Eurasian History

Early Migration and Settlements
(3000 BCE-1500 BCE)


The earliest evidence of human settlements in Eurasia is that of ancient burial grounds in what is northern Civitius, dating back to around 3000 BCE. From what can be gathered from the remains, the dead were settlers from continental Esamir who built primitive boats and sailed for the Eurasian mainland. No written records exist, as the written form of ancient Eurasian had yet to be actually invented. It appears though that the burial grounds were part of a now-abandoned but larger village in the immediate area, whose founding dates to around the same time. What is know about the village, surrounding area, and eventual expansion is only thanks to the remarkably well preserved records of the Solvinius Empire, which reigned in the area from around 2000 BCE to 150 BCE.
The settlers who founded the village and created the tombs are believed, as stated above, to have come to Eurasia in the third millennium BCE, long before any civilization had existed on the Eurasian mainland. Their culture seemed largely agrarian, with the only evidence of a military being in the preserved corpses of what is assumed to be the town guard. The settlers, whom the Solvini records refer to loosely as “The Forerunners”, are believed to have arrived in the winter months, and thus many starved without access to food, which is viewed as an explanation for the burial grounds discovered. The records state that the Forerunners decided to stay put until the summer months, which proved to be one of the more important decisions in Eurasian history. When the summer months arrived, they were able to successfully cultivate the soil to produce functional farmland, and the village slowly grew.
Excavated ruins and mass graves point to a disastrous event in the history of the Forerunners. The Solvini records make little reference to this, a startling omission for a people obsessed with good recordkeeping. The only reference is to something called “Xo Mortus”, or “The Death”, in ancient Solvini, a dialect of ancient Eurasian. It would appear that the village the Forerunners had founded was affected with some sort of plague or pestilence, which resulted in the survivors abandoning the village and moving south towards what is now Virigens. What the plague was or how it came to be is totally unknown, but given the religious overtones of the Solvini records and the numerous holy-phrases, it can be assumed that the Forerunners and the Solvini years later viewed it as some sort of unholy or demonic event, and preferred not to mention it in their histories, either written or oral.
Upon leaving the village, the Forerunners founded a new town, which oddly thrived on fishing instead of farming, as the previous village had. Whether this is due to bad soil or superstition is not known. Records, again Solvini, indicate that this happened around 2600 BCE, around the same time more immigrants from wherever the original Forerunners came from began to arrive in Eurasia, founding small towns near the Forerunner fishing village or simply joining it. Eventually, the Forerunners developed a hieroglyphic system of recording their written language, which thankfully is translatable due to remarkably good preservation. The hieroglyphs indicate that the original village was called “Ostia”, which translates somewhat humorously into “Little Fish” in ancient Eurasian, a homage to the sustenance for the village.
As Ostia and its neighboring villages grew, the need for a centralized government increased, with the traditional system of having village elders make crucial decisions becoming somewhat strained by the ever-growing size of the population. Thus, the elders decided that they would elect two men from within their ranks to administrate the day-to-day issues while they dealt with the long term situations. These two men were called “Consuls”, and they served until the elders decided to remove them. This system seems to have functioned smoothly until 2200 BCE, when two Consuls, in disagreement over something which has been lost to history, started a bloody civil war which would, if the ever-present burial mounds and Solvini records are any indication, was the bloodiest that far in pre-modern Eurasian history.
The town of Ostia sided with the Consul known as Aulus, who was a native to the town and had widespread familial support. Many of the surrounding villages, however, sided with the other Consul, known as Ricimer. Initially, neither side had a clear advantage, with the both Consuls unwilling to make the initial strike. However, freak accident, perhaps one of the most fortuitous in Eurasian history, allowed for Aulus to gain the advantage.
Written records from both Ostia and Solvinius indicate that a massive thunderstorm struck one of the villages that was occupied by Ricimer, who had chosen to garrison a large portion of his military forces inside. The village, struck by repeated lightning storms, caught fire and burned to the ground, taking a large portion of Ricimer’s forces with it. Aulus, realizing the advantage this had given him, seized the opportunity and attacked the relatively undefended villages closest to Ostia. With low casualties, the villages were captured, and the Ostia forces continued advancing towards Ricimer’s stronghold.
It appears however that Ricimer still had a significant number of troops stationed in his stronghold, and he was able to advance and meet Ostia’s advance. The two armies clashed on a field outside of what is now the industrial town of Gaeta, if the massive amount of buried ancient weaponry is any indication. The writings of the poet Septimus tell of a clash of two armies, each “numbering in the tens of thousands”. The total amount of casualties is unknown, but it is likely to number in the thousands as well. The tide of the battle turned when Aulus overran Ricimer’s positions with superior cavalry, forcing his troops into retreat.
Ricimer fled back to his stronghold, the village of Lorium, where he was quickly besieged by Aulus and his victorious army. A lengthy siege ensued, and the Solvini appear to believe that the siege was broken by divine intervention on Aulus’ behalf, but this is likely due to the Solvinius Empire being a byproduct of his victory. Apparently, the log walls of one of the gate houses was weakened by rain, and during an unusually severe storm the ground eroded and the wall partially collapsed, allowing the forces of Ostia to enter in the night and capture Ricimer, who Aulus famously had crucified for rebellion.
Solvini records point this date to be sometime around 2175 BCE, Aulus, now in possession of all Forerunner settlements in Eurasia, declared the foundation of what was known as the Ostian Empire. Aulus established himself as emperor, and the first civilization in Eurasia was born.
The Ostian Empire was internally stable for the next two-hundred odd years, with emperors exchanging positions upon their death not by bloodline but by merit, until the Great Schism of 2000 BCE, which resulted in the fragmentation of the Ostian Empire into the Solvinius Empire and the Kingdom of Aretium. Records from Aretium are unusually fragmented and incomplete, but the Solvini records indicate that an emperor died and there was no clear successor,  leading to the division of the empire after a brief war of succession. The Solvinius Empire remained in control of the city of Ostia and the surrounding farmland and villages, while the Aretian Kingdom possessed the more agrarian lands south of Solvinius. The situation remained peaceful, if tense, for the following hundred years.
In 1900 BCE, another plague spread first through Aretium, then into Solvinius. Archival records indicate that farmers from Aretium became deathly ill after touching livestock who had been infected, likely hinting at some sort of viral or bacterial origin. Aretium was devastated, with huge swaths of the population dying in the span of a few short months. The death toll was so extreme that the authorities were unable to remove the bodies, leading to rotting corpses crowding the streets. A mural from the time still exists in the Museum of Eurasian History in Urbem Sol, and it depicts Aretian priests sealing the doors to the temple as the sickness spreads to its doors.
Solvini records call it again “Xo Mortus”, and speak of it in almost frightened tones. Apparently, the sickness spread to Ostia when traders from Aretium entered the city, unaware they were infected. Due to Solvinius being medically more advanced than Aretium, in that they understood the importance of quarantine, the infection did not spread as quickly nor did it claim as many lives. Eventually, the remaining citizens of Aretium petitioned the Solvini government to allow them to become a portion of the Solvini Empire. Realizing the benefits of possessing farmland which could be useful for growth in the future, the Solvinis accepted, and Eurasia was once again united under a single banner.

