Elysium..., a Roman America TL

[Paladín Wulfen]

Paladin Wulfen Productions presents... Elysium..., to Roman America. A production that will try to last as long as the support it receives. Although this production uses recycled material from a previously made one, it is focused with greater dedication and exploration apart from a greater use of Latin-Roman terms.

It's time to prepare for glory.
It's time to remember the great heroes and their sacrifice.
It's time to march following your Centurion.
It's time to shout ROMA AETERNA​

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---:::Elysium... a Roman America:::---​

The idea of a continent beyond called Oceanus or Sea of Atlas that would later evolve into Atlantic Sea. It came when after the completion of the Conquest of Britannia at 837 Ab urbe condita (AD 84) under Gnaeus Julius Agricola opened new opportunities for entrepreneurs, builders and consumers. The popular legend that Roman ships could not navigate through the Ocean came mostly from a combination of maritime and religious superstitions since it was once believed that the Oceanus was an endless sea that surrounded the known land that would be Europe, Asia and Africa.

Roman ships were not the first sailing ships, but they were significantly larger than most. Larger Roman-made ocean-going ships enabled the transport of objects in bulk for the first time, sometimes across the open sea. The first Roman was a businessman born in Hispania who responded to the name of Lucius Decimus, he was of Roman descent. He was born and raised in the city of Italica (near Seville, Spain) in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. He came from a well-established, wealthy and aristocratic family of Praetorian rank.

Hearing tales of fortune and land with powerful slaves in the seas north of Britannia, he decided to explore with crews of veteran Roman sailors and legionnaires. The explorations took them to what would be the great peninsula of Scandinavia, already known as pirates who descended from the north every summer to devastate the coasts of Magna Germania (Germany) and Cimbria (Denmark) reaching Belgium. Through this event, the Romans called them Boreanari (Northmen). The Romans sailed until they found a Boreanari village with a large number of cattle and slaves. Lucius Decimus decided to undertake a plundering action and everything of value was taken and the granaries were emptied to the last ounce of food. The Romans were amazed that the settlements were defenseless and had such a large population, as they spread stories of the vulnerability and possibility of dealing with slavery.

The Boreanari were noted for a strong resemblance to the Germanii (Germans). This meant that men were soon used as: Gladiators; oarsmen on commercial ships; miners; Field Workers. Women, on the other hand, were destined for domestic work or work that did not require great strength: servants, sexual slaves or caretakers. The second expedition explored the coast until finally, by chance of fate, they reached Iceland, which was called Frigerra. Soon the colonization took place when the fishing of Walruses and Whales shot up to the sky, being the first ones the object of intensive hunting for their ivory tusks that could reach a meter in length.

The hunting situation caused the expeditions to be launched, reaching what would be known as Septentriones (Greenland). For that moment it dated the year 873 Ab Urbe Condita (AD 120). Septentriones was considered a gold mine given the number of herds of Walrus allowing greater access to ivory. The difficult climatic and ice conditions of the Arctic posed a problem for the colonization of Septentriones but the human situation was different: the settlers were made up of soldiers, sailors, Boreanari and Britannian slaves around the Roman settlements, Septentriones was under Roman control. de facto of various Inuit groups, but the Romans would maintain claims to all of Septentriones,

Fishing expeditions continued until an event occurred in Year 905 Ab urbe condita (AD 152). When the ship's captain Aulo Flavo sighted land, it was an island that Flavo would baptize as Terranova. Aulus Flavo would disembark with the crew, which would be armed with leather armor (cheaper and more comfortable than the classic legionary armor due to the cold conditions) and Gladius (Swords) and Scuta (plural shields). There after several days where they recognized the land; fertility, number of trees, availability of drinking water and etc, they made contact with the indigenous people, who were impressed to see men with metal weapons and huge boats.

When Aulus Flavus returned to civilization, he had a plan to use Newfoundland as a place to profit himself with the help of his sailors, but it couldn't be helped that one of his sailors in a drunken tabernae talked about the west was a fertile and snowless land with barbarians who did not follow the laws of Rome. Although that sailor ended up being dragged by his companions and later punished with his life being thrown overboard on the high seas the next day, it could not be avoided that at least a dozen people heard that and the news ended up spreading.​

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[Icee]

Interesting i shall follow this story

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

By the year 908 Ab urbe condita (AD 155), the Empire was ruled by Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius. An Emperor who found it difficult to stand tall without stays. Him to the point of nibbling on dry bread for the strength to stay awake during his morning receptions. But it was the news of a Terra Nova found by settlers from its northernmost territory, that made him show interest and decided to send officials in order to check that land, avoiding a possible fable like the one told about Britannia that put Britannia as a mysterious land full of riches such as gold and gems along with fertile land.

In command of the Imperial entourage was Quintus Fabius Marcello. Fabius sailed from Gaul to Septentriones where he later forced Aulus Flavus to lead the fleet. In the time that had passed, dozens of crews had tried to reach the land called Terra Nova but few reached it as most ended up suffering the ravages of being shipwrecked by whales that cleaned themselves using ships, wandering glaciers or storms. Luckily Aulus managed to reach the place. Marcello carried out exchanges of objects of little value with the indigenous people and was interested in the information, to then continue exploring where they found the strait, a strait between the continent and Terra Nova, through which he entered in a southwesterly direction, accessing the interior of the Gulf of Titus Aelius where he explored the multiple islands and archipelagos where Marcello had the first of two encounters with the native peoples, some brief encounters in which they carried out some commercial exchange of food-information, in those exchanges Marcello planted the foundations of what would be the belief of the Romans as a Tribe superior in technology, war and leadership although with different religious beliefs.

His third encounter with natives took place on the shores of Gaspé Bay with a group of natives with a martial sense, where he planted a Roman eagle banner to claim the land for Rome. The banner with the golden eagle claimed possession of the territory in the name of Rome. Here he kidnapped the two sons of his boss, who was named Aurelius. Who agreed that they could be captured, on the condition that they return with merchandise to trade. Marcellus's return to Rome, accompanied by the two "Princeps Barbarus", came with the death of Marcus Gavius Maximus, one of Antoninus's most trusted advisers but who otherwise served Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor's nephew-in-law.

The news brought by Marcellus meant that preparations soon began to be made to send out further scouting expeditions. Caledonia due to its situation, was soon pacified within two years as Pictish coastal piracy posed a problem for shipping. The whaling industry and dedicated to the hunting of Walruses continued to the point that more Roman ships knew and reached Terra Nova where they built temporary settlements where they could rest and not always be in the ships or simple tents. But it was not shortly after the death of Antoninus Pius that the Roman Eagle saw the people of Terra Nova as hostile to Rome as they committed a heinous crime.

Quintus Fabius Marcello, was killed by the barbarians when one of his escorts was found trying to lie with the daughter of one of the most important warriors of the tribe. A few survivors managed to flee and return to their ships before bringing news of the fate of their fellow citizens. Such an event occurred in the year 918 ab urbe condita (AD 165) coincided with the War with Parthia. Due to this, the fishing expeditions had to be subjected to a greater possession of weapons and armor to face the natives who from canoes tried to attack the approaching Romans, between those times the so-called Taking of Terra Nova ended up happening where a coalition of ships with their crews, ended up taking Terra Nova (OTL: Newfoundland) where the crews ended up massacring the native male population and taking the women as slaves. While Terra Nova ended up becoming a semi-independent colony where Walrus fishing increased.

Due to the situation with the natives of the new world, the Emperor decided to turn a deaf ear, making the territory, located beyond the ocean in what for them was the limit of the known world, become a land of great mystery, and some they refused to believe that it existed at all. Instead they focused on expeditions against Scandinavia where they ended up profiting from thousands of Boreanari slaves who were used in fields, mines, fighting arenas or even brothels. But this did nothing if not lay the foundations for greater resistance to the cold climate of the north, something that would be beneficial in the future.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

The situation remained relatively uneventful without the Romans except those of Britannia knowing exactly about Terra Nova, until Martius 17, 933 Ab urbe condita (AD 180) at a Castra (Military Camp) near the city of Sirmium in Pannonia, Marcus Aurelius died at the age of 58. Marcus was succeeded by his son Commodus, whom he had appointed Caesar in 166 and with whom he had ruled jointly since 177. Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus had his eyes set on more than the mere glory his father had garnered to the grave. Commodus wanted to rule as a god-emperor and rule even more territory as if he were a new Julius Caesar. Although he knew that he would not be able to acquire this in Rome, he wasted no time in fulfilling his dream elsewhere.

