Octarchy

Coin struck in Arome showing four Venerabilii offering sacrifice to celebrate a victory against the Volsci. (Cottae not depicted.)

The Octarchy was the system instituted in 281 to govern the Aroman Empire by dividing it into four quarters, each governed by a senior emperor and a junior emperor, known as a Venerabilius and a Cotta respectively. This was an attempt to end the crises that had been rocking the Empire for the last hundred years. The system of four senior and four junior emperors broke down in 297 and was marked by the Burning of Arome, which was one of the most traumatic events for the Aroman Empire. This event left the Empire stunned and reeling and opened the door for a further civil war, which saw the rebels that had burnt the city pursued and defeated by the combined forces of the Octarchs. Whilst this could have brought the Empire together again, a listlessness set in, which saw much of the stability that had been gained under the system whittle away. This only truly ended with the acclamation of Methodianos as both Venerabilius and Cotta by his father's army in 303. However, it took Methodianos another five years to unify the remnants of the empire behind him and crown himself the sole ruler of the Aroman Empire. Auxentius had passed away by 305, supposedly by suicide, due to despair at the system he had engineered for the good of the Empire totally collapsing.

Octarchy, or New State (272-297)

See also: Aroman Empire

Beginning

Coin of emperor Heraclian, with his son Valentius.

In 272, the emperor Heraclian and his son and heir Valentius were killed in battle against a large-scale Volsci invasion of the province of Crances Inferior in the north-east of the Aroman Empire. In the aftermath, the low-born infantry general, Auxentius, was proclaimed emperor by the forces on the battlefield. He quickly marshalled the forces of the north-east and marched against the emperor's surviving son Heraclian, facing him at the Battle of Scutum (modern Skouton). Heraclian had become increasingly unpopular with the rest of Arome, reportedly treating the Senate with contempt and even seducing the wives and daughters of his own officers. The turning point of the battle came at the start when, as he addressed his troops, Heraclian was struck by a javelin hurled by one of them. The rest of the army came over to Auxentius without a fight.

Buoyed by this early success, Auxentius quickly marched south, crossed the Mare Centrum and entered into the ancient capital. He was accorded a triumphal entry by the people and the Senate, but nonetheless the situation was precarious. He was merely one in a long line of emperors who had been proclaimed on the battlefield in the last century, and defeating his immediate rival was no sure way of ensuring either the stability of the Aroman Empire, or even that he would last that long on the throne.

Whilst Auxentius was now the sole emperor of Arome with no immediate challengers to that title, that did him little good. The empire was diminished. All the provinces south of the Raga and Amnalos seas had been lost, including Aexpurtia, long held to be the breadbasket of the empire. Of the Occidental subcontinent itself, the peninsula province of Iustinensis had been taken by an Azanian tribe, the Draconritarii, who had slowly been making it a fastness of theirs. With the support of the Acirii, a local Aroman commander called Vetrianus had seized Aexpurtia in 256. He had further taken advantage of the weakness of Arome and taken the island of Vanarambaium in its entirety. His empire had become a powerful local rival to Arome. He even went so far as to furnish himself with an imperial title and regalia, appoint a successor and set up a senate of his own, his empire being called the Ganrid Empire by later authors.

The loss of the southern provinces, and especially Aexpurtia, impacted both food supplies and revenues, leading to Auxentius struggling to respond to uprisings across the Occident as barbarian tribes, piratical raiders and even truculent governors tried to take advantage of the turmoil that had shaken Arome for several generations continued. However, by 274, Auxentius had succeeded in bringing the Occidental core of the Arome Empire back to a semblance of stability after almost three generations of chaos, which had begun in 203 with the Year of the Nine Emperors. Part of Auxentius' success had been to delegate.

One of his first steps was to quickly appoint his fellow general, Numerian, as Venerabilius, or co-emperor, and send him north to of the Mare Centrum, to make sure that it didn't break out into turmoil once again. This system of two ruling emperors, mutually supporting each other, became a model for a more ambitious scheme. At the time, Auxentius was able to concentrate on the issues south of the central sea, whilst Numerian focused north of it.