Civilization and Expansion
(1499 BCE- 60 BCE)


The expansion of the Solvinius Empire continued unabated, until eventually they controlled the whole of northern Eurasia. Trading ships were sent out, and contact was made with their former people in what is now the Vesperius island chain. Friendly relations developed, and over time the two fledgling empires became close allies. Solvinius grew wealthy from the increased trade, and the emperor became beloved by his people. The farmland that came when Aretium was incorporated was especially beneficial, as now Solvinius had a means to feed its people without bartering with other nations.
However, in 1200 BCE, after 700 years of peace and growth, disaster befell the civilization. The emperor, Martinus, declared his daughter, Aurelia, the heiress to the empire on his passing. It was common for the emperor to choose an heir or heiress to the empire, but no emperor had ever chosen a member of his family on principal, as the Solvini felt that a hereditary monarchy would lead to the dissolution of the empire. Historians agree that it was around this time that Solvinius began to decline as an empire. Aurelia was not a terrible empress in her own right, she merely came to power with very little respect and very little political capital. Indeed, her inability to govern grew so serious that a regent was appointed who governed in her stead.
When a famine struck Solvinius in 1176 BCE, the people, who had already grown disillusioned with the monarchy, lost faith completely. The Imperial Palace was stormed, and Aurelia was captured and imprisoned in La Fortaleza, the infamous prison in the heart of Solvinius. She died there, possibly from assassination, within a few months.
During this time, the regent, who was also considered to blame, managed to save himself by proclaiming he was the legitimate emperor now with no declared heir. The Council, who still existed, agreed, and he was proclaimed the Emperor Vespasian II. Almost immediately, Vespasian set about dealing with the famine. An Imperial decree was handed down: All farms were, until the end of the famine, under Imperial control. While this was not popular amongst the agrarian sections of Solvini society, it was hugely popular among the city-dwellers, who viewed the famine as partially the fault of shoddy farming practices. Under Imperial control, the farms did increase production, although this was partially due to the use of slave labor by the Imperial Government, who forced prisoners to work in the fields as punishment for their crimes.
Vespasian himself died of typhoid fever in the summer of 1150 BCE, beloved by the people as possibly the most popular Solvini emperor since Aulus. He was succeeded by his designated heir, the General Plutus. The Solvinius Empire remained relatively unchanged internally for the next 800 years, with minor expansions into southern Eurasia until 350 BCE, when, as a result of plagues, small civil wars, and famine, the empire began to collapse.
The final emperor of the Solvinius Empire was Corpulus IV, in 150 BCE. He was and is widely considered one of the worst leaders in ancient history, mainly due to what appears to be unbelievable incompetence and stupidity. He was known to host wild orgies in the Imperial Palace while the populace starved in the streets, as well as to neglect the duties of the emperor at the temple. The people revolted, and the palace was burned to the ground. Corpulus himself was crucified and left to die in the rubble. After this uprising, the Council itself was overthrown as well. Now, without any semblance of government, Solvinius descended into anarchy. The War of Unification had begun.
Our records shift now from the Solvinius Empire’s archives to those of the Temple of the Eternal Light in Ostia, which, as a religious institution, was generally left alone by the marauding bands for fear of divine reprisal. The state of anarchy and bloodshed lasted for around fifty years following the end of Corpulus’ reign, with rival factions struggling to gain a foothold in the chaos that was Eurasia. Eventually, a General by the name of Julius Eurasius managed to gain a foothold in the ruins of Ostia, and proclaimed the establishment of the Empire of Regillum, claiming it to be the direct successor to Aulus and his empire. The other warlords, too fractured to effectively resist the new power, were unable to resist as Regillum slowly annexed one hold after the other. This was aided by Vesperi aid on behalf of Regillium. The Vesperi, who were culturally and socially linked to Regillum and the pre-Eurasian peoples, had a vested interest in seeing a centralized power in mainland Eurasia prevail. With the increased foreign support, Eurasius and Regillum were able to overcome the warlords, and by 100 BCE, the the War of Unification was over and civilization had returned to Eurasia.
Eurasius was crowned Emperor Julius I in 99 BCE, and amongst widespread popular support established the Senate of Regillum to serve as the successor to the Elder Council of Solvinius and Ostia. The initial focus of Julius’ reign was to address the nonexistent infrastructure and basic necessities of the people. Ostia was in ruins, and Julius’ first years as Emperor were spent not in the Imperial Palace, which at that point was gone, but instead in his own villa in southern Civitius. Rebuilding was slow, but the process was aided by the help of the Temple of the Eternal Light’s resources, which resulted in the city being eventually named “Urbem Sol”, or “City of Light”, years later in honor of this.
Records from the Regillum Imperial Archives indicate that after rebuilding, in the year 75 BCE, Julius set about on rebuilding the Imperial Military, which had been decimated by the War of Unification. He instituted what became known as the Reforms of Julius, which modernized the Regillian military and made it a fearsome fighting force. The empire began to slowly expand, and eventually Julius died in 60 BCE, and was succeeded by his son, Augustus, as emperor. Even in modern times, Julius I is viewed as perhaps one of the most significant figures in all of Eurasian history.

