Acrean Empire

Acrean Empire Norðreyjar Nordregnum
296 BCE–1016 CEa or 1330 CEb
Flag
The traditional territory of the Acrean Empire
Capital	Rena Ravenna
Common languages	Elder Nordic Latin
Religion	Valstígr
Demonym(s)	Acrean
Government	Absolute Monarchy
Keisar (Elder Nordic) Caesar (Elder Venetian)
Historical era	Antiquity to Medieval
• Established	296 BCE
• Dissolved	1016 CEa or 1330 CEb
Currency	Mark
Today part of	Acrea Æþurheim Akashi Delkora Shalum Svinia Avallon
Beginning of the Diarchy Beginning of the Kingdom of Acrea

The Acrean Empire, also called the Empire of Acre, was ancient empire in Eracura. Originally a confederation of allied city states and their territories called the Acrean League and grew to become an empire which dominated the continent for nearly a millennium. The Empire served as the home of the Nordic peoples, today one of the largest ethnic groups in the Tyran. The Acrean Empire is considered to have been at its relative zenith from 100 BCE to 500 CE.

Since early antiquity, the territory of modern day Acrea had long been dominated by a collection of powerful city states, primarily led by five: Rena, Ravenna, Arcanea, Trier, and Coria. Collectively these city-states were known as the Pentarchy, and controlled a majority of trade and extensive territory throughout Acrea. Tensions with the expanding Sabrian Empire led these city-states to form the Acrean League under the combined leadership of Rena and Ravenna, whose united polity was known as Acre in honour of the ancient metropolis from which the city of Rena grew. The Acrean League emerged victorious in the ensuing First Acrean-Sabrian War under the war leadership of Generals Caius Aurelius of Ravenna and Vithmirax Aelarris of Rena. Alongside the material and geopolitical benefits the League realised with its victory, the experience of uniting against the Sabrians and the common experience of the war transformed political and social dynamics amongst the various polities which made up the League. As a result, in 296 BCE, Aurelius called the Diaeta Regni in Ravenna to propose uniting all of the League into single rule, and supported Vithmirax as its head. History records some descent initially, but ultimately the three-week long assembly ended in agreement and Vithrimax was named Keisar of the new Acrean state.

The Acrean Empire gradually expanded over the next few centuries. It first conquered southeastern Eracura from the Sabrians during the Second Acrean-Sabrian War, often being aided by local rulers who allied with the Acreans over their former Sabrian governors, though nearly as many remained loyal to the Sabrians. The Nordic peoples of modern-day Nordkrusen and Delkora joined the Acreans by agreement after being offered automatic citizenship. Acrea's westward expansion was slow and deliberate, marked by extensive construction projects which accompanied armies west to establish roads and infrastructure.

Etymology

The name "Acrea" is derived from the ancient name for the city of Rena, called Acre. The origin of the city's ancient name is unclear, however it is referenced in writing as early as 1040 BCE. The use of the term "Acrean" to describe the confederation of city states is contemporary; it was deliberately chosen by leaders of the era to invoke the importance of the ancient metropolis in commerce and communication amongst all peoples of the territory that came to be known as Acrea.

The more common native official words used to describe Acrea, Norðreyjar and Nordregnum, originated after the establishment of the Acrean Empire. Norðreyjar is a shortened form of Norðurkeisarreyjar, literally translating to "Northern Realm of the Keisar" and meaning "Northern Empire". The full Nordic name was adapted directly by the Venetian-speaking peoples of southern Acrea as Caesarregnum Aquilonaris, though colloquial speech in these areas gradually nordicised and shortened to Nordregnum. The names referenced the "eastern" Sabrian Empire and the newly founded "southern" Symmerian Empire, the latter of which was known known to the Acreans through trade and the influx of Kydonians who settled in Venetia during the Kydonian Migration.

Use of those names over simply referring to Acrea as such became more common in official speech as a measure of public inclusiveness to aid in the integration of non-Acrean peoples as citizens of the Empire in its early period, and in colloquial speech so as to make a distinction between the Empire as a whole and Acrea proper.

