected and hold him from continuing to flout sacred and civil law. I pray that his fate is to be punished for his misdeeds, still further that the Sacred Warrior tears down his false claims of piety, proper observance of laws, and ownership over the property of myself and that which my children will inherit.
In this case, the Emperor of the time, Larth Tinial clan Unalisa II, intervened on behalf of Ramtha Alfial. This establishes that under the law of Tinia and Uni marriage and inheritance rights allowed by a constitution in a particular region is protected by the full force of sacred law. This establishes that it is permitted to allow the marriage of freedmen and women with citizenship. This establishes that it is permitted for children of a marriage of freedman and citizen to inherit the citizenship status. This establishes that under the law of Tinia women may own and inherit property, and that this does not automatically pass on to the husband upon marriage. This establishes that the enforcer of the law of Tinia and Uni may intervene in civil courts where this law is found to be broken. This establishes that a woman may directly petition the jurist or enforcer of the law of Tinia and Uni. This is a key text in illustrating Tinian law regarding marriage. This is a key text illustrating the proper interaction between enforcer and civil authorities.
ISONOMIK OF THE TINIAN ERA (1695 CE)
THE 12 PEOPLES
(1790 CE)
To La,
I hope I find you well.
On the estate today I stumbled across this remarkable piece of history; a weight measure from the Tinian age! What a find! From the inscription on the bronze it seems to be an official measure of Larth Veltina, which I’m sure you’ll confirm with your expert eyes. I know how much you love your arkaiotery so, without further delay, I had it sent with this letter. It’s in prime condition, and what dirt there was I removed extremely carefully. I don’t quite know what you’ll do with it, but I’m sure you’ll find a use for it.
With love,
Ramsa
To Ra,
Hope you’re doing well and not too bored without me.
What a find indeed! It is indeed a measure of Larth Veltina, you do underestimate your Classical Rasnatic so my sister. Indeed it’s more than a weight, for the Tinians this is also a lode point for the sacred divisions of weight. The difference between a drachma and a stater was not just a matter of law and trade, but also a holy division. I shall treat the measure with due respect and care. If you’re needing a project to keep you occupied, maybe you could do some digging on this Larth Veltina, who was likely a magu at the very least. Maybe there’s an old Tinian shrine in the fields somewhere, that’ll keep the priests happy!
With love,
Lar
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 6: NOMOS or DATA
MONARKHIA BY IRMEN VOE (1513 CE)
THE TINIAN EMPEROR
CHAPTER 6: NOMOS or DATA
MONARKHIA BY IRMEN VOE (1513 CE)
THE TINIAN EMPEROR
It has become impossible to imagine the Tinians as having any other form of government besides that of the sacral monarkh. Goodness knows the Tinians became the model of monarkhia in Europa for the next five hundred years, and continues to inspire us to this present day, we take active pride in continuing to understand the gods via the divisions of the sky, and in building our cities to their sacred principles. However, at the time of the Persian Conquest the situation among the Tinians was radically different, a situation that has traditionally been ignored by the traditional scholars of our illustrious forebears due to their own bias in favour of strong, imperial rule. At that time of tumultuous change, of the Tyrsenoi poleis only Veii maintained its king still, the others all having adopted some mode of oligarkhic constitution or another, and this was the source of quite some discord between Veii, formerly the nominal head of the Rasnatic League, and the rest, in particular Tarchuna. Veii’s reputation is so grand that many are not aware that Tarchuna was actually the more populous, richer city, both as poleis and during the height of Tinian Empire. It is no small matter that this band of collegiate poleis, most of which had removed their kings, became a unitary state ruled by a single monarkh. Indeed, that monarkh originally ruled just one among many poleis, not even being the ruler of the grandest among them. What allowed the king of Veii to undertake such a mission, let alone succeed?
The answer of a hundred generations would be to point to the most famous event in Europan history, the so-called Battle of Destiny of 409 BCE. It is certainly relevant. The will of the Gods made manifest in a lightning bolt, all at once saving the North-Eastern districts of the Tyrsenoi and elevating the King of Veii to a man marked by the Gods. It is truly the stuff that shakes the foundation of the world. But this is only part of the story. For one, Larth Tulumnes’s metamorphosis into Larth Unalisa did not alter his legal status as ‘merely’ the King of Veii, at the time of his death he was still only the temporary head of the Rasnatic League. As the initial threat from the Keltoi ebbed, this emergency requirement for leadership ebbed also, and the leadership of all Tyrsenoi by the King of Veii was by no means ordained as permanent. In fact, this position may well have lapsed by the time of Amavadatos, for we find that the Tyrsenoi Lays refer to Arnth Unalisa as being appointed the leader of the League’s forces when the fleet of Perseus landed in Umbria in 380 BCE, and note the implication that he did not previously hold this position of command. The horde of Perseus was driven out of Lation by Amavadatos and his assembled confederates the next year, but we find that there was still enough of an intact army to give battle with Arnth Unalisa and the Tyrsenoi.
