Ausonia

Ausonian Commonwealth République ausonienne (French)
Flag Emblem
Motto: "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" (Latin) "One for All, All for One"
Anthem: Cantique des Ausoniens (English: "Psalm of the Ausonians")
Capital	Châlons
Largest city	Savonnes
Official languages	French
Recognised regional languages	17 languages Arlonnais Arpitan Artesian Corsic Cornovian Gallo Gatinais Melitan Mosellan Norman Occitan Picard Piedmontese Romansh Treverian Septiman Walloon
Overseas regional languages	Afar Arabic Galkayan Kabyle
Demonym(s)	Ausonian ausonien
Government	Federal diarchic parliamentary republic
• Captains-Regent	Françoise Aucoin Mireille Ribault
• Lord President	Elmire Aslane
• Speaker of the Senate	Victoire Martin
Legislature	Senate
• Upper house	House of Peers
• Lower house	House of Commons
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Per capita	$46,827
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Per capita	$38,272
Gini (2020)	28.7 low
HDI (2020)	.935 very high
Currency	Ausonian livre (AUL; ₤)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy (AD)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+33
Internet TLD	.au

Ausonia (French: Ausonie), officially the Ausonian Commonwealth, is a sovereign nation in southwestern Adria. It is bounded by ?? to its north, the Eurythic Ocean to its west, ?? to its south, and ?? to its east. It is a federal republic comprised of forty-one provinces, two free cities, and five overseas provinces, in addition to seven overseas territories scattered throughout the world, with Châlons as the seat of the federal authorities. The country's topography is largely varied between its southern mountain chains, including some of the tallest mountains in Adria, and the flat northern plains, where a slight majority of its population of ?? reside.

Modern humans first arrived to the territory that would become metropolitan Ausonia by around 40,000 years ago, with the territory largely inhabited by Ausones throughout the Iron Age. The Valessian Empire would conquer the territory in 70 BCE, bringing their religion, language, and cultural traditions in the ensuing period, influencing and combining with the cultures of the natives to form a distinct Ausone-Valessic culture. The collapse of the empire in the 5th century CE would lead to a migration by Germanic peoples, establishing tribal confederations that would be the basis of powerful kingdoms, duchies, and baronies, consolidating into a unified kingdom in the twelfth century CE.

Despite unification, the Kingdom was a highly decentralized feudal state in which the authority of the king and the royal House of Beauvais-Mézières was barely felt. Power was instead held by the various feudal magnates, who resented royal usurpation of their traditional rights and privileges, and formed alliances from which to secure their interests. The Protestant Reformation and the emergence of the Ausonic Reformed Church exacerbated divides, until the reign of the child-king Francis II and his increasingly-autocratic Regency Council, which culminated in the War of the Provinces. The victory of the feudal magnates led to the formation of the Commonwealth, with the monarchy largely stripped of its powers in a highly liberal system of its time. It was also in the early Commonwealth period that the country became Adria's dominant cultural, political, and military power, with a vast colonial empire across the world.

In 1815, a series of bread riots caused by famine broke out in multiple cities across Ausonia, whose brutal suppression at the hands of the confederal military triggered a revolution led primarily by the bourgeoisie allied with the lower classes. The resulting constitution would confirm the present federal system while guaranteeing universal suffrage under a republican government. With numerous minor additions, the constitution has survived numerous crises and a civil war and remains in force to this day. It would be under this era (1815-1922) that Ausonia would reach its economic and military zenith.

A largely Valessic country, Ausonia today is a cosmopolitan, religiously diverse, and multilingual society, with numerous regional identities stemming from linguistic differences and the Catholic-Protestant axis. Though a majority of Ausonians are speakers of various Ausonic languages, Ausonian identity is rooted in a common historical and geographical background and shared principle of state sovereignty.