Institutions and Government

The Acrean Empire was ruled by the Keisar, adapted as Caesar in Latin and meaning "emperor". The emperor was responsible for all aspects of government, serving as the head of state, head of government, chief justice, and supreme commander of Acrea's legions. Although the majority of emperors were male, there was nothing which prohibited women of the imperial dynasty from claiming the mantle, and several did. In this case, the empress was referred to as Keisarinne or Caesarina. As established at the Diaeta Regni of 296 BCE, the Acrean emperor did not rule with absolute power but was kept in check by a representative legislature, the Senatet Regiis or Royal Senate, adopted from the Ravennese senatus.

The Royal Senate was at first comprised of prominent elected citizens who served as representatives of their communities within Acrea, though later grew to include representatives of foreign provinces of the Empire who were appointed by provincial governors after being put forward as candidates by local communal leaders. The authority of the Senate over the Emperor as dictated by Acrean law was understood to be granted by a combination of public will and divine right. In a number of cases this proved insufficient, as savvy Emperors often overcame the Senate's role as a check of power by currying public popularity and using political maneuvering to stack the Senate's seats in their favour.

The Emperor was assisted by the Ráði, or Royal Council. The Council served as the Emperor's cabinet, and managed the Empire's expansive bureaucracy. Appointed by the Emperor, the Council handled the mundane tasks of governance, freeing the Emperor from having to be concerned with the tedium of day-to-day affairs and allowing him or her to focus on more important matters. As a matter of procedure, both Nordic and Latin were given equal status in the Imperial government, reflecting the similar importance of the cities of Rena and Ravenna. Nordic was more prominent in civil use, as the traditional language of Nordic religion to include Venetians, while Latin was more prevalent in military use.

The ancient Acrean government is today renowned for its immense, complex, and effective system of bureaucracy. Although establishing the infrastructure necessary to expand this bureaucracy into foreign territories is considered to have drastically slowed Acrean conquest across Eracura, the cautious approach of early emperors is often credited by historians as being essential to the Empire's long stability and prosperity. Such infrastructure most importantly included the construction of roads and reinforcement of highly traveled waterways. Most conquered regions were heavily integrated thanks to this system of infrastructure, which allowed the ancient Acreans to have relatively fast communication between foreign provinces and the capital, and allowed legions to rapidly move across the continent to project military power and ensure security. Additionally, the vast network of roads and waterways was a boon to merchants and allowed trade to flourish.

Provincial Governance

The administration of foreign provinces in the Empire largely follows a consistent theory of demands and concessions practiced by the Acreans in most of their conquests. This strategy was outlined

Military

The ancient Acrean military was one of the most distinguished fighting forces of antiquity. The ancient Acreans fielded a mostly professional fighting force, first established by the reforms of Renian General Varax Sigericis in 290 BCE. Composition of the ancient Acrean army reflected the political structure of the empire. The army created by Varax was comprised of two parts: legions and auxiliaries. Legions were formations recruited from Svæðiis Primis, provinces whose populations were granted the right to Acrean citizenship, and formed the core of the army throughout its history.

Organisation

Acrea's geographical and cultural diversity allowed them to maintain a variety of troops as part of the legions. Varax's reforms were the first to establish the Triade composition for legions, which dictated that any particular legion should be comprised of a combination of Legionære, Arcetære, and Equitære.

Legionære, or legionaries, were the heavy infantry of ancient Acrea and the foundation of any legion. Legionaries' equipment varied based on where and by whom a unit was raised. Some of the most heavily armoured troops of the ancient world, Acrean legionary armour was typically either riveted chainmail, scale armour, or segmented plate armour from lightest to heaviest. Additional protection came from large oblong or rectangular shields commonly referred to as skiða or scuta. Fitted with large metal bosses and often with metal rims, they provided excellent protection as well as offensive versatility. The legionaries' primary weapon was a spaði or spatha straight sword, though shorter atrekr swords optimised for thrusting were also widely used by some troops. They additionally carried javelins and daggers.