Seeking absolute power, Commodus saw a simple path. If he conquered territory for the empire, then he could do what some of his predecessors had done, taking the land as his own ager privatus (private land). No doubt, just as Egypt had that status since Octavian Augustus took it in the early days, but his place in the empire and the status of his people as cives Romanes would be obstacles to his goals of absolute power. Therefore he decided to use the almost forgotten Marcellus and his braves as Casus Balli. For the death of a Roman ambassador and citizen was considered an attack on the Emperor himself that could not remain unanswered, which gave the Emperor a pretext in front of the Roman Senate.

Commodus planned the campaign from 936 Ab urbe condita (183) to 938 Ab urbe condita (AD 185), after which he undertook a fourteen-month journey where he costed and replenished; Britannia, Frigerra (Iceland), Septentriones (Greenland) until finally reaching Terra Nova. The main landing point was on the coast of what was known as Kébec, near a gulf with an important river. The resistance of the natives was led by a coalition of tribes that managed to group 50,000 warriors. The battle lasted for two days before victory was finally achieved and a large number of prisoners were taken, including tribal chiefs and their sons.

It was finally in 946 that news reached Rome that the last Rex Terranovis had been subjugated. The deployed generals received, in an unprecedented decision by Commodus, a joint triumph for this success. Although the generals had been fighting under the auspices of the emperor and only a general fighting under his auspiciis could claim victory, the young Commodus assured the Senate of his constitutionality. Although this Triumph was clearly unconstitutional, no one objected to an emperor's desire to honor the five generals. Going to Terra Nova for the last time, the young emperor returned to Rome in the company of the victors, giving himself a place of distinction in his great triumphal celebration.

The conquests of the Romans were the driving force for a great migration of tribes, the likes of which had never been seen on the continent. More than a million people with their tribes were traveling west to escape the Romans and slowly disappearing in sight of the limits of Rome. The annexation of the Territory expanded the empire by vast amounts. Perhaps fewer than five hundred thousand of the original population remained, abandoned by the great migration and left alive by the legions that had swept through the land. These tribes would pose a persistent threat to the newly arrived Imperial-motivated Roman settlers, attacking their caravans and estates but not daring to attack any coloniae (state-built planned cities) with their walls and soldiers. With so-called "wild men" everywhere, the territory came to be regarded as a kind of distinct frontier, referred to by the old term limites Terranovis (Terra Nova's borders). Despite the dangers, the Romans were eager to settle these wild lands, leaving Europe by the thousands every year.

Before settlers could arrive, the Senate decreed that all conquered land was ager publicus (public land), a state possession, beginning in 946 Ab urbe condita (193 AD). Land owned by public accounts could be given to citizens and veterans or worked by Senate employees. Not even Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul had provided as large an amount of public land as this acquisition. Furthermore, it was more useful than the Gallic frontier, empty as it was of its native population.

Another law passed was the promise that each retiring legionnaire would have a choice: a large plot of rural land or a house in one of the new colonies in Terra Nova. But with the Year of the Five Emperors coming to an end, this decree would ensure a steady influx of battle-hardened settlers, creating a strong local citizenry to maintain control over the region. However, circumstances could change, so the law would expire after a century, avoiding a possibly unpopular future decision of having to repeal the law.

Retired soldiers could not only manage free-roaming tribes and uncivilized terrain, but they were also a reliable population for a new territory that would ensure the allegiance of the entire population. Some would probably spend their last years as auxiliary guards for the colonies, while others would find employment protecting the caravans of merchants. By the year 953 Ab urbe condita (200 AD), more than three hundred thousand veterans lived in Terra Nova, mixing with an equal number of citizens who had come of their own initiative or had taken jobs in public mines, blacksmith shops, or sawmills. To motivate the settlers, the Senate had offered citizens an escort to any part of the new land where they could manage or operate a public facility for the exploitation of natural resources.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

An important change was that Terra Nova was renamed Elysium, in honor of the Paradise that awaits those who live a righteous life. Never before had the empire known such a rich source of wood, tin, copper, silver, gold, and lead. Elysium was a virgin region full of animals for hunting, covered with forests for cutting and dotted with nodules for mining. At first, settlers would only exploit the surface veins of ore. As geographical surveys accelerated, the Romans established surface pit mines and eventually shaft mines and drift mines to access subterranean nodules found by surveyors. Rome brought its full range of technologies and techniques to the new land, albeit at a slow pace as the infrastructure grew.

High on the Senate's list of priorities was the construction of public highways. Unfortunately, he had no idea which locations would eventually need freeway access, as cities had yet to grow. So the Senate was content for now to lay out simple paths built by the legions. Unlike the viae publicae in the civilized world, these roads looped around rather than through natural obstacles and were rough roads rather than finely carved stone paths. Despite this shortcoming, Elysium was already poised to become a new industrial province of the Roman Empire.

A major drawback of the new territory was the difficulty of tilling and planting in the tough soil of northern Elysium apart from its distance. Also, any farm a citizen established on Elysium had to be set up on heavily overgrown land, which usually means forest. Extensive plowing was required to prepare the soil to accept domestic grain. Fortunately, Roman farmers in Britain had experience with similarly difficult soils and their heavy tools could be used to colonize the new territory.

Some minor claims were heard from some citizens at the borders and some were even granted, but almost every square kilometer of Elysium was owned by the state. Each retiring legionnaire was given the choice between a house in a colonial Elysium town (Colonia Elysium) or a villa on a large plot of land in the Elysium desert (along with other land options or a lump sum of silver denarii). Elysium was large enough that the Senate continued to enforce this policy, after which most of the land was given or sold as ager privatus (private land) or designated as a restricted forest area for sustainable timber supplies. Nearly a third of Elysium was sustainably harvested for timber, while the rest of the new region consisted of colonial towns or private villages for citizens who made a living through their own forest, mine, or farm.

Elysium in this era was described as an "uncertain but lucrative land" for a Roman citizen. Stories circulated of both great fortunes and great calamities that had befallen the colonists. This reputation gave rise to a new style of literature and theater in the form of frontier tales: stories about the hardships and successes of fictional and historical settlers. One famous play told the story of a humble actor who set out to work in the mines of Elysium, only to stumble upon a mother lode of gold; a greedy centurion learned of his fortune in a small colony and then pursued the man with the force of his century.

A more recognizable feature of life on the frontier was the threat of tribes and raiding parties. Although most of the native tribes were driven out in the great migration, more than a hundred thousand remained and survived the purge as legions swept through the lands prior to civil settlement. With poor Latin and no hope of joining the colonies, these tribal communications continued to exist on the public lands of A more recognizable feature of frontier life was the threat of Elysean-Native bandits and raiding parties. Although most of the native tribes were driven out in the great migration, more than a hundred thousand remained and survived the purge as legions swept through the lands prior to civil settlement. With poor Latin and no hope of joining the colonies, these tribal communications continued to exist on the public lands of Elysium for years. Many of these people felt a general animosity towards the Romans and frequently came to blows with the citizens who worked on their plantations, mines or villas and the merchants who traveled the roads.

With all the activity, this was an exciting period in Roman history. Thousands of citizens started a new life in a new province, often arriving with free land or a generous subsidy from the state. Despite losing occasional caravans to the tribes, Rome benefited immensely from public mines, plantations, sawmills, stamp mills, and other industrial facilities. Profits only grew as the level of infrastructure available in the region was expanded by action from the Senate and Caesar. By the year 1053 Ab urbe condita (300 AD), Elysium had a population approximately of 800,000 with the cities of Colonia Augusta Elysium (OTL: Quebec), Colonia Crispina Augusta (OTL: Montreal), Colonia Septimia Severus (OTL: Boston), Colonia Lenape (OTL: New York City), Colonia Pempotut (OTL:Albany, NY).

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

Unfortunately, the Empire faced problems with the division of the Empire in year 1039 Ab Urbe Condita (286). Division that led to Elysium being administered by the Western Roman Empire. The rise to power of Constantine I and his pro-Christian policies meant that many Roman believers in the old values of mos maiorum, which indicated the set of rules and precepts that the Roman citizen attached to tradition should respect, traveled to Elysium. This produced the Grand Migration which ultimately contributed to the rise to power of the Christians in Rome. The earliest populations of Elysium were fishing villages or farming communities on the more fertile lands along the rivers. The rocky soil of Elysium in those territories was not as fertile as Hispania, Gaul, and much less Egypt, but the land provided rich resources, including the timber for which it was valued. Wood was also a resource that could be exported to Britannia or other regions, where there was a shortage of wood. In addition, the hunting of wild animals provided fur for trade and food for the table.

