108. 1915-1921 - Senate Responses
Between the Julies of 1920 and 1921
In Aotearoa
Following the widespread announcement of the formation of the Komma Romanitas Autokratorikos, Exarchess Kyrene Udata Thaddas and Mesazon Manaaki Awerama announced that the Ergatiko Komma Aotearoas (Labour Party of Aotearoa, or EKA for short) would be affiliating itself with the KRA in order to ensure that "both the Empire and the Exarchate would follow in the spirit of progressivism," choosing not to mention the pluralist and pro-military policies of the KRA and instead concentrating on their free trade and full citizenship policies. Cyrene also publicly congratulated Miro Taior for his success in spreading Romanitas in an active fashion in the absence of Nestorius and achievements he had made politically, commenting "I always had high hopes for my former colleague, and I wish him the best of luck in his continued fight for equality for all."
Kyrene and Manaaki also made sure to keep relations with the East and Southeast Asian states, especially Japan and China, on good grounds, wanting to make sure that trade with them didn't stop. And per usual, Kyrene made sure to bring any reforms made by the Empire over to the islands if they hadn't already.
Whilst Kyrene concentrated on state affairs, Imperial Representative for Aoteorea (and technical Exarch) Nestorius "Ol' Ness" Thaddas was busy making sure the public was informed on the decisions of the Empire, whilst also doing his usual thing of spreading the goodness of Romanitas. Its usage to refer to a culturally equal society, where everyone was accepted to be Roman, whether they were from Italy, Greece, or Aotearoa, soon led to the development of Romanitism, an egalitarian progressive ideology, on the island, generally considered the ideology of the EKA, taking elements from both liberalism and socialism, whilst leaning closer to the latter.
At the Imperial Representative HQ, things were going smoothly. Savvas Epimonopoulos, whilst not making much use of his theologist skills due to the secular nature of the government, made sure to help those in need in the name of the church. Kojo Onobanjo was usually seen as the leader whenever Nestorius wasn't at the HQ, ensuring that all the operations were going smoothly. Sudarto Wanggai and Dhaaniel Kurien helped those looking to join the recruitment drive to develop the Imperial colony in Papua*, especially after Nestor spoke of it in support in a column he wrote for To Vima (The Tribune). Botros Damji, working with the Berber Ouwalili brothers, Amney and Wimmiden, Egyptian female Mariam Phanos, and Andalusian female Yanduza Belmonte, monitored west of the islands, keeping up with everything going on in the Old World, whilst Scandinavian female Marjatta Rud and American male Ahanu Harjo monitored east of the islands, keeping up with the New World. There was never a dull day at the HQ.
Timon Thaddas, now 9 years of age, approaching 10, was continuing with his education and generally living the life of a kid in the early 1920s. Despite his parents' status, they insisted on him going to a regular school, which was one of the reasons why Kyrene worked hard to improve education on the islands. They didn't want him to grow up spoiled, after all. At school, Timon has a small group of friends with which he hangs out with. Life was fine.
In their private lives, Kyrene continued work on a personal project of hers - her journal. Whilst she still used it, she was finally getting ready to adapt parts of it as autobiographic stories, with her first part consisting of her youth, moving to the Empire for work, and her time at the Parthenopean governorship. She and Nestor also visited her family once more, and during their visit, Anahera Waata, mother of Kyrene and her siblings Anaru and Hinewai, passed away in her sleep. A private funeral was held in Waikikamukau, attended by the Thaddai family, the extended Waata family, and close friends of the latter family. Kyrene later offered her siblings an opportunity to have a nicer home elsewhere on the islands, but they refused on the principle of wanting to preserve their childhood home in the memory of their mother. They would however accept her second offer for the Thaddai to pay for the refurbishment of the home.
