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Fine words from someone stuck on a barren rock at the edge of the world...
 
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Been reading through this and wanted to say I've had great fun. Looking forward as you continue the journey!

Cheers!
 
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Loved the world building!

The Holy Roman Empire is doing very well. That is worrying, but they're barbarians who rule by gavelkind. Their mighty realm won't last...
 
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Loved the world building!

The Holy Roman Empire is doing very well. That is worrying, but they're barbarians who rule by gavelkind. Their mighty realm won't last...
I spent way too long cooking on this idea, so I have aLOT of world building of it in my head, on top of research into making it at least semi-realistic.. (population numbers of the time, typical pop groth rates, etc)

Sadly, this is the Iron Century HRE forming, so it's Princely Elective. But hey, challenges are appreciated!
 
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Chapter 4: The Vicarian Proconsul
"And so it seems that these strange Insulans have caused quite the interest in that old empire of Rome." - Anonymous priest in Genoa following the election of Valerius Licinius to lead the city

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On the 26th of January, 1740 AUC, a letter from far off Italy would be delivered to Fabius Salvius. Whilst he was tempted to dismiss it, the fact it came from the home region made him too curious and he was forced to open it. A decision, that would soon he would come to regret, for the letter read,
“Salve to the Tyrant of Insula, I, Senator Valerius, would like to extend my wholehearted congratulations for your recent successful campaign over a few rocky islands in the middle of the sea. It must have truly been a campaign the likes of Scipio Africanus, Caesar, and Trajan would be so proud of, for I am sure the unwashed barbarian rabble caused great strain to the arms of the legionaries. I thought it prudent to also inform the great Conquering Tyrant of my own experience since my dishonorable exile. For I have been elected to lead the city of Genoa in Italia. Whilst it is clear the time since the great Imperium has not been kind to our countrymen, and they have forgotten who they once were; however, they are quick to remember. Already, cries of a new Roman Republic to counter that false German empire to the north fill the streets. Whilst no doubt it is our descendents who will see through our aims, I have no doubt that whilst yours languish on the ends of the world, mine will be bringing the glory of the Romanum Res Publica and the Senate back to Rome. I wish you well Tyrant, for the true Republic calls, with no master, Tyrant, Greek, or German.”
At first, the idea of Romans back in Italy would warm Fabius’ heart, but it was very quickly overshadowed by an unyielding rage at the petitulent insults levied upon him by that Papist traitor Valerianus. For weeks on end, Fabius Salvius’ one thought would be that dastardly, disgusting, treacherous leach in Italy leading gullible barbarian corrupted Italians to follow a false Rome under him. He could not even be bothered to write a letter in return, and at several points demanded to the Senatus Insula that a punitive expedition be launched to invade Genoa and place Venatius under arrest. Only with deft and careful speech would Fabius be talked down enough to look elsewhere for a time, like maybe that campaign he had long been planning to take Caledonia instead?

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Fabius would die suddenly just two months after the fateful letter, the anger in his heart leading to fall over clutching at it, dead. Fabius left the mortal plane, one of the only Insulan proconsuls to do so while in office. He also would be one of the longest reigning proconsuls in the history of Insula, as he had ignored both the tradition of resigning at ten years in office set by the fifth Proconsul Gaius Albatius Lepos. At the funeral of the venerable Proconsul, equal words of praise and scorn were heaped upon him. He came to power after his predecessor resigned in disgrace over the secession of the 5 traitorous Senators, and have brought the war to a swift end. He also ignited the passions of his fellow Insulans with the dream of returning to Britannia and reforming a new Rome, but was brutal and broke no resistance to his aims. To the Norse who remained under Insula especially, he was a true tyrant who nearly exterminated them all.

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Sourced from the thumbnail of Invicta’s video of Roman elections

For the first time in 21 years, an election would be called, and it would be the first emergency one called in much much longer. The candidates were headlined by the young pro-praetor son of Fabius, Marcus Venatius Salvius, and Marcus Decimus Severus who had been serving his propraetorship governing Regio Aquilo. A dark house candidate, an older man named Titus Alus Philo also stood, who was the grandson of the 49th Proconsul of the same name, who promised to abandon the expensive, dangerous campaigns the other two men promised.
The male citizens of Rome in Insula across the island would make their way to their polling places in the closest town or village, and the population of Campos Vapos near doubled from those believing voting nearer to the city meant their votes were tallied sooner. Thousands of small slabs with the name of the candidate on them were turned into great urns after the voter declared themselves, then counted by Quaestors, Praetors, and their magistrates. Marcus Venatius Salvius, the youngest of them all and the middle ground between the Severan promise of an immediate campaign against Caledonia, and the Philon promise of peace, would eek out a majority over the Severan. Despite his controversial father, just months after his death, Marcus Venatius Salvius would be sworn in as the Fifty-Seventh Proconsul of Insula Viridia.

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The first Senatorial meeting under the Fifty-Seventh Proconsul would occur on the Kalends of May, 1740 AUC (957 AD). Valentius would give the following oath as he stood from the seat of the Proconsul, “I, Marcus Valentius Salvius, take upon myself the duties of Proconsul, to guide the Lost Province until such a time that resignation or death take me, to defend the Virtue and Dignity of Rome, as my Father, and my Fifty Six predecessors did. As established by Septimus Severus, I shall take this duty in the name of God, the Senate, and the People.” in which he immediately followed with the proclamation, “Whilst it was the will of my Father, as it is of the People, to return the Light of Rome to the shores upon which we fled 547 years ago, the turmoil of war should not be chased hastenly. I declare that for the first Five Years of my term of office, a great peace shall be held by our land, and no war be made except in defense of our land. We must prosper, to show the unenlightened the full potential majesty of Rome, and not appear, as some whispered my Father had done, as bloodthirsty conquerors.”
The promise of Venatius was greeted by a tepid reception amongst the Senate, all of whom agreed that while waiting longer still was necessary, the idea of backing down from war was near anathema to them. Despite this reservation, a bill was soon passed, approving of Venatius’ decree, and ordering all preparations to be done for a campaign by five year’s time.

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With his promise to the Senatus for a temporary peace enshrined into law, Venatius would propose another bill that would assign three lower Equite to govern each of the three Thulian islands. While the Senate was reserved about the idea as many of them saw governing land as the duty of the Senate, Venatius mullified their concerns by saying, as expansion was coming, governing some small islands was beneath the Senatorial dignity. He also added that as conquering Caledonia alone would add some 150,000 new subjects to Rome, preparing their fellow Romans for an expansion of the Senate should only be natural. Agreeing to this, the islands of Thule, Accommodate, and Orcades were granted to be governed by three Equites of Insula.

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As the number of landless families in Campos Vapos began to increase again after the temporary relief granted by the conquest of the Thulian islands, Venatius would have to purchase bread and supplies to help supply the landless poor. He knew that the policy of encouraging births while only allowing the eldest to inherit the property was the cause to the ever rising landless population, but treating the symptom was the only option in his mind. Not until expansion continued, and land could be grabbed for those thousands of landless, and at the maximum level. As the aid was delivered, Venatius made it clear that Insula provided the relief to see them through to the day that the realm might grant them land of their own.

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To further prepare for the conquest, Venatius ordered the consolidation of the various small rhetorical and grammatical practices of Campos Vapos under one roof. With this consolidated school for those older students, Venatius intended not just Insulan Romans to attend. With the conquest of the Thulian islands and the safer passage north to the island, more curious barbarians had been making their way to Insula. The university would give all who wish to attend, Roman or not, a good Roman education, planting true Latin in their minds and re-introducing the likes of Cato, Cicero, Gracchus, Livy, and more into their mind. So, Venatius thought, the idea of being Roman would be planted in the minds of the wealthy of a community, which when Rome would finally come to them, would make the transition easier, and more peaceful.

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After the construction of the university, a group of glass craftsmen would approach Venatius with a request. He would help fund them setting up a workshop in Campos Vapos, and help bring production and jobs to the city. Seeing no reason not to and potential to help improve the local economy, Venatius agreed, giving them enough money to purchase land in the city and to get their first tools set up. While it would be some time before the venture would prove to be a success, Venatius would continue to fund similar adventures to bring high quality goods and jobs for the landless to Insula and for trade.

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In 1745 AUC, the declaration of peace would finally expire. Venatius would not, however, immediately make for war, instead choosing to wait one more year to solidify the Insulan treasury in case the war lasted longer than expected. To the Scottish king who had been preparing for the invasion by consolidating his hold over the Scottish Isles from the Norse, this delay convinced him Venatius was not actually serious about attacking. However, it gave him the thought that the Insulans were weak, and maybe, he could nip the aggressive Romans to his north in the bud. This planning would be reported to Venatius by his spymaster who had been deployed to Scotland to find a just casus belli. This forming planned invasion and the efforts surrounding it would play straight into the hands of the Proconsul in time.

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To quickly fulfill his desire to push more money into the Insulan treasury. An Equestrian magistrate who served as mayor of the city of Cygnasia to the south of Campos Vapos would approach the Proconsul with an offer. In exchange for a 25 hectare plot of prime estate outside Campos Vapos, he would pay out enough solidii and milarenses to bring the treasury up to the amount Venatius desired. While reluctant to handover land that had been in his family for generations, Venatius agreed, for the benefit for the nation was too great to ignore.

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With the necessary funds in one hand, and proof of the planned Scottish attack in the other, in October of the same year, Venatius would shock everyone when he approached the Senatus Insula with articles to declare war on Scotland. He declared that with Scotland preparing to make war upon Rome, it would only be right for Rome to preempt its aggressor. In speaking to the Senate, these were the words recorded by the Senatorial magistrate spoken by Venatius, “To our south, the barbaric Pictish Scots threaten us with invasion, the last remnant of Rome in the West. We must crush this threat to our way of life. Moravia and all of the northern coast must be brought to heel. Further, I submit that all who take upon themselves no arms against us, and make all reasonable gestures to adopt the true language of civilization, be welcomed as full Roman citizens. No separate laws shall be established in the land, but that of the laws of Insula and the Lex Severus. The dominant systems of guilds, vassal states, clans, and manorialism that the hated Emperor Diocletian started shall be purged, and all shall be set back to the way they should. Rome in the west shall rise once more, and Caledonia shall be our shining light for all to see the good of Rome.”. In short order following his speech, the Senatus Insula would adopt his proposal, and war was declared upon Scotland.