But as chaos increased in Europe, in Elysium it was victories and prosperity as expeditions of brave and daring Roman explorers went into the unknown, many of them accompanied by their ancient Centuries or even Cohorts as was the case with the veteran and retired Centurion Marcus Aquila who profited from leading slaving expeditions frequently made winter raids against native villages and settlements, traveling on sleds, crude snowshoes and even ice skates across frozen rivers. The Aquila Cohort, were one of the few forces able to operate in the inhospitable region despite harsh winter conditions and mountainous terrain. To the point that one winter they sold a total of one thousand men, two thousand five hundred women and five hundred boys and girls.

The crisis facing the Empire saw constant wars on the borders against the Germanic peoples who seemed to be fleeing some eastern threat while internally it went through repeated civil wars, court intrigues and usurpations. Along with religious policies, they inflamed domestic conflicts, which further motivated the exodus to the New Territory. These events and the succession of Emperors who did nothing but squander the Imperial Treasury. This at the same time saw with the period known as the Great Barbarian Invasions when entire barbarian tribes such as the Franks, Vandals, Alans and Visigoths crossed the Rhine or Danube and settled on safer and more fertile lands in Imperial Territory.

It was in this period that Elysium began to develop the so-called "Gloria ex amore Imperium" ("Glory and love to the Empire"): An ideology where all are equal and all must serve the Empire. Food and water will be provided to the hungry and thirsty, but they will also be expected to return the favor, when the time comes. All sacrifice is valued, but also expected. At the same time that the cult of ancient Roman gods such as Jupiter, Minerva and Mars are restored as was the creation of the Great Temple of Neptune on Abegweit Island (Prince Edward Island).

Unfortunately, it was in the early 4th century, when the Empire broke contact with Elysium, that Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks that led to the disappearance of the imperial layers of military and military rule. Civil, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged as conflicts destroyed and degenerated naval capacity and cut the communication with Elysium at time the fishing communities in Frigerra (Iceland) and Septentriones (Greenland) die or left for go to Elysium.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

With the fall of the lines of communication, Elysium which in the year 1208 Ab urbe condita (AD 455) had a total population of one million inhabitants and three times as many slaves. The government of Elysium decided to apply a system where a key element to enter the government was Military Service. The Cursus Honorum (course of honor) was the name by which the sequential order of public positions, both political and military, that a Roman man of good family had to assume and complete was known both in the Roman Republic and in the Roman Empire. throughout his life in order to climb the Roman social ladder. Originally only patricians (members of select families of Roman origin) could follow the cursus honorum, but it was gradually released as the Roman Empire expanded. But with the breakdown of communications with Rome, a replacement was decided. The cursus honorum had as a prerequisite to serve at least ten years in the army. This service could be completed by serving in the cavalry (the equites) or by serving under the command of a general who was a friend of the soldier's family. Romans from the most powerful families could, however, choose to become military tribunes.

Elysium wasted no time in choosing its rulers, whose Imperator was a relative of the Imperial Family called: Kaeso Iulius Caesar descended from the same Commodus, with whom the first two Consuls Publius Cornelius Scipio and Gaius Furius Pacilus were elected. Both members of the Gens Scipio and Furia, two of the oldest and noblest patrician houses. Publius Cornelius Scipio was a politician who claimed descent from Scipio Africanus and Asiatic himself; brothers and vendors of Zama and Magnesia separately respectively. Scipio along with Pacilus and much of the newly created Elysium Senate in a copy of the Roman, decided to install the city of Colonia Augusta Elysium as Capital, agreeing the name of Colonia Augusta Elysium to Augusta Elysium.

Elysium faced problems that did nothing more than apply an exaltation of ancient Roman values while trying to improve living standards by improving areas such as science, agriculture and law. Over the previous decades, Elysium had been hit by a series of epidemics. The threat of the plague hung over the empire now with more danger than ever. Seeking to strengthen Elysium against this illusory foe, the emperor built the Galena Medical Academy as a center of healing and inquiry in the city of Colonia Septimius Severus. Designed to facilitate the study of the human body and its ailments, this academy, named for Galen's school of philosophy, consisted of four connected buildings: a library of medical texts, a clinic to care for patients, an operating room for surgeries and an office for his medical staff. A new tower could be seen at the heart of the academy on Septimia Severus, helping people find care in their time of medical need.

Copies of available medical texts were sent to the academy, quickly filling its shelves with most of the known works on medicine. This large fraction of the literature would be essential for many of the purposes of the academy, in particular, for its role in training apprentice doctors in the best methods and beliefs of the time. At no time before in history could a medical student find so much of her culture's medical knowledge in one place. Apprentices developed a close familiarity with these texts, as they were often tasked with copying them for physicians elsewhere, both for their own learning and for the spread of Hellenistic practices in academia throughout of New world. As well as being a pedagogical boon, this great library had a tremendous effect on the evolution of medical philosophy, instigating changes in the accepted doctrines of physicians.

Following the model of the academy, the physicians expanded their galenaria - a name that would soon attach to these sorts of comprehensive centers for learned medicine - with separate wings for surgery and quarantine (an old practice improved) as well as a library of books from the Hippocratic and Galenic corpus. A comprehensive handbook of disease was far from only contribution to medical practice - in fact, his research and writings were the largest advance in Hellenistic medicine since even Galen. By this time, a learned physician might already, for a patient, suggest diets or exercises (known collectively as regiminae) or administer purgatives, laxatives, emetics, narcotics, expectorants, salves, plasters, and other curative or palliative measures (known collectively as medicinae). Furthermore, there was already a long history in the art of chirurgia (surgery), mostly for trauma patients and for patients "needing" blood-letting or trepanning. To some degree, the task not only of uncovering the mechanisms behind known treatments or therapies but also of expanding the medicinal toolkit of the physician was accomplished.

Perhaps his contribution of greatest efficacy was his emphasis on hygiene and sterilization, in following his theory of infection. For mouth disease, he prescribed teeth-cleaning with a brush and paste, even advising healthy patients to prevent its occurrence by adopting a regular regimen of cleaning teeth (with the added benefit, as he says, of "a more pleasing and healthier mouth"). For surgeries, concentrated vinegar had long been used to sterilize equipment and dress wounds but was prescribed a more general use of the disinfectant to cleanse the bodies of surgeons and avoid exposing patients to infectious matter (on the basis of his notion of how people get infected). The physicians learned from post-combat experience that contact with the dead or the sick spread some diseases and that even healthy doctors, without cleansing, could cause illness in patients. For these purposes, vinegar would remain the preferred disinfectant.

As medical science flourished, Mathematical sciences also flourished with the construction of numerous devices. For entertainment, there was the eolipile, which showed how fire could produce "wind" from water, and the wind wheel, the first device to directly harness the power of wind in nature. For specific tasks, he invented a displacement pump, adopted as a fire engine; pulley systems, for backstage in a theater; a syringe, for rapidly administering fluids into a patient's body; and a source powered by hydrostatic energy storage as in a water tower. While his curiosities were popular in some temples, his practical devices were adopted throughout the world of Elysium. In particular, pump-operated fire engines were becoming essential for civil services in large cities, especially after a famous fire left three hundred people homeless.

But while medicine and science was improved and adapted. An army made up of legions was desperately needed. With the resurgence of old customs and values, so did old military styles but with improvements. Among them came the Stirrup, one of the last technological achievements achieved by the Romans at the hands of the Goths after Adrianopolis. With the large number of unemployed youth, children of small farmers, miners and willing landless people began to form the basis of the Elysean Legions. In less than a year, The Elysean Empire encompassed 10 Legions with a total of 60,000 troops, distributing 6,000 Legionnaires per Legion.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

With the loss of connections with Europe and the rise of the Elysean Empire, the latifundia (hacienda) encompassed increasing importance in agricultural production. As the senatores and equites seized more prosperous farmland, not to mention that acquired by the fundi patrimonials (emperor estates), the number of unemployed plebs in the cities grew. The displaced farmers were a pressing concern for the finances of the state, against this threat, the Year 1213 Ab urbe condita (460 AD), the emperor, supposedly at the behest of Scipio, enacted a program to give all the land that was not under cultivation to private citizens, with secure land tenure and a ten-year tax exemption. This radical policy was extended to the entire Empire, raising food production, as a result of its decline as the land was abandoned or the former tenants died of various causes.