On May 29th 1921, the Thaddai family got together to take a family picture; Nestorius, 72 years old, Kyrene, some few odd years younger than her husband, and Timon, 9 years old, approaching 10. One question on the minds of some was Nestor's advanced age - there weren't many that could inherit the Thaddai estate, which included the senatorial position currently being kept warm by Franco Lazaratos. Most assume that Timon would inherit, but he wasn't of age yet, and wouldn't be until his father would be entering his 80s. Kyrene herself wasn't that young either, soon entering her 70s, meaning that the position of Exarch could see a new face in a decade or so. And Timon himself hadn't begun thinking of his future yet, and whether or not we wanted to pursue politics. Things were quite uncertain in the Thaddai family.
In Constantinople
At the Constantinopolitan Thaddai estate, the de facto Aotearoan Representative HQ for the time being, nothing much has happened. Franco felt slightly more relaxed now, more confident to speak his own mind than ever, especially after speaking against the Le Midi crisis. Whilst he kept in mind that he was the head representative in Nestor's seat, he knew he couldn't just keep quiet anymore. Eudokia Lavigne was critical of his position on Le Midi, but kept quiet after realizing the bias in her opinion.
After news of the pregnancy of Julius Marco's wife Sarah broke out, the entire HQ sent him a basket filled with goodies, with a message congratulating them on the pregnancy. Franco justified the gift basket by saying that "it was something Nestor surely would've done."
The Cecil Sisters, Carys and Delyth, were going out a lot more than usual. No one knew why that was, and no one really wanted to ask despite being curious, so it fell upon Olena Zhuk to go and ask. When asked, the sisters were glad someone finally did, and told her the whole story - they were dating the pair of young-looking senators they met at Theodora's party! Nicolaos Alexidas and Lavigne overheard, and joined in the conversation, leading to a 5-way gossip session.
Antiochos Heraklides, meanwhile, along with Alexidas, kept receiving letters from Michail Lykidis and Stefanos Antecheirinidis, referred to as those two buffoons within the HQ, asking for their jobs back. No replies have been sent. In the meantime, Taior visited the estate to see his old friends, spending a nice lunch with Franco, Alexidas, Heraklides and Zhuk.
On May 29th 1921, two new people joined the HQ - the first was Charalambos Tsakonotis, who had been looking for a job in Constantinople. When Franco first met him, he commented on his surname and asked whether or not his family spoke in a Doric-derived tongue. Charalambos said that they did, albeit only at home, explaining that it is the reason for his accent sounding slightly different from the usual Thracian ones. After their meeting, Franco was surprised to find out from him that his family knew Nestorius personally, having lived with them in their youth. Following that revelation, he was hired on the spot and told to come in on the 29th.
The second was a person Franco himself wanted to join, the person he thought about suggesting to Nestorius back when he was given the position he has now back in 1916 - Konstas Pilokalos, a good friend of his from Sicily that he believed was perfect for the job. The only reason he didn't suggest him at the time was because Konstas' wife had gotten pregnant, so he didn't want to take him away from her. However, now was the perfect time for Konstas to join, as the small family had moved to Constantinople away from their semi-rural home, and he was looking for a job.
Charalambos and Konstas were introduced to the group and everyone took a liking to them very quickly, especially the latter since they could relate to his baby stories. The entire HQ had also confirmed their allegiance to the KRA. They did wonder if Nestorius was going to visit Constantinople in the near future, as they would all like to see him, at least one more time.
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July 1, 1921
Franco looked somewhat smug after the report on Le Midi. He nodded in approval when he heard about the reforms for work hours, health care and the development of the highway system. However, his slightly smuggish face disappeared when he heard of the wars started by the Americans and Germans, looking confused when he heard the latter ask for Latvia of all things, and of the dictatorship established in Arabia.
As he moved onto the archived newspapers, he first commented on the editorials he saw: "First it was radio that was destroying western civilization, now it is television and jazz! Do these people have nothing better to write about in their editorials?! I swear, if books were becoming a thing, they would say it was destroying western civilization as well! Nestor would disapprove of this."
