Rule of the Admirals

The Rule of the Admirals, known in Laimiaic as the Navarkokrateia, was the period from 1969 to 1995 when Tagmatium was under the rule of a cabal of senior military officers. They were fronted by a group of naval officers, from which the era gets its common name.

Background

Konstantios IV, elected 1963 by a general election by the Tagmatine people as Holy Emperor, proposes a tunnel constructed through the Central Sea in 1968. This causes ferry companies that run the routes across the sea to start to strike. This causes turmoil, as internal airlines don't have the capacity to take up the slack and the road and rail routes along the shore take far too long to meet the demand necessary. Against this was a backdrop of economic turmoil, as Tagmatium had not regained the economic prosperity that it had before the Long War. Konstantios tried to deal with this by raising taxes against the powerful landowning families who also formed much of the Senates, which regularly blocked any legislative reforms that the monarch tried to enact.

In order to encourage economic improvement, Konstantios opened up Tagmatium to foreign investment. This saw failing Tagmatine businesses bought up by those most Tagmatines perceived as barbarians, even if they did help somewhat with the Tagmatine economic woes.

Tagmatium struggled with its nascent democracy, with many wishing for a return to when a strong emperor could act without everything having to be voted through. Without a cultural history of democracy, there would often be street fights between rival political groups and many universities were regarded as hotbeds of communism and left-wing thought.

At times, demonstrations were bad enough that army units had to be brought in to break them up. These were often heavy-handed and, when taken with morale issues caused by the end of the Long War, the army were regarded by the ordinary people as their enemy. This exacerbated the army's morale issues, which began to spiral. In 1968 and 1969, some units refused their orders to break strikes or put down demonstrations. The Palace Regiments, the Tagmata, were used instead in this role, which they saw as beneath them.

Coup

Finally, Konstantios ordered the navy to take over the ferry operations. They refused and it was clear that Konstantios was unable to continue to rule. He briefly attempted to resist but when told that neither the Palace Regiments nor his own bodyguard corps would prevent any attempt to remove him from the throne, he fled into exile in Euandria. Lacking the taint that the army had developed from the Long War and the activities earlier in Konstantios' reign, the navy appointed one of its senior officers as Holy Emperor and effectively removed the democratic framework that had been built over since the coup of Leon III that ended the Long War.

Rule of the Admirals

The Rule of the Admirals itself was a significantly more secular regime than most Tagmatines were used to. The previous emperors had been backed by the Church, who were initially cool towards the new rulers. They had not sought the blessing of the Aroman Church to topple Konstantios and individual clerics were vocal in their dismay about the crackdown by the Navamilitai, the Tagmatine marines, against strikes and protesting students. However, the Church was less concerned when the new regime turned its wrath against left-wing groups, who they saw as attempting to undermine their own position in Tagmatine society.

Reforms

In a significant break with the ancient traditions of Tagmatium, the military junta disbanded the bodyguard units of the Holy Emperor, the Spatharokandidatoi and the Manglabitai, as well as the Mystikon, the personal secretariat of the monarch. There were several reasons for this. In part, it was to reduce the ostentation that had surrounded the office of the Holy Emperor and invest the savings made into public works and charitiable organisations. This was to win over the populace after the turmoil that had led to the coup but to also try to counteract the economic downturn that Tagmatium was suffering under. It also served to eliminate a potential source of opposition to the new regime. Many emperors in the past had been toppled by their own guards and the new regime wished to avoid this. The bodyguard units were replaced by a single unit, named the Protokaraboi (Laimiaic: First Sailors). This was formed from the elite of the Navamilitai and fulfilled the same role as the now defunct Spatharokandidatoi and the Manglabitai, although they did not carry on any of the old traditions, appearing as much more plain when compared to the red, white and gold uniforms of their predecessors. The role of the Mystikon was taken over by administrative units of the armed forces.

In order to monitor the activities of any potential political or internal opposition, the military junta authorised the creation of the Political Military Police (Laimiaic: Politiki Stratiotiki Astynomia, PSA). They were a secret police force, acting with the sole oversight of the admirals themselves. They quickly garnered a reputation for both efficiency and brutality. Some of the worst acts of the military regime were carried out by the PSA.

Downfall

Led by Theodosios Makrembolitissos.

Admiral-Emperors

Portrait	Name	Reign	Notes
	Arhomanos IX	1969 – 1976
	Demetrios VI	1976 – 1981
	Andronikos II	1981 – 1982
	Berenike III	1982 – 1991
	Methodianos XX	1991 – 1995