Conquest and Religious Turmoil
(59 BCE-300 ECE)

Augustus’ first action as Emperor was to expand the Empire, and the decision was made to occupy the land of Alba in 58 BCE, in what is modern day Arveyres. Imperial explorers had first encountered the area during Julius I’s reign, and it was believed to be inhabited largely by natives and not a significant threat to Imperial expansion. Alba was subjugated with little difficulty, and in 55 BCE it became an official province of Regillum. This acquisition, while seeming inconsequential at the time, was one of the most important decisions in history, as it would directly lead to the rise of two of the largest monotheistic religions in the world.
In 49 BCE a large revolt occurred, instigated by religious leaders in the region, and quickly spread to engulf all of the Abla Province. Augustus, preoccupied with his fight for tax reform in the Senate, sent an entire legion to enter the province and passify it, but any means necessary. The generals in command of the legion “red between the lines”, so to speak, and when the leaders were found in the town of Villa Abalium, known today as Villa Abalui, the generals executed some 6,000 Albans. The rebellion was crushed, brutally, but the Jews in Alba now viewed the Regilli not as benevolent overlords but as conquerors.
The Senate voted in 45 BCE to rename Regillum “Eurasia” in honor of Julius Eurasius, with Eurasia meaning “Eurasius’ Land”. The trade with Alba increased dramatically, and in 35 BCE scholars estimate, via Imperial records, that almost a quarter of all Imperial revenue came from that relatively small province alone.
Augustus died in 14 BCE at the age of seventy-five, and was succeeded by his son, Tiberius. Around this time, another rebellion occurred in Alba, this time with assaults on Eurasian citizens. The garrison responded by sacking the temple and confiscating many valuables that were inside. The populace immediately revolted and overran the Imperial garrison, and Tiberius deployed two whole legions to again crush the dissent, but this time with an added stipulation: there would no longer be native rule of Alba.
When the rebellion was crushed, which it inevitably was, the local governance structures were abolished and Imperial governors, or Prefects, were brought in to maintain order. The rebellions ceased, mainly due to the subjugation of the Alban people and their land. Essentially, the Emperor gave them an ultimatum of “Cease the rebellion or be enslaved.” The Governor of Alba, Septimus Severus, was viewed as fair enough for a Eurasian governor, and the people, if unhappy, were more or less unwilling to rebel again.
During this time period, Eurasian relations with the Aldmeri Kingdom, which inhabited modern-day Asticus, grew peacefully, and Eurasia began trading with the kingdom for wines and spices while the Aldmeri sought Eurasian arms and armor. The increased trade somewhat diminished Alba’s hold on the Imperial economy,and slowly Alba began to be forgotten by many Eurasians as nothing more than a dismal, far away province not worth considering.
At the turn of the millenium, in 0 ECE, Septimus Severus died and was replaced by another Eurasian-borne ruler, Agrippa Postumus, who worked to repair relations between the Alban Jews and the Eurasian Empire. The principal amongst these differences was religious, as the Albans mostly practiced monotheistic religions (predominantly Judaism), whilst the Eurasians practiced the worship of Mos Maiorum, which is still practiced today. These extreme cultural differences were compounded by language barriers, with very few Eurasians choosing to learn the various languages spoken by the Alban people and most Albans being unable to do so (for various reasons). Thus, when Postumus died, he was replaced by the elderly Antonius Diogenes, who died within months of taking the post. He was then replaced by Titus Pomponius Atticus, who was assassinated before being able to govern.
Thus, in 29 ECE, Pontius Pilate became the fifth Prefect of Alba, and this decision by Emperor Tiberius effectively changed the course of history.
Within a year of becoming Prefect, Pilate was forced to content with a rebellion instigated by dissatisfied Alban Jewish leaders, many of whom saw the Eurasian presence as blasphemous. Pilate crushed the rebellion, but he was given strict new orders from Tiberius: “There was to be no more civil unrest.” Thus, Pilate entered into an uneasy Prefectship with the Alban people, and the stage was set for Pilate’s most famous decision four years later.
In 33 ECE, the Jewish philosopher and religious leader Jesus Christ was arrested and brought before Pilate. Imperial Records would indicate that Jesus was spreading dissent amongst the Jewish Albans and attempting to circumvent the Imperial foothold in the region, while Biblical verses contend that the Eurasians were coerced into doing so by overzealous Albans. Whatever the case, Pilate ordered Jesus’ execution, with crucifixion being the de jure punishment for rebellion at the time.  
Thus, Jesus was executed in 33 ECE, and Christianity slowly began to spread from Alba into all of modern Arveyres, and then to the world. However, Eurasian occupation of Alba did not end there. In 105 ECE, yet another rebellion occurred, this time from Christians who wanted Alba to be independent from the Eurasian Empire and attempted to fight for it. The rebellion was put down, but the Emperor, Sextus, permanently garrisoned two legions in Alba and ordered the rebels to be crucified.
By 260 ECE, many Eurasian Senators and Imperial officials were beginning to question the efficacy of the occupation, which was in its almost 300th year and was now financially draining for the Empire. Indeed, Imperial Records indicate that the Imperial Military was forced to maintain near martial law permanently to maintain order, and the cost on Imperial manpower was significantly hampering the Empire’s ability to expand elsewhere. Thus, in 289 ECE, Emperor Novius officially withdrew Imperial troops and left the Albans to their own devices, ending the 300 year occupation of Alba and Eurasian rule in the area.