Arcetæres was a term which originally referred to archers, but over time grew to also encompass troops which referred to missile troops equipped with a crossbow (arcuballista). Archers were considered critical to the tactical capability of a legion, and were also considered more valuable; whereas a legionary recruit could be trained in as little as five months, arcetære were typically recruited and trained from a young age at an arcetærskóla where communal archery practice was held throughout the week. The availability of arcetære reflected the importance of martial tradition in Acrean society as a whole, where activities such as archery were very common athletic pasttimes for youths regardless of wealth or social class. Thus, by the time a young man reached the typical military age of 17-18, he would have upwards of 12-13 years of experience in archery. Although this made arcetære difficult to easily replace, it enabled them to utilise powerful bows with excellent accuracy and a high rate of fire. This was necessary, as typical Acrean war bows of antiquity had an average draw weight of 670-750 N (~150-170 lbs), with some surviving examples estimated to reach as high as 820 N (~185 lbs), with which a unit of arcetære was expected to achieve a rate of up to ten volleys per minute. Using heavy war arrows, the arcetære could have a devastating effect on opposing formations. The types of war bows used varied based on time and place in Acrean history. Early arcetære used bows common to where their unit was recruited from. Those from the cool, moist climates of northern Acrea usually used yew longbows while southern Acreans south in the warm, sunny climate south of the Aarau-Voers mountains used both longbows and composite recurve bows. Eventually, the yew longbow became the de facto standard due to its ability withstand a diverse range of climates, very low cost, and extreme ease of manufacture relative to composite bows. In combat, the arcetæres were protected by a combination of friendly light cavalry and legionaries armed with hasta spears used to ward off enemy cavalry charges.

The equitæres were the cavalry of the ancient Acrean army. They were divided between heavy cavalry, called Riddari, and light cavalry, called Caballari. The Riddari were heavily armoured shock cavalry armed with both a long spear and spatha, used as a maneuver force to attack the flanks or rear of enemies pinned in place by legionaries. Riddari were heavily armoured and usually wore a full-body variation of the legionaries' segmented plate armour, and likewise used either full or partial horse armour. The caballari typically wore armour almost identical to legionaries, and were armed with the same weapons as riddari. They utilised oblong shields specifically designed for use on horseback, meant to provide some more protection for the cavalryman's legs while retaining mobility. Caballari were used to screen the legion and protect its flanks and rear.

Society and Culture

Society in the Acrean Empire is difficult to discuss in any general terms, due to the vast size and diversity of the Empire throughout its lifespan. Similarly, society within Acrea and amongst non-Acrean cultures within the Empire evolved significantly over time. Modern historiography refers to the deliberate spread of Acrean culture by Imperial authorities as "Acreanisation" or more commonly "Nordicisation". Nordicisation was, for the most part, not directly an official policy of the Imperial government at any point in the Empire's history. However, numerous policies both official and unofficial contributed to the adoption of Nordic cultural traits by non-Acrean groups in many parts of the Empire.

Nordicisation was primarily driven by economic and social interests, with the balance between each varying depending on one's origin, profession, and social status. Merchants and traders were often the first to adopt Acrean social customs, particularly those in the less developed western provinces of the Empire where the populations were primarily native Slavic, Celtic, and migrant Nordic groups. The extent to which these customs were accepted varied; in the provinces of modern-day Shalum and Aethurheim, where the populations consisted mostly of Nordic and Gothic tribes who had migrated west during the archaic period, enough similarities remained that integrating Acrean culture was done relatively smoothly.

Within Acrea itself, society developed in a fashion distinctly unique from other ancient civilisations. One of the challenges which faced the early Acrean Empire and indeed earlier unified political entities such as the Acrean League was overcoming cultural differences between various Acrean peoples. Although all Acrean cultures are ethnically Nordic, Acrea's geography and environmental diversity meant that there were substantial regional cultural differences which manifested themselves in many facets of daily life. Thus, cornerstone of early Acrean society was religion.