Added to this atmosphere of tension and strife was the increasing friction between the polytheistic religions that were long-established in Arome and the rising monotheistic religions, inspired by the ancient peoples on the desert fringes of southern Occident. These take many forms, from mystery cults drawing on gods from older or foreign civilisations, to energetic faiths preaching about a messiah having risen then put to death by the Aroman authorities.

Auxentius was able to oversee a return to peace for almost a decade, it was still a fragile one. The breakaway provinces to the south and barbarian tribes were still waiting to see if Arome once again became weak. These included the old enemies of the Aromans, the Volsci. In a mood of optimism, Auxentius referred to this new system as the “New State” or “New Empire” (Novus Imperium) on several monuments that he erected at this time and even several speeches read out on his behalf to the Senate in Arome. As well as this, Auxentius enacted laws to try to salvage the situation within the empire, attempting to stabilise inflation by putting down edicts on maximum prices that could be charged for items such as bread, and the persecution of those who would not honour the gods by the traditional sacrifice. This was especially aimed at the followers of the executed prophet, who had spread across the entirety of the east of the empire.

New State

Coin of Auxentius.

With his earlier model of splitting the empire into two, Auxentius supposed that breaking the system down even further would give even more flexibility. He made the move of subdividing the empire and raising several successful generals and provincial administrators to the imperial rank, in order to improve the ability of the army and the state to react to any issues. Despite being the senior emperor, Auxentius sought, and gained, the permission of Numerian to act further. The four main divisions were along a north-south, east-west line. The north-south line ran roughly from the Haru city of Perya to the Suverinian city of Dubasari and the east-west line from Tagmatine city of Kommodopolis to the Adapton city of Tellakois. These quadrants would be called “districti”.

Auxentius appointed one senior emperor and junior one emperor into each districti of the New Empire, which broke with the idea that there was one single emperor in charge of Arome. The senior emperors were given the styles of the old sole emperor and were called “Venerabilius”, whilst the junior emperors were given the styles of the emperor-designate and were called “Cottas”. Despite the differences in style, each of the now eight emperors were held to be of equal stature, with Auxentius' hope being that this would do away with the threat of a victorious general being proclaimed emperor in the field by his troops.

In order to further discourage armed conflict between the joint emperors, Auxentius also put in place a term limit on the Venerabilii, in order to try to reduce the chances that the Cottae would attempt to overthrown their senior partners. The term limit was to be of fifteen years, after which the Cottae would succeed the Venerabilii, who would retire from active military and political life. The Venerabilii would also meet every three years at Arome, in order to discuss and coordinate their quarters. Again, this was an attempt to prevent any of the emperors from attempting something other than uniform action and strengthening the tottering Aroman state.

Auxentius appointed himself as the Venerabilius of the south-eastern districtus, Aexpuriensis, with his capital at Cottavenerabilia, near modern Klimatos and the name indicated his aim – bringing Vestrianus to heel. His Cotta was Ambrosianus, a general who had been leading the legions against Vetrianus' empire for some time. Their focus would be on the breakaway provinces and reclaiming them for Arome, as well as incursions by the Acirii. The Venerabilius of the north-eastern districtus was Numerian, headquartered at Agrigentum, which lies to the south of Trapezon. There, he would lead the defence of the Thelarican Shore, the frontier that was regularly raided by Thelaric pirates from the islands that bordered the Mare Tempestatum, as well as the occasional attack by the Volsci. His Cotta, Petronius, would focus on keeping the ancient Ghari from penetrating into Arome. This districtus was known as Litus Thelaricanum, after its main defensive fortifications.

The two western quarters were regarded as less threatened of the parts of Arome, although that was not by much. The north-western districti was to be led by the Venerabilius Calocaerus and the Cotta Delamatius, and they were to keep in check the Cussian Empire, which had never recovered from its catastrophic defeat at the hands of Theodorus in 103. They were based at Causicrus and the districtus was called Limes Adlanticum. The final, south-western districtus was to defend the remaining provinces that bordered the Amnalos Sea, and from there the regular incursions from the tribes of Azania. This districtus was to be led by the Venerabilius Phaltonius and the Cotta Hermogenianus, and their capital was Tarentum, and was called Tarentumensis.

