Name: The Illustrious Republic of Nova Roma
Organisational Type: Government (Aristocratic constutional monarchy)
The Republic of Nova Roma, despite its name, is led by an Imperator. The current Imperator is Caesar Augustus the Fourth. The Imperator is the head of state of the city-state and the leading priest of the Cult of Lucifer. Despite this, his actual powers are limited and he is a figurehead. Real power lies with the Senate: a legislative body comprised of patricians, individuals who have been granted titles of nobility (not due to their blood but rather due to their extreme wealth). Patricians own companies, factories, TV studios, landed estates, and slaves. Thus they have the finance and manpower to back up their titles of nobility.
The Senate passes legislation that governs the domestic and foreign policy of the city-state. They also elect two Consuls (with a yearly term) to oversee the implementation of legislation passed by the Senate. The Consuls act thus as collective head-of-government but their power varies: sometimes they are monarchs in all but name while other times they are powerless puppets whose strings are pulled by the Senators. Since real power lies with the Senate (and the Consuls), rather than an Imperator, Nova Roma is often called an aristocratic or oligarchical republic.
Competition between Senators for influence and power takes many forms: some use their oratorical powers (either in the Senatorial chamber or on TV shows), others their wealth to bribe and coerce, and yet others resort to beatings or even assassinations. So far, this frenzied antagonism for power has not erupted into outright civil war, but beatings (or even shootings) between servants of various Senators are not unusual.
Leaders:
Imperator Ceasar Augustus the Fourth
The nineteen-year-old Imperator came to the Golden Throne a year ago when his father - Caesar Augustus the Third - died in a hunting accident (or so it is said...). He has little actual powers and is a figurehead meant to legitimize the rule of the Senators who compete for influence in ever more extreme ways. The young man is not, however, content with being a puppet of the Senate and simply enjoying the luxuries of the imperial court. He seeks real power and he will do what is necessary to reassert the primacy of the imperial office.
Consul Isidorus Artemius
Isidorus is a man of wealth. He owns multiple estates in which thousands of slaves labor day and night in gruesome conditions. He also owns a number of factories producing consumer goods for the plebians of the city-state, at least the ones who can afford them, and a popular TV station. He has used this wealth to gain influence in the Senate over the years, and he has now managed to bribe and intimidate his way into getting elected Consul. A highly ambitious man, he plans to use his Consulship as a stepping stone to even greater influence over the politics of the republic. He knows that if he fails, his political opponents (and he has made many of them over the years) will hound him down like a rabid animal.
Consul Flavius Aetius
Consul Flavius Aetius might not look that tough at first glance, but he is a ruthless man. Appointed a Legate at the age of fifty, after years of lobbying for the post, he ruthlessly overworked both slaves and subject peoples to produce foods for the growing city of Nova Roma. He also did what every ambitious Legate would do: without authorization from the Senate, he waged a war of conquest against a nearby village across the border from his jurisdiction. His war was successful (if a rather brutal affair that saw tens of villagers executed), and thus earned him respect in the Senate. When his posting as a Legate ended, Flavius used his popularity from the war to appear constantly on TV shows. A showman knowing how to impress crowds, he earned even greater popularity and influence than before, which ended up in his election as Consul. Ambitious and ruthless, he seeks to further extend the influence of the Republic - and his own political prowess along the way. His enemies are many, not least the equally ambitious co-Consul Isidorus.
Number of Members: 1.5 million
The Republic is one of the most populous polities in California. Not everyone living in the Republic, however, enjoys the same rights. Patricians, the nobility of the Republic, hold most of the power and have rights not entitled to others: (relative) free speech, the right to a fair trial and a lawyer, a good standard of living, generous tax exemptions, and a wage paid by the state.
The rest of the citizens of Nova Roma are plebians. They enjoy some rights: free bread for those below a certain amount of poverty and the right to join the administration of the city (as bureaucrats and clerks, though, since top administrative offices are dominated by the patricians). They have obligations however: to pay taxes and to serve in the military when called to do so. Every male plebian serves two years of military service when he turns 18 and can then be called to arms whenever the Republic requires him to.