War and Peace
(301 ECE- 999 ECE)
Eurasian history was relatively uneventful for the following centuries, with emperors peacefully ruling over the populace. The Senate was reconstituted to allow for commoners to become Senators, and a Senatorial salary was implemented to prevent only the wealthy becoming Senators and serving their own interests. Trade with the Aldmeri Kingdom increased, until finally in 367 ECE they became an official protectorate of the Eurasian Empire, effectively adding the Asticus Peninsula to the Empire. Eurasian medicine advanced as well, and soon Eurasian doctors became known as the best in the known world, and were highly sought after by leaders from various empires and kingdoms.
A plague did hit the Asticus peninsula in the mid 800’s ECE, but it was smaller and less infectious than previous plagues, and did not kill as many or spread as far as previous plagues had. Religious reformation did begin to take place, however, and an upsurge in Christian beliefs began to occur. The Empress at the time, Claudia I, was sympathetic to the plight of the Christians, although she herself was a pagan. She allowed its expansion in the slums of the cities of Eurasia, but with her death in 853 ECE and her son’s ascension as Flavius III, the Christian minority was expelled from Eurasia. Flavius, a strict pagan, was not as sympathetic to the plight of the Christians as his mother had been, and thus offered them a choice: Convert, leave the country, or die”. Some chose to convert, but many chose to return to Arveyres and Duresia where Christians were not persecuted or were in the majority. This caused a religious uprising though by the fundamentalist pagans, who rioted in Urbem Sol against what they saw as Imperial lenience to what they believed to be a subversive and blasphemous faith. The riot was crushed by the Urban Cohort, the guard of Urbem Sol, but the message was clear: Christians wouldn’t be allowed in Eurasia. The Emperor silently agreed, and Christianity in Eurasia fizzled out with barely a whisper.
Expansion continued unabated throughout this time period, but the greatest discovery was of the Ortus archipelago by the Eurasian explorer Ascanius Fortis, who declared it an official colony of Eurasia in the name of the Imperial Government. Not long after, vast silver deposits were discovered in the colony, which enriched the Imperial Government to a point it had never seen before. However, the mines were overrun in 901 ECE by an indigenous local tribe, who had historically inhabited the area unbeknownst to the Eurasian colonists. The Imperial Army was called in, and they quelled the uprising with brutal efficiency. The tribespeople were taken captive and forced to work as slaves in the mines.
The enrichment of the Empire from the mines allowed explorers to be sent out, and new lands were discovered and contact made with various peoples. Shipping routes with Arveyres began, as well as trade with the local New-Zealand tribes prior to the Tarajani colonization. This all continued until the tragic death of Emperor Trajan in 998 ECE, which would lead to the brutal and violent War of the Three Banners, which gripped the Eurasian Empire for nearly ten years from 1000 ECE to 1009 ECE.

Conquest and Technology1
(1001 ECE-1400 ECE)

The second millenium dawned with blood and steel in Eurasia, with the violent War of Succession raging throughout the Empire. Emperor Trajan died suddenly in 998 ECE, and when he did he had not declared an heir for his succession. Thus, the War of the Three Banners began when his two sons could not agree on who should succeed their father. The Empire was divided into three factions: Those who supported Lucretius, those who supported Octavius, and the Senate who still legally controlled those who remained loyal to the Empire itself and not to the bloodline. Scholars posit that the main reason the bloodline of Emperor Julius the first who founded the Empire remained in power, and that Lucretius and Octavius were actually direct descendants of Julius, where due to the Emperor always maintaining the power of the state even in the face of direct rebellion. Now however, the Imperial Military was in the control of the Senate, who appointed Trajan’s brother Sabinus as Imperial Dictator for the duration of the war, and neither brother had a clear advantage.
Initially, Sabinus’ plan was to allow the brothers to fight and kill each other without Imperial intervention, then proclaim whomever survived as the Emperor, which was at first quite successful. The two brothers fought each other for almost two years with no clear advantage, but destroyed a good deal of Eurasian infrastructure and roadways in their quest for domination, and in 1004 ECE the Senate declared Sabinus Emperor Sabinus IX, making him the ruler of the Empire and invalidating the claims of Lucretius and Octavius. The two brothers refused to recognize his reign, however, and temporarily joined forces to attack Urbem Sol and seize the throne from Sabinus.
Sabinus had both military superiority and an easily defensible position working in his favor, not to mention the fact that the brothers’ alliance was merely from necessity and would surely break if enough force was applied. Sabinus thus decided to attack first, marching from the safety of the city walls and striking the surprised Octavius first, who in his confusion then ordered an attack on his brother. The two armies began to fight directly outside the city, and a famous painting depicts the Emperor Sabinus watching as the two armies fought on is metaphorical doorstep.
By the time the two brothers realized they had been fooled, Sabinus’ armies had surrounded them and demanded their surrender. Lucretius refused, but Octavius took his own life in a fit of desperation to prevent being captured by his uncle. Upon hearing this, Sabinus gave Lucretius the opportunity to lay down his arms for a time so Octavius’ body could be given a proper Eurasian burial. Again, Lucretius refused, and in a fit of rage, Sabinus ordered that his army close in and Lucretius’ camp be raised to the ground.
The war finally ended in the late summer of 1009 ECE, with Lucretius following his brother’s example and taking his own life as well. Peace had again come to Eurasia, although the bought of fratricide that had plagued the country for nearly a decade would not soon be forgotten. Sabinus died and left the throne to his niece, Trajan’s daughter, in 1010 ECE, at the age of 81. During the war, the now Empress Pomponia had stayed with her uncle in Urbem Sol and not laid claim to the throne, as Eurasian succession laws at the time only allowed a woman to take the throne if all other male heirs were either dead or hadn’t been born. She was the fourth woman in Eurasian history to have held the post, and the majority of her reign was focused on repairing the damage her brothers had caused to the Empire.
Peace reigned on the Eurasian Empire for many years after that as expansion and colonization continued unabated. There were several brief skirmishes with New-Zealand natives on the Asticus border but they never lead to actual war. Gunpowder was discovered in 1234, and the development of muskets and cannons began later that century. By the 1300’s, the Imperial archers had been replaced by rifle units. In 1300 however, Eurasia was struck by the worst smallpox epidemic in recorded history. Imperial records from the time are strangely nonexistent, although whether this is due to poor recordkeeping or the recordkeepers being dead is subject to speculation. Scholars tend to agree with the latter more than the former, however.
The epidemic apparently began in 1304 in the fishing village of Pataviteum, although its exact origins are subject to speculation. Contact with the village was lost in the fall of that year, and the Emperor dispatched a contingent of cavalry from the Imperial Military to see if something had gone wrong, and the events that transpired were recorded in the journal of the cavalry captain.
“We happened upon the gates of the village, which were sealed shut. A queer, almost sickly smell was blowing towards us, as we were downwind of the village. I ordered Verilus and Sextus to hail the guards, but we received no response. Thus, I ordered the horn blown, but again no response was received. I had the gate broken down, and we entered upon a terrible scene. The column of smoke we had seen earlier was coming from the center of the town, where a stack of bodies was alight. The houses were in various states of disrepair, with bodies laying outside many of the doors. Initially, I thought it to be a bandit raid, but my men inspected the corpses and immediately recoiled. The people had been infected with the pox. I told my men to search the buildings, and we found only one man and two women alive, both in the advanced stages of the infection. I had Marcus give them their last rites, then put them out of their misery. After the infected were dealt with I had the buildings burned and the corpses thrown into the fire. We then returned to the camp.”

