The Knights of Azorea wrote:Civilization Application
Formal Name: The Cities of the Porphyrae
Form of Government: The Porphyrae city states are ruled by commerce above all else. Prominent men, who own the equivalent of five hundred sheep, or one shipyard from whence purple dye flows, are granted a place in the House of Captains (A Senate), along with those who may convince a thousand men to support them. These Senators elect from among them once every five years an Archon, who is granted the right to rule in all things within the city, though nothing beyond it. The Senate manages trade in the name of the Archon, and administrators chosen jointly by both parties manage the hinterlands of the cities. The military is run by the appointees of the Archons.
Location: On the Southern Levant and the northern Sinai.
Brief History: The Levant has always been a land in possession of many commodities, though less fertile than Egypt or Mesopotamia, and as such it has been conquered many a time. The Aramaic peoples found themselves the first to settle the place as their home, and their many cities served as trading hubs for those in east and west. Conquests and wars drove these states many a time to ruin, and many times did waves of cataclysm come. The city of Aram-Porphyrus was founded in the time before, and from it came a new people, half bred from every sort in all the known world. These men farmed olives, grapes, barley, wheat and many flocks of sheep, living simply under chieftains and kings and trading more often than most. As years passed many men began to gather wealth to them, away from the Kings, spreading their influence across the Sinai and as far as the Nile. These rich merchants grew too strong for their kings, and ousted them, before settling new cities, scattered and indistinct, all across the domains of the Porphyrae.
In these years of scattering and dominion by other peoples, the Porhyrae grew to define themselves, knowing them by their marks and by their language. Men of the Porphyrae worshiped their own gods and kept away from the gods of their conquerors, worshiping a Pantheon based on the two Sea gods, Phratun of the West Sea (Mediterranean) and Katun of the East Sea (Red Sea) and their various children. Eventually the Porphyrae coalesced around conclaves of merchants, and set their loyalty by these men. It is said that many years after their subjugation, the Porphyrae Captains took up all the men, women and children of their people, along with all of their possessions from their scattered homes and lead them in a seaborne invasion of the old city of Aram Porphyhrus.
In their numbers and with their determination behind them, the Porphyrae retook their city. The many Captains elected from within their number a Great Captain, an Archon. The Archon re-established control of the city and it's hinterlands, before setting out on a great campaign to re-unite the lands of the Porphyrae. The great multitude of the captain's ships took them along the coast, where they seized control of several cities. The men of the ships settled in these cities, and several captains were left in command each time the Archon moved on with his force, until all the land once claimed by the Porphyrae.
With the Archon in place, along with the Senate of Captains, the Porphyrae prospered. The production of purple dye blossomed, and trade flowed out in either direction, south into the Red Sea and West into the Mediterranean. The cities of the Porphyrae are rich and prosperous, and now they look outwards to grow their empire of trade.
Military Description:The Military is not the most sophisticated part of the Porphyrae state. In order to be a citizen, and thus eligible to vote for a Senator and in that way receive alms from him, a man must be able to afford to arm himself with a spear and shield. A citizen's militia is in this way formed when the cities are threatened, usually headed by mercenaries purchased by rich landowners. The Archon of Porphyrus draws from the sons of rich men a personal guard of the finest soldiers, and the head captain of each city does the same. It is very hard to mobilize any of these troops for any large scale military engagements outside of their home cities and hinterlands.
Naval Description: The Navy is far more sophisticated, utilizing triremes of great size in great number. Ships are a common sight, and almost any urban dwelling Porphyrian can at least manage himself on a ship. The many captain-senators of the cities each own enough ships to trade across the seas, with the most lucrative of these captains owning several ships with bows rowing decks and sails, along with their own complements of armed marines. It is an honourable thing for a father to give over his second son to serve as an officer aboard a ship, so that he might travel to Crete, Cyprus or even down into the lands of Punt to form himself into a decent man. Each city has it's merchant navy, the ships owned by it's captains and armed by them with their own marines, while the Archon maintains his own central fleet. It is a great conveyor of legitimacy for an Archon to be able to build and finance his own navy, with many Archons being remembered solely for the size of their navy. These ships are armed with a much more professional military force of archers and marines, able to both bombard the enemy and to board his ships with hooks. Rams are seen as a costly investment, so arrows and boarding are the most common tools of naval war. For a man to seize his own ship is the difference between peasantry and nobility, for to be able to manage one's own trade almost assures a step up the social ladder.
Color for Map: Purple, or if it is taken, Golden.
Good to see you Az. The imagery I'm getting off of this application I like a lot. Accepted.