Patricians and plebians - the citizens of Nova Roma - are about 500,000. Citizenship is a privilege, and one that is not granted to anyone residing in the domain of Nova Roma. The subjugated peoples residing in the various villages and farming communities of the Republic (except for farming colonies established by plebians and whose inhabitants are citizens) are not citizens and thus lack the privileges enjoyed by plebians. They have to pay much higher taxes and cannot join the administration of the Republic. They are levied in times of need by the Republic but not as a regular trained army but rather as cannon fodder to soften up enemies for the (plebian) legionnaires.
About 350,000 people are in an even worse state than being subjects of Nova Roma: they are slaves. Most of them work in landed estates of the patricians, though a minority work as servants in their manors or factories. In past decades, there were revolts in hopes of liberty but they were brutally suppressed.
Sites of Operations: Morro Bay
Locale of Influence: Morro Bay and surrounding areas
The city of Nova Roma is the beating heart of the republic. It is the political, economic, and social center of the republic. It is under the direct control of the Imperator and the Senate. The surrounding villages and farming communities are governed by Legates, appointed (by the Senate and from among its members) military governors. They have broad autonomy over how they lord their dominion as long as they ensure a steady supply of goods and manpower to the central government. Legates who are efficient and ruthless, and thus stand out from the lot, have a greater chance of gaining influence in the Senate after their term is over (and thus a greater say in how Nova Roma itself is governed). It isn't unusual for successful Legates to be elected Consuls.
Motives and Agenda:
The Republic is a complex structure. The twin ideological backbones are the Civilizational Mission and the Cult of Lucifer.
Civilizational Mission:
The Nova Romans believe that the world since the Cascade has deteriorated to barbarism and brutality. It is their sacred mission to bring civilization - laws, commerce, technology, proper customs - to the peoples of California. This is the burden of the Nova Roman man.
Cult of Lucifer:
The Cult of Lucifer is the state religion of the Republic, with the Imperator being the high priest. The cult worships Lucifer, the eldest Son of God and Lightbringer, the Lord of Hell who punishes the wicked for their evil deeds and rewards the pious. The cult has thousands of priests and tens of missionaries who want to bring the word of Lucifer to the unwashed masses of California. And as pious people, the rulers of Nova Roma have a duty to ensure the safety of those missionaries by extending the reach of the city-state.
Material Needs:
The Civilizational Mission and the Cult of Lucifer are, in reality, both used as excuses for the Senate to expand the reach of the city-state and to subjugate new peoples. Their true motives for this expansionism are material ones: more subjects means more taxpayers and more consumers for their products - and more captives means more slaves. Conquest is a rewarding enterprise, and it isn't unusual for Legates to take the initiative of their own to conquer settlements even without the exact permission of the Senate. After all, conquest means profit.
Resources:
The city-state of Nova Roma is an advanced place, at least by the standards of the region. It resembles a city of the late-20th century in terms of technology and houses several factories, offices, and supermarkets. Patricians - and a fair amount of plebians - can afford and enjoy various consumer products. TVs, video-tapes, and computer systems exist, though the latter are afforded only by the richest citizens. TV shows - both political and entertainment ones - are popular. Starring in TV shows is considered beneath the dignity of patricians, so TV studios turn to plebians instead, offering a few lucky ones a rare opportunity to get rich. Outside the city itself, though, civilization recedes. The villages and farming communities under the control of Nova Roma have a technological level akin to that of early modern Europe. It is one of the reasons for the widespread use of slavery, since mechanization of farming is mostly nonexistent.
The military arm of the Republic is its legions. Legions are comprised of plebians and are led by patricians. Often, those patrician officers have years of family legacy in serving in the military and undertaking conquests. There are three types of legions: the Imperial Guard legions, which are stationed in the city-state itself and are the elite in terms of both equipment and training. The second type is the unraised legions: after plebian men complete their two years of military service, they return back to civilian life, but can at any moment be called back into action if their legion is raised. The third type is the legions guarding the villages and farming communities under the domination of Nova Roma. Those legions are under the control of the Legates, the military governors of those outlying regions. Those legionnaires tend to be loyal to the person of the Legate and act as his private army, allowing ambitious Legates to launch unilaterally wars of conquest. The legions have equipment comparable to that of militaries of the late 20th century.
The Republic can also levy subjugated peoples to fight for it and often uses them as cannon fodder. Those levies are equipped with early modern muskets that lack accuracy or even swords and spears. They also help in other ways: they can carry equipment and provisions needed by the legions. Those subject peoples are disgruntled and unmotivated, and thus they are not trusted by their Nova Roman commanders. On occasions, they have risen up in revolts, only to be crushed brutally by the might of the Nova Roman legions.