Unbeknownst to the Eurasian soldiers, the cavalrymen who had moved bodies had inadvertently infected themselves with smallpox, and when they returned to the military camp the promptly infected others. The infection spread via the roads from there, and epidemiologists have, using surviving Imperial records, traced the infection from the town of Capua, which was near the fort, to the surrounding cities, and eventually all throughout Eurasia. Smallpox was always a reality in Eurasia, and some were immune, but there had not been an outbreak for quite some time. Thus, the majority of Eurasians were susceptible to the virus, and it is calculated that nearly one-third of Eurasians died within a span of four years, with the death toll laying somewhere between 10 million and 30 million. Even the Emperor was not spared, dying in 1306 in the Imperial Palace along many of his advisors and family.
Classical scholars christened the epidemic The Plague of Nerva, in reference to the Emperor at the time. The death toll grew so extreme at some times that it was estimated that 10,000 people per day were dying in Urbem Sol, and the Urban Cohort, who were responsible for maintaining order, were either all sick or dead, with the healthy people in the city either staying inside for fear of getting ill or trying to dispose of the ever growing piles of bodies. The Senate tried to maintain order but many of them died as well, and anarchy gripped the nation as the Imperial Government was unable to administer anything as its soldiers and politicians died or were too sick to work. After Nerva’s death, the need or a new Emperor was ignored as the Plague took precedence. The Imperial Military did its best to maintain order, but its soldiers kept getting sick. Eventually, the Praefect of Urbem Sol ordered the remaining soldiers to pull out of the city and not let anyone in or out, effectively quarantining the city.
This strategy proved effective, and by 1307 Urbem Sol was free of the plague, at a terrible cost. Almost 60% of its residents had died or fled. The remaining residents were forced to rebuild the city with little help from the military, whose main concern was the disposal of the thousands of corpses in the city. Other generals adopted this strategy, and Eurasia gradually began to clear of the plague. Many cities, unable to cope with the massive amounts of bodies, simply began dumping them in lakes or rivers. In the ocean outside Urbem Sol, even today the mass graves can be found if one looks for them.
The plague was gone by 1310, and with it much of Eurasia’s military and financial power was gone. A new Emperor was crowned, Domitian, who set repairing the damage from the plague. Many of Eurasia’s colonies, such as Vesperius and Ortus declared independence during the plague, and the Emperor’s primary goal was to recapture these colonies. Historians disagree as to why Domitian chose to retake the colonies so soon after recovering from the worst plague in Eurasian history, but the decision spelled catastrophe for the Eurasian Empire.
Domitian chose first to attack Vesperius, but the Imperial Military was totally unprepared for the invasion, and were quickly repulsed and defeated in the worst defeat suffered that far by the Imperial Military. Driven back into the mainland, the Vesperian Rebels pushed into the weakened Eurasia and overthrew the Emperor in what can hardly be called a battle, and so began the War of the Gold Ring in 1400 ECE.

Tyranny and Usurpers
(1401 ECE-1450 ECE)

Following the usurpation of Emperor Domitian, the Vesperian forces instituted a military dictatorship over the Eurasian mainland, although it cannot be said they ever controlled the entirety of Eurasia, as they had neither the manpower nor the interest in advancing any further. Domitian remained in power in Asticus, but he had very little interest in governing anymore, and his advisors were forced to handle the basic affairs of the Empire. The Vesperian dictatorship was not necessarily repressive nor brutal to their conquered citizens, but they were unpopular and not liked by the people they were now lording over.
Historians believe that the Vesperian intent was to force the Emperor or Imperial Government to sign a treaty allowing Vesperius to become an independent power, whereupon they would withdraw from the Eurasian mainland and leave Eurasia to its business. The Eurasians, however, refused to negotiate, and for the next ninety-nine years the focus of the Imperial Government was to retake all the rebel colonies no matter the cost. Starting in 1423 ECE, after the Imperial Military had managed to recover their losses from the plague, the reconquest of Eurasia began slowly, with little headway made. The Vesperian forces were deeply entrenched in the hills surrounding Urbem Sol and what is modern day Civitius, and it took the use of heavy cannons by the Imperial Army to slowly but effectively push them back. Imperial records point to the Imperial generals being overly cautious against losing too many soldiers, as the Eurasian morale had yet to recover fully from the embarrassing and disastrous defeat years earlier.
The Emperor, who was growing increasingly troubled, declared in 1424 ECE that Vesperius did not exist and forbade any mention of its name in Imperial records. Thankfully, the Imperial Scribes ignored this decree and continued to refer to Vesperius by its actual name. This was however the harbinger of things to come, and in the same year the Emperor also declared that he was in fact a woman and that his cat was now to be worshipped as a god. Parading around the Imperial Palace dressed as a housewife, and solicited many male Senators and Praetorian guards for sex. His increasingly strange demeanor was cause for great concern throughout the Imperial Government, but the Senators and advisors managed to hide his condition from the general public.
The Emperor’s strange demeanor changed in 1426, however, when he, in a sudden bout of clarity, ordered the Imperial Generals to go on a massive offensive against the Vesperian forces still holding Urbem Sol. This proved successful, and the enemy forces were pushed back further until they held only Urbem Sol and northern Civitius. The Emperor celebrated this by visiting an Asticusian whorehouse in disguise and soliciting sex from men visiting it. He also then declared that all Eurasians must convert to cat-worship or be executed.
Eventually, Emperor Domitian declared that all shall begin referring to him as “Her Supreme Magnificence, Empress Domitia”. The cross-dressing continued unabated, and many in the Empire began to question the Emperor, or Empress’, sanity. Modern psychologists suspect that with proper treatment the Emperor’s condition could have been lessened, but XIV Eurasia did not have access to modern medicine, and thus his condition remained the same. A war of attrition slowly whittled away at the Vesperi positions, and steady headway was made throughout the 1430’s. Emperor Domitian launched a fresh offensive the same decade, and the Vesperi were finally pushed out of Eurasia. However, the issue of reclaiming the colonies was a significant issue, but Emperor Domitian declared that the rebellious colonies were in fact still colonies of Eurasia and had never revolted. Obviously, this did not bode well with the aristocracy, and in 1439 Domitian was forced to abdicate in favor of his nephew, Caligula, who had his uncle removed from the limelight and retired. Domitian spent the rest of his days pretending to be a woman.
Emperor Caligula changed the state religion from cat-worship back to Eurasian Polytheism, which was still the de facto religion in the Empire and had not changed with Domitian’s bizarre reforms. He then embarked on the reconquest of the colonies. Vesperius was the first to fall, with the Imperial Navy blockading the nation for almost two years before they finally invaded the weakened nation, whose people had begun to starve from lack of food. Even today, Vesperius is largely an information-technology oriented province, and is totally reliant on trade with other provinces or dominions to actually maintain itself, as the rocky terrain cannot support farmland. Thus, they were unable to hold off the Imperial onslaught and were overrun. The leadership of Vesperius was famously given the opportunity to either take their own lives or die on the battlefield by the Emperor, who is said to have forbade his generals from executing anyone who had not fought honorably. Several Vesperian leaders did not take the opportunity, and instead of being crucified, as was the custom for rebellion, they were instead locked in prison for the rest of their lives and refused proper burial upon their death, a great travesty for a Eurasian.
The Emperor then turned his attention to the other wayward colonies, including Ortus and Subter. This was much more successful than anyone assumed, as many of the colonies, seeing the benefit of a reinvigorated Eurasia, rejoined with minimal bloodshed. Thus, by 1450 ECE, Eurasia was once again unified.