It is in this victory, not far from Veii itself, and the division of Italia by Amavadatos, that we should see the concrete and legal existence of the Tinian Empire begin to form. The threat of large Keltoi armies was now clearly one that was not simply going to go away, but likewise the Tyrsenoi were now dealing with a full Persian-style monarkh in the fullness of its military power, and one that had with the stroke of a pen rewritten the entire map of Italia. Capua, and by extension the Tyrsenoi, benefited from the Peace of Amavadatos, with the Hellenic colonies of Campania being assigned to Capua’s dominion, along with the western Safini lands. But this was small comfort to the Tyrsenoi, for they were now introduced to a far mightier and bolder force than the Hellenes, and additionally now much of Calabria had been given over to the renewed ambitions of Syrakousai. The time had come to take measures to prevent the Tyrsenoi being overrun, particularly as the major poleis of Rome had also been elevated to the status of Amavadatid client state, and awarded much territory, including that of Faleri, considered by the Tyrsenoi to be a close ally. It is with the Faliscan War, fought against Rome, that we can finally point to a concrete Tinian Empire, with the King of Veii as arbiter of an emerging single state, for upon the conclusion of the war the Faliscan territory, all of its borders and boundaries, are explicitly brought into the power of the King of Veii, not the poleis of Veii but under the protection of the King of Veii specifically. It is at this time that the title of Zilath Rasnal Tinial, king of Tinia's People is first found in documentation from Veii, Tarchuna, and other cities of the Tyrsenoi heartland. The People of Tinia had been born.
The Tinians were a nation of strict boundaries and division, just as in their period of being the Tyrsenoi, and as we have just seen the monarkhs of Veii tailored their rise to power in some accordance with these principles, even as their unprecedented control over the Tyrsenoi peoples shattered every practical notion of fixed boundary between their poleis. The precedent of Lars Porsenna was widely utilised as a precedent for the actions of Arnth Unalisa, but all early references to Lars Porsenna portray him more as the leader of a temporary coalition of the Tyrsenoi poleis (just as Larth Unalisa had been), with the exception of Eastern Hellenic sources which refer to him as the King of the Tyrsenoi. It seems that the fiction of the poleis having separate, sovereign borders remained vital to internal cohesion well into the Empire’s history, given the discovery of tular border stones dedicated well into the time of the Second Golden Generation. The Tinian monarkh was seen, and wished to be seen, as preserving the traditional and sacred divisions of the Tyrsenoi despite his violation of all prior precedent. He did so by forming a rule above their traditional society, rather than being the monarkh of Veii he was the monarch of all Tyrsenoi. The poleis of the Empire were not obliterated under the rule of one among them, but instead brought into the protection of the Emperor.
This was also to the Emperor’s advantage because now he was only subject to sacred law, not to constitutional law, being above the powers of the traditional Tyrsenoi zilath. He was the intermediary of all Tyrsenoi with Tinia and Uni, and therefore subject to them in the judgement of his deeds. This was not as stabile a solution to maintaining power as they would have liked, however, for this inevitably led to the notion that a successful overthrow of any particular Tinian Emperor was divinely ordained. This added the spice of chaos to the ordered table which the monarkhs of Veii had carefully laid out after the reign of Arnth Unalisa. Nonetheless, it was not until the Third Golden Generation, over three centuries after the establishment of the Empire, that fatal and complex division arose between the constituents of the Tinians. Notably, the Third Golden Generation abolished the divisions between the poleis, according to their forebears an immense crime against the Gods and their divinely ordained division of the world. The invasion of Leukerix was divine retribution. The Tyrsenoi certainly believed this to be the case, and I see no reason to doubt that this specific action, the removal of sacred boundaries, was a leading cause and not, as many have asserted, the conquest of Italia. So sacred law created the Tinian Empire, so sacred law pulled them down.