Ausonia is also a developed, high-income economy, dominated primarily by the service and financial sectors. It is one of the top countries in the world in terms of economic competitiveness, thanks to its advanced infrastructure and strong work ethic. Owing to their individualistic mindset forged over the centuries, there is a strong emphasis on self-reliance and personal responsibility, with welfare services generally small compared to its neighbors. Despite this, Ausonians generally enjoy a high standard of living and quality of life.

History

Etymology

The origins of the name "Ausonia" predate the emergence of the Valessian Empire and come from the Greco-Latin name to denote the Aurunci, a Auseno-Celtic people that inhabited much of southern and south-central Ausonia, near present-day Savonnes. The original name is of uncertain origin, but it was generally after the initial Valessian conquest of their territory that the term spread to encompass much of present-day Ausonia, eventually adopted as a regional term by the Ausone-Valessian population. The subsequent evolution of the Romance languages, and the Oïl dialects in particular changed the term to modern Ausonie.

The official name for the state is République ausonienne. The term originated from the Latin res publica ("common/public thing") and is traditionally rendered as the "Commonwealth", which is an English calque. It predates the modern usage to denote a republic (though the country has also been a modern republic since 1815).

Geography

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of Ausonia

Bailiwicks

Main article: Bailiwicks of Ausonia

Overseas territories

Main article: Overseas territories of Ausonia

Government

Main articles: Politics of Ausonia and Government of Ausonia

See also: List of political parties in Ausonia

The Federal Palace in Châlons, the seat of the Senate

The fundamental basic principles of the Ausonian government is outlined in its constitution, which is the oldest in Adria and among the oldest in the world. Influenced by the traditions and norms of the old Commonwealth and the liberal-democratic principles of the Enlightenment, it outlines the basic and political rights of all citizens, outlines the three principal branches of the government, and formalizes the division of powers and responsibilities between the federal and provincial governments. Ausonia is the oldest federation in the world, whose basic structure and political culture (dubbed the Châlons system) were emulated around the world with its colonial empire.

The national legislature, the Senate, is a bicameral body that meets in Châlons and is comprised of two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed House of Peers. All Ausonian citizens over the age of 21 elect the 828 members of the Commons, which employs a system of parallel voting whereby almost three-quarters of all are elected via STV constituencies, and the remainder via province-wide party-list PR. The House of Peers's 856 members are largely appointed (a holdover of the pre-Revolution Senate), a majority of which are appointed by the bailiwick councils.

In addition to the Senate, Ausonia also possesses a unique institution known as the General Assembly, whose main role is to elect the Captains-Regent, consider new amendments to the Constitution before sending to the provinces for ratification, and to debate legislation deemed to be of such importance to warrant the citizenry's input. Its 1,512 members are comprised of the House of Peers, as well as representatives from various sectors of Ausonian society. This institution meets irregularly, meeting every 2-6 times per decade, and largely take the role of referenda in other parts of the world as (while legal) referenda at the national level tend to be extremely rare.

Executive power resides in the Captains-Regent, the dual heads of state elected for a single eight-year term by the General Assembly, and the State Council chaired by the Lord President. The Lord President's position is given to the person who could command the confidence of both chambers of the Senate, and is typically (though not always) the leader of the party/coalition with a majority of the Commons.

Law

Main articles: Law of Ausonia and Judiciary of Ausonia

See also: Capital and corporal punishment in Ausonia

Members of the Mounted Division of the Gendarmerie in Savonnes.

Generally, there are two zones of judicial law used in the country, as the settlement reached after the end of the War of the Provinces allowed each province to retain their own separate judicial systems and coutumes, which remained undisturbed with the creation of the modern Commonwealth. Over time, these systems coalesced into two unified systems used for the zone coutumier ('customary zone') and zone de droit écrit ('zone of written law'), with the Judicial Committee of the House of Peers serving as both the court of last resort and consitutional court, effectively serving as the highest court in the land for both jurisdictions, as well as the overseas territories.

