Prexinos II
| Prexinos II | |
|---|---|
| Basileus | |
| Reign | 680 - 721 |
| Coronation | 680 (unofficial) 685 (official) |
| Predecessor | Prexinos I |
| Successor | Eleutherios |
| Born | 11 December 656 Quenmin |
| Died | 11 September 673 CE Parilla, Symmeria |
| Dynasty | Zelusian Dynasty |
| Religion | Zobethos |
Prexinos II was a King (Basileus) of the Symmerian Empire, ruling from 680 - 721 CE.
Prexinos was named after his father, Prexinos I, who had inherited the throne from his father, Deinokrates III. Prexinos II was born in 656 at the start of the Sabrian Wars against the Sabrian Empire. The First Sabrian War had ended with the Symmerians driving the Sabrians out of Quenmin, and during the interbellum period his father Prexinos the First began supplying tribes in Knichus to undermine the remaining Sabrian holdings on the continent. In 680 the Symmerians invaded Knichus to force the Sabrians from Siduri entirely, only for Prexinos I to be killed in a duel with the Sabrian Legate Antia Vindex at the Battle of Tenahli. Most historians agree that Prexinos II then slew Vindex while her back was turned before rallying the Symmerians to battle and successfully defeating the confused Sabrians.
Over the course of the rest of the decade Prexinos gradually forced the Sabrians from Knichus, besieging major ports and fortresses while simultaneously constructing a large fleet on the Quenminese coast to challenge Sabrian naval supremacy in the Bara Sea. By 687 the Sabrians had been driven from Knichus entirely and offered peace, but Prexinos desired complete dominance over eastern Siduri and continued the war. The Ancient Symmerian navy struggled to match the Sabrian navy on the open waters, despite the development of Symmerian Fire which allowed for some victories at sea. Eventually by weight of numbers the Symmerians managed to achieve local superiority in the Lirinyan Strait, which prompted Prexinos to invade Lirinya in 689. After seizing control of roughly a third of the island, the Symmerians suffered a series of defeats which culminated in the Battle of Asakumo, after which war weariness and a depleted resource based forced Prexinos to agree to peace. The resulting peace treaty saw the Symmerians abandon Lirinya in exchange for the Sabrians abandoning all claims to mainland Siduri. While the war had ended in a string of defeats for the Symmerians and became a source of personal frustration for Prexinos, the war effectively ended the threat of the Sabrian Empire, which would collapse and dissolve within a century.
The Sabrian peace effectively brought an end to the Hegemonic Wars, and with largely peaceful relations with the Rideva Empire the Symmerians faced no further significant challenges to their rule. Peace however eluded the Empire; shortly after the conclusion of the Sabrian Wars Prexinos was forced to return to western Siduri to deal with the rise of Islam in Mansuriyyah, and was forced to embark on a sustained campaign against the Islamic armies between 700-704. Prexinos successfully checked the advance of the Caliphates but continued resistance forced him to pass the Islamic Edict, allowing for the free travel of Muslims in Symmerian Mansuriyyah.
Interaction with the Monotheistic faith of Islam resulted in the previously pantheistic Zobethos faith adopt a more singular deity-focused doctrine that resulted in Prexinos commissioning the construction of statues and monuments to Mother Gaia across Syara, some of which are still standing to this day. The costs of military conflicts resulted in inflation that Prexinos attempted to combat with price controls, but these were widely criticized and ignored in most provinces until they were eventually revoked.
Prexinos's actions and behavior in the final decade of his rule became increasingly erratic, leading some historians to suggest he may have been suffering from some diagnosed illness. When he discovered his daughter Hippomache was having an affair with the daughter of a Shirvani merchant in 716 he had her whipped in public, but then the next year ordered the construction of an elaborate villa in Scitaria to house her and her lover. He organized three elaborate hunting parties between 717-718 but failed to slay a single animal during said hunts, and in 719 he killed his only son Protogenes in a drunken rage. This nearly resulted in a succession crisis until he adopted his nephew Eleutherios, declaring him his heir. Prexinos died in March 721; while official records describe what modern researchers believe was an aneurysm, rumors of assassination over his crazed demeanor have persisted since his death.
By the start of the 8th Century Prexinos ruled over an Empire more than 10 million square kilometers in size and a population estimated to be in excess of 200 million. Despite Symmeria reaching what many consider its apex under his rule, Prexinos himself is usually considered to have been a poor King, who's accomplishments were largely driven by the actions and deeds of those around him, while his own leadership and skillsets were lacking. He nevertheless oversaw the end of centuries of continental struggle, although he died before the Sundering Wars.