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The war’s first hostilities began the next March, as the Romans organized their army to prepare for sailing across to land at Moravia. A small Scottish army landed in Regio Auster to attempt to secure a beachhead for a coming larger army, but the army was met and defeated in short order by a larger force from the legion. The skirmish forced the vanguard to retreat towards Regio Oriens where the main army decided to attempt to land. The legion, reinforced by the levy, would make their way to Regio Oriens where the Scottish army landed. At the same place of the Battle of Castrum de Oriens during the civil war, the Scottish vanguard was reinforced by the main army and turned to face their pursuers. Completely outnumbered, the Scots hoped a great cavalry charge by their superior cavalry would smash through the Insulan line with a concentrated charge on the left or northern flank of the Insulans. Seeing the charge begin as the rest of the Scottish line stayed in place from his position on the right flank, the Proconsul saw an opportunity. The line before him was primarily light infantry, so he ordered a charge forward with his heavy infantry and cavalry. As the Insulan left flank stood solid and broke the cavalry charge on a shield wall, the Scottish right flank dissolved and ran for the ships, chased by Insulan cavalry. Venatius then wheeled his heavy infantry to turn the Scottish center to force them to put their backs to the river, effectively cutting off their route of retreat. The trapped, primarily light infantry army of the Scottish was surrounded, and slowly annihilated by the Insulan force, with only the Scottish right managing to escape back to the fleet.

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With the main Socttish army in flight, Venatius would reluctantly spend the next year marching around Insula, mopping up stragglers and raiding parties to fully secure the home front. Finally, by May of 964 AD/1747 AUC, the army of Insula would depart for Caledonia. Venatius’ force landed at Moray, and found itself engaged by a rebuilding Scottish army. However, the year spent securing Insula had made Scotland convinced that they had scared Insula into staying on the defensive. The army had no real leadership as they were still rallying who they could to their cause. This inexperienced, poorly led, and poorly equipped army that the Insulans outnumbered stood no chance, and was utterly routed from the field. The cavalry just down droves of the routing Scottish peasants and cut them down, leaving the battle of Moray little more than a massacre.

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The Scottish armies virtually annihilated, King Aulay of Scotland was forced to surrender to Venatius. While Venatius considered extending the war goal to demand all of Caledonia, he decided against it, and that the re-organization of the entire country would be too difficult to handle all at once. Moray was handed over to Insula, which Venatius officially renamed Moravia. All those whose property Venatius considered of “lantifundi” size and above the 125 hectare limit had the excess confiscated and distributed to landless Romans and more compliant Scottish peasants. The four main divisions of Moravia were divided up to be governed by one Senator, and 3 Equestrians who had distinguished themselves in the war, and Venatius would sail back to Insula to prepare for his next plan.

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When Venatius returned in September of 964 to Campos Vapos to an ecstatic welcome, Venatius would immediately called the Senate to a meeting. He announced the successful conquest of Moravia, and proposed to the Senate that they no longer simply refer to themselves as the Proconsular Province of Insula. With the land they were taking, such a title would soon be obsolete; it was only right and proper for Insula to take upon itself the designation of a new secular diocese, and that he and all future Proconsuls be referred to as Vicarian Proconsuls. The measure would be swiftly approved, and ceremonies began to be prepared for Venatius to be inaugurated as the Fifty Seventh Proconsul, First of the Vicars of Insula. With the approval of the bishop of Insula, alongside it the diocese of Insula in religion would also be extended to govern Caledonia.

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In November of that year, before the public assembly of Insula, backed by the Senate and the Bishop of Insula, Venatius would be declared the Vicar of the Insulan diocese. To the wider world however, they saw nothing short of Venatius declaring himself king of a new kingdom. In Constantinople, the province would simply become the Exarch of Insula, lead by Rex Venatius Salvius in the Imperial record. While the arrangement was strange, to the Emperor of Rome in Constantinople, the Insulan Romans were beginning to appear as a possibly a legitimate force to prop up to distract their enemies, namely the new pretender Germanic Romans, from the business of the Empire in the East.

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The World Situation on 16th of January, 965 AD/1748 AUC
 
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One cannot stay on islands forever - but before going back to "civilised" lands a larger island makes a good intermediate step :D
 
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That letter was the most insulting congratulatory letter ever.

Nice job about subjugating Moray. Is it not ironic that Rome will be restored by seizing control of lands that were never Roman?

Nice to know that the Byzantines recognize your greatness. Perhaps you can aid them in reclaiming their half of the Empire?
 
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That letter was the most insulting congratulatory letter ever.

Nice job about subjugating Moray. Is it not ironic that Rome will be restored by seizing control of lands that were never Roman?

Nice to know that the Byzantines recognize your greatness. Perhaps you can aid them in reclaiming their half of the Empire?

Took a page out of Cicero's book, been reading a fair amount of him. Since the Insulans are supposed to be extremely Roman as a reaction to their isolation, I imagined the rhetoric of Cicero would be a major, major part of their education.

Re-establishing Rome is no sure thing. I have a couple ideas. But as I like to keep towards realism, once Britannia is retaken, things are going to calm down for awhile as Britannia is re-romanized. The length is unsure, and same with the targets afterward.

Technically speaking Insula is supposed to be a province of Byzantium as Insula's rhetoric is "we are a wayward province of Rome", and Byzantium is Rome, but I have them independent due to being well outside diplomatic range. However more relationships will be established as I get back into diplo range with them. What extent? We shall see won't we? lol
 
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I am really interested on how britain will be re-romanized, i wonder how they will do it given their small population compared to britain. If things go bad the romans could also be assimilated into the barbarians like so many other ruling classes
 
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Chapter 5: The Great Works of Venatius
“The Emperors of old had their columns. I shall have a tower, one that can stand taller, and one that can be for more than sheer vanity.” - Vicarius Proconsul Venatius Salvius

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With the construction of the Campos Vapos university, Venatius set his sights on a new great project for the city. He pondered over the construction of a new aqueduct, or a great bath house, but Campos Vapos had both in great quantity. Instead, he decided on something completely different, a tower that would stretch into the heavens. He envisioned it being the tallest building in the known world, stretching to the heavens, higher than even the Great Pyramids. Eventually, the height of one stadium (185 meters) was determined to be the best path forward. The construction would take time, and consume much of the state’s income, but to Venatius, the endeavour would show once and for all the greatness of Rome. It also would serve as a hostel for visitors to Campos Vapos, a forum, and with room for artisans to rent, all with a garrison being able to be stationed within. It would be a small town all of its own.
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While as with all construction in Campos Vapos, the base material was to be concrete, Venatius decided that stone would be included in a facade and in pillars to accent the building. So, a talented mason was hired from the growing school of arts in Campos Vapos to design the decorating facade of Venatius’ tower. Vespasianus, the hired mason, required a significant sum not only for his pay but to prepare a staff to assist in the design, but Venatius was committed and willing to grant the sum.

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As the design of the Tower was finalized and distributed, and land purchased within Campos Vapos from insula landowners near the Forum, many of the Equestrians and Senators of Insula Viridia would discuss amongst themselves the scale of the project. It was most certainly grand, and Praetor Claudius Licinius, the leader of the Campos Vapos, was by far the most approving. In the eyes of Licinius, even if it failed, the money poured into the project would further bring the city from the poverty of the long isolation. Others still were impressed by the ambition, but doubted it could be done, especially with Venatius’ continued plans for further invasions of Caledonia. Venatius would ignore the doubters however, as he saw the Tower as critical for cementing the prestige of the city as the greatest of the North.
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To supplement the construction of the Tower, Venatius would further pour a great amount of money into a stone quarry and concrete production near the capital. Hundreds of landless urban plebs, struggling farmers and fishermen, and even those Highlanders from Moravia who had already taken up the culture of Rome were hired to work the new facilities. With the provincial coffers starting to become strained from the burden of the construction, Venatius decided to move forward his plans to attack the remaining Scottish territory.
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As spring set in in March of 1720 AUC (967 AD), just as a civil war between the norse of the Hebrides and the Albanian Scots nobility concluded. Claiming that during the civil war both sides had both attempted to cut through Moravia and raid Roman land, Venatius declared war on both. The violating nobles were to be brushed aside and the Constitution of Insula brought to the rest of Caledonia to bring peace and stability.
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With both sides exhausted from their just concluded civil war, the army of Albania were no match for the Roman legion. Outnumbered near two-to-one and most of their leadership killed in the civil war, it was not a fight. When the two sides met alongside the river leading into the capital, the Insulan army steamrolled the defense and marched straight into the city, capturing the remaining ruling family of Albany. With no army on the field, the former king was forced to surrender and sent into exile, fleeing to Ireland and the court of Ulster.
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The underpopulated Hebrides were even more overmatched. Barely able to even raise an army to resist, after the fall of Argyll to a quick siege, the Norse petty kingdom was forced to surrender their oh so recently won independence. A year after war was declared, all of Caledonia north of the old Antonine Wall lay in Insulan hands. Between the invasion of Moravia, the civil war, and the latest Roman invasion, the land was in ruins. To Venatius, by his calculus was for the best. Much of the wealth of the land, mostly the land itself, lay in the hands of the provincial government of Insula. Surely as civilization was brought to these lowly barbarians, they would see the glory of Rome for what it was and adopt it themselves?

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The land of Caledonia after the victory was then divided up for governance, with Senators and Equestrians alike being appointed by Venatius to new magisterial positions, each controlling a small section of the land as it was folded into the province of Insula. Venatius himself would take the former capital of Albany as a base for the now two legions of Insula. Rumors of unrest in the lands of the Anglo kingdom they now bordered were starting the flood into Venatius’ office. Between the threat of the Romans and their own king being excommunicated by the Papacy for doing nothing to nip the “heretical” Romans in the bud, Venatius knew it would not be long before his army could march south..

