History of Oppidum
Foundation
The original settlement in what is now known as Oppidum sits on two soft hills near the source of Arden Brook, a tributary of the Claudiate River. The first settlers, hailing from the Apennine peninsula, settled between the Claudiate River and the Charter River around 230AD. It is here that Noviomagus Claudii was declared a city state by inaugural leader known as Titus Claudius in 256AD. It is thought that Titus Claudius may have been involved in leading the voyage to the shores Woodsteasian Isles. Noviomagus consisted of straight, wide concourses between iron age buildings which can be seen today. By 298, a basic wall was built around the perimeter and Titus ordered the creation of a defensive militia of females and males, but those first recruits at the barracks later killed Titus in a coup on behalf of the people.
By 302, a democratic republic had been installed by the military- an elected fifteen-member legislative-judiciary, known as the Volos was formed and immediately encouraged citizens to aid the military in scoping the area surrounding the city walls given the recent overcrowding and lack of space for agriculture. Some families volunteered to take part and were rewarded with valuables seized years before from the villa of Titus Claudius. With these few families, a second city was built on a neighbouring hill to the west along the Basing River, a tributary of the Claudiate River. The Basing River, at the time included plenty of eyots which were used as military barracks, and the shallow fords sat behind a walled port to serve both cities. This marked the beginning of what are now know as the Claudiates, a confederation of descendants from the Italian peninsula, based in the northwestern Woodsteasian Isles. By 1012, the cities of the Claudiates formed along the western oceanic coast of the Oppidum Peninsula. The five walled cities each elected their own Volos assembly, and sent a governor to the original Volos building in Urba, the new Claudiate capital.
Argholeic Migrations
Migrations from mainly what was then the North Sea Empire followed the movement of the enigmatic character known as Argholes, or Argholea in 1027. Those who followed Argholes settled originally to the south of the Claudiate estuary to form the religious state of Argholmarka. Whilst they were pacifists, the apprehension of the Claudiates grew over this new foreign presence just across the water. The first Argholeic Temple was built opposite the confluence of the Basing and Claudiate Rivers, and after months of no exchange, Claudiates began to trust their southern neighbours. The Volos members of the Claudiate city of Avstralli travelled with a small entourage soldiers to a point just off the banks of Argholmarka. Given the language barrier, the Volos members were careful not to move on land before it was clear to the Argholeic people that they were not invaders. Here, some lumber was given to the Argholeic peoples by the Claudiates. Although it is understood that no words were exchanged, this led to a mutual respect and alliance. The peaceful coexistence materialised, and thus a ford to cross the wetland and the river- then much narrower and shallow- was commissioned along with stone bridges in 1104.
New Argholeic waves migrated through the port at Avstralli every few months by 1132, and eventually these new migrants moved south of Argholmarka to form Aeadveardtonia on the southernmost tip of the island. These waves of migration allowed the Oppidum peninsula to gain a reputation as an international trade port for both Claudiate and Argholeic civilisations. An 1163 survey of land and assets suggests that 700,000 people lived on the peninsula under the Claudiate governments. However, the many Argholeic outposts across Woodstead began to build routes between each city and claim these tracts as their land too, and so Argholmarka became representative of a Confederation which occupied most of the isles. In 1193, after continued prosperity, the Argholeic Temple clergy and the Volos of the Claudiate city-states merged to form one empire, the Union of Wodested. Union of Wodested
Wodested encompassed the main Woodsteasian island now known as Provincial Island, with aims for taking over the rest of the isles. However, building for the next generation on the current island became a top priority for the Vilshus of Wodested, an elected assembly of 180 Vils (Wills) which each led a province. The seat of the Vilshus and the Kuhia (court) was placed at the centre of the peninsula on the Dikts Hill. This meant that vils often spent time in the area to do trade, and by 1200, the institutions on the Oppidum peninsula were handling the affairs of 930,000 people.
Monarchy and Empire
In 1671, the republic became the Kingdom of Wodested and united under the Beyrn family. The Vilshus renounced its authority and dissolved, fully convinced that monarchy and established religion would be the right path for the future. Oppidum was the Kingdom's capital. Iustitia Palace was built on the bank of the Claudiate River in the neighbouring Province of Basing - Charter for a country retreat; Dahrendorf Palace was later built in the medieval portion of the peninsula within the City of Oppidum. Thousands of people would congregate for years at special banquets. Selected Astyrian statesmen and monarchs often were invited to Oppidum for such functions.
The summer of 1703 is remembered as a very important point in the history of the city. The Peninsula Wildfires were rife that year, and by the end of a four day period, most of the medieval and iron age city was destroyed. Many lost their lives, and many others lost their homes, so Queen Ettajbet ordered inns and those with extra space to take in the poor. Meanwhile, new walls were erected along the extended city (now covering the Central District and the surviving parts of the original city) while designers and architects, mainly from northern Europe, were commissioned to design the new Oppidum- stately homes, gardens, row houses, and wide streets were built in a style borrowing from Georgian architecture,Petrine Baroque, and Isfahani architecture. The poor and the homeless were repelled from the city to new hamlets elsewhere in the Kingdom to make way for more affluent members of society. In this period, Oppidum also became the imperial capital of the Erlenic Empire between, national capital of the Empire's Nation of Wodested, and the provincial capital of Insular Wodested concurrently.