At first, it seemed that the New State, with its rules of succession, hierarchy and areas of focus, would truly be a new age for the Aroman Empire. It ran smoothly through its first crisis – the deaths of Calocaerus and Numerian, both in 286, at of disease and Acvisi pirates respectively. The succession system worked smoothly, and their Cottae became Venerabilii and in turn appointed their own subordinates without any sign of protest from the legions under their command, as often happened in the past. The new Cottae, Decimius and Arborius, took up their positions and Arborius launched a punitive campaign to punish the barbarians for their actions. These helped to stabilise the situation further, and no new attacks against Arome came from those quarters for several years.

Tackling the Gangrid Empire

In 287, the second triannular meeting between the Venerabilii decided that they would attempt to bring the Gangrid Empire back under Aroman rule. The old usurper, Vetrianus, had died and Mausaeus, his successor, had also passed away. A new, more vigorous ruler, Domitillan, had taken over. However, he was unable to secure the backing of Acirii in the same manner, and the Aromans sensed a potential weakness. The campaign that started in 289 was one of the largest launched since the invasion of Vanarambaium in 60. Auxentius would lead the main thrust into the heartland of the Gangrid Empire in Aexpurtia, whilst Petronius would attack Vanarambaium.

The campaigns were bloody but ended up bringing both Vanarambaium and Aexpurtia back into the Aroman fold. However, the campaign dragged on until 294, with numerous legions eventually being drawn from other parts of the empire in order to complete the pacification. Domitillan was able to escape and fled to the homeland of the Acirii, where he eventually committed suicide. Several Aroman generals carved a name for themselves as the Venerabilii had to pay attention to other parts of their districti. Due to the size of Vanarambaium, Auxentius felt he was forced to make it into another districtus, called Catanensis. He also appointed another pair of senior and junior emperors. This was partially to help with the administration of the expanded empire but also to try to reward the generals who had helped conquer the island, in case they started to think about breaking the stability of the New State.

The Venerabilius appointed was Aemillianus, and the Cotta, Methodius. They were able to bring stamp out the final pockets of organised resistance to Aroman rule, although the packs of brigands that had plagued Arome since the crisis earlier in the century were as common on Vanarambaium as everywhere else. For the first time in over thirty years, the Pax Aromana had been returned to the heartlands of the empire.

One of the reasons for the campaign taking longer than initially hoped for by Auxentius was that the Magister utriusque Classae (Commander of the Navies) Lysandrus Tagares revolted against the plans put forth by the Octarchy. Lysandrus had led the defence of the remaining southern provinces of the empire for some time and felt he deserved the position of Venerabilius, if not a leading role in the conquest of the breakaway empire. Instead, he was snubbed by Auxentius, who took the usual Aroman line of virtually ignoring the navy and had never considered Lysandrus in the first place. This came to a head in 288CE, when Lysandrus revolted and took much of the naval forces, as well as many land garrisons, in the Mare Ragas with him, leaving Europa and eventually ending up in Aurelia. This is suggested to have caused the reconquest of the Ganrid Empire to have lasted several years longer than had been planned.

System Frays

The next major test of the Octarchy, although now a Decarchy, came in 296. The fifteen-year limit was up and the Venerabilii had to step down and retire. Something that Auxentius had overlooked – or assumed that it would all be worked out – was what to do with Venerabilii who had taken over from others. It was determined, by Auxentius, that they would have to retire as well and that the limits were absolute and not related to when any of the emperors ascended to the throne. It appears to run smoothly, at first. The Venerabilii stepped down and the Cottae took over their positions, and they appointed their own Cottae in turn. It seemed that the system put in place by Auxentius had been able to overcome the weaknesses inherent in the imperial system and put the chaos of since the Year of the Nine Emperors behind it.

It did not last. Whilst Auxentius and Phaltonius seemed to be content in retirement, and Aemillianus had used the invasion of Vanarambaium to amass vast wealth and estates where he was now playing a role as a gentleman farmer, the other two were less willing to slip into retirement. Petronius and Delmatius were not so content to relinquish power, despite having agreed to it when they became Venerabilii. Although both men did retire to their estates in the same manner as the other three, they immediately began to correspond with their former generals and even the Shahanshah of Cussia, quickly spinning a conspiracy to take back their former authority.