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Despite the achievement of setting the border at the Antonine wall, bad news would strike as a granite block snapped its ropes and killed a pair of workers for Venatius’ great Tower. Forced to concede that in his rush to have the construction completed, not strict enough safety measures were taken, Venatius had to pay out a significant sum of the funds won by the war in Caledonia to improve safety and grant the widows of those killed a stipend.
The next four years of Venatius’ proconsulship would be spent wrapped up in two duties; first of which being overseeing the construction of the Tower, which was now approaching half a stadium in height and already arguably the tallest structure in Europe. The second duty was ensuring peace in Caledonia, settling landless Romans and Caledonians there, and ensuring the proper institution of the Insulan constitution there. While he refused to extend senatorial elections to the region, believing it designed only for Insula, slaves were freed, those plots considered “latifundia” broken up and given to poor peasants and plebeian alike, and otherwise brought the rule of Insulan law to the land. He thought he was winning over the peasants, even if at the expense of the noble families, after all, why care about the loss of independence when Rome brought order, land, and freedom?

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After four years of peace in Insula, the deteriorating situation in the Anglo kingdom of England finally bore fruit. Virtually the entire northern half of the kingdom broke off in a great revolt, leaving an opening Venatius simply could not ignore. Claiming that he was only acting to bring peace to the areas in revolt and a natural jurisdiction of all land north of the old Hadrian Wall, Venatius took command of the Insulan legions and marched south into two of the seperatist petty kingdoms.
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Attacking first the petty kingdom of Galloway, the two legions met the forces of the kingdom outside a place called Croes Rhygal. However, much like with the final attack on Albany, the primarily light infantry army of Galloway simply broke on contact with the larger Roman force of heavy infantry and cavalry. While most of the army managed to escape, it was in complete rout. The army of Lothian to the west was similarly overwhelmed as it was surprised by the swift moving Roman force, having been expecting to link up with their Gallowayian allies. The even smaller force than the Galloywayians stood even less of a chance, and broke, with nearly half of the army being chased down by the cavalry of the Legions.
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With their armies shattered and the main tribal settlements barely able to hold out against the legions for longer than a month in siege, the rebels of Galloway and Lothian were forced to admit defeat. The newly minted noble families of both retreated to Lindisfarne just south of Hadrian’s Wall, which Venatius chose not to press into. Venatius pressed on with extending Insulan authority over the land as it had before, but continued to resist calls to extend Senatorial elections to the region. The only compromise he made was to grant former petty kingdoms an elected magistrate to oversee it from an appointed list.
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Caledonia after its post war re-organization, with administrative duxes set up in Moravia and the renamed Ebudies (Hebrides), Novantae (Galloway), and Lothian

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Returning to Campos Vapos from the war, as Venatius oversaw the day’s construction and laid out the triumphal inscriptions for his victories in Caledonia, the Bishop of Insula suddenly approached him. Based in a town to the east, the Bishop had not yet seen the tower and only heard about it. When he saw the height of the tower, he angrily demanded to Venatius why a public, not religious, structure was being built so tall. Was the Tower of Babel not proof enough of the folly of building into the heavens?
Venatius dismissed the Bishop out of hand, saying his concerns were irrelevant. God was glorious and above all, so why would such the work of mere mortals draw his ire? It was not to challenge him, it was to show the glory of his first realm, Rome. With that callous dismissal in hand, Venatius sent the fuming priest away, who claimed that the fury of God would strike Venatius down for his arrogance and ambition.
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With the words of the Bishop still ringing in his ears, desperate reports suddenly flooded in from Caledonia. The supposedly ‘pacified’ land had suddenly erupted in a great revolt with nearly the entire military age male population of Caledonia gathering in the named region of Quinteria, land that once belonged to the clan of Gowrie. Rather than seeing the Roman invasion as the bringing of peace Venatius thought it was, it was seen as an attempt to erase the identity of the people there. With his ignoring the calls to bring full constitution and its elections to Caledonia and the obvious attempts to simply erase Scottish culture through required education and conversion to the Insulan rites of worship, anger had been quickly brewing against the occupying Romans.
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Half the rebel army fell upon the legions based in Flumenia, formerly Fife, as the other half began moving towards Moravia and the center of Roman colonization, killing all those they could find that spoke Latin, not caring if they spoke the native language as well.

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In the hardest fighting in years, the surprised, outnumbered Romans were forced to fight an enemy with a significant cavalry advantage as much of the Scottish dispossessed nobility lead the attack. With the Roman left/west flank protected by the River Fife, the Scottish rebels concentrated on an eastern flanking attack with their superior cavalry. Pulling from the book of Julius Caesar, one of the legates in charge of the battle in Venatius’ absence, masked a small line of pikemen backed up by heavy infantry behind his own force of cavalry. After blunting the initial charge with their own stand and being heavily bloodied for it, the Roman cavalry broke off in apparent flight towards their flank, where the infantry trap was waiting. The surprise lead to the rapid routing of the Scottish cavalry, just as hoped. With the scottish flank now exposed, the Roman cavalry regrouped with the infantry and swung around the flank of the rebels. By the end of the day, half of the rebel army lay dead or had surrendered, but much of the cavalry escaped, making their way to the other rebel army. Their desperate warning brought the other rebel army bearing down on the Roman legions, and they would soon be forced to fight once more.

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This time, with the primary rebel army destroyed, the fight was far more even. The Roman commander decided that fancy tactics were unnecessary for this meeting of forces. The two lines were drawn up, and engaged in a straight up brawl. Once more, the overwhelming heavy infantry advantage of the Romans proved decisive as the rebel center cracked, then broke and fled from the legionnaires. Of the 8,000 men who rose up in rebellion, half had been killed, but had inflicted nearly 1,000 casualties on the Insulan romans used to battles with barely 100. The toll was shocking for both sides, and saw the near extermination of those native scottish males of the ages between 20 and 40, with their nobility completely destroyed or fled abroad.

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With the rebellion over and Caledonia seemingly firmly in Roman hands for the first time in history, Venatius decided he would follow in the example of his father to ensure such a rebellion would never occur again. Of those survivors captured by the legions, they were given a mass trial that upon the envitable guilty verdict, were given 3 simple options; honorable suicide and their families and friends shall be left alone, face immediate exile with them, or execution and their property confiscated. Rome’s retribution, as it had always been, was swift, brutal, and utterly through to those who denied its “peace”, and in its place would sit a desert, waiting for its repopulation.

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In the months following the rebellion, and with the ongoing retribution left in the hands of the local assigned leadership, Venatius oversaw the final completion of the tower of Insula Viridia. The towering structure was visible for miles, standing a full stadium (185 meters) tall. With the crowning glories of his reign in Insula Viridia established, Venatius was confident that he would forever be remembered as one of the greats of Insula Viridia. He had far outshown the light of his father as was custom, but he had also even formed a solid base to fulfill the dream of uncounted generations of Romans on Insula Viridia; the retaking of Britannia. The edges of old Rome were now under their command, and work was already begun to restore Hadrian’s Wall, not really for its defensive purpose, but what it stood for; from now one, Insula’s push south would be into lands that truly were once Roman.

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With the construction of the Tower completed, Venatius looked for where else to put the workers now out of a job to work. He eventually decided to continue his revitalization of Campos Vapos, ordering the construction of a great central library near the university of Campos Vapos. Venatius is recorded to have remarked as he looked on at Campos Vapos from the Tower, growing steadily in immigrants and from the rapidly growing population of Insula Viridia, that “Campos Vapos for the first time had truly earned its title as the Last Roman City of the West”. Internally, he considered it the last Roman city in the world, as much like his father, the formal relation with Constantinople and its “Roman” Empire was no more than a Greek Empire in Roman clothes. If the Insulans had survived for 400 years lost from the world, why did these Greeks abandon the Latin tongue, the mother language of Rome? Greek had its place amongst the philosophers, but governance?
Venatius shook the thoughts from his head as he looked away from the city, much work laid ahead, and he knew the Romanoi of Constantinople would be politically invaluable. With Britannia in the flames of rebellion, his nephew Sempronius whom was already being prepared to run to replace him in 1730 would be tasked with claiming that land. And with Londinium back under the august protection of Rome, Insula would need another Rome to agree that, if not the Western Empire, that they were too a true Roman successor.

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Just as Venatius hoped, his nephew Marcus Sempronius Salvius proved adept in his campaign. Only propraetor for a year, Sempronius was buoyed by the open support of Venatius, whose conquests and construction projects left wildly popular. When the votes of all Insula Viridia were counted in the forum of Campos Vapos, the result was decisive; Sempronius held a commanding majority of the votes. Only a candidate of the Severan clan came close, but that as ever the lot of the Severan clan; close but never close enough. Sempronius was recognized Proconsul of the Vicarium Insula Viridia in a grand ceremony before the Senate, the People, and overseen by the Bishop of Insula Viridia. As in his campaign, Sempronius reiterated his singular promise, “I will finish what my uncle started. Britannia shall be reclaimed, and we shall go home after 500 years!”
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The World Situation in 26 March, 977 AD/1730 AUC
I apologize about the 2 week hiatus. I started up my student teaching, and the drive has been proving especially killer. Also I ended up rewriting this chapter no less than 3 times. Just could not get it down as I wanted it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this p.i.t.a. chapter to write!
 
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On the cusp of a true Reconquista.

A mightly construction on the pride as well. I mean, definitely Roman to be building monumental architecture to intimidate - right? :D
 
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Nice conquest of Caledonia. Brittania's reconquest is close at hand...

Also, this tower does sound like the Tower of Babel...
 