Secret:
There isn't a Senator without some sort of dark secret. And their opponents are only too willing to pay operatives to find out those secrets, so that they can use them to their advantage. Blackmail is part of a Senator's career.
Imperator Caesar Augustus the Fourth:
His one secret is that he desires to reclaim the power of his office instead of being a ceremonial figurehead. Caesar tries to maintain a profile of a content spoiled rich kid more interested in luxuries than politics, but that is a veneer to hide his political ambitions and prepare for the clash with the Senate.
Consul Isidorus Artemius:
Isidorus has done many bad deeds in order to climb up the socio-political ladder, but his greatest secret is that he had the father of the current Imperator assassinated, which he covered up with the story of a hunting incident. A young boy on the Golden Throne would be more easily manipulated and could be a valuable tool to use in his desire for supremacy over the other Senators when his term as Consul is up.
Consul Flavius Aetius:
Flavius is a war hero of the Republic - and an embezzler. As a Legatus, he falsified tax records of his jurisdiction and pocketed the change. He needed that money to buy up influence in the Senate. If this secret is revealed, it could be used by his enemies to bring him down: and Flavius has enemies in the dozens.
Powers:
The greatest strength of the Republic lies in its organization. It is able to tax citizens and non-citizens, maintain a standing army, provide security for commerce and enterprise (including factories and TV stations), and maintain a level of technology comparable to that of the 20th century (at least in the capital of Nova Roma itself). It thus stands out compared to other minor polities which resemble communes or gangs rather than actual states. While the chauvinism of the Nova Romans that they are the only civilized people is false, it does contain a glimpse of truth: Nova Roma is a bastion of relative normality in an area that is anything but normal.
Biography:
Imperator Caesar Augustus the First exterminated savages and monsters, founded the illustrious city of Nova Roma, and restored civilization in the wasteland. At least that is the story officially propagated by the authorities of the Republic. In reality, Caesar Augustus the First was born as Jack Anderson and he was the leader of gang which he used to strongarm a number of small, scattered communities into submitting to his will. His campaign of conquest was marked by extreme brutality but also military acumen far above that of other gangsters.
The history of Rome and its empire had been lost, claimed by the interlopers and the collapse of civilization, but a few words and notions of imperial power remained: Jack Anderson clung to those words and used them to legitimize his rule. He was no mere warlord but an Imperator; he wasn't leading a gang but a bastion of civilization in a sea of barbarity. Jack did not use only the idea of Rome to legitimize himself: he also used religion. The Cult of Lucifer - one of the many competing religions striving for influence in the Californian wasteland - was adopted by Jack as the state religion of his realm, with himself as the head of that religion. This allowed him to shroud his rule under a religious cloak, giving him further credence and earning the loyalty of the believers.
By the 140s AC, the settlements united by Jack had coalesced into the city-state of Nova Roma. As civilization returned, so did commerce. A moneyed aristocracy emerged and they wanted power. So power was given to them: the richest citizens of the city were granted the title of patricians, a seat in a new institution named the Senate, and the official power to vote on public policy. The Imperator was now a mere figurehead and the Senate emerged as the new seat of power.
In the 150s and 160s, Nova Roma expanded its reach. Its legions enslaved nearby villages while farming colonies were established thanks to a growing population. By 170 AC, Nova Roma controlled most of its surrounding area and had a combined population in the hundreds of thousands. As it grew, Nova Roma became unstable, experiencing social upheaval and revolts from slaves seeking freedom and oppressed subjects seeking independence. Those revolts were ruthlessly put down with a brutality unseen in decades.
Nowadays, Nova Roma stands as a mostly stable polity and watched with caution the Consortium's latest project, the city of Reclamation. The nobles of the city are wary of the emergence of another center of power and one that could challenge the supremacy of Nova Roma in the region or take advantage of its social troubles. The Senators know that an outright conquest of the city is unwise but are willing to subvert it through other means. Will they succeed? It remains to be seen.
Notable Members: Imperator Caesar Augustus the Fourth, Consul Isidorus Artemius, Consul Flavius Aetius
Theme song: Nova Roman music
Last edited by Sao Nova Europa on Thu Jun 06, 2024 3:08 pm, edited 4 times in total.