When this policy was later expanded by buying land from the main landowners and then renting it to the coloni so that they could work it as if it were their own. Millions of mined denarii were spent on this program from 1215 to 1217 Ab urbe condita (462-464 AD), resulting in a great expansion of the imperial estate and the efficiency of farmland, and most of these purchases were made near Augusta Elysium itself.

The emperor would emphasize the importance of a landowning peasantry, setting a precedent that his successors would continue. His strategy of buying estates and only leasing that land to peasants had the great advantage of avoiding reselling the farms to the nobility, since an emperor was less likely to accede to the patricians' demands than a plebs. Later mechanical mowers would be obtained for the coloni who could not afford them. Repopulation was under way under Kaeso, as cities recovered from epidemics and adopted a better medical system. While the urban population had not yet reached its breaking point, it still faced food shortages in its cities.

Ranging beyond the wall became a frequent activity for the garrisons along the frontier- out of boredom as much as duty. By scouting the forests, warning could reach the limes (frontier defences) in time to concentrate forces before an enemy arrived. Of course, there were no enemies near the limes as far as the Legion could tell and most interactions with outsiders consisted of intimidating the local tribes. Over the next years, legionaries were often sent as escorts for cartographers, slowly building an accurate picture of what lay beyond the frontier of the known world. Meanwhile the Classis (Navy) undertook cartographic expeditions descending to a large peninsula while a fleet descended the Borealis Augustus (St. Lawrence River) to explore the surroundings of the great lake Latinized as Ontariorius.

Unlike what someone might think. Elysium did not develop a slave-racial society where slaves came exclusively from a single race or origin. Slavery in Elysium just like Rome with the legendary founder Romulus, giving Roman parents the right to sell their own children into slavery. The Twelve Tables, the oldest legal code of Rome has brief references to slavery but in general it led to the result that a Roman was born a free person but that due to variable circumstances could end up becoming a slave either due to debts, military defeat or piracy. The exploration expeditions brought the possibility for the Barbarian Tribes to enter the slave trade where their prisoners would be sold at border posts to wholesale merchants who were later in charge of educating them in the Latin language and how to serve.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

By the beginning of the Year 1253 Ab urbe condita (500 AD), Elysium had already been reconnoitred by maritime expeditions along the coast with the Oceanus Atlanticus. They reached the Archipelago that would become known as Cuba but would not undertake a colonization due to its distance of 1740 Roman Miles. On the other hand, a wide and mighty river was found that was called Magnum, which was comparable to the Rhine in Europe or the Nile in Egypt, although the technological capacity of the natives was a good vision for diplomats, their hostility made most attempts of diplomacy ended with drawn swords and drawn bows. Due to the situation, Kaeso's grandson; Gaius Iulius Caesar Augustus, were raiding tribes with renewed vigor. Using three legions and a legate with local knowledge, Augustus wasted no time in seeking a solution to this persistent problem (although Augustus would not be around for the entire conflict).

His strategy was as ruthless as it was effective. Under the climate of itinerant tribes, involved in endegemic violence, Augustus selected several isolated villages not far from the Lenape River (Hudson) and systematically surrounded them while massacring their entire population. Messengers were sent to other villages in the region warning of the destruction of these villages by the "same tribes that had attacked and killed Roman Legionnaires" and offering Elysium's aid against its pillaging neighbors. The rumors polarized people towards Rome; those who chose to ignore this appearance of Roman help armed themselves for a more organized conflict. As a result, local enemies of Roman rule came to the fore and assimilation of the region encompassing the Lenape River, Patawomeck (Potomac), Oolikhanna (allegheny) accelerated.

The guerrilla tactics of the Native enemies had prolonged the war, as Augustus chose a slow and cautious strategy rather than allowing the guerrillas to dictate when and where the battles would be fought, and dissuaded the emperor from an outright conquest of the region. As treaties were formed with the non-belligerent tribes and the scorched-earth tactics of the combatants gave credence to the official story, the conquest gradually unfolded in Augustus's favor. Soon a new provincium was declared and the armies hailed Augustus as Lenapus, increasing his name to Gaius Octavius Caesar Augustus Lenapus.

During the war, the fleets of the Oceanus had been greatly expanded and maritime trade had been encouraged, as a means of keeping the legions fed in the face of scarce local supplies. This growth in the number of ships in the region took a heavy toll on the treasury, especially as the campaign offered few sources of revenue, but was sustained by the wealth from the Augustus Mines in the Northern. Following the conquest of Lenape, Augustus devoted a great amount time and energy to the assimilation and improvement of the provincium. With control over the territory, Augustus played upon the idea of Roman Gods in propaganda, emphasizing the unity under its patron gods and her place within the Roman pantheon. States of the goddess - a beautiful figure who resembled the goddess Minerva and wore a centurion's helmet - were made with greater frequency across the province. In many cases was portrayed as a proud men or woman accompanied by a wolf or a Roman legionary in a cooperative context, emphasizing a beneficial relationship with Rome.

A focus of public works was the city of Civitas Mohawk (OTL: Philadelphia). The curia of Mohawk was assisted in the construction of a galenaria and temples to Divus Jupiter and other Roman divinities. The hospital and its staff brought Roman medicine to the territory, beginning a pedagogical line that would branch out over the next century to the other cities of territory. To assist in holding Lenape, a 540 km highway was constructed from Septimia Severus (OTL:Boston) to Civitas Mohawk. Once the road was completed, armies could move effortless north and south across using the new road, allowing for more flexible deployment of troops in this wild land.

Over the next years, the territory saw increasing Romanization as its people integrated with the rest of the empire. Lenape participated more and more with the other provinces and became an indispensable source of wheat and corn. Throughout the campaigns and battles, the core of the army was made up of the legion. This corps was a virtually invincible unit when fighting on suitable ground and led by a diligent commander. However, the legion had a series of important deficiencies, among which the lack of light infantry and archers stood out. This situation was unsustainable in the long term, so that when the battles ended, the Emperor allowed the warriors of indoctrinated tribes and loyal to Elysium, to create a series of units that contributed to the army, specialized infantry and archers, recruited from among the non citizens of the Empire -or outside it- and whose use, being its smaller size, was more flexible than that of the legions. At the same time, it contributed to the tribes losing the sense of national character, and only the name recalled the origin of origin, which was motivated when the tribes obtained Roman citizenship after twenty years of loyal service, commonly contributing auxiliaries.

At the beginning, the core of the auxiliary troops was made up of warriors from the warring tribes. The recruitment was very similar to that of the legionnaires, it was carried out among non-citizens of the Empire, and who had special skills that interested the army. The recruitment officers gathered them in assigned areas, where they were given a reconnaissance or probatio, and they also had to demonstrate their qualities as archers, slingers, etc. Those selected became recruits, they were given the viaticum or money for the trip so that they would join their unit.

 

[Asonia]

Why wouldn't Elysium try to get back to Britannia tough, or atleast contact WRE.

 

[Icee]

Why wouldn't Elysium try to get back to Britannia tough, or atleast contact WRE.

few reason i can think off are wre has become Christian,they think barbarian have overrun Roman empire and the last those in power saw a chance to carve their own empire so they suppressed any news that says that Roman Empire did survive

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

Provincia​	Capital​
Provincia Hibernia Superior	Civis Caesaromagus(Cartwright, NL)
Provincia Hibernia Inferior	Civis Fluvius Finis (Saguenay, QC)
Provincia Hibernia Maritimae	Civis Fluvius Magnus (Chisasibi, QC)
Provincia Augusta Elysium	Augusta Elysium (Quebec)
Provincia Nostra	Civis Mons Regius (Montreal)
Provincia Ursi Tellus	Civis Caronto (Toronto, ON)
Provincia Nova Noricum	Civis Virunum (Greater Sudbury, ON)
Provincia Nova Caledonia	Portus Viridis (Saint John, NB)
Provincia Nova Liguria	Civis Septimia Severus (OTL:Boston)
Provincia Lenape	Civis Mohawk (Philadelphia)

 

[kasumigenx]

I think the Brythonics who have gone to Brittany could go here instead.