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Chapter 6: The Die is Cast

“571 years ago, the great Septimus Severus was forced to lead the great odyssey from Britannia to Insula Viridia. For 571 years, we have maintained ourselves not only as the province of Insula Viridia, but the legitimate Roman government of Britannia. Now, the die is cast, for we must fulfill that duty. The barbarians shall be driven from their hovels, and the light of Rome restored to all of Britannia.” - L. Sempronius Salvius to a gathered Assembly of Campos Vapos

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After his confirmation before the Senate as Proconsul, Sempronius Salvius declared that the Constitution of Insula Viridia would be copied for Caledonia, and Caledonia would be separated from Insula Viridia into its own Province. Following the example of Septimus Severus, as outlined in the Constitution of Insula, Sempronius would declare himself automatically the proconsul of this new province. He then appointed twenty five men of Equestrian and Senatorial rank to the new Caledonian Senate to serve as Senators pro-tempore, drawing primarily from those appointed by Venatius that helped the governance of Caledonia. Those who held Roman citizenship in Caledonia would vote for their own Senate and magistrates from that point on, and not compete with the elections of Insula.

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With the administration of Caledonia secured, Sempronius would make his way to the province with those who were needed to round out its administration. Establishing the capital of Caledonia in the former province of Fifas, renamed Flumia, Sempronius would then meet up with the legions on Hadrian’s Wall. Standing before the comitatenses, Sempronius would declare that the time had come for them to march south, and for Britannia to be restored to Rome after so many centuries. Repeating his speech that he gave in the capital, he declared much as with Caesar, the die shall once more be cast. The legions of Insula Viridia would march and wage war on all the barbarian Norse and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until either Rome was master of the entire island, or they were destroyed.
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The legions marched south of the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall, and spent the next year of campaigning methodically reducing the petty kingdoms of Cumbria and Northumbria. Having heard of the unbroken string of successes in Scotland the invaders enjoyed, those of Cumbria and Northumbria refused to march out and meet the Roman army. Despite this refusal to engage in a decisive battle, the methodical destruction imposed by the legions on the countryside quickly forced the petty kingdoms to turn to outside aid. Turning to the Norse petty kingdom of York, the kings begged for aid, and the king of York agreed on the condition that they submit to his rule post war. Faced with occupation by the Romans and the certain destruction of their entire government, the kings of Cumbria and Northumbria were forced to agree.


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With his army of Norse mercenaries who had wetted their swords on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the king of York confidently led his army against the now far outnumbered Roman legions. The legions were forced to break from their destruction of the Cumbrian countryside and turn to face the coming threat. In their self-confidence, having already defeated the Anglos and now for once outnumbering their foe, the king of York allowed the Insulans to pick the place of battle; an open stretch of countryside with dense forest inland and the sea to the other flank. As Sempronius looked upon the great army of the Norse, he could not help but feel intimidated. Would his dreams of conquest soon be destroyed? Had all this been folly? Should he take his legions north of the Wall and leave the great hordes to the south to quarrel amongst themselves in some cruel ironic twist on the time of Roman rule of this land?
The Norse answered for him. Eager for battle, the Norse inland flank charged in a horde of cavalry, as the flank by the sea charged by foot. Recognizing the attempt to pin him to the sea, Sempronius ordered his men to raise their shield wall and stand their ground. The fears of Sempronius were quickly dispelled as the shield wall broke the charge of the York Norse warriors. After a strong counterpush by the Romans, the York army broke and turned to break off the fight seemingly in relative good order. Unwilling to let this army escape unmolested, Sempronius ordered his cavalry under F. Decimus Severus to charge the retreating York center with skirmisher support. The unexpected charge into their rear by heavy cavalry turned the battle from that of a mild skirmish into a slaughter. With further support from the infantry, the York center was shattered, and the left pinned against the sea where they were slaughtered to a man. Only the York right being heavily cavalry escaped in any good order.
As Sempronius looked out amongst the dead, he felt the cowardice in his heart break. This,he thought, was proof of the province’s divinely ordained mission to bring the light of Rome back to these lands. Against all odds, the Roman line held and broke the enemy, and slaughtered them before they even could attempt to reach camp.

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After hearing news of the defeat of his Norse allies, King Eadbald of Northumbria saw no further point in inviting further pillaging of his lands and the slaughter of his people and nobles. He sent the Romans his offer of unconditional surrender before fleeing the island with his court and those nobles who wished to follow him. The news was not yet of much worth to Sempronius however, as news arrived of the regrouped York forces marching north once more to avenge their loss at Penrith.

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The Second Battle of Penrith would go even worse than the first for the Yorkish Norse. Believing themselves to have an absolutely decisive cavalry advantage despite similarly sized armies, the Norse attacked in a pincer move with evenly sized cavalry forces. Sempronius however once more kept his cavalry concentrated on his left flank. The counter charge of heavy cavalry and light cavalry outnumbering them near two to one sent the Norse right into almost immediate flight. The Roman cavalry and infantry then wheeled around the Norse army, virtually encircling those who remained on the field. Once more, Sempronius ordered no quarter for these pagans who had given them so much trouble. In the face of this second defeat, virtually only the Yorkish Norse cavalry was left to defend the York petty kingdom.

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After hunting down and capturing the king of Umbria, who was sent to the capital to be executed for tyranny and securing Umbria, Sempronius would declare a holy war to purge paganism from Britannia in revenge for York’s intervention. The following campaign would be much like that of the pre-intervention campaigns of Cumbria and Northumbria. With the Yorkish army in ruins, there was no army in the field to oppose Sempronius. The Roman army would prove even more ruthless than it had previously. With orders from their Proconsul to “purge the scourge of paganism from the land”, even those villages who peacefully surrendered to the Romans would not be safe if pagans were found amongst them who were not banished immediately.

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As the campaign was drawing to a close, the casus belli Sempronius needed to take on the Anglo king fell into his lap. An Anglican army had crossed into Yorkish territory in Leeds ahead of the Roman army, attempting to seize land from the broken kingdom before it fell in its entirety to the Romans. After receiving a promise of being allowed to leave Britannia, the king of York surrendered all his land to Insula Viridia. Sempronius then immediately sent dispatches to the Anglican army, demanding they leave their siege of Leeds or it would be seen as an act of war. The Anglican army, lead by the powerful Duke of Norfolk refused, and so Sempronius moved to relieve Leeds.
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The Anglican army would be utterly routed by the Romans in short order. The Anglican levies were already low on morale from mere sight of the far more uniform, discipline legions that outnumbered them. When the Roman cavalry swept aside the vastly outnumbered knights of the Anglicans, the rest of the army broke and ran. A third of the enemy army was slain before Sempronius called off the pursuit, then gathered his forces. Marching into the Dukes lands, he would seize Leicester and Lincoln in short order, returning to the old Roman policy of ruthlessness to resistance, and complete mercy to surrender.

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Flush with success, and beginning to believe in his own army’s invincibility after such a long string of victories, Sempronius would send a simple demand to King Eadberht of the Anglo-Saxons. Bend the knee to Roman law and the legitimate government of Britannia, or be bent over the knee by force. King Eadberht sent a retort that read as followed “By God’s Will I am the divinely sanctioned government of this land, and your hollow victories against those weaker than yourselves shall be proven as such”. With this reply in hand, Sempronius once more without the counsel of the Senate of Insula Viridia declared war on Eadberht.

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After striking at Suffolk to utterly rout an Anglican force of roughly 2,000, Sempronius would ignore the counsel of his officers to consolidate and bring reinforcements from Insula Viridia. For 100 years, when the armies of Insula Viridia marched out lead by their Proconsul, they had always won. Against even the great revolt of the Scots, they had triumphed against overwhelming numbers, and now, Londinium lay within his grasp. If he could sweep aside the gathering Anglican army as he had done with so many before, then the great return of Roman Brittania could truly begin.

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But it was not to be. Outside the walls of London, the army of Insula Viridia finally met a force that could match its own in heavy infantry. Sempronius once more gathered his cavalry into a single unit and opened the battle with a charge on one flank. Having studied the previous battles of Sempronius, the Anglicans were ready for this move. Pikemen lined up and faced the Roman cavalry charge and shattered it, turning it back in panicked flight. The Anglican noble cavalry gave chase to the fleeing Roman cavalry, and Sempronius was left dumbfounded. Unwilling to call it quits so close to his goal, he refused to retreat and ordered an all out assault, hoping the aggressive move would catch the Anglicans off guard.
Against a frecious rain of arrows, the Romans managed to make contact with the Anglican line, and what followed was a truly brutal slog that saw Sempronius himself barely escape being killed multiple times. As had so often happened before, the levied light infantry of the Anglicans melted before the Roman advance, but they were replaced by fresh huscarls in chain mail. The fight was only ended by nightfall, and the pitiful state of his army after would be a hard pill to swallow. A third was dead or wounded, and he was not sure if he had even made a dent into the meat of the Anglican army. He took the battled remnants of his army and fled north, admitting defeat for the first time. He would head to Eboracum, formerly York, and sail for Campos Vapos to seek reinforcements and if necessary, submit to censor for his failure.

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Sempronius returned just before winter made crossing virtually impossible, and began the process of calling up the Insulan militia legion for the first time in decades. Sempronius’ humble appeal to the Senate that he would “submit to theirs and the people’s will” should they deem him no longer worthy of the honor of imperium would stay the hand of hasty action against him. Then, an Anglican invasion would see Sempronius fully pardoned for his failure at Londinium. Believing they had utterly routed the army of Insula Viridia, King Eadberht had sailed his army to Insula Viridia to seize this far off land claiming dominion over his land for himself. As his army disembarked by the town of Cygnasia, confident they would find little resistance, Sempronius would lead a second army against his foe. So confident they were, and unused to waging war so far from home, the Anglicans failed to post even sentries to their unwalled beachhead, figuring soon they would be in Campos Vapos without a fight.
The new legion of Insula Viridia, reinforced and lead by 2000 revenge hungry veterans pounced in an all out assault. Sempronius himself lead a cavalry charge straight through the middle of the camp, cutting off access to the waiting Anglican ships. With confusion reigning, and revenge heavy in their mind, the entire Anglican force would lay dead or captured by the end of the day. The fleet of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom would be similarly routed by the Insulan Viridian navy. Of the slain, King Eadberht was not found amongst the dead,as he had been one of a lucky few still aboard the transport ships when the attack occurred.