DIGEST OF THE LAW OF TINIA AND UNI BY AULE CURUNAS (213 CE)
THE CASE OF RAMTHA ALFIAL (204 BCE)
THE CASE OF RAMTHA ALFIAL (204 BCE)
To the Sacred Warrior, the Guardian of all the Rasna, the Master of the Four Directions, the Zilath of Zilaths, may the Gods forever have fated lightning to strike down your enemies, may your body be golden, may your generation last a thousand years.
I beseech you, oh great lord, to hear my dilemma, to listen to my argumentation, and to intervene to aid me, though I be not worthy of arguing that our destinies ever entwine.
I am Ramtha Alfial, daughter of Marce Alfial, citizen of the shpura of Clevsin. I am mistress of a household, both that left to me by my father and that which I have acquired through my own means. My homestead came to me from my father, along with many possessions which I will not bore you with listing exhaustively. I am married to a lauthi, a freedman who is Larth Temukle, and together we have a son and a daughter. This marriage is in accordance with the law of Clevsin, which permits the marriage of citizens with freedpersons, and was conducted with all rites and rituals as would be correct for such a sacred deed. Likewise, in accordance with the law, my son and my daughter cross the boundary from their father’s status as freedman to the arena of citizenship. But my cousin, Vel Alfial, who dwells in in Felsina, he has made claim of violation of sacred law against my marriage and against my children, and has attempted not only to claim that my children may not inherit my property but also to seize my property; in addition to my homestead in Clevsin I also possess, from my own money and in my own name, a house in the boundaries of Capeva, and this he attempted to have men of his household seize, and when they could not do so he filed a claim with the maru of Capeva, who has sealed the property up.
I beg that, with the full force of sacred law, you remind Vel Alfial, the people of Clevsin, and the people of Capeva, of the legitimacy the marriage I have undergone, and the sacred law that underpins both that and the status of my children by this man Larth Temukle. The truth of the situation is manifest yet Vel Alfial, my own blood, confuses matters for the civil authorities so much with his lies and constant demands, along with the reputation he has earned for his military service on the frontier, that the situation has reached impasse, and a fear seizes my household of what profane deeds may occur prior to the truth being correctly perceived. I beg that you cut through the flimsy shields he has erected and hold him from continuing to flout sacred and civil law. I pray that his fate is to be punished for his misdeeds, still further that the Sacred Warrior tears down his false claims of piety, proper observance of laws, and ownership over the property of myself and that which my children will inherit.
ISONOMIK OF THE TINIAN ERA (1695 CE)
THE 12 PEOPLES
Before the Tinian Emperor was established, and the Twelve Rasna unified under their rule, the main unit of each Rasna was the city-state, known in Classical Rasnatic as the spura. The boundaries of these spura were marked by tular stones, the responsibility for maintaining and replacing these falling on the the maru, the magistrate responsible for maintaining public buildings and infrastructure. The Twelve Rasna each had their own spura, though the exact boundaries of these territories would change (in much the same way that Hellenic poleis behaved at this time), and some spura contained more than one city. Thus, within the boundaries of the spura, the traditional boundaries of the Rasna of that spura were also marked with tular stones, along with the actual boundaries of the city itself. Even before the Empire’s rise, the Twelve Rasna had a respect for, and focus upon, sacred boundaries.
Originally, each of the Twelve Rasna had a king, and this is what the title of zilath originally referred to in all circumstances, generally translated as equivalent to the Hellenic basileus. However, by the time of the Hellenic exiles’ arrival in Italia this had begun to change. As constitutional revolutions in Hellas had caused the collapse of tyrannies and their replacement by oligarkhic or demokratic constitutions, so the kings of the Twelve Rasna were done away with (with the key exception of Veii), with committees of zilaths functioning as the chief magistrates, analogies having been drawn with the board of arkhontes that ruled over Athenai. Zilaths also ruled over the smaller cities and towns of each spura, functioning as the highest level of urban magistrate.
The Twelve Rasna were not the only Rasna of that time either. Centuries before colonists had been sent out to the North-East and to the South, establishing the regions of Padani and Kampania, with multiple cities being set out at each location. It was written in the Tinian histories that each of these regions possessed their own Twelve Rasna, or at the very least twelve cities, but we struggle to find evidence for cities in this number until the late 4th century BCE. We can certainly point to Capeva, and a number of ancillary towns, in Kampania, but little else, and likewise only a few cities are known from Padani at this time, including Felsina. Almost all Tinian cities had ancient foundations, and it is possible that the latter cities of these two regions had simply begun as towns and villages too small to be recorded until the 4th century BCE.