 

[Stretch]

The map isn't showing up for me.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

In the year 1295 AUC (542 AD), Caesar Augustus while visiting the city of Mons Regius (OTL:Montreal). Augustus's health had deteriorated in the months immediately preceding his death, and he had made significant preparations for a smooth transition in power. Augustus's illness brought the issue of succession to the forefront of political and public affairs. To ensure stability, he needed to appoint an heir to his unique position in society and government. This had to be achieved in small, undramatic and progressive ways that did not arouse senatorial fears of a despotic dictatorship. If someone was going to succeed to the position of power, he would have to earn it through his own publicly proven merits.

That was Lucius Julius. On 14 May 542 AUC, Caesar Lucius began his reign by doing nothing. After a brief inaugural festival in Augusta Elysium, he dismissed the Senate for the day and retired to the Domus Augustana on the Island of Bacchus (OTL:Île d'Orléans). On the following day, senators received messages from him that ordered the cessation of all discretionary spending, maintaining only those services necessary for the public (e.g. army, hospitals). Vague reference to something unpleasant, should they refuse, cautioned senators and officials from ignoring his demands on him.

Receiving a stable financial situation from his father, the young Lucius Iulius only needed to avoid major follies and he could be remembered as a good emperor. However, there were high expectations for the most young sons. Public knowledge of his publications on natural philosophy and stoicism led senators to infer he was of a similar mind to Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. They were right not only in terms of Iudex ideals but also his similar horror imperii about taking the curule throne.

As his first public action, Lucius announced sweeping tax reforms throughout the empire. The head tax that Kaeso had imposed on citizens was repealed for plebs and lightened for patricians; internal duties on shipping goods from national were abolished but tariffs on foreign mercantile goods were more than doubled ports to lessen the fall in revenue; and more than a dozen other changes were imposed, generally decreasing the number of existing taxes but raising the burden of others. Over the course of half an hour, the new emperor had cut revenue for the state down by a third (back to around 5% of GDP).

After specifying these changes, Lucius announced the union of the treasuries for the Senate and imperial family, combining them into one account, known as the Fiscus, owned by the emperor but shared with the Senate, allowing an emperor to openly restrict funding to magistrates or the Senate itself when deemed necessary. Using this control, Lucius would maintain a near total balance of spending throughout the rest of his reign, neither overspending nor spending too frugally.

As taxation became more sophisticated, Lucius deployed the resources of the treasury to improve other aspects of the empire. In his view of him, a weakness of the present system of government was the imbalance of wealth between the provinces, which he had mitigated by bringing the newest method of taxation into the latter realm (reducing the chances of abusive tax collection). For this purpose, Lucius wanted to develop strong commercial and administrative centers outside Capital.

As the number of citizens beyond Elysium Augusta grew, demand increased for more courts of Roman law in which to settle criminal and civil disputes between citizens (peregrini (foreigners) were permitted to settle their private disputes but were subject to certain public laws). In Elysium Augusta, judicial procedure fell under the jurisdiction of Praetores, the highest magistrates for presiding over law beside emperors. For regular cases of private law, a judge would be proposed by the prosecution and permitted by the defendant, from a list of licensed judges maintained collectively by the praetors. For delicta publica (crimes dangerous to the public), a praetor would serve as presiding iudex (judge). Over the last decades, various fields of crimes that threatened the public were gradually recognized by the magistrates of Elysium, motivating the institution of specific magistrates to judge criminal cases in each field.

• Praetor Urbanus, issuing the Edictum Perpetuum, the criminal laws upheld at the reigning emperor's discretion so that previously legislated civil law could be modified or extended by an emperor
• Praetor Peregrinus, who arbitrated in public conflicts between peregrini (freeborn non-citizens) and cives (citizens)
• Praetor Fiscus, who arbitrated between the public accounts (fiscus) and private citizens
• Praetor Repetundae, who presided over the extortion courts for claims against corrupt magistrates or governors
• Praetor Ambitus, who presided over the courts on electoral law, such as cases of bribery in the Senate
• Praetor Majestas, who presided over the treason courts
• Praetor Peculatus, who presided over the embezzlement courts
• Praetor Familias, who presided over the adultery courts
• Praetor Falsum, who presided over the perjury courts, such as cases of someone bearing false witness in court
• Praetor Sacrilegius, who presided over the sacrilege courts
• Praetor de Fideicommissa, who presided over the inheritance courts
• Praetor Tutela, who presided over the courts on guardianship
• Praetor de Sicariis et Veneficis, who presided over the courts on assassination and murder
• Praetor Furtus, who presided over the larceny courts for claims of theft or unlawful use of leased goods
• Praetor Damnatias, who presided over the defamation courts
• Praetor Mancipatus, who presided over the courts on the slaves, such as cases of mistreatment against one's slave
• Praetor Obaeratus, who presided over the debtors courts
• Praetor Fraudulosus, who presided over the fraud courts, such as cases of violating business contracts

Not only did the praetor for a specific jurisdiction preside over the highest court for relevant charges but he decided which judges were permitted to preside over less public cases of similar crimes. These lists were solely with the major courts of law residing in the city of Augusta Elysium. In other provinces, the governor acted as chief justice, presiding over the highest provincial court. While corruption did not run as rampant in the provincial courts of the time as it did during the Republic, benefactors of governors and enemies of governors received their respective special treatment in public court. As a result, wealthy and influential citizens had the freedom to defeat litigation against themselves whenever weaker citizens opposed their illegal activities. As a means of reducing corruption and creating more public courts, Lucius gave the Senate the power to appoint a Praetor Provincialis in each city with more than 40,000 citizens. This office would bear the responsibility of organizing a list of judges for his appointed city and of presiding over cases he deemed dangerous to public safety. Provincial governors lost the authority to serve as a judge in a court of law, putting a new check on their regional powers. The eighteen praetors in Augusta Elysium were recognized as Praetores Curules to distinguish their authority from that of the provincial praetors, symbolized by their curule thrones. With the decree of the lex juridica generalis Elysium, acting praetores provinciales began to be appointed in cities.

When he fell to fever on March 19, 1335 AUC (582 AD) after 40 years of rule, Lucius Julius left a stronger and more unified empire gaining the cognomen "Iudex". Roman law was slowly spreading into the provinces, accelerated by the presence of praetors and by the creation of coloniae. The frontiers were placed against difficult to pass natural barriers like montains or rivers and many sections were secured by vast systems of fortifications. Those few gaps in this national hide were kept safe by the presence of nearby legions and local auxiliary forces.

Regarding internal affairs, the currencies were strong and taxes were efficient but not oppressive (although the later would change in a few decades as less conscientious regimes came to power). There was predictable revenue for the state treasury through taxes and public land while the populace could expect reasonably consistent demands due to information from the public census. The entire territory of Elysium Imperium was woven with highways, dotted with colonies, and enveloped by walls. Many citizens at the time believed with justification that Rome would not follow the lead of other nations, comparing her continuity to the stories of Greek Empire. The empire was too large and interconnected to suffer external threats lightly and too prosperous as well as prestigious for its internal nations to want to leave, unless motivated by some series of calamities or ideological incentives.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

I'm going to change the Chapter Format style and each chapter will explain a regency.

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

Iudex's successor was Appius Julius Sapiens. Iudex raised the boy carefully, devoting much of his efforts to instructing him in rhetoric, politics, legal science, ethics, and nature. Observant of other people's behavior, especially once he joined the Senate as the emperor's son, Appius came to the firm conclusion that many influential people were unfit to manage the affairs of a complex state, and he resolved to impose checks and balances. that would safeguard Elysium from future incompetence.

As his first action, Sapiens announced that the size of the officium (staff) of the central government would be restricted, as magistrates, emperors, and the Senate had increased their numbers of accountants, aides, servants, scribes and other assistants to inordinate proportions to ease their burdens. Some senators hired their own assistants but there were hundreds of civil servants on public salaries, in a system completely lacking in organization. Under the new decree, there would be maximum and minimum limits for the numbers of each type of assistant and specific boundaries of this sort would be assigned to particular magistracies. These limits fell far below earlier numbers, prompting one brave senator to object to the emperor they would have to work much harder with so few people to delegate tasks. Before continuing his speech, Sapiens simply responded, "Sic." ("Precisely").