Expansion and Enrichment
(1451 ECE-1750 ECE)

The remainder of the XIII Century was relatively quiet for Eurasia. Domitian, convinced that the walls wanted to eat him, lept from the Palace roof into a crowd of Senators, injuring several and providing a good deal of comedy for the Eurasian people. He managed to outlive not just Caligula but Caligula’s successor as well. The Empire continued expanding, acquiring colonies far throughout the world. In 1500 ECE, Eurasian explorers ventured into what would become New-Zealand to make contact with the indigenous people. The goal was to establish trade routes, which was ultimately successful after the explorers got lost and ended up being saved from starvation by the natives.
In 1502 ECE, the Praetorian Guard lost track of Emperor Domitian, who had pretended to be asleep and fooled them into letting him sneak out, and only found him when the Urban Cohort found the ninety-eight-year-old former emperor running through the Urbem Sol forum, throwing fruit at pregnant women and calling them “imposters”. The Emperor then disappeared again, only to be found in the distant land of Arveyres. He was returned before he could start a war and remained in the Imperial Palace until his death four years later at the age of 102.
In 1600 ECE, Eurasian trade with the Kingdom of Zackalantis increased, as did trade with other states in that part of the world. Being one of the only civilizations that developed without foreign interference in that section of the world, Eurasia had yet to encounter any other powerful states that could challenge it. Trade with the New-Zealanders also increased, and Eurasian intervention helped end many tribal conflicts. In the early years of the XV Century however, Eurasia was thrown into the worst catastrophe visited upon it in its history, other than the plague. The War of Succession was about to begin.
Following the death of the Emperor Claudius, unrest began to break out almost immediately. The designated heir to the throne was the daughter of Claudius, Catarina. Viewed by many as illegitimate and unworthy to sit upon the Throne, her aunt, Potema, who was at the time Queen of Aquilus, a dominion of the Eurasian Empire, declared rebellion against the throne and forced Aquilus to secede from the Empire. Her plan was, as records dictate, to install her son, Marcus, as the Emperor and puppet-ruler and become the Empress of Eurasia. She launched an invasion against the unprepared Catarina and seized Urbem Sol from the Imperial Forces, capturing Catarina and imprisoning her in the city. The Imperial Generals, unsure of what to, did not resist as Potema pushed into the city and crowned her son Emperor of Eurasia.
Historians agree that Potema herself likely would have been crowned Empress, had she not been from a more distant line of the Julian family and thus not had a strong claim to the throne. However, she managed to seize Eurasia from the Empress Catarina, and her son’s rule, and by proxy her rule, are known in Eurasia as the Age of the Wolf-Queen. When her reign ended years later, the Empire was in shambles.
Upon the ascension of her son to the throne, she proceeded to declare herself regent, and almost immediately began to undo the hard work of innumerable Emperors throughout Eurasian history. She first banned the worship of other gods, which not so much affected the Eurasian mainland as it did some of its more far flung colonies, many of whom lived peaceably with their Eurasian counterparts and did nothing to upset the status quo of things. She also disbanded the Senate and attempted to massacre them in their chambers, but thankfully several managed to escape and fled to some our the outlying colonies who were sympathetic to their plight. Many generals in the Imperial Military also deserted, bringing their troops to outlying colonies and waiting for orders from the legitimate Emperor, whomever that might be. Potema, enraged by this, declared that all who refused to recognize her son’s reign as Emperor were traitors and would be crucified in the centers of their towns. The exiled Senators countered by proclaiming that any Imperial Governor who was loyal to the true Eurasian Emperors and Empire would announce it was seceding from Potema’s government.
After the announcement, Vesperius, Ortus, Subter, Solipsa, Asticus, Civitius, and Inimicus all declared their allegiance to the Government-in-exile. The deposed Empress, Catarina, was executed in public in response to the declaration, which further isolated Potema from her possible allies and pushed more people to the Imperial side. The exiled Imperial Government coronated Empress Cataria, the deceased Catarina’s sister, as Empress. Cataria immediately ordered the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Eurasia, to excommunicate Potema and her son and threatened all Potema loyalists with excommunication as well if they failed to join the Imperial side. This further alienated the Potema loyalists, many of whom defected. The Imperial side, however, still did not have the resources that Potema did. Being that she controlled the majority of mainland Eurasia, she had access to the vast factories and manufacturing networks that the Imperials frankly did not.
The Imperials, however, had access to more farmland and thus more food than Potema, as well as more manpower due to many of the loyal generals deserting and coming to the Imperial side with their armies. In 1605 ECE, The Imperials launched an offensive against Potema’s stronghold in the mainland. She was initially pushed back, but her forces counterattacked and brought the situation to a stalemate. The Imperial Generals, many of whom were fully aware that the enemy were only fighting out of fear of Potema’s reprisals, offered the enemy forces a deal: join our side and all will be forgiven.
This was a successful strategy, and many of Potema’s armies deserted to the Imperial side, further weakening her position and reducing her controlled territory to that of Urbem Sol. Empress Cataria herself traveled with the armies as encouragement of their task, and in 1606 the final battle for Urbem Sol began, with Potema refusing to leave. Her son, the false Emperor Marcus did attempt to flee the city, but was captured by Imperial Forces and held for treason until he could be tried. Potema herself was cornered in the Imperial Palace by a group of Urban Cohort who had been participating in the assault, where she flung herself from an open window rather than face certain execution by the Imperial Military.
Empress Cataria was restored to the Imperial Throne in 1607 ECE after the remainder of the country was pacified, and the War of Succession was finally over. The Julian line had defended itself against threats both foreign and internal, and had remained in power.  The usurper Marcus was executed for treason in 1609 after a lengthy trial, most of which was for show, and the Empress focused on rebuilding what Potema had destroyed through her greed and machinations.
By the year 1700, Eurasian trade with the New-Zealand area had increased dramatically, and rumors abounded that some of the local tribes would be incorporated into the empire as vassal states. The Imperial Government denied these rumors and stated unequivocally that they had no intentions of annexing the region, mainly due to the influx of Tarajani settlers to the region, wherein an annexation by Eurasia could have sparked a war. Eurasian focus thus shifted to the north and west, where unclaimed lands for colonies were ripe for the taking. Eurasian attitude to the native peoples of the region was less than spectacular, with displacement very common. A large Eurasian colony was established south of New Europe, which provided the mainland with a bounty in minerals and ores.
The 1720’s marked the beginning of the Cultural Enlightenment, when Eurasian society began to evolve into what it is today. The Emperor at the time, Agripa, banned slavery throughout the Empire, a controversial move which likely prevented another civil war between the traditionalists and the conventionalists. Eurasian diplomats were sent to many of the nations in the world, and friendly relations with places far away like the Atanean Empire flourished. In 1724, Galen, the esteemed doctor from Solipsa, made great advances in the field of medicine, especially in the areas of medicinal remedies. Adding on the knowledge of the ancient Eurasians, he began to treat infections with bandages soaked in carbolic acid, a byproduct of coal tar, which averted death from gangrene.
The advancement in technology occurred as well. The steam engine had existed in Eurasian society for thousands of years, but they were unwieldy and dangerous, and mainly avoided by most factories. However, in 1731 ECE, Septimus Severus invented a steam engine that was encased in steel and iron and was powered by wood and coal, which revolutionized the pre-modern world. Factories and mines, powered by the new technology, sprang up all around Eurasia, and the Imperial Military began to use them for offensive purposes. The navy too began to incorporate them into ships, although it was highly expensive to do so.

