Veranian Empire
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| 330–1453 | |||||||||
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Motto: Imperator Imperatorum Imperans Imperantibus! 'Emperor of Emperors, Ruling Over Those Who Rule!' | |||||||||
| The Veranian Empire in 555 The Veranian Empire in 555 | |||||||||
| Capital | Veranium Corona | ||||||||
| Common languages | Elyrian, Thracian | ||||||||
| Religion | Vayonism | ||||||||
| Government | Autocratic Monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 330-350 | Zeno the Great | ||||||||
• 527-565 | Justinian the Conqueror | ||||||||
• 960-1025 | Basil the Slayer | ||||||||
• 1449-1453 | Constantine the Valiant | ||||||||
| Chancellor | |||||||||
| Legislature | Senate | ||||||||
| Imperial Council | |||||||||
| Imperial Curia | |||||||||
| Historical era | Late Antiquity to Late Middle Ages | ||||||||
| 330 | |||||||||
• Established | May the 16th 330 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | May the 29th 1453 | ||||||||
| 16 May 1809 | |||||||||
| Currency | Auriol | ||||||||
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Template:History of Thrace The Veranian Empire, also known as the Eastern Elyrian Empire, the Elyrian-Thracian Empire, or the Holy Elyrian Empire, was the continuation of the ''Elyrian Empire'' in Central and Eastern Aurora during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centered around the Thracian Peninsula and its capital, the city of Veranium. It survived the Calamity of Elyria and the collapse of her Empire in the 4th century, and continued to exist for another millennium, until its final downfall. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Aurora. The names of "Veranian Empire", "Eastern Elyrian Empire" and "Elyrian-Thracian Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the Empire. Its citizens continued to refer to their nation as the Elyrian Empire (Thracian: Imperiul Elyrian, Elyrian: Imperium Elyrium), or Elyria, and they called themselves Elyrians, until the modern perception of the Thracian people appeared at the end of the Middle Ages.
The ancient Elyrian Empire ended in 330 through the cataclysmic event known as the Calamity of Elyria, which destroyed the Old Elyria and its surroundings, killing the last ancient Elyrian Emperor and most of its family, and destroying the entire Elyrian government and most of the Elyrian aristocracy. In the East, in Thrace, one of the four Hegemons, Zeno Valarys, married the last surviving daughter of the Elyrian Emperor, and crowned himself Emperor of Elyria, renaming the city of Veranium as the Second Elyria, officially creating the Veranian Empire, while legalizing Vayonism. Thus, although the Elyrian state continued, the Elyrian state traditions were maintained, and although the Veranian Empire claimed to be a direct continuation of the ancient Elyrian Empire, a continuation that was universally accepted until the Middle Ages, modern historians distinguish Veranium from the ancient Elyria, insofar as it was centered on Veranium, as it led to the evolution of the ancient Elyrian culture and people into the Thracian people and culture, and as it was characterized by the Vayonist religion, the reinterpretation and reform of the ancient Elyrian religion.
The borders of the Empire changed significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Justinian the Conqueror, the Veranian Empire reached its greatest extent in 555, as it reconquered most of the historically Elyrian territories, which it held for nearly a century, although some territories started to be lost immediately after the death of Justinian. The Empire then had to face multiple barbarian invasions, and its very existence was threatened by the invasions of the Ardamid Caliphate, but the reform of the military and the administration defended most of the Imperial territories, and by the end of the 8th century, the Veranians slowly but surely turned the tide, defeating the Shayabid Caliphate and returning to its status as the dominant regional power, under the House of Venarys. The succession wars caused by the death of the last Veynaris Emperor weakened the Empire, and the rise of the Zawarid Caliphate led to a series of military defeats and internal problems that culminated with the Fall of Veranium. The remains of the Veranian Empire however survived in northern Thrace, with the capital in the city of Corona, and with the entire Aurora mobilizing against the Zawarids, the Reconquista began, ending with the complete expulsion of Ardamist control from Thrace, and directly contributing to the collapse of the Caliphate. The coronation of Theodosius the Divine as Emperor of the Thracians and the Elyrians, then officially marked the end of the Veranian Empire, and the creation of the Holy Thracian Monarchy. The end of an era, and the beginning of another.