Telseric Empire
Telseric Empire Imperium Telseris | |
|---|---|
| 332 BC–463 AD | |
 Flag | |
| Capital | Telsus |
| Common languages | Latin |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Historical era | Antiquity, Medieval |
• Established | 332 BC |
• Disestablished | 463 AD |
The Telseric Empire was the largest state in Telseric history and one of its most long-lived empires, existing for nearly eight hundred years from 332 BC to 463 AD. Centred on the city of Telsus, the Empire held sway over up to 60% of the continent at its height and entirely surrounded the Telseric Sea for most of its history.
The Empire entered a long period of decline from the end of the third century. A series of civil wars fought in the early 400s brought armed conflict inside Telsus' walls for the first time since the first century BC, and armies stationed in remote provinces were recalled by competing commanders. Many distant towns were abandoned in this period or fell to predation by the Empire's neighbours. The final collapse of the Empire, in 463, was followed (and, in some cases, marginally predated) by the emergence of multiple successor states, several of which laid claim to its vast inheritance. These states continued to fight for hegemony over the Telseric Sea for centuries.
Name
The Telseric Empire was named for its capital, Telsus, a city which developed around the shrine of the chthonic goddess Telas (or Telaras; presumably from Latin tellus). Notable for its particularly fertile land, Telsus grew rapidly in the eighth century BC. The development of the city-state into an empire did not diminish the idea of the state as "of Telsus" (Latin: Telseris) and, eventually, the name was passed on to the continent as a whole.
Government
Evolving from a republican city-state into a continental monarchy, the Empire retained the Senate which had governed urban Telsus. The position of Imperator, which originally had belonged to those tasked with commanding armies on campaign, transformed into one with authority over the Senate. Notionally, the emperor was to be appointed by the Senate from among their own number (as historian Ropert Alstram writes, "the Senate, fearing the mob over whom it ruled, never allowed the emperor to come from outside its own ranks."); however, some emperors who accumulated great personal power or prestige were able to appoint their own successors — invariably eldest sons — without opposition. On occasion, an emperor who overestimated his authority would attempt to nominate an heir and thus provoke either the Senate to discipline him or the people to revolt. Several civil wars were instigated in this way.