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With the legions replenished and the army of the Anglicans utterly destroyed, Sempronius organized a grand return to Britannia. This time, he was not denied his prize. Londium fell shortly after the arrival of the Romans, and King Eadherth was forced to surrender to the Romans.

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Looking upon the city of London, Sempronius swallowed a bitter pill. This was not the grand city he wished to be the capital of a resurgent Rome in the west. Even before the war, its population was barely larger than that of Campos Vapos. After the war, and its sacking by his vengeful legions, it now was a pitiful sight. Ruined, as squatters are want to do, and a shadow of its former self, he thought. But outwardly, he proclaimed to his soldiers the restoration of Roman Britannia, 570 years after Septimus Severus left from the very docks of Londinium to found Insula Viridia. Befitting the restoration, he declared he would move the capital from Campos Vapos to Londinum, as would be proper, and the establishment of a new Senate for Britannia.

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Despite this supposed restoration however, even with the complete collapse of the central monarchy, most of southern Britannia remained independent, now ruled by a series of dukes made petty kings. This would simply not be allowed to stand. All Britannia must fall to the Legions before they would be allowed to rest. Peace must come to the island, even if it meant yet another great war.

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Sempronius this time would take no chances, and sought an overwhelming advantage. Calling on the entire military age population of Insula Viridia who held citizenship, Sempronius would gather the largest army the province had ever fielded. With this great mass at his back, he marched on Oxford, aiming to divide the coalition of petty kingdoms in two, and conquer them at his leisure. Knowing if he was allowed to do this, the kingdoms called on every levy they could muster, depleting even large parts of their garrisons, to field a similarly massive army for the region.

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In the greatest battle on Great Britain since the time of the Roman invasion, the Roman legions and the armies of the allied petty kingdoms met near Buckingham. Sempronius would decide to not leave any flank unguarded, and as such for once divided his cavalry forces to guard his flanks. To open the battle, they did once more charge into that of the enemy’s gathered strength of cavalry, whilst Roman skirmishes engaged the Anglican center to keep them occupied. The arrows and javelins of the skirmishers pulled the Anglican center forward into the waiting Roman line. With the infantry engaged and in similar numbers and equipment, the battle became one that the discipline of the Romans all but guaranteed victory in. When the Anglican cavalry was finally driven off and their flanks left exposed, the allied coalition’s forces broke in utter rout. The reaper’s toll on both sides was high, with a quarter of the Roman force lying dead or seriously injured, but the truth was far worse for the coalition against them. Half of their army had been lost, and desertion and finger pointing for the failure soon led to the army entirely fragmenting as they left to try to defend their home from the coming Roman onslaught. To make matters even worse for the coalition, most of the petty kings and dukes who had been leading their own independent forces had been either killed or captured in the fight. Ignoring pleas for ransom, Sempronius would declare that they were to be tried for tyranny and rebellion, and extradited to Campos Vapos to stand trial. The hostile Roman juries did not need much prodding to sentence them all to death.

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Following his victory, Sempronius decided to send home half of the called levy, leaving himself with 5,000 men to carry out the occupation. With virtually no army left in the field to oppose him, Sempronius continued his war of surrender or annihilation throughout the remainder of independent Britain. During the final stages of the campaign, as Septimus and his army dreamed that the years of war were finally at an end, and each of his veterans would receive their just land allotments, news came that would shatter that dream. King Haraldr III of Denmark, who had long sought to bring Norse dominion back to the Britiish isles, declared war upon Insula Viridia, seeking to steal out from under them the conquests of the last 50 years.

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With none of the pomp and ceremony that Septimus was no doubt desiring, he was forced to declare from his camp that with all of Britannia under Insula’s control, the designate of mere province was no longer proper. He declared before his troops that Insula Viridia had been a province of the Augustus of the West, not the East. Therefore, as the last standing province of the West, and having earned the right through continuation and conquest, he would begin the reformation of an empire based around Britannia. His troops rose in cheer, proclaiming Sempronius not Proconsul, but Augustus. The authoritarian Salvian blood in him surged at the word. “Was this the moment?” he thought to himself, “That the desire of my family be realized? That the farce of the Proconsulship be discarded, and the proper Imperial magistry restored?”. He stewed on this for a moment, before motioning to his legion to calm, swallowing his Salvian pride in knowledge no one outside his army would stand for a return to the hated Principate or Dominate. “Comrades, we have been through much, and as of yet, a great Heathen horde is descending upon us, waiting for their chance to land and strike. I begrudgingly accept your humbling proclamation of my being Augustus, but only until such time is proper that a new Constitution befitting our new Commonwealth and Republic can be written. Now, put your mind from such matters, and we shall show these heathens that Rome is not so easily pushed.”

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The World Situation on the eve of the 2nd Great Heathen Army’s invasion; 983 AD
Sorry for the 3 week gap between chapters. This chapter was utterly brutal to write for. Lot of battles, lot of writers block, and then add student teaching on top, and it proved extremely difficult to actually want to write this. hopefully I can get on a more regular schedule of once or twice per week
 
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Flavor Post Time! Background context for Insula Viridia with its Constitution and a wiki style entry on its founder, Septimus Aurelius Severus

Septimus Aurelius Severus
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Septimus Aurelius Severus (9 May, 363 - 17 November, 437 AD) was the first proconsul of the exiled Britannic Romans in Insula Viridia after continued Roman occupation of Britain became untenable. Born to an Equestrian living in Rome, Septimus joined the army at the age of 19 with a long shot ambition of possibly becoming either close to, or the Emperor of Rome.
He rose through the ranks until as a Tribunus Legate, serving primarily in Britannia, he was appointed by Constantine III to oversee the defense of the island while Constantine took up arms against the Emperor Honorius in 408. After two years, facing a slow burning rebellion in the Britannic hinterland and increasing Saxon and Pictish raiders with his single legion, Septimus would evacuate the island and attempted to find the island of Thule. He instead found Insula Viridia (Iceland), where he and a few thousand refugees would manage to survive and found a new colony far outside the interest of anyone.
Early Life
Septimus Aurelius Severus was born on 9 May, 363 AD in the city of Rome to an Equestrian merchant during the reign of Emperor Julian. He would later write in an autobiography that “[his] father was a successful merchant, through the patronage of Senator Publius Aurelius Valerius, from whom he took his nomen…” and that “Through that Senator, I was granted a most virtuous education, extolling the times of the Republic, and the plight of the plebeians.”. Not much more is said of Septimus’ early life, beyond that the patriotic, highly Rome-centric education would drive the young Septimus to eventually move from the mercantile life his father intended for him and into a martial one.
Military Career
Through his family being recognized as of Equestrian stock, Septimus would join the legions through the tres militiae at the age of 22 in 385 AD during the time of Augustus Magnus Maximus and Theodosius I. During his career, Septimus was regarded generally as an energetic, if idealistic leader who often extolled his men of the virtues of Rome as an attempt to drive them on. It is likely he served under an unknown Dux underneath Magnus Maximus, and that this service halted his progression along the tres militiae for some time. He is also known to have often been seen as ‘soft’ due to his origins in the city of Rome, and so looked down upon compared to his peers who often came from the provinces.

Early Service in Britannia
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Following the defeat of Magnus Maximus in 388 AD, Septimus was moved to Britannia as part of reinforcing the island from all the soldiers removed by Maximus. He appears to have served primarily in the province of Flavia Caesariensus along the coast taking part in anti-Saxon raiding operations. Septimus noted in his memoir that it took him five years to finally be promoted from tribune to prefect of an ala, claiming a persistent bias against him due to his Roman origin. However, after his promotion, his energetic chasing down and destruction of Saxon raiders earned him a promotion as a prefect of a large 1,000 man ala formation following the reinforcement of the magister militum Flavius Stilicho in 396 AD. Septimus would claim that this force allowed him to create a strong deterrent to raiders along his coastline, and he would serve in this role until 401 AD.
At this time, Septimus was finally promoted out of the tres militae and became the Comes Litoris Saxonici of the province of Flavia Caesariensus. This was at the cost of his ala wing however, as it was withdrawn to fight against an invasion by the Visigothic king Alaric I. As pay from Rome started to dry up, and the loss of Saxon raids made it harder to distract his men and pay through slaves and a cut of ‘re-acquired assets’, the men not under Septimus but his fellow legates and Dux began to grumble for a rebellion. Knowing any rebellion would entail leaving Britannia to its fate, Septimus would refuse any attempt by his men to be declared Augustus.

The Usurpers of Britannia
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In 406 AD, following a great invasion into Gaul by barbarians and worried that they might turn towards Britani, the first of the three who did not refuse would be hailed, Marcus, was hailed Augustus by the legions of Britannia. However, he would prove too cautious to the men as Marcus too, did not wish to leave Britannia to its fate. So he was killed later that year and replaced by a civilian official named Gratian, who was thought to be better at ensuring their pay. However, as the barbarian army closed in on Bononia in Gaul, threatening their supply lines, Gratian, who also refused to leave, would be killed. Finally, the legions after Septimus again refused the position and turned to a common soldier under his command named Constantine III.
In thanks for Septimus’ ‘selfless’ refusal of the opportunity to be Emperor instead, Constantine would make his old commander Vicar of Britannia and promised if he was successful, Septimus would be praetorian prefect of Gaul. Then, Constantine III would immediately move into Gaul with all but Septimus’ single legion in 407 AD to force his claim onto Honorius. Septimus would later write that “When Constantine gave me his final salute and promises before boarding his ship to Bononia, I wept. Not for the promise of power, but the knowledge that Britannia was lost, one of my favored soldiers would certainly die, and the last hope of ever seeing a restored Rome disappear over the horizon.”.