He nodded approvingly at the inventions, patents and discoveries mentioned in the papers, before commenting about the literary digest, saying that Charalambos had been recommending Ulysses to him. He wondered what Nestorius would think of Bauhaus architecture, before laughing out loud at the article about Namibia and Meridion** fearing the Empire, saying that they had nothing to fear, for the Empire protected them, unaware of whatever was happening in Southern Africa. He commented on the Men's Dress Reform Party, asking what's so bad about a good hat, before noticing the article on 'Aotearoan insults!'... he spoke in an angry tone, as though he tried to restrain himself:
"I am appalled and disgusted that this newspaper allowed this article on Aotearoa to be printed back in January. Why would Aotearoa fear the Empire to such a degree where they would think that the Empire would engage against it militarily? I know that they currently have anti-military sentiments, which is why they might consider our military might frightening, but they understand why we have such a military of this size. If anything, Aotearoa would fear the Chinese due to their position. The only thing I could imagine is that either this unnamed Antipodean** source misheard, wherever he heard it from, or he was blatantly spreading misinformation. I really am disappointed in this newspaper and the writer of the article."
*New Guinea seemed ill-fitting to use here, so I used the native Papua.
**More poetic names for South Africa [Meridion] and Aotearoa [Antipodea]. If Australia had been mentioned, I would've used Notosia as its more poetic name.
"Who's bright idea was it to allow somebody to write an editorial denouncing television and jazz?" Theodora said. "Television can be used to educate the masses as bring the words of the Emperor to the furthest reaches of the Empire. Jazz is just another form of music. What's wrong with it? If I was writing an editorial I would say that editorials are ruining imperial civilization! Also, somebody commend the reporters who chose to speak about velociraptors, bauhaus architecture, Ulysses, and men's dress reform for writing quality articles. Anybody read Ulysses yet? Quite a good read, I should add."
She looked out the window again and saw the guy on the pole still sitting there. "Anybody annoyed yet about that pole-sitter? He might be listening in on state secrets."
Another form of music? I've heard that jazz is used as a means of secretly transmitting anti-imperial messages. It's sole purpose is the downfall of our great civilization to the benefit of the rebel scum. Next thing they'll devise dance movements to go along with it as a means of conveying messages through body language. Downright treasonous!
They really should speak more about dinosaurs found in imperial lands. I bet any velociraptor discovered in the Empire would have a much more impressive bone structure than the inferior specimen discovered in Mongolia.
- Senator Donatello Favero
Granada, October 1920
Granada came into view on the horizon as Private Diego Andino made his way to his home. His limp, courtesy of a rebel during the war, would had made the walk longer but his joy at being so close to his family helped keep his pace up.
He’d last seen his home in 1916 when he signed up with the army, wanting to loyally serve the empire. He’d fought the nationalists in the north but he’d only heard about the uprising in his home city. Fully intending to sign up again afterwards, he’d decided to not to re-enlist after his term of service so that he could check that his family had not been harmed in the fighting.
It was only as he’d turned around the corner of his street that he heard the shouts and screams. Or saw the smoke.
Before Diego was a scene of destruction – his family home had been set alight by purple uniformed thugs wearing eagle armbands. The flames had already engulfed most of the house, evident from the flames in the upper windows and the smoke billowing out from underneath the barricaded door. By now, the militia had relaxed to watch the house burn, with the only work being done by a private painting something in Latin on the street nearby.
Immediately regretting his decision to wear plain clothing to avoid issues with the nationalists, he sprung into the little action he could do. He was able to make it close enough to injure one of the men with a loose cobble from the street before he’d been beaten down with truncheons.
When the Romani vi Bonorum had cleared the area, the police finally moved in and only found a charred ruin of a house and a man crucified on two burnt beams crudely made into a cross in front of the graffiti “Proditores”. Traitors.
This scene of accused nationalists being lynched by RvB militia became common for the months following the Hispanian rebellion of August. The party was not yet popular enough to supply local troops so most of the men had travelled from the Roman parts of Italy to the province to “punish the rebels for their crimes”.
Whilst Tiberius was travelling between Southern Italy and Greece to campaign for popularity, Lagatus Legionis Titus Salnonius Hirpinius oversaw the RvB operations in Hispania. Whilst his absence from Hispania allowed Tiberius to avoid legal responsibility for what happened, the members of the Romani vi Bonorum drifted towards support of Titus.
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