At some point it is believed that the district known as Lation to the Hellenes, the dwelling grounds of the Latini peoples, was attached either to the Twelve Rasna or constituted a fourth League of Rasna. The early history of this region is greatly obscured by the many upheavals of the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, but it is known that the royal dynasty of Roma, the chief city of the region, was considered to be descended from that of Veii, and also that the Falisci continued to send delegates to the annual festival of Veltha (see below) even before they were conquered in the early days of the Tinian Empire. What precisely the early connection was between the Twelve Rasna and Lation is hard to read, as the Latini spoke very different languages to the Rasnatic tongue, yet the two regions were deeply connected by blood and culture. What few tales were preserved in Roma were written many centuries later, and are distorted first by their integration into the Tinian Empire, and then by their Hellenisation in the late Arkait era. It is hard to know if the Romana had always asserted their dynasty of kings to be from Veii, or whether this was adopted as a way of aligning themselves with their new masters.
Each recognised spura would send yearly representation to the great festival of Veltha, which had both divine and secular functions; this was where the Rasnatic League’s member spura would discuss matters of importance, but also where games, festivals, and contests would be held, and also the site of a great market whenever the festival was held. This is the origin of the Tinian Empire’s assembly, and the source of Velsuna’s great market district.
The Hellenes made great comment out of the treatment of women in the Twelve Rasna, often scandalised as a matter of fact. Though it was not unusual for the peoples of Hesperia to treat women as legal persons, and social equals to their husbands and male relatives, this was anathema to Hellenic culture of the time. This was not, as some historians once claimed, due to the actions of the Tinian Emperors, or the Empresses that twice ruled over the Tinians during the Second Golden Generation, this was already an established facet of the culture of the Twelve Rasna.
Until the coming of the Hellenic exiles there had, traditionally, been a deep and abiding alliance between the Twelve Rasna and the Foinikes, which translated also into an alliance with the city of Qartadast. This went so far as to permit the establishment of Foiniki temples in the ports and cities of the individual spura. The alliance, in this period, collapsed due to the Hellenic conquest of Sikelia, and after the successful repulse of the Twelve Rasna’s expedition against the Italiotes. Trade continued to flourish between the two peoples, but there was never again a military alliance between them, for the interests of the Foiniki pivoted westward, and for their part the Twelve Rasna no longer considered the Foiniki valuable allies against foes in Hesperia, or no longer effective ones at any rate. This fostered a sense of self-reliance among the Twelve Rasna that would become key.
All in all, the period of the Twelve Rasna is eminently comparable to the Hellenes; they were predominantly governed in city-states that would, when necessary, meet against a common threat, but would otherwise war upon one another. They colonised advantageous lands around them, and through these colonies interacted with many other cultures, both by general congress and specific trade. But the Twelve Rasna come across as a vulnerable island in increasingly treacherous seas, and their potential demise was highlighted with the invasion of Keltoi in 409 BCE, when it was only divine intervention that prevented the loss of Felsina and the entire district of Padani to the Keltoi. To the north the Keltoi, to the south the Latini and the Hellenes, from the mountains Ombri and Safini and Sabini, to the east the Perseids. Little would they have known that they would eventually come to surpass them all.
Originally, each of the Twelve Rasna had a king, and this is what the title of zilath originally referred to in all circumstances, generally translated as equivalent to the Hellenic basileus. However, by the time of the Hellenic exiles’ arrival in Italia this had begun to change. As constitutional revolutions in Hellas had caused the collapse of tyrannies and their replacement by oligarkhic or demokratic constitutions, so the kings of the Twelve Rasna were done away with (with the key exception of Veii), with committees of zilaths functioning as the chief magistrates, analogies having been drawn with the board of arkhontes that ruled over Athenai. Zilaths also ruled over the smaller cities and towns of each spura, functioning as the highest level of urban magistrate.
The Twelve Rasna were not the only Rasna of that time either. Centuries before colonists had been sent out to the North-East and to the South, establishing the regions of Padani and Kampania, with multiple cities being set out at each location. It was written in the Tinian histories that each of these regions possessed their own Twelve Rasna, or at the very least twelve cities, but we struggle to find evidence for cities in this number until the late 4th century BCE. We can certainly point to Capeva, and a number of ancillary towns, in Kampania, but little else, and likewise only a few cities are known from Padani at this time, including Felsina. Almost all Tinian cities had ancient foundations, and it is possible that the latter cities of these two regions had simply begun as towns and villages too small to be recorded until the 4th century BCE.