The Flight from Britannia
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Insulan rendition of Septimus weeping over the departure of Constantius, c.970AD
Septimus would spend the next four years desperately trying to defend Britannia with a single legion and what local auxiliaries he could muster from ever stronger Saxon raids, encouraged by the Roman withdrawal of forces. When in 409 Constantine was declared co-emperor by Honorius, Septimus began to see the writing on the wall. Constantine would never be able to release troops back to support him while he was not the single emperor of the west and thus had an even further extended front against his fellow Romans. It is around this time when Septimus began to return to his old studies and try to find some route of escape from the island that was not back to the chaos of the continent.
From a priest, he heard rumors of a lost island far to the north that those who sought more solitary pilgrimage would go to. Combined with long standing rumors of the island of Thule that Pliny’s Natural History claimed was a mere 6 days sail from Britannia, Septimus made up his mind. He determined that for Rome in the west to be saved, it had to escape the barbarian pressure, and he saw Thule as the right place for it. He began gathering as many supplies, including interestingly literature, as he could, and all those Romans willing to come with him to escape the Saxon raids to the east, the Pictish raids from the north, and internal dissent. His expedition would see a large number of wealthy Romans and Romano-British join, eventually coming to number between 5,000 and 10,000 potential settlers including his legion of around 1,500. In the spring of 410 AD, Septimus set sail, picking up those who wished to come along from Camulodunum and other Roman settlements along the Saxon coast.
During the crossing, a storm scattered the fleet after 5 days at sea, and turned back the majority of it. Septimus rallied enough ships and roughly 3,000 settlers to continue on, arriving at a large, forested island after a dreadful near two weeks at sea with no sight of land. He had the fleet sail around the island until he came across a harbor site to his liking, and after his ship beached itself and his feet hit the sand, proclaimed “We have gone beyond Thule, and arrived at an even greater land.”. Later in his memoirs, Septimus would say of that moment, “I had thought we were lost, the cream of Rome from Britain doomed to be lost in that frigid sea. Insula Viridia rose from the sea like a gift from God himself, and brought us divine salvation. When I saw the mass of trees blanketing the land, my fears of an icey salvation vanished. Then the natural steaming springs by what was to be Campos Vapos assuaged my last concerns. This land was a gift upon us, free of barbaric natives, a land greater than Thule, gifted upon us by Heaven.”

First Proconsul of Insula Viridia
In the initial days of the settlement, Septimus spent much of his time exploring the land they had landed on and helping guide the construction of the first settlement, which he dubbed Campos Vapos. A 1 kilometer by 2 kilometer rectangular pomerium was dug, and after two weeks of exploration, Septimus declared that the island, although large, was not infinitely so. He declared it illegal for the old 125+ hectare latifundia to form, and declared that only one in a hundred land holdings shall be allowed to exceed 100 hectares. Land would instead be parcelled initially based on family size and merit, and guaranteed to all who served in the legion at least 25 hectares, compared to the guaranteed 10 hectares for everyone else.

The Early Government
Two months after landing and his initial land restrictions declared as a military necessity, Septimus decided that a civilian government would be needed for the long term stability of the island. Rather than installing himself as an absolute dictator, Septimus would turn to his old education and desire to reform the Empire. He would establish what he called, officially, the “Senatus Exilis de Provinciae Insula Viridia” (the Senate in Exile of the Province of Insula Viridia), but would quickly come to be called simply the Senatus Insula Viridia or just the Senatus. Septimus further styled himself not as “emperor”, but as Proconsul; a move he said was only right, for they were merely a province of Rome, not some breakaway state.


The Constitution of Insula Viridia
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With the initial titles in mind, Septimus would begin writing a constitution, a marriage of what he saw as the best of the Empire, and the best of the Republic. The Senate would be made up of 25 men, who would serve in classes of four, though one class of five, each for a term of five years. To qualify for the Senate, a person needed to have served in either an official militia or in the legion proper, and once they were in the Senate, even if they left, they would qualify to serve as a Quaestor. Four men would be elected to serve as Quaestor every 2 years, to act as administrators in various regions of Insula.
The Senate would be made up of 25 men who, at first, were almost fully appointed by Septimus, primarily from officers of the Legion and notable ex-magistrates. However, every two years, four appointed men from the Senate would stand down after drawing lots, and allow four freely elected Senators take their place. Those to step down were separated into ‘classes’, though they were allowed to run for election to maintain their place. Each Senator after being elected would hold that office for ten years, for as many terms as desired. Beyond the Senate, Septimus would revive the old magistrates of the Republic, however he would remove the Consulship in order to encourage the thinking of Insula Viridia as a province, not as a completely separate from Rome.
To many of those who accompanied him, these changes were odd, but nothing compared to the prohibition on slavery written into the Constitution. Septimus believed that mass enslavement displacing freeholders was a major cause of the fall of the original Republic, and so saw slaves as a danger to society and his order. As such, enslavement and colonie tied to the land was explicitly forbidden. Septimus used this argument, and the necessity for as many farmers to work the land as possible on Insula to back his prohibition, but even still, it near caused a revolt as much of the exiles had been made up of the equite and patrician classes of Britannia. Only through the loyalty of his men, the approval of the poorer members of the colony, and his fervent arguments stopped the Constitution from being destroyed before it was even implemented.

Proconsulship
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Early Campos Vapos, ~20 years after its foundation
As Proconsul of Insula Viridia, Septimus Severus would dedicate himself to helping the colony survive, as well as enforcing his new Constitution and its strict land restrictions. The volcanic sand proved perfect for the production of concrete, and after temporary shelters of wood, Campos Vapos would soon be replaced by concrete domii and insulae following a grid network. Septimus organized his legion to assist in construction and help clear fields and mark property lines, with the promise of greater property allotments keeping them loyal. Septimus would further explore the island, overseeing the mapping of rivers, streams, valleys, and potentially routes for roads. Septimus Severus would win re-election for a 2nd term as proconsul, and his second term would be quite similar to his first. Simply focusing on the continued survival of his colony and his Constitution, Septimus took a backseat to the governance of the colony beyond enforcement, which further helped cement the idea of a Republic back in the minds of his fellow Romans.

Retirement and Death
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Septimus Aurelius Severus retires to his country villa
After twenty years, or two terms, of serving as the first Proconsul of Insula Viridia, Septimus would set the precedent of no proconsul serving longer than 20 years as he refused to seek re-election. The Senate would pass a Senatusconsult similarly reaffirming the precedent, proclaiming that no Proconsul should serve more than 20 years. Septimus would however endorse his son, Lucius Messius Severus to take his place, and the weight of his word and lingering Imperial sentiment amongst the colony would lead to Messius winning his election by near landslide.
Sure in the survival of his system, Septimus Severus would proclaim that he would follow in the footsteps of old Cincinnatus and retire to his farm outside Campos Vapos. After his retirement, Septimus would not take any part in politics from his retirement in 430 AD to his death seven years later in his sleep.​

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Constitution of Insula Viridia

PROOEMIVUM
Written by Septimus Aurelius Severus,
In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who delivered us to Insula Viridia, safe from storms and those who wished our end
To the People of Rome, whom made the great voyage to Insula Viridia,
That those who arrived, separated by the great Northern Sea, may continue to live under strong law, justice, and a true constitution
So that this land might continue to prosper as a bastion of Rome
And for when contact is once more made with the ruler of Rome, they might see its wisdom and permit its continued existence.

Titles
  1. Of the Establishment of the Province of Insula Viridia
  2. Of the People of Insula Viridia
  3. Of the Senate in Exile of the Province of Insula Viridia
  4. Of the Quaestor
  5. Of the Aedile
  6. Of the Praetor
  7. Of the Censorship
  8. Of the Proconsul
  9. Of the Elections of the Senators, Magistrates, and Proconsul
  10. Of the Nature of Laws
  11. Of Courts
  12. Of Property
  13. Of the Freedoms of the Citizens
  14. Of the Freedoms of the Peregrini

Title I. Of the Establishment of the Province of Insula Viridia
Ia. The Province of Insula Viridia is established upon the island of Insula Viridia as bound on all sides by the Northern Sea.
Ib. The Government of the Province shall serve as the government in exile of the Provinces of Britannia.
Ic. The Province shall act with sovereign freedom until such time that contact with Rome can be made.

Title II. Of the People of Insula Viridia
In the Law of the People of Insula Viridia, the law shall be divided into citizens and peregrini (those without citizenship).
IIa. Citizens are those born to another citizen of Rome, or granted such status by what system is deemed appropriate by the Senate
IIb. Peregrini are those who reside within Insula Viridia but do not hold citizenship.
IIc. Freedom of man, from which all citizens and peregrini claim, is a man's natural power of doing what he pleases, so far as he is not prevented by nature, harm to another,
IId. Slavery, necessarily, deprives both the enslaved and the People of the Freedom of Man. As such, such violation of the freedom of man cannot be sustained and all those who are slaves within the Province of Insula Viridia shall immediately become peregrini .
IIe. Citizens are those who qualify to serve as magistrates, to vote for their magistrates, and to otherwise serve the Province and People of Insula Viridia

Title III. Of the Senate in Exile of the Province of Insula Viridia
As contact can not be made with the Domanus Augusti of the Imperium Romanum, or the Senates of Rome, the Province shall form a government in exile to ensure the continuity of Roman Law and Governance until such a time that contact can be made once more;
IIIa. The legislative body of the Province shall be named the “Senate in Exile of the Province of Insula Viridia”.
IIIb. the Senate shall be constituted of 25 men who had once served in a martial capacity and shall be called Senators
IIIc. The Senate shall initially be appointed by the Proconsul of Insula Viridia
IIId. The Senators shall be in four classes of four, and one class of five. After 2 years, four appointed Senators determined by lot shall step down for the first elected class. Every 2 years, this process shall repeat for each class, until the fifth election, when the fifth class of five appointed Senators will stand down for the final class of five elected Senators. Each class shall hold office for ten years before their next election.
IIIe. Senators shall receive a stipend no more than that which is deemed appropriate for a cohors or centurion
IIIf. The Senate shall control the taxation of the Province
IIIg..The Senate shall hold legislative authority over Insula Viridia. All legislation, proposed by the Magistrates, People, Proconsul, or Senators, must be passed by the Senate.
IIIh. Such legislation passed by the Senate may be vetoed by a vote by the People involving a majority of eligible voters or by the Proconsul. A Proconsul’s veto may be overridden by a vote of 17 or by the People’s Veto.