Laws in the zone coutumier is generally based around common-law principles, which revolve around court judges which, subject to statute, develop laws by interpreting legislative action, precedent, and common sense to the facts presented to them to give an explanatory judgement of the relevant legal principles, which are then recorded and held binding for future cases (stare decisis). The principal courts in the zone is the General Court which are divided into separate tribunals for both civil (High Court of Justice) and criminal cases (Penal Tribunal), both of which can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.

The laws of the droit écrit are a hybrid of both common-law and civil-law systems, incorporating aspects of Valessian law. The principal courts within the system are the Bailiff Court which handle both civil and criminal cases, and the appellate Court of Cassation. This system is unique in having three possible verdicts in a criminal court: "guilty" "not guilty" and "guilty without sanction" (coupable sans sanction), which results in no punishment given to the convicted.

In both zones, all trials employ an adversarial system before a jury comprised of a mixture of qualified individuals and lay judges, though petty crimes could be tried before a single professional judge. Capital punishment is legal in both the federal and provincial level and routinely employed for the most heinous of crimes, though corporal punishment is also employed as well. Courts also have the ability to strip persons of their public confidence, rendering them ineligible to vote or stand for election.

Law Enforcement

Main article: Law enforcement in Ausonia

[WIP]

Demographics

Religion

Main article: Religion in Ausonia

Languages

Main article: Languages of Ausonia

Culture

Main article: Culture of Ausonia

See also: Pillarization in Ausonia

Media

Main article: Media in Ausonia

(Rewrite in Progress)

Units of Measurement

Main article: Ausonian units of measurement

Unlike most countries in Adria, Ausonia maintains its own units of measurement that are holdovers of the old system of measurements used in the Kingdom and updated numerous times to the present.

The metric system on the other hand, has been steadily gaining some acceptance among Ausonians, being used for distances (especially on expressways to other countries) and temperature. Attempts to start the full process of metrication have either stalled in Senatorial committees or were defeated in initiatives by the General Assembly, the last major attempt being in 2004.

Public Holidays

The Commonwealth officially recognizes 14 public holidays at the federal level, which federal law requires the closure of most businesses and non-essential services with paid compensation, as well as three "memorial days" which are recognized as such for their historical significance despite being working days.

Additional days are often recognized as public holidays at the provincial level, typically religious festivals with deep connections to the local area (ie feast days of patron saints). In addition, Sundays are typically recognized by many virtually all provinces and territories as a "day of contemplation", which give it a status similar to public holidays in addition to both Easter Sunday and Pentecost.

Name	Holiday/ Mem. Day	Date	Notes
New Year's Day Jour de l'an	Holiday	1 January
Epiphany Épiphanie	Holiday	6 January
Good Friday Vendredi saint	Holiday	Easter Sunday -2
Easter Sunday Pâques	Holiday	movable
Easter Monday Lundi de Pâques	Holiday	Easter Sunday +1
Memorial Day Jour du souvenir	Mem. Day	9 March	Commemorates the dead of Ausonia's wars, especially those fighting in the Communard War against the socialist forces of the People's Republic. Also honours Jean-Jacques Barrande de Saint-Pierre, whose birthday falls on this date. Considered the informal start of spring in the Commonwealth.
Ascension	Holiday	Easter Sunday +39
Pentecost Sunday Pentecôte	Holiday	Easter Sunday +49
Midsummer Eve Réveillon de l'été	Holiday	23 June
Midsummer Day Fête de l'été	Holiday	24 June
Eleventh Night 11ème nuit	Holiday	11 July	The day before the Twelfth
The Twelfth Le 12ème	Holiday	12 July	Celebrates the victory of the Commonwealth forces in the Battle of Vassy and the War of the Provinces. Is the national day of the Commonwealth.
Constitution Day Jour de la constitution	Mem. Day	19 October	Honours the adoption of the Constitution of 1815
Christmas Eve Réveillon de Noël	Holiday	24 December
Christmas Day Noël	Holiday	25 December
Boxing Day Après-Noël	Holiday	26 December