As another measure, Sapiens created more magistracies for senators to pick up the slack from the reductions in the public staff. Neither magistrates nor regular senators were paid for their services to Elysium, a benefit of having an aristocratic class governing the state, so it was cheaper to give duties to senators than to hire them assistants. By replacing apparitores (civil servants) with magistrati (magistrates), the emperor effectively reduced the load on the treasury by delegating more tasks to the Senate.

Sapiens named one of his closest supporters, Gaius Cornelii Scipio, as the Magister Fiscalis (Master of the Purse), a new magistracy with absolute authority over quaestores and responsible for analyzing public spending records to inform the Senate on financial decisions. Another companion, Kaeso Annius Longus, was named Pro-princeps, a new magistracy intended as a close advisory position beside the princeps. Since an emperor wielded nearly absolute power in practice, Sapiens thought that having a person who was second to the emperor, almost but not quite as a co-ruler, would moderate the qualities of the absolute monarch, by giving him an adviser who could not be lawfully reprimanded by an emperor for any reason. A Proprinceps had the sacrosanctity of a censor but the authority to act on behalf of the princeps civitatis. Most importantly, Sapiens saw the Proprinceps as a close adviser to himself and to future emperors, since a Proprinceps was more free to speak his mind.

Although an emperor could not reprimand his Proprinceps, his behavior was at the mercy of the censores and any of his executive decisions could be overruled by the emperor, regardless of the delay in the emperor's response. Furthermore, after the death of an emperor, a Proprinceps would also lose his office and become vulnerable to judgement by the next emperor. In any case, Sapiens had created two high magistracies for senators to pursue and tremendously enlarged the powers of the Senate, by giving senators the authority to elect every future Magister Fiscalis and Proprinceps. Of course, the first citizen reserved the power to overturn most of these appointments (with the exception of Proprinceps).

Other lesser positions were created for senators, covering the administrative tasks of managing the city of Elysium Augusta and of supervising the activities of provincial governors, the fiscal tasks of supervising the mints and the logging of tax information, and the legal tasks of auditing the album iudicum (list of licensed judges) and hearing the petitions of commoners to the Senate. On the whole, the new emperor had attempted to reinvigorate the Senate by expanding its responsibilities and powers.

As a way of ensuring the participation of senators, Sapiens imposed hefty fines for senators (and civil servants) who failed in their duties. For example, a senator would incur a 3000 denarii fine if he missed senatorial assemblies for two weeks in a row, unless he had specific duties keeping him outside the capital or was on a period of personal leave (as senators were entitled to have). This restriction was sharply distinguished the reign of Faustilon from earlier periods, when the majority of senators were fine with avoiding the Senate altogether and quorum had become an almost foreign concept. Fiscatores (tax collectors) and censitores (census-takers) similarly faced fines for specific failures of their duties but the penalties were more modest.

[the word fiscator began to be used by politicians to distinguish tax collectors from the accounts of the treasury, viz. the Fiscus]

Membership in this Concilium Civium (Council of Citizens) constituted an additional duty for several magistrates - in both old and new offices. There were no formal meetings of the Concilium. Instead, participation meant that the magistrate had to be available when the first citizen sought his advice and had to inform the emperor of issues within his jurisdiction. Upon creation, the Concilium consisted of ten magistrates: the Proprinceps, the Magister Fiscalis, the Praetor Urbanus, the Magister Officiorum (Master of the Staff), the Praefectus Argentarius (Overseer of Banks), the Praefectus Tabularius (Chief Archivist), Praefectus Annonae (Overseer of the Provisions), the Praefectus Memoriae (Overseer of Public Relations), the Magister Correctores (Master of Overseers), and the Magister Militum (Master of the Soldiers). Some of these offices had no precedents in earlier permanent offices but resembled temporary positions that previous emperors had given to their chosen companions.

Through his unprecedented restructuring of the government, Sapiens had earned the unrestrained respect of senators, a situation that had many in the Senatus and Populus of Rome referring to him through the cognomen Sapiens (Wise).

On travels as a prince, Sapiens noticed how excessive the viae (roads) of the empire were. Thousands of kilometers of road were receiving virtually no traffice while more heavily traversed routes fell into disrepair. After coming to power, he formed a committee to design a new network of interprovincial highways spanning the entire Imperium. By 1340, detailed plans for the system were complete and the emperor had already begun annually funneling 80 million denarii into banks for eventual spending on the new highways, anticipating that the project would require monumental expenditure.

A basilica was built near the outskirts of the city of Augusta Elysium to serve as the office of a prime commissioner of public roads (legatus viarum publicarum), a permanent new position charged with employing curatores (commissioners) and redemptores (contractors) for maintenance of viae publicae (public roads). This office could be filled by any patrician as an optional stage in his cursus honorum (political career).

Altogether, the new Imperial Highway Network streamlined maintenance costs for public roads and greatly reduced travel times along major trade and communication routes - a tighter, more practical public transportation system. This highway system was the grandest construction project of the New world, requiring more materials than both the Chinese Great wall, and servicing a wider area than any single existing network of roads. Advantages of this improvement were:
​

• faster mobilization of troops to the borders and to internal crises​
• faster communication through a rearrangement of stations for the public postal system​
• lower costs of transportation for merchants, census-takers, and tax collectors​
• more mobility for citizens or scholars who are willing and able to travel the empire​

Overall, this system ensured greater connectivity between cities in the empire and shortened the political distance between Augusta Elysium and its more distant provinces.

Enough information had been gathered by 1345 to establish a grading system for levels of urban development, allowing the government to evaluate settlements on requirements above what was needed for a city to merely function. Among the factors of a city's grade were per capita: inflow of water, outflow of sewage, number of banks and hospitals, available food, and even wealth. Generally, stuff like population density, road safety, and cleanliness were factored into an evaluation as well. Settlements that couldn't reach recommended standards for their size and composition, lost the right to even be called an urbs (city) and incurred an extra tax on their residents then eventually a repeating personal fine for their municipal leaders.

At the time, there were four types of settlements in the empire: a vicus (garrison town without official recognition); municipium (existing settlement brought into the empire); civitas (planned city designed by the state); and colonia (planned city built by the state for retired soldiers, magistrates and apparitores).

Under Sapiens's regulations, vicus parvus came to indicate the lowest status for a settlement, aside from oppidum (village) which referred to a settlement of primitive foreigners. An oppidum was not subject to laws governing and evaluating settlements in the empire and would continue to be run by whatever procedure was employed by the locals.

Once the population of a vicus exceeded 8,000, it would have ten years to build its own amphitheater and forum, elect its own city senate, and maintain its streets at a certain level of cleanliness, before incurring fines and extra taxes. Successful improvement would garner a vicus the status of municipium. Even settlements with mostly non-citizens were expected to abide by these standards, as long as they were previously recognized as vici parvi. There were strict rules for what sufficed as a forum or an amphitheater and for how to run a city senate. Similarly, the original standards that needed to be met to become a vicus parvus in the first place included having roads, at least 100 people, a decent marketplace, and some kind of path to the public roads without having to travel off-road through a forest or a canyon of some sort. Since there were modest tax benefits to being a vicus parvus, residents of small settlements were encouraged to collaborate toward improving their home. This benefited census-takers and tax collectors as such settlements became more accessible.

Indeed, attempting to encompass the entire population of the empire into the census had revealed a number of unnoticed issues. Even fifty years later, there were still many regions that were not regularly covered by censitores (census-takers), even some villages or estates of Elysiums citizens. While new inhabitants were steadily being discovered and recorded, censitores visiting known settlements had also been reporting back to Augusta Elysium about the need for bridges near small towns, more deverticula throughout the countryside, more organized marketplaces, and better access to fresh water. Wells remained the most prevalent means of accessing fresh water but Sapiens mandated that a municipium needed to have aqueduct service once its population became greater than 25,000 people. By the same law, a municipium with an aqueduct required at least two amphora (13.8 gallons) of water capacity per resident of the city (obviously with a substantial margin for error).