Growth and Modernization
(1751 ECE- Present Day)

In 1760 ECE, with the establishment of New-Zealand as a colony of New Tarajan, Eurasian relations began to lessen. Imperial Records indicate that the Emperor viewed this as an unwelcome intrusion into the Eurasian sphere of influence, and Eurasian reluctance to trade with the fledgling colony increased dramatically as more Tarajani settlers arrived. The reluctance increased dramatically when New-Zealand became an official domain of the Tarajani Empire, and the Emperor ordered the borders tightened to prevent traders from entering the Empire.
The Eurasian Empire began to focus on increasing its colonial presence, and the Bruma and Antiquis colonies were founded at the turn of the century in 1800 ECE. In the early 1800’s, Eurasian Imperial influence in the Zackalantis area increased, with several trading posts established and some Eurasians emigrating to the area to trade. However, in 1835 ECE, after the Zach War for Independence, the Emperor announced an Imperial intervention into Zackalantis, and the country was quickly annexed into the Eurasian Empire. The clash in religions and cultures was problematic for the Imperial Government, which controlled Zackalantis from thousands of miles away.
The majority of Zackalantis, being Christian, were under the colonial control of the Imperial Military, all of whom practiced Eurasian Polytheism and viewed the Christian holidays and traditions as bizarre and alien. The Imperial Governor of Zackalantis instituted reforms with the goal of converting the majority of the population, but these were ineffective and more often than not resulted in clashes between the military and the citizenry.
While events were unfolding in Zackalantis, in mainland Eurasia the Senate implemented the first nationalized health care scheme in the world, which was really just codifying what had already been the practice for years. The same year, the Senate officially provided Imperial grants to universities and colleges to be established throughout the country. The year of 1837 ECE, when all the aforementioned laws were passed, began to be known as the Year of Productivity, a humorous tongue-in-cheek reference to the Senate’s occasional inability to agree on anything.
In 1845 ECE, unrest began to foment itself in Zackalantis. Local rebels were inciting rebellion against the Imperial Military, most of whom were generally apathetic to the plight of the Zach people. Thus, a rebellion occurred in 1846 ECE, shortly after the coronation of Emperor Julius IV, who being more sympathetic to the cultural differences, instituted policies that were more lenient than his predecessor towards the Zach people. However, these were unsuccessful, and in 1847 ECE Zackalantis declared itself independent of the Eurasian Empire, sparking the War of 1847, which lasted for almost two years before the Imperial Government finally relinquished control of Zackalantis. In the words of Emperor Julius, “It simply wasn’t worth the trouble.”
The Empire focused more, following the loss of Zackalantis in 1847, on internal affairs, rebuilding critical infrastructure that had not been updated since the days of Potema. Modernization of the roads and military continued, and the reformation of the Imperial Government began, mainly focusing on the changing of archaic roles that no longer served a significant purpose, and the renovation of the Imperial Palace. In 1853 ECE, the situation involving pirates in the seas between New-Zealand and the Eurasian Empire grew problematic. The majority of the pirates based themselves in New-Zealand, and raided the Eurasian ships loaded with goods. The Emperor issued a decree which has come to be known as the “Writ of Prohibition”, which decreed that the punishment for piracy on any sea controlled by the Imperial Government or any ship that was affiliated with the Eurasian Empire was strictly illegal, and the punishment for such actions was to be death by either hanging or crucifixion depending on what the magistrate decided. Initially the pirates ignored the decree, but the Emperor directed the Eurasian navy to hunt down all pirates and capture them to be brought to Solipsa (the major trading port of the Empire) and hung in public. Over 3,000 pirates were killed in a single day in this manner, and piracy experienced a marked decline by the time the next Emperor, Justinian, ended the practice in 1870.
By the turn of the century in 1900, the Eurasian Empire was experiencing a decline in its colonial power, mainly due to some colonies declaring independence. A small number of border colonies were lost to New-Zealand, New Europe, and Antanares in the early years of the XIX Century, although this was more consensual than forced, as the colonies were practically self-governing due to being so far away from Urbem Sol’s reach.
When rumors of New-Zealand independence began to circulate throughout the Empire, it was decided that it would be in the Empire’s best interests if New-Zealand were to become independent and not be subject to Astana’s control any further, as the Tarajani presence in the region had always been a thorn in the Imperial side, so to speak. Members of the Republican-Socialist Revolutionary movements met with Imperial officials in Urbem Sol and elsewhere to discuss how Eurasia could aid a rebellion, and it was decided that the best way would be for Imperial Eurasian arms to make their way across the border into Kiwi hands to be used in the fight for independence.
When a revolution began in New Tarajan in 1914 ECE, the Imperial Military almost immediately began to supply vast quantities of arms and munitions to the Kiwis in secret. When it became apparent to the remaining Tarajanis that the weapons used by the rebels was very clearly made in Eurasia (some of the rifles even had the stamp of the Imperial Army on them), the Imperial Government responded by sending ships to help force the Tarajani fleet out of the Grand Haven harbor. The fight was successful, and in 1920 ECE New-Zealand became an independent state from New-Tarajan and the Imperial Government donated the Statue of Independence as a celebratory token.