At some point it is believed that the district known as Lation to the Hellenes, the dwelling grounds of the Latini peoples, was attached either to the Twelve Rasna or constituted a fourth League of Rasna. The early history of this region is greatly obscured by the many upheavals of the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, but it is known that the royal dynasty of Roma, the chief city of the region, was considered to be descended from that of Veii, and also that the Falisci continued to send delegates to the annual festival of Veltha (see below) even before they were conquered in the early days of the Tinian Empire. What precisely the early connection was between the Twelve Rasna and Lation is hard to read, as the Latini spoke very different languages to the Rasnatic tongue, yet the two regions were deeply connected by blood and culture. What few tales were preserved in Roma were written many centuries later, and are distorted first by their integration into the Tinian Empire, and then by their Hellenisation in the late Arkait era. It is hard to know if the Romana had always asserted their dynasty of kings to be from Veii, or whether this was adopted as a way of aligning themselves with their new masters.
Each recognised spura would send yearly representation to the great festival of Veltha, which had both divine and secular functions; this was where the Rasnatic League’s member spura would discuss matters of importance, but also where games, festivals, and contests would be held, and also the site of a great market whenever the festival was held. This is the origin of the Tinian Empire’s assembly, and the source of Velsuna’s great market district.
The Hellenes made great comment out of the treatment of women in the Twelve Rasna, often scandalised as a matter of fact. Though it was not unusual for the peoples of Hesperia to treat women as legal persons, and social equals to their husbands and male relatives, this was anathema to Hellenic culture of the time. This was not, as some historians once claimed, due to the actions of the Tinian Emperors, or the Empresses that twice ruled over the Tinians during the Second Golden Generation, this was already an established facet of the culture of the Twelve Rasna.
Until the coming of the Hellenic exiles there had, traditionally, been a deep and abiding alliance between the Twelve Rasna and the Foinikes, which translated also into an alliance with the city of Qartadast. This went so far as to permit the establishment of Foiniki temples in the ports and cities of the individual spura. The alliance, in this period, collapsed due to the Hellenic conquest of Sikelia, and after the successful repulse of the Twelve Rasna’s expedition against the Italiotes. Trade continued to flourish between the two peoples, but there was never again a military alliance between them, for the interests of the Foiniki pivoted westward, and for their part the Twelve Rasna no longer considered the Foiniki valuable allies against foes in Hesperia, or no longer effective ones at any rate. This fostered a sense of self-reliance among the Twelve Rasna that would become key.
All in all, the period of the Twelve Rasna is eminently comparable to the Hellenes; they were predominantly governed in city-states that would, when necessary, meet against a common threat, but would otherwise war upon one another. They colonised advantageous lands around them, and through these colonies interacted with many other cultures, both by general congress and specific trade. But the Twelve Rasna come across as a vulnerable island in increasingly treacherous seas, and their potential demise was highlighted with the invasion of Keltoi in 409 BCE, when it was only divine intervention that prevented the loss of Felsina and the entire district of Padani to the Keltoi. To the north the Keltoi, to the south the Latini and the Hellenes, from the mountains Ombri and Safini and Sabini, to the east the Perseids. Little would they have known that they would eventually come to surpass them all.
(1790 CE)
To La,
I hope I find you well.
On the estate today I stumbled across this remarkable piece of history; a weight measure from the Tinian age! What a find! From the inscription on the bronze it seems to be an official measure of Larth Veltina, which I’m sure you’ll confirm with your expert eyes. I know how much you love your arkaiotery so, without further delay, I had it sent with this letter. It’s in prime condition, and what dirt there was I removed extremely carefully. I don’t quite know what you’ll do with it, but I’m sure you’ll find a use for it.
With love,
Ramsa
To Ra,
Hope you’re doing well and not too bored without me.
What a find indeed! It is indeed a measure of Larth Veltina, you do underestimate your Classical Rasnatic so my sister. Indeed it’s more than a weight, for the Tinians this is also a lode point for the sacred divisions of weight. The difference between a drachma and a stater was not just a matter of law and trade, but also a holy division. I shall treat the measure with due respect and care. If you’re needing a project to keep you occupied, maybe you could do some digging on this Larth Veltina, who was likely a magu at the very least. Maybe there’s an old Tinian shrine in the fields somewhere, that’ll keep the priests happy!
With love,
Lar
- Daeres
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