Above a population of 80,000, a municipium would have ten years to improve its roads with drainage; to build a galenaria, a banca, a post office, a censitorium, a therma, a barracks, a public fountain, and a public stable with a capacity of at least five dozen horses; to enlarge its public forum; to institute local fire departments, and to have access to at least four amphora (27.6 gallons) of water capacity per person through its aqueducts, or else suffer certain fines and heavier taxes. A city senate would be granted a temporary license to tax its citizens on top of regular taxes in order to fund these building projects. Successful adherence to these regulations would grant the municipium the status of urbs (city) and a stipend of 1 denarii per resident as well as 2 denarii per citizen (in addition to the residential funding). These funds could be used at the discretion of the city senate to maintain its status as urbs and to employ the required military garrison of one auxiliary soldier per 1,000 residents. All cities of this size had an additional income from latrinae (public latrines), through their profitable near monopoly on stale urine; thermae (public baths); and other minor services provided exclusively by the municipal government.

Once an urbs surpassed 240,000 people, it could be designated a magnum urbs with enough effort. Although there were few cities of this size, Sapiens wanted to guarantee the special treatment of the largest cities in the empire, even after his death. As such, his regulations required a city of that size to achieve several goals before the fines and taxes would be lifted:
​

• 

  possess at least 4 km of cloacae (sewers), a Great Temple dedicated to Roman Gods, a dedicated slave market, a central bank, a cistern with a water capacity of at least 200 million gallons, and a small castrum (fort) for stationing troops​
• field at least 400 auxiliary soldiers for its defense​
• daily capacity of at least eight amphora (55.2 gallons) of water per person through its aqueducts​
• access to a via princepesque either directly or through a via consularis​
• create a quisquillia comparata collegium (public street cleaners) for organizing the cleaning services in the city​
• construct a monument to glorify the empire that meets the standards of the prime commissioner of urban regulations.​

Although grade was important to a settlement, there were other categories in the regulation of places of living. Strictest of all were those rules governing the design of coloniae and incolatia (regular settlement). The accompanying image provides an accurate representation of what a colonia of municipium grade required. In general, standards of living were expected to be higher in colonies, since the entire free population consisted of citizens. There were two general types of colonia: a colonia moenia was a settlement build all at once with a wall, a concrete foundation, and facilities integrated into the streets. These towns were of an exceptionally high quality, with proper drainage and aqueduct access despite usually having a capacity of less than about 10,000 citizens and their families. The other type was a colonia probata. Classified in the same way as the original municipal meaning of the term civitas, these colonia were built gradually according to a careful design and were meant to serve as urban footholds for the colonization of new territories (a colonia militaris had a similar function but was built for retiring personae publicae).

To monitor adherence to these rules, the Senate created the position of legatus regulae urbanae (prime commissioner of urban regulations), tasking its occupant with sending special commissioners to evaluate applicants for higher or lower grades of settlements and performing some evaluations himself. Without compromising the special status of citizens, these regulations raised the standards of living for foreigners and citizens alike, enforcing a certain minimum for many people living under Elysium rule (it bears mentioning that more than a three-quarters of people did not live anywhere more densely populated than a small village).

The stance of Sapiens on peregrini (foreigners) was infamous in the Senate, where non-citizens were regarded either as a source of tribute or as a minor inconvenience. Under his rule, the annona - a free grain ration for the urban poor of the city of Augusta Elysium - was extended to the city of Lenape, adding another large yearly expenditure to the cost of maintaining the empire. Nevertheless, the Senate enjoyed a low proportion of military spending out of an already high public revenue, which was unusual for a state at this period in time (most kings devoted the majority of their wealth toward military affairs).

During this period, the population of the Empire alone approached 3 million citizens spread among coloniae in other provinces. According to the census. Since the institution of the first public hospitals (galenariae), the empire had experienced a steady march toward a more regulated and state-funded health system. As recently as 1350 AUC, Caesar Sapiens had outlawed the practice of any form of medicine by people without a record of passing federal examinations over several years at a medical academy. Since many physicians practiced outside of public hospitals, properly enforcing this regulation was nearly impossible. To this end, Sapiens had hospitals built throughout the empire and initially took measures to encourage doctors to practice in them.

At the end of his reign, Sapiens outlawed private medicine entirely, forcing doctors either to become private physicians in the employ of a single client or to work on a salary at a hospital. Salaries for physicians varied with rank and were at the discretion of the archiatrus (medical chief), who supervised all of the employees at his assigned hospital. A position of Magister Archiatorum (Surgeon-General or Master of the Chief Healers) was created for the Senate. Its tasks were to appoint medical chiefs from among doctors and to oversee their compliance with Elysium standards for medicine. In general, an archiatrus could expect to make more than thirty thousand denarii annually while the average doctor worked for a tenth of that amount. The possibility of receiving sufficient recognition to be named archiatrus helped motivate the sorts of behavior that led to a good reputation.

Over time, the position of medical chief became a third avenue toward starting a political career, as an alternative to legal practice and military service. The reputation and wealth of these doctors placed them among the equestrian class (ordo equester), where they were eligible to begin a political career in the Senate.

The importance of regulating the activities of physicians was obvious to anyone living at the time. Even in the 6th century, a doctor could effectively threaten to withhold treatment unless his patient accepted a proposed price, basically extorting money from wealthy clients. Back in the 3st century, some doctors were making tens of millions of denarii from this practice and matters had only scarcely improved, due to competition with hospitals, by the reign of Sapiens. His predecessor had made some attempt to confront this problem by imposing maximum prices on the medical services offered by all physicians but the lack of oversight made the existence of these laws of only nominal effect.

In his concern for public health, Caesar Sapiens had laws passed to enforce better hygienic standards in thermae (public baths). Although a bathhouse was one of the most viable ways for the average citizen to stay clean, these facilities were often cesspools of repeatedly used water, dirty bathing implements, and infectious floor tiles. This situation changed as the regulations of Sapiens were enforced across the colonies and municipalities of Elysium. To facilitate their implementation, the laws specified that each night the pools were to be drained while the floors, walls, and benches were cleaned using concentrated vinegar before being watched down in preparation for the following day. Vinegar was known to stave off the effects of miasma (polluted air) that accumulated around stagnant water, open wounds, and dead bodies, so it was the natural choice for cleansing baths. Meanwhile, the strigils and other grooming tools available at baths (not everyone could afford their own bathing implements) were to be washed in vinegar before allowing other patrons to use them. In Elysium Augusta, slaves did this type of cleaning for thermae.

These regulations transformed public bathing and were a major leap forward in hygiene. Baths used to be common means for the spread of tuberculosis and often caused gangrene or fungal infections but could now truly contribute to public health. Elysium would come to express great pride in the state of their baths and the prominence of those facilities in their daily lives.

As stoic as Sapiens was, the man had an emotional side - a soft spot for his family. When his wife Livia died, he was shaken to his core. He would rarely leave his palace and news of the completion of his highway program gave him no pleasure. Many of his duties were laid on his Proprinceps.

Worried senators became even more concerned when a bill was noticed for a mausoleum to be built outside Mons Regius. They learned that the emperor wished to be buried with his descendants - his sole vanity project in a reign of 50 years. On the 5th day of September in 1385 AUC / 632 AD, neither his family nor his slaves had seen him all morning. It did not take long for them to find him in his bed, having passed away peacefully in the night. His heir, Marcus Julius Aurelius , took the titles of office the following week.​

 

[Paladín Wulfen]

When Marcus Julius Aurelius came to power in 1385 AUC / 632 AD, the empire stood at a Good position. Although its decline over the coming decades would not be serious, Elysium would not recover until expansionism was reignited by a foreign invasion. Among the civilizations of its day in the New Continent, Elysium possessed certain unique technologies, either of Roman design or as an inheritance from Greek or Phoenician civilization.

For its agriculture, Elysium had long been using a mechanical reaper that would separate the valuable ears of grain from the rest of the plant as it was pushed by oxen through a field. This device saved an enormous amount of labor for farmers, supporting the high level of urbanization enjoyed by the empire. There had been only minor changes to its designs over the last four centuries and little had been done that improved upon the functions of the reaper.

For milling grain, Elysium were heavy users of watermills, providing greater output than animal-powered mills used by other cultures. A unique application of waterwheels by Elysium was in a turbine powered off an aqueduct, giving access to a watermill's power to anywhere fed by an aqueduct. Waterwheels had been used in creating sawmills for rapidly cutting wood or marble while others could be found near mines for crushing stone in massive stamping mills.