The war however left the Imperial Treasury rather barren, with almost a third of total Imperial funds being spent supplying the rebels. This was made up for by the Emperor enacting lax trade laws with New-Zealand that encouraged trade between the two countries which quickly enriched the Imperial coffers. Around the same time, that being 1921 ECE, flight was discovered, and the Imperial Air Force became a reality that could only have been dreamed of years prior.
When New Tarajan finally regained itself from almost forty years of war in 1944 ECE, the Eurasian Empire underwent a formal reformation that is still felt today. These reforms came in 1946 ECE, and are still in place today. While some reformists at the time called for the Emperor to perform a more ceremonial role, these requests were hurriedly beaten back in the Senate, where the Emperor had many loyalists.
In 1985 ECE, the nation of Arveyres agreed to join the Eurasian Empire as a Provincial Commonwealth after discussions held in The Royal palace in Arveyres.
In 1992 ECE, the Eurasian Empire and New-Zealand founded the UPS in response to the formation of SECURS, with the intent of being an organization for progressive nations abroad. Imperial involvement with other nations began to increase drastically, such as in the New-Zealand Government Shutdown of the mid 1990’s, where the Imperial Military deployed its forces under the control of the Kiwi Government to aid in police actions as the local police had no funding. The funding for the Imperial Military, which was always large, increased dramatically to dwarf the other budgetary expenditures.
Beginning in the mid 1990’s as well, the Imperial Government began to reform the penal code in Eurasia. From the founding of the Empire by Julius Eurasius, the Empire had maintained a practice of executing criminals for crimes such as murder, piracy, rape, or apostasy, although the final crime was rarely enforced and by the XX Century a moratorium had existed for around 100 years. The Senate announced that, in 1994, the death penalty was officially banned in Eurasia and that all prisoners currently on death row were officially pardoned and now were sentenced to life imprisonment. So too was the tax code reformed, so that it further benefited the poor and common people.
In 2006, Emperor Justinius IV died, leaving the Throne to his son and heir, the current Emperor Augustus V. His coronation was one of the largest in Imperial history, and when he ascended the throne in the same year the Empire was at its largest peak in almost 100 years. However, the first test of his leadership came in 2010, when Ienara, a state that has now been enveloped into Eurasia after it collapsed, underwent a civil war, in which it became apparent that UPS nations, mainly New-Zealand and the Eurasian Empire, were funding the republican rebels.
SECURS, responding in favor of the “legitimate” government, enacted a blockade against the UPS forces and deployed its troops into Ienara to prevent further UPS advance. When Imperial forces attempted to enter Ienara to deliver medical supplies, Tarajani naval forces fired upon the Imperial Air Force, shooting down several planes. In response, the Imperial Navy smashed through the blockade, losing a CVBG in the process but clearing the way for other UPS forces to flood the gap. The Imperial Military quickly deployed to Ienara and began engaging Tarajani and Antanaresian forces therein. In the same year, Zach forces attacked Eurasian ports, prompting an invasion of Zackalantis by Imperial Forces from allied Atanea (Atenosia at the time). The invasion reached a crescendo in 2011, but was halted by a Tarajani request for a ceasefire.
The UPS and SECURS leadership met, in Zumbrota, Aloia, to discuss the possibilities of a peace treaty. After much negotiation, the Treaty of Zumbrota was signed in 2011, and the SECURS-UPS war ended after much bloodshed by both sides. Imperial forces withdrew from both Zackalantis and Ienara, although the latter was partially annexed following its collapse.
In 2014, the Atanean Republic was renamed Panem after President Coriolanus Snow took power, whereupon he brutally reformed the government, changing the country into thirteen districts and slaughtering foreigners, most infamously attacking Imperial military bases and slaughtering the soldiers sent by the Empire to protect its ally. The UPS, responding rapidly, invaded the rapidly isolated country and slowly began to liberate it, district by district. SECURS, despite losing civilians as well, as forbidden from participating on the ground due to the Treaty of Zumbrota. However, negotiations with the Tarajani Government by the Consul allowed for the SECURS forces, excluding Zackalantis, to operate limited air strikes under the control of UPS forces. In early 2015, Panem was liberated and Snow was arrested, sentenced to life imprisonment in a European prison. The Federal Republic of Atanea, the successor to both governments, was founded and is allied with The Empire and the UPS.
In 2015 again, before the coronation of the Royal Atanean family, terrorists assassinated the King and Queen before they could accept the crown. Royalist extremists reacted and launched a revolution against the Atanean government, which was combated by European and Imperial Eurasian forces. SECURS attempted to spread rumors that Eurasia had had the royal couple assassinated, but these claims were and are continually refuted.
In the same year again, the Imperial Government and New-Zealand announced the formation of ENZAC, and also of the new trade agreements between the two nations.
Modern Eurasia differs little from the Eurasia of Julius I’s time, obviously ignoring technological developments.