Education

One of the most important aspects of Imperial Acrean society was the development of a formal public education system. Partially a product of the immense bureaucracy of the ancient Acrean state, the first public schools for common people were established in Rena in 200 BCE. Knowledge of the early Acrean education system primarily comes from Um nám æskunnar, a treatise written by contemporary philosopher and polymath Rictiovarus Vetranis. Education was divided by class; aristocratic children usually studied under the tutelage of a private tutor, or otherwise in a private school, while common children (including those of farmers and workers) were educated in government-sponsored schools. The curriculum varied, with education for common children focusing on literacy, mathematics,

Language

As in the modern day, ancient Acrea was richly endowed with a diverse set of languages and dialects which spanned the vast territory of Acrea proper, in addition to the foreign languages of the empire's conquered territories. Elder Nordic, or norse, and latin were the predominant languages in Acrea itself, and thus the primary languages used throughout the empire. The specific dialect of latin spoken in ancient Acrea is also sometimes referred to as "Elder Venetian". For much of the empire's history, neither language was given priority, and usage was often a matter of locale and context. In civil and political life, elder nordic was generally used as a consequence of it being the original language of Acrean religious scripture and literature. As a result, even Acreans whose native language was not Elder Nordic were usually educated in it from a young age. Particularly in politics, however, this did not always hold true, as the empire maintained two capitals with its summer capital in nordic-speaking Rena and its winter capital in latin-speaking Ravenna. Consequently, most nobles were educated in and could speak both to enable them to comfortably move alongside the imperial court. In military life, latin was generally used for many centuries, as many of the ancient Acrean army's reforms and standards were derived from Ravennese military tradition.

The language of common people shifted significantly over the empire's long history. While nobility and upper society retained elder nordic and latin as a result of their formal classical education, the common dialects spoken by Acrea's population were greatly affected by cultural diffusion. The rise of gothic in prominence in the late imperial period had a profound effect on the development of language in Acrea, and ultimately the exchange between Acrea's three main languages gave rise to the modern Acrean nordic, gothic, and venetian spoken today.

Naming Conventions

Ancient Acrean names generally consisted of two to three parts: a given name (fornavn or praenomen), a patronymic (patronavn or patronymicum), and sometimes a surname or family name (etirnavn or cognomen). Traditional Acrean naming conventions always include a given name and patronymic, while the use of a family name originated in Venetia as a means of identifying one's clan. Surnames were later adopted first by the nobility as additional identifiers, often derived from an ornamental phrase or honorific. The use of surnames in addition to patronymics only became common amongst the general population in Acrea several centuries after the end of the empire.

Patrinymics formed the primary familiar identifier for most of Acrean history. Conventions were slightly different between nordic-speaking and latin-speaking Acrea, though followed a very similar construction.

In nordic-speaking regions, patronymics were usually constructed by adopting a root form of a name and replacing it with an appropriate suffix. In these regions, they also originally served as an identifier of social status. The suffixes -is or -ar were used by noble families and applied interchangeably, both meaning "of". These were applied irrespective of gender. The patronymics of common people were simpler and derived from archaic customs, taking the same root name and applying either -sson for men and -sdóttir for women. Over time, as hereditary nobility became supplemented heavily by appointed/raised nobility, the use of -sson and -sdóttir became the predominant form of patronymics by the end of the late imperial period, and -is and -ar gradually fell out of primary use by the 11th century CE.

In latin-speaking regions, patronymics were constructed in an almost identical manner. While both nobility and common people used the same suffixes, in contrast to nordic-speaking patronymics, they were adapted for gender. The suffix -is was adopted by the latin-speaking regions as -us for men and -ia for women. If a father's name already ended in -us, which was extremely common, then male patronymics were simply adapted as-is. This tradition was maintained when the venetian language developed as the common language in southern Acrea at the very end of the empire's history, with -eau being the suffix for men and -elle or -elet the suffix for women. In some cases, venetians also adopted the -sson and -sdóttir suffixes.

Surnames were originally first used as identification for one's clan, and was much more common in latin-speaking regions. Latin cognomen were gendered, and used the same suffixes as patronymics. Surnames in nordic-speaking regions began to be adopted in the middle imperial period, and were usually derived from honorifics or ornamental descriptors. They originally also used the same suffixes as noble patronymics, but by the late imperial period the suffixes had been dropped in all regions in favour of the prepositional "af" or "de".