Title IV. Of the Quaestor
IVa. The Quaestors shall be the first magistrate available to those who had once held the office of a Senator for a time of four years.
IVb. Four Quaestors shall be elected by all men of the citizenry and shall serve for two years, their election the same year of the Senatorial elections
IVc. The Four Quaestors shall have in their duty to assist in the treasury and collection of taxation with their assigned post.
IVd. The Quaestors shall draw lots to determine post, with one Quaestor assigned to Campos Vapos and the remaining three Quaestors assigned to equally populated regions to assist local magistrates and oversee taxation of the regions.
IVe. After the Quaestor term, the proquaestor may not serve as Quaestor or Praetor for ten years
IVf. The Quaestor shall receive stipend equal to the stipend of the Senate.

Title V. Of the Aedile
Va. The Aediles shall be of the Senators of proquaestorial rank.
Vb. Two Aediles shall be appointed by the Proconsul, and shall serve for two years, their appointments beginning and ending in the same year of the Senatorial elections.
Vc. The Two Aediles shall serve as the executive authority of Campos Vapos and shall lead the elected legislative body of Campos Vapos. their authority determined by said body.
Vd. After the end of the term of the Aedile ends, the proaedile may not serve in the Aedileship for ten years.
Ve. The Aedile shall receive a stipend equal to twice to the stipend of the Senate

Title VI. Of the Praetor
VIa. The Praetor shall be of the Senators of proquaestorial rank.
VIb. Two Praetors shall be elected by all men of the citizenry , and shall serve for two years, their election the same year of the Senatorial elections
VIc. The two Praetors may oversee the High Courts over Campos Vapos, and may lead troops or a fleet at the request of the Proconsul. The Praetors may also assist in the governance of Insula Viridia.
VId. After the Praetor’s term, the propraetor may not serve in an office for six years.
VIe. The propraetor shall retain authority to lead troops or a fleet at the request of the Proconsul.
VIe. The Praetor shall receive a stipend equal to thrice to the stipend of the Senate

Title VII. Of the Censorship
VIIa. The two Censors shall be of the Senators of the propraetorship.
VIIb. Two Censors shall be appointed by the Proconsul , and shall serve for two years, their appointments beginning and ending in the same year of the Senatorial elections.
VIIc. The Two Censors shall lead the decadal Census of the Province, and shall record the names who currently serve in the Senate, their office and honors, and those who once served in the Senate.
VIId. Any Senator, vote by the people, or the Proconsul may dispute the Censors’ record, and thus the Censor be taken to trial, and if found guilty of editing the records to not reflect reality shall be executed.
VIIe. After the Censor’s term, the Censor may not serve as Censor for ten years
VIIe. The Censor shall receive a stipend equal to thrice to the stipend of the Senate

Title VIII. Of the Proconsul
VIIIa. The Proconsul shall be of those of the propraetorship
VIIIb. The Proconsul shall be elected by all men of the citizenry, and shall serve for ten years, their election the same year of the Senatorial elections, unless the office is vacated and a replacement is required.
VIIIc. The Proconsul shall hold executive authority of the province of Insula Viridia, shall command the legions and fleets of Insula Viridia; the sole authority to raise a legion, militia, or fleet; may request taxation; may propose budgets and introduce legislation to the Senate; may settle foriegn policy with the approval of a majority of the Senate; may create a court to be the greatest judicial body of the province; and may intervene in a court to declare the punishment of a guilty party.
VIIId. The Proconsul shall receive a stipend equal to four times that of the stipend of the Senate.

Title IX. Of the Elections of the Senators, Magistrates, and Proconsul
IXa. Elections for all the Senate, the Provincial magistrates, and the Proconsul shall be determined by an election by all male citizens of the Province
IXb. Each recognized township must have at least one place for voting to be done and collected, where politicking is forbidden, to be overseen by two magistrates, one by a praetor or proconsul, and one by a local magistrate, who in a joint decision may review and remove ballots.
IXc. Each voting citizen shall be given a ballot upon which the names of the candidates, and the citizen shall list first, second, and on in preference.
IXd. The ballots shall be delivered under guard by the appointed overseeing magistrates to Campos Vapos, where they shall be counted by a committee of 25, drawn by lot from the magistrates who oversaw the elections or, failing enough magistrates, Senators.
IXe. Each election shall be determined by a candidate receiving a majority of primus votes, failing a majority for a position, the candidate with the least votes shall be dropped, and their votes going to the secundus vote on the ballot.
IXf. An election should, unless a majority of votes be considered non valid by the final counting committee, not be held more than once.

Title X. Of the Nature of Laws
Xa. A Public Law is that passed by the Senate and People of Rome and Insula Viridia as a statute, plebiscite, or senatusconsult, in regards to the jurisprudence, justice, and general good governance of Rome and Insula Viridia
Xb. A Sacred Law is that of the Church, and is thus separate from the Public law.
Xc. A Public Law should not override a Sacred Law, and thus a Sacred Law should not override a Public Law, nor should either compete with the other, but instead complement the other in their own jurisdiction.
Xd. A statute is a Public Law that in Insula Viridia has been voted on by the Senate and approved by the Proconsul. A plebiscite is a law brought forward to the Senate, by a majority of the Citizens of the Province, overseen by an appropriate magistrate. A senatusconsult is a statement of will by the Senate to the Proconsul or the People of Insula Viridia.
Xe. A statute shall be proposed by a Senator, the Proconsul, or by plebiscite, receive the approval of a majority of the Senate, and the approval of the Proconsul or a plebiscite of the Citizens of Insula Viridia.
Xe. All public laws are to be written, and made public and available to be read by the People of Insula Viridia

Title XI. Of Courts
XIa. The greatest court of Insula Viridia shall be established by the Proconsul, whom shall appoint three men to serve after approval by senatusconsult. The trivourian court shall be the final place of appeal, and the court through which matters directly involving the Province shall go to. Criminal cases brought to the trivours shall have a jury of citizens of no less than eleven members.
XIb. The courts of the Praetors shall be the second highest court, and shall have a jury of citizens of no less than eleven members.
XIc. Courts below that of the praetors shall be established as the Senate and People of Insula Viridia deem necessary, with the structure determined by statute and shall have a jury of citizens of no less than eleven members.

Title XII. Of Property
XIIa. No family under one paterfamilias may own more than 500 jugerum (125 hectares / 309 acres) of land, for it is in the interest of the Province for land to be held broadly by the People of Insula Viridia.
XIIb. Land may only be divided between up to two sons, who shall become their own paterfamilias.
XIIc. As it is in the interest of the Province to maintain equitable land holdings, it is in the right of the Province, through statute, to seize land in a manner deemed appropriate to distribute to those of lesser holdings.

Title XIII. Of the Freedoms and Rights of Citizens
XIIIa. All Citizens hold within them the natural freedom of man as established
XIIIb. All male Citizens hold the right of vote and petition
XIIIc. All Citizens hold the right to hold any occupation they desire that does not harm or violate another’s freedom, and to a freedom of movement should they desire.
XIIId. All Citizens hold the right to a trial with a jury of their fellow citizens, and to no self incrimination and coercion, and thus to representation by one knowledgeable in our laws
XIIIe. All Citizens hold the right of not being charged twice for the same crime, and no ex post facto law be made
XIIIf. All Citizens hold the right to speak as they wish, should it not be to incite a desire to harm or violate another’s life or freedom

Title XVI. Of the Freedoms and Rights of Peregrini
XVIa. All Peregrini hold within them the natural freedom of man as established
XVIb. All Peregrini hold the right to hold any occupation they desire that does not harm or violate another’s freedom, and to a freedom of movement should they desire.
XVIc. All Peregrini hold the right to a trial with a jury of citizens, and to no self incrimination and coercion
XVId. All Peregrini hold the right to speak as they wish, should it not be to incite a desire to harm or violate another’s life or freedom

This was written primarily as flavor to give an idea of the kind of government I am representing in CK2 the best I can. It applies in mechanically by me keeping track of the dates and abdictating the throne every 10-20 years, denying all guilds, etc. In universe, this Constitution was written by Septimus Severus in his attempt to build a new Roman Republic that fixed a lot of its old problems (monopolization of land, mass slavery disposing the people of work, etc, while still maintaining a strong center to keep the colony alive).
 
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Well that's some deep lore.

Also hey! Rome is back in Britain! Romans are back on track!
 
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Well that's some deep lore.

Also hey! Rome is back in Britain! Romans are back on track!
Thats what happens when you have a person really into world building sit on an idea for a year lol
 
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The first jewel of the Empire has been restored. It may be tarnish, but shall rise again, and so from the northern wastes shall, in turn, Rome herself be restored.
 