As a way of creating reservoirs for feeding aqueducts, Elysium built many gravity dams throughout Provincia Nostra, Nova Noricum, and Lenape. Elysium dams rank among their other marvels of engineering, alongside ponta (bridges), aquae (aqueducts), and viae (roads). Concrete had revolutionized dam construction in the 1st century but even more outstanding was the gradual introduction, of using dams as a power source. One application of this technology was the miling dam but another that became even more widespread was lifting water to a higher elevation. For this process, water would flow through a turbine in the dam, powering mechanisms that raised different water to a higher starting point for supplying an aqueduct. If an aqueduct carried water from a higher starting elevation, then there was more energy to spare for turbines along its length. In a sense, this is the earliest case of energy transmission from a power plant (a dam) to a facility (a mill) that used the energy elsewhere.

Aqueducts were not only needed for milling grain and feeding cities; they also supplied water to mines. Flowing water had many uses in a mine: sweeping away soil to expose veins on the bedrock, removing waste rock from the mining site, and quenching hot rocks that were heated in fire-setting. When water needed to be removed from a low-lying position, Archimedean screws were used to lift the liquid to a higher elevation. Unfortunately, unlike at a dam, screws in mines could not be water-powered, as this would defeat the purpose of elevating one body of water by bringing another body of greater weight down to the same level.

Using these innovative techniques, Elysium revolutionized the power output of human beings. Most agrarian cultures had widespread access to power on the scale of horses or oxen, surpassing those cultures limited to available manpower. Elysium had a wider access to water as an energy source than any other people at the time. Through their aqueducts, Elysium could transmit energy for use or storage elsewhere, permitting industry on an unprecedented scale. Between animal power and steam power, this unprecedented use of water power stood as a middle ground for a developing society and gave Elysium the highest power capacity per person than any other civilization by a large margin.

F

or construction, Elysium had the treadwheel crane, raising the indirect lifting capacity of one person from 50 kg, using logs and ramps, to about 3000 kg of straight lifting. Overstating the benefits of this technology is difficult but suffice it to say that the vast and rapid construction abilities of the empire are in no small part owed to this device. For moving rather than lifting heavy weights, Elysium used a windlass that had pulling capacity to match the lifting of the crane.

All varieties of Roman-made machinery were enhanced by liberally employing advanced mechanisms for transferring a force from one direction to another or for magnifying a force at the cost of freedom of movement. Among these devices were the crank, hydraulic piston, pulley, force pump, valve, screw, gear, chain drive, turbine, wedge, hinge, lever, and wooden ball bearing. All except the last device saw widespread use and were employed in some of the most complex machines imaginable, with few limits on how Elysium were able to employ them. While cranes and mills were two types of machine employing these mechanisms, there was also the mechanical reaper, stationary fire engine, fountain, wind-wheel, differential gear train, hypocaust, aeolipile (steam-powered toy), hydraulic organ, shower, and a number of military engines.

Elysium had full practical understanding of how their machinery functioned but no one had formulated general principles of operation, lacking an understanding of forces, energy, and work. These concepts would gradually emerge from Elysium engineering, out of the more primitive understanding of Aristotelian forced motion and the mechanical geometry of Archimedes and Hero. In fact, the geometry of mechanics is the more direct precursor to force vectors and modern dynamics of motion than Aristotelian mechanics, lacking still a quantitative and explanatory account of motion (that would not arise for several centuries).

Military engines designed according to Roman mechanics were highly elaborate devices that exceeded anything used by other civilizations. Of course, Elysium still used the traditional battering ram, onager, and siege towers but even these were on a scale above contemporaries. For instance, a Elysium siege tower could be built as tall as 25 m and was iron-plated to deflect enemy missiles, with an internal ballista as a turret to return fire. The ballista was technically a class of siege weapons, rather than one specific device, all sharing a characteristic similarity to a crossbow.

The largest ballistae were crossbow-like machines three time the length of a human and capable of firing 78 kg projectiles at great distances. These were in sparse use by the Legion but were devastating when brought to bear on enemies. More common was the manuballista, a handheld or mounted crossbow used for sniping, accurate as it was up to 500 m. The terrifying precision of this weapon is described in accounts of the Lenape War, where infantry charges would be halted by taking out the lead horses before either army was even in range of traditional weapons. For maneuverability, Elysium employed the carrobalista, which could be rapidly deployed on the field from a cart, allowing high flexibility in firing positions.

Perhaps the most frightening of all siege weapons was the polybolos. Using a chain drive operated by a windlass, this device would semi-automatically prepare its next shot over a span of less than six seconds, permitting a high rate of fire. A mere ten of these artillery pieces stationed on a hill and firing into a massed army could easily tear through hundreds of enemy soldiers in the span of minutes, the time between an enemy entering its range and engaging with a Elysium army. When several hundred of these weapons are employed, as at the Battle of River Mohawk, an entire enemy line could be broken, opening them to a direct charge by Elysium cavalry or Legionary heavy infantry. This move was just one lethal tactic of the Legion that used advanced siege weapons.

Overall, engineering was an integral component of the military. A legion could build kilometers of walls, bridges, causeways, tunnels, paths, or forts within a matter of days while on the move. Since every legionary carried his own shovel and every cohort had its own mobile brick kiln, the entire legion of 5,200 men could contribute at once on a construction effort, allowing for such incredible works of engineering to be done over a short period. As an additional benefit, legionaries could be brought in to work on public works when more labor was necessary. They had the exact skill, discipline, and physical strength that made for ideal construction workers and that facilitated massive projects.

While all of these technologies were already being used during the period under discussion, they are mentioned here as summary and as introduction to some contemporary developments. In 1400 AUC / 647 AD, Aurelius had the entire Domus Augustana redone to incorporate a hypocaust throughout the whole palace and to expand the sewers for a private bath and private latrine that was accessible from inside the palace. The latter came from the designs used in most houses in Septimia, the site of the most advanced cloaca (sewage system) in the Empire. In effect, the emperor now had one of the most comfortable domiciles in his empire, with accommodations that compared with modern conveniences in personal hygiene and central heating.

At the same time, the Senate was exercising its newfound authority with the election of a new Magister Fiscalis. At his behest, the Senate commissioned the construction of over a hundred waterwheels at key points that he had identified. There was need for new stamping mills and sawmills in the mines of provinciaes Hibernias while in Lenape there was need for more watermills to work on the growing supply of grain. One watermill was even built right inside the city of Augusta Elysium, running off one of the urban aqueducts. These mills were built and operated by the Senate, providing new sources of income for the government.

Since the Great Migration, The Weroance Lupus-Rubrum from Powhatan people had amassed a force of tens of thousands of natives which he intended to use to conquer Lenape and more. Approaching the Lenape, Lupus-Rubrum taunted the Elysiums from outside their weapons' range, attempting to goad them into a more equitable open battle. After consecutive days of this affair in 1395 AUC, one daring Elysium archer snuck down the wall as the sun fell and fired an arrow into the gut of this bothersome tribal Warchief. Enraged at this front, the army of Lupus-Rubrum charged in the direction of the archer, accidentally leaving a dust cloud and kicking up dirt over their leader. Not only did the archer get lifted safely onto the wall but the Natives were dissuaded from pressing the attack, with minimal casualties on either side, and Lupus-Rubrum would die four days later from an infected wound.

Chaos overtook the tribals after losing their leader but they managed to elect a new leader with little bloodshed. Uniting behind Weroance Denta-Lupus of the Powhatan , the Powhatan joined their forces with the remnants of the Free Algonquian peoples, forming a substantial army of near a hundred thousand men. For the time being, Denta-Lupus would bide his time as he armed his people for war and used what army he possessed to hold back the another tribes. Rumors began to circulate throughout the empire that this barbarian kingdom possessed a force worth a hundred legions and the reality of the matter was obscured by hundreds of kilometers of dense forests and other fearful tribes.​

 

[PobreCesar]

Elysium had full practical understanding of how their machinery functioned but no one had formulated general principles of operation, lacking an understanding of forces, energy, and work. These concepts would gradually emerge from Elysium engineering, out of the more primitive understanding of Aristotelian forced motion and the mechanical geometry of Archimedes and Hero. In fact, the geometry of mechanics is the more direct precursor to force vectors and modern dynamics of motion than Aristotelian mechanics, lacking still a quantitative and explanatory account of motion (that would not arise for several centuries).

Good to see Roman engineering persists. I appreciate all the extra detail we're getting this time around.

 

[Icee]

F or construction,

I fell like there something missing here