Etruria

Ancient Solaria and Tyrrenhus

Solaria, a settlement on the coast of the Bay of Lasa Vecuvia conventionally founded in 757 BC, was ruled for a period of 239 years by a monarchical system, initially with sovereigns of Vespasii and Torian origin, later by Vicalvii kings. The tradition handed down seven kings: Romulus, Verus Tanis, Horius Antonius, Marcus Marcellius, Eugenius Prascus, Ceserius Tullius and Hadrianus Lutorius. In 511 BC, the Solarians expelled the last Vicalvii king from their city and established an oligarchic republic, supposedly upon the order of the Aventine Triad, led by the sun gold Sol.

To the north of Solaria, Tyrrenhus, a settlement built around the ford of the Metaia River rapidly grew under a series of successive kings, it dramatically expanded its territories to cover the entire Vicalvian Plain. Vicalvus' dominant position allowed it to influence Solaria until the expulsion of Hadrianus Lutorius. With the establishment of the Solarian Republic, Vicalvus found a serious challenger to domination over southern Vespasia. The two cities would fight numerous wars known as the Wars of the Two Cities, the wars ended in 256 BC when Tyrrenhus was defeated at the Battle of Salutaria, resulting in the city's annexation by Solaria. Tyrennii culture would fuse with Solarian, creating the long-lasting Solarian culture that spread with the empire's growth. The Solarian Republic until the first century B.C. would expand to encompass all of modern day Etruria and western Auratia, crossing the Solarian sea to establish colonies on the coasts of Tsabara and northern modern-day Zorasan in 89 BC. This expansion would instigate centuries-long conflicts with the Heavenly Dominions.

In the wake of rebellion by Tarchon Parusna in the first century B.C. and a series of concurrent slave revolts, the Solarian Senate granted extraordinary powers to TBD, who with the assistance of allies within the senate, succeed in being granted the title of Emperor. Over the course of centuries, Solaria would expand and grow into a massive empire stretching from the western borders of Bahia to the southern reaches of Estmere and Swetania, and engulfing the whole Solarian basin, in which the Tyrennii-Solarian and Piraeo and many other cultures merged into a unique civilisation. The Solarian Peninsula was named Etruria was declared "Terra Saena" (Sacred Soil), granting special status compared to other imperial provinces. The long and triumphant reign of the first emperor, TBD, began a golden age of peace and prosperity. From its founding until the late 4th century CE, the Empire's leaders were relatively successful in maintaining a peaceful balance of power between the Emperor and Senate, while sporadic and isolated power struggles were recorded, this enabled to extend the period of prosperity.

In 395 CE, Mount Vecuvia erupted devastating much of the ancient city of Solaria, among the estimated 5,000 people killed was Emperor Diocletius. The Emperor's sudden death coupled with this as of yet declared successor sent the Empire spiralling into chaos, with numerous leading figures declaring themselves Emperor, sparking the Vecuvian Wars. The devastating localised and Empire-wide civil conflicts significantly weakened the central authority of the state, exacberating the strain of managing and protecting its vast territories. The near constant power-struggles between successive and short-reigning Emperors and the Senate hollowed out the central state, giving way to endemic corruption, poor provincial governance and economic malaise. This stagnation was coupled by ever growing threats, either from the Heavenly Dominions in northern Coius, to Marolevic, Weranic tribal incursions from the Euclean west and north. Between 417-419 CE, the Heavenly Dominion launched a full-scale invasion of the Empire's holdings in northern Coius, evicting the Solarian Empire from the continent for the first time since 66 BCE. Between 419 and 426 CE, the Empire rapidly lost control of its western holdings to numerous migranting Marolevic tribes, while Weranic tribes to the north descended southward toward the province of Gaullica. In 424, the Empire essentially collapsed within its heartland, with numerous Senators establishing individual powerbases, while two years later, Claudius of Gaullica redeclared the Empire, laying the foundations of the Verliquoian Empire. Within Vespasia, the Empire's heartland fractured into numerous fiefdoms and statelets, which would remain the case until the expansion of the Verliquoian Empire decades later.

The Solarian Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history. At its height under Velturius, it covered 3.4 million square kilometres. The Solarian legacy has deeply influenced the Euclean civilisation, shaping most of the modern world; among the many legacies of Solarian dominance are the widespread use of the Vespasic languages derived from the fusion of Tyrennii and Solarian, the numerical system, the modern Eastern alphabet and calendar, and the emergence of Sotirianity as a major world religion.