They struck in the early spring of 297. Roughly half of the legions garrisoning the Litus Thelaricanum and Limes Adlanticum districti came over to the two usurpers, and an invasion by the Cussians meant that loyalist forces in the area were scrambling to defend Aroman territory. The renegade forces met at the Iaehos River and force marched south, attempting to make it to Arome before any resistance could be assembled against them. They hoped that once they held the capital, the rest of the empire would see sense and come over to them. The Cussian invaders were able to quickly overrun the defenders and occupied much of Limes Adlanticum. This meant that the forces under Venerabilii Decimius and Arborius were struggling with the defence of the Aroman Empire and unable to give chase.

Although the way to the old capital was relatively clear, not everything went the way of Petronius and Delmatius. The way down the Iaehos was the easiest route, but they were having to contend with scratch blocking forces, as well as harassing cavalry attacks. By the time they had arrived at the gates of Arome in early summer, Ambrosianus had assembled enough forces from Aexpuriensis to bring them to battle.

Burning of Arome

Burning of Arome by Xuvert Rovértos. A painting of the fire spreading through Arome.

In the Battle of Veiian Fields, the two sides met. Although both forces contained significant numbers of cavalry, they had been committed in piecemeal skirmishes in the days leading up to the battle, so the battle itself was mainly a slog between the veteran infantry forces of both sides. Ambrosianus himself had been nervous about the coming battle, and so had delayed engaging until there was a chance that the coming sunset could cover his retreat. In the end, both sides suffered horrendous casualties and Ambrosianus was forced to break off and use the darkness to cover his retreat, almost as he had planned. The usurpers feared to stay on the battlefield, in case any pursuing forces caught up with them. They quickly marched on Arome.

Arome had little to defend itself with. The garrison forces, such as they were, had been stripped by Ambrosianus in order to bolster his own forces that had been strung out by their march from the south-east. The walls and defences of the ancient city were in a state of disrepair. At first, a body of armed citizens attempted to stop the forces of Petronius and Delmatius from entering the city, but they were quickly ridden down by the returning heavy cavalry of the usurpers. And when the forces did enter the city, there was no triumphal moment. Ambrosianus had been quick to spread the news that the two usurpers had invited the ancient Cussian enemy to attack Aroman territory. The citizens of Arome began to riot as soon as the vanguard entered into the city limits.

Venerabilius himself boasted that he had found Arome a city of brick and left it one of marble. In actuality, it always remained one of wood. As the rioting against the entry of the forces of the two usurpers into the city reached a fever pitch, a fire broke out, which swiftly turned into a conflagration that engulfed the ancient capital.

It had been a dry spring and summer, and the fire burned for almost a week before it died down. The forces of the usurpers withdrew from the capital and occupied the cities of west of Arome. Much of the empire was in a state of shock as they heard the news of the capital burning down, and the rest of the Octarchy was gathering forces to seek revenge.

Octarchs

First Octarchy (281-296)

• Aexpuriensis – Venerabilius: Auxentius Cotta: Ambrosianus
• Litus Thelaricanum – Venerabilius: Numerian Cotta: Petronius (Until 286. Then Venerabilius: Petronius Cotta: Arcadius)
• Limes Adlanticum – Venerabilius: Calocaerus Cotta: Delamatius (Until 286. Then Venerabilius: Delmatius Cotta: Julian)
• Tarentumensis – Venerabilius: Phaltonius Cotta: Hermogenian
• Catanensis (from 294) – Venerabilius: Aemillianus Cotta: Methodius

Second Octarchy (296)

• Aexpuriensis – Venerabilius: Ambrosianus Cotta: Silvius
• Litus Thelaricanum – Venerabilius: Arcadius Cotta: Majorian
• Limes Adlanticum – Venerabilius: Julian Cotta: Justinus
• Tarentumensis – Venerabilius: Hermogenianus Cotta: Martinus
• Catanensis – Venerabilius: Methodius Cotta: Crispus

Ganrid Empire (256-294)

• Vetrianus (256-263)
• Ecdicius (263-267)
• Mausaeus (267-286)
• Aromanus (286)
• Domitillan (286-294)