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Chapter 7: What’s New Is Old

“To the People of Britannia, rise up. Rise and fight that great Norse menace that seeks to destroy you. Fight side by side with your new comrades, and earn your keep. Join and fight the Norse, and receive the soldier’s due; a plot of land and citizenship.”
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As the scale of the Danish army became apparent to Sempronius, he quickly realized his two exhausted legions would likely drown in this new onslaught of a massive Norse army crashing ashore. Faced with no choice, Sempronius put out a call to levy from those whom he had just fought. Through promise of enfranchisement and land, the cornerstones of old Roman recruitment, he managed to double the size of his force by the time the two armies met south of Glevum and Oxford. The two sides would start to come into contact on the plains by the ruins of Stonehenge, the massive Danish invasion force still nearly outnumbering 2 to 1 the Roman force. However, Sempronius’ forces maintained a total advantage in cavalry, an advantage he used to great effect before the battle was even joined. Foraging parties were harassed with impunity, as the lack of cavalry meant that isolated groups could be hit, then retreating if reinforcements appeared.
When battle was finally joined, Sempronius anchored a small contingent of his legionnaires in the center of the forward line, with the Anglo and Saxon levies on their wings. Behind them he held his men at arm levies and most of his legionnaires. Eager to quickly break the Romans so they could forage and pillage, the Norse simply charged into the first Roman line. The sheer weight bent and nearly shattered the first line, but as Sempronius intended, the hungry Danes grew tired quickly. The second line moved forward and joined the first as cavalry charges and harassment corralled the massive army to keep them from flowing around the Roman army. With all momentum lost and the Romans still standing obstinate after hours of fighting, the Danes turned and fled, hoping to outrun the Romans. Thousands on both sides were killed or injured, but the all important legions remained mostly intact.
The battle itself was not decisive, but the Norse army not being totally scattered proved a blessing in of itself. With such a large force and the legions continuing to harass them, and potential deserters being hemmed in to stay with the Norse, their hunger quickly turned to starvation. As the Danish king began watching dozens, then hundreds of his men succumb to hunger and first, he decided to pull out of Britannia. With the Roman fleet scattering his longships, he began a desperate evacuation to Ireland from Wales. Sempronius, in no rush to face this large army and expecting the Irish to whittle them down further ordered his fleet to shadow the Norse army after they crossed unmolested.
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Dismissing his levies with their diplomas of citizenship and distributed land from seized noble manorial estates, the legions marched double time to Caledonia as the fleet confirmed it was the Norse destination. When the two armies met once again in the Scottish lowlands, morale amongst the Danes plummeted. Used to a significant mobility advantage, they were not expecting to met yet another Roman force in Scotland. Meanwhile, the morale amongst the Romans soared as the sorry state of the Danish army was readily apparent. The horde they had fought at Wiltshire was now smaller than most of the armies they had fought in conquering Britannia, and utterly destitute from the Roman and Irish harassment.
With no food, and his troops in no shape to fight, while the Danish king was faced with two awful choices. He could force a battle and die gloriously with sword in hand to secure his place in valhalla, but sacrifice the defense of Denmark, or humiliate himself and talk peace with the Romans so than Denmark could still have an army. Knowing the better option, the King sent enjoys to the Romans to talk terms.
To the envoys, Sempronius is recorded as saying “Your king sought to take for himself the land returned to my people by their blood and sweat. He sought to deprive us, and of our new citizens, of life, property, and the liberty of man. He seeks peace now he has been shown resistance to what he thought was a soft land. He shall have his peace, but he shall face what he sought to enforce on us. We shall give your huddled mass passage back to your home for we have had our fill of your lives, but after you surrender all property but one set of garments, to mark how you sought to steal our property. And as you sought to destroy our liberty, that which truly makes a man free and above mere animals, you are to pass under the yoke in humiliation, and lose your honor as men under arms.”
Faced with destruction, the King reluctantly agreed to the humiliation. In the plains of the lowlands, the emaciated Danish army was disarmed, their baggage seized, and all their armor and all but one garment surrendered. The legions broke themselves into two lines, making a lane at the end of which was a gate made by three spears short enough to force those passing under to have to stoop under to pass. Those that hesitated or were walking too slowly for the Romans were pulled aside and beaten, prodded with spears, or outright killed.
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With the humiliation of the Norse army complete, the peace was made official, and the humiliation complete, the Romans allowed and assisted in the Norse leaving. Food was provided to break their fast, and ships took on the Norse army to take them back to Denmark. With his great campaign finally complete, Sempronius slowly began his way to return to Londinium. He sent out letters to the Senates of Caledonia and Insula, as well as one to the Byzantine Emperor Iokobos Lekapenos. Once in Londinium, he began the process of writing a Constitution that could unite the four separate provincial constitutions of Insula, Caledonia, Britannia, and Dementia under a truly independent system, and dispose of the farce of being part of the Eastern Empire.
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On the 5th of January, 1737 AUC (984 AD), in a grand ceremony in Londinium, representatives of the Eastern Emperor Iokobos would arrive alongside the Senate of Insula Viridia and Caledonia. The chancellor sent on Iokobos’ behalf would speak before the gathered Romans in their own Latin, “In a mere 40 years, the Province of Insula Viridia and its Proconsuls have proven themselves capable beyond reproach. The archaic Republic they set up brought worry to myself and my predecessors stretching back to Leo the Wise for the instability such a system could bring. The rebellion you faced was crushed, and from there, you have emerged masters of Britain. It is no longer proper for the Imperial seat in Constantinople to claim jurisdiction over such an accomplished people. I recognize as the last surviving province of the Western Empire, the people of Insula Viridia are truly the continuation of our brothers to the west, and their proconsuls are the Augustus of the west.”
The wind seemed to leave the great church this meeting was being held at the word “Augustus”, the silence confusing the chancellor who expected applause or just any reaction at all. Sempronius looked over his comrades of the Senate, and only those of the Salvian family seemed to show any emotion. Worse still, he saw a Senator of the Licinius family begin to angrily rise to speak. He knew the reason, for the Licinius family had long sought to tear down the powerful proconsulship, and had a deep seated hatred of tyrants. The word Augustus was anathema to them, despite the stability the man had brought to the empire. Sempronius quickly rose to his feet and stepped forward to speak before the Licinius could begin his coming tirade.
“We thank the Imperators of Constantiople for this honor of recognizing us as the true Rome in the west, and leave illegitimate the “successors” the Papists call the Holy Roman Emperors. As holder of the office of Proconsulship, I must decline being called Augustus. I humbly ask instead to simply be called the Consul of the West, as it is more fitting to our traditions.”
What followed was days of long discussion as the representatives worked out not just the Constitution of the new Britannian empire of Western Rome, but with relations between themselves and the East. Eventually, trade, alliance, and more was agreed to, alongside with the great overarching Constitution that would be made up of a mixture of Senators picked from the Provincial Senates, but elected directly by the Citizens of the Provinces to the national Senate. Their representation was further determined by the citizens, not the total population, ensuring that Insula would remain, for the time, the political heart of the new Western Empire.
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With the Constitutional settlement completed and independence secured, a law was passed to encourage the settlement of the new conquests by Romans. Those with small properties in Insula would be allowed to turn in their property in return for either twice the property’s worth in coinage or land in Britain should they settle there. Those that served in the legions were also instead given land in Britain and not Insula, and beyond small landowners were leaned on to abandon their land for new land in Britain. Despite its controversial nature, it had its desired effect; thousands of small landholders and landless citizens would leave Insula Viridia. Over the next several years, the population of Insula Viridia would plunge from over 85,000 to just around 50,000 from the migration.
Londinium and its surrounding land would be a center of Britain’s settlement, with thousands of others being scattered around the countryside to form new councils on the Senatorial model, or act as primary land holders, and other important duties to ensure the Romanization of the land.
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Britannia after the conquests and reorganization of England and Wales in 984 AD

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As part of the administrative reorganization, Sempronius would establish a new Imperial mint in Londinium. With a mix of local and Insulan native talent, Sempronius began production of a line of currency based on the old Republican currencies of asses, sesteries, and denarii, but also with solidii at the top for their usefulness in foriegn trade. The coins would reinforce the new stability and freedom of the Roman system over the backwards tyranny of the Anglican kings, with the old coinage of penses, shillings, and pounds being made obsolete and allowed to be exchanged for their worth in precious metal.

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Sempronius would be re-elected with margin to spare in 987 AD/1740 AUC, ruling as Consul of the new Britannian Empire of Rome for five years. In that time an arguably never before seen stability had been brought to the entirety of the island of Britannica. Nobles fled en masse in the face of the great land distribution, with the census of 990 AD/1743 AUC showing the great organization had been completed. Having now taken part in several elections themselves to elect Senators, those anglos with Roman citizenship were now fully comfortable with the process by the time Sempronius died suddenly in 992 AD/1745 AUC after months of poor health.
For the first time since 930 AD, a Salvius was not elected to the top executive, instead an old officer of the legions injured during the conquest of Caledonia named Gallienus Vitellus. He was the first of his family to hold the office under Insula Viridia. The ex-proconsul Venatius would take over for governing the family lands outside Londinium, and act as the guardian for Sempronius’ heir, Leontius, until he came of age.

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Leontius Salvius, age 14. Son of Venatius and nephew of Sempronius

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Gallienus would begin a campaign to bring Ireland to heel as a new province of Hibernia. Leontius simply had to sit back and watch as the legions marched. Within a couple years of brutal campaigns, Hibernia would be folded into the empire as the fifth province.
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Leontius after coming to age
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When Leontius finally came of age, Gallienus would bring him onto the tres militiae as an military tribune in the legions, marking the first important step for Leontius to enter politics in his father’s footsteps.

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Leontius would cut his teeth soon after joining the legions, as Gallienus would declare war on France and the Holy Roman Empire to secure the strait of Dover by seizing Flanders and Brabant. The Roman campaign caught the king of France and the Holy Roman Emperor flat footed, seizing the lands in relatively short order.
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With the wars on continental Europe over, Leontius would be approached by a naval captain by the name of Gaius Publicus Seneca who sought to explore west of Insula Viridia, which had long been rumored to have undiscovered land much as Viridia had been undiscovered. Eager to try to differentiate himself from his peers in politics, Leontius would fund Seneca's exploration. Months would pass after Seneca and a small fleet of ocean capable liburnias set out from Campos Vapos. Returning to Leontius in August of 1004 AD/1757 AUC, Publicus came back with exactly the sort of news Leontius was hoping for. He had found a land he called Vinumetum, where he found wild grapes growing, and plentiful animals with high quality beavers. Additionally, it seemed to be a sparsely populated land that Roman civilization could be brought to with a new wave of colonization.
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The First Exploration of Gaius Publicus Seneca
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Using this land and the wealth brought by the furs as an example of his patronage to further Roman interests, in the elections of 1007 AD/1760 AUC, Leontius would run for the Consulship. He managed to eek out a narrow majority of the votes with an extensive campaign throughout Britannica by promising to expand upon not only the conquests of Gallienus to secure the Channel, but also to explore this new world and carve out a new home for Rome. In the rebuilt Forum of Londinium, Leontius would thank the people for entrusting the 3rd Consulship to him and the Salvian family, and that Rome shall continue to grow and prosper in Britannia now and forever.

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The World situation after Leontius’ Election as Consul, 2 January, 1007 AD
 
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