Dassaria
Dassaria Δασσαρία | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 700s–210 BCE | |||||||||
 Prassos Trident | |||||||||
 Territory of ancient Dassaria before 272 BCE | |||||||||
| Capital | Prassos | ||||||||
| Common languages | Ancient Piraese | ||||||||
| Religion | Piraese polytheism | ||||||||
| Government | Oligarchical stratocratic semi-constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• c. 930–900 BCE | Agir I | ||||||||
• 217–210 BCE | Nabis | ||||||||
| Legislature | |||||||||
| Historical era | Classical antiquity | ||||||||
| 700s BCE | |||||||||
| 448-415 BC | |||||||||
| 272-259 BCE | |||||||||
• Consolidation | 250 BCE | ||||||||
| 217 BCE | |||||||||
| 210 BCE | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Dassaria (Piraean: Δασσαρία; Tethian: Daksaria), also called Prassos, was a prominent kingdom in ancient Piraea, founded in in modern-day Daksar, Austeria. In antiquity, the kingdom was known as Dassaria, while Prassos is used today to refer to its city-state period. It was the last major Classical Piraese power before the region's conquest by the Solarians in 210 BCE.
Dassaria emerged from settlements founded by colonists from the city-state of Aptera in Austeria around 731 BCE. The colony formed a crucial part of Aptera's struggle with its historical rival Lasithi, by providing soldiers and arms to its overlord. In 430 BCE during the Sitia War (448 - 415 BCE), Dassaria rebelled against Aptera and sided with Lasithi and the alliance it led. Following the conclusion of the war, Dassaria became independent, albeit under the hegemony of Lasithi. Dassaria participated in several rebellions against Lasithi, for which it was sacked numerous times. Following the eruption of the Juktas and the War of the League of Maleme (272 - 259 BCE), Dassaria defeated Lasithi and emerged as the predominant Piraese state.
In 250 BCE, Dassaria incorporated the members of the league, forming the first unified political entity in Piraese history. The following decades saw a period of prosperity, featuring an iconic period in Piraean literature and arts as well as advancements in philosophy, engineering, and science. The arrival and spread of Irfan in Dassaria led to significant religious turmoil and dissatisfaction with centralized Dassarian rule led to the kingdom's decline and ultimately a civil war in 217 BCE. In 210 BCE, the various warring factions of the former kingdom were annexed by the Solarian Republic and incorporated into the Solarian province of Austeria. Prassos itself remained a notable city during the Solarian Era, but was sacked by migrating Marolevic tribes in the 7th century. The city entered a period of extended decline, but underwent a revival in the 18th century. Today it is the country's fourth largest city and the capitol of the region of Daksar.
Dassaria' social structure and constitution were initially molded after Aptera, especially its extremely militarized and stratified society, but eventually developed into their own distinct civilization, due to the distance from their mother city and the influence by the indigenous peoples of Austeria. The Dassarian military was renowned throughout the Piraean world for the discipline of its soliders and use of the phalanx formation armed with the sarissa pike. The kingdom's society remained highly stratified and full citizenship was restricted, although helots were a small proportion of the population. Dassarian women had considerably more freedoms than elsewhere in the region. Unlike other Piraean monarchies, the authority of the Dassarian kings were limited outside of war and religious affairs, with the daily governance of the kingdom were left to the ephors and ekklesia, two bodies elected by full citizens only.