Theban Colonies in YN [Lore Thread]

[Erythrean Thebes]

Theban Colony Project

Many different civilizations have risen and fallen over the course of the ages, they follow a sublime arc from excellence to immortality and complete their life as the legacy of an unconscious human idea, self-justified systems of living and being come to life. There have been many great civilizations on NationStates, from the savage and the all-powerful to the refined and erudite, and each has expressed a truth about themselves through their unique lives as states, evidencing some intangible belief about the universe. A mighty kingdom crushes other nations, bashing down their fine objects, trampling atop their works and buildings – such a peoples shows through their destiny a vision of human society as unstoppable, intractable domination perpetuated against the provocations of life itself. A cosmopolitan country becomes the embodiment of adaptive pragmatism, a religious people determinedly live out the dictates of their spiritual conscience. Thebes, the city Reborn from ashes through the intervention of the divine mercy, devoutly lives out an undying effort to obey the whims of the elusive Olympian gods and to know and abide by their enlightened precepts. For the Thebans, there is in every kind of function some humble appreciation for the divine wisdom, they are also captivated just as they are enlightened by their awareness of the true good. In many ways – through temperament, through inclination, and through experience – this unique quality has made Thebes one of the most successful and most prolific colonizers of the NationStates world.

And that’s where you come in.

This is an opportunity to expand YN’s historical background and international relations. My nation, Thebes, I RP as being a famous colonial motherland to numerous overseas colonies established throughout history. I am soliciting people to apply for and receive their own historical Theban colony in their geographic boundaries, at whatever historical date. Thebes’ historical background info, which is exhaustive, covers long ages between 330 BCE to the present. Not only would the Thebans, proud Hellenic Greeks, have founded dozens of overseas colonies during all that time, but there is [even better] the notion of wars, rebellions, discoveries, intrigues, etc. rising and falling with the eons at the same time. This is a great opportunity to add to our nations, by creating historical wars, alliances, and conflicts over more than 1000 years.

I want you to feel free to make up your own stuff for this idea. You can describe any kind of premise you like, my job is to see how it can work. It can be very simple or it can be really intricate. I have an app form for people who like to use that, but you can specify anything you like.

LIST OF COLONIES

• Lefkagor - Federation of Lillorainen
• Eucaria - Diarcesia

APPLICATION

Date of Colony Founding:
YN’s Historical Name (at time):
YN’s Historical Ruler (at that time):
Name of Colony:
Location of Colony:
Initial Pop:
Did YN eventually conquer this colony?:
Present Day Status:
History of the Colony in YN:

A GENERAL SYNOPSIS ON THE COLONIES. As an RP’er, I am only competitive by agreement, and I do not RP to seriously attack or challenge anyone without their interest. Of course I hope that these colonies can be the historical cause of plenty of wars, blockades, skirmishes, but that is up to what you desire. If, let’s say, you were interested in the idea but you had reservations about creating a colony of mine in your country (especially if it still exists in some capacity), because of a power concern, there is no need to worry, you are welcome to claim it as inert or just spice for YN.

Theban colonies were, broadly speaking, of the classical Greek type and are generally founded near the coastline, or using easy access by river or valley. They were usually a single urban center and it would have been rare for them to grow significantly in territory or establish other colonies (but not entirely impossible). In hostile regions, they were sometimes constructed in more unusual terrain as a defensive measure. More specific details depend on the time period, and of course every colony is unique for its founders and its host context. Before what we call the Middle Ages, Theban colonies adhered to the stereotype of Greek colonies as distant outposts somewhat inclined to keep to themselves, and warding foreigners off from their borders while taking advantage of local commerce. When the Theban monarchy began trying to integrate them, roughly 1300-1600 AD, they became tools of royal politics and were significantly more likely to be the staging point for armies of conquest.

Inasmuch as its colonies, the periods of Theban history can be broken down like so:


EARLY REPUBLIC (330 BC – 200 AD) – no colonies further beyond than the territory of present day’s Commonwealth (Theban homeland) are known to have been founded in the period of the Early Republic. Some legendary colonies which appear or are believed to appear in overseas myths may have originated from individual Thebans settling themselves in foreign lands, as most of this period was known for robust sea commerce.

LATE REPUBLIC (300 - 781 AD) – The later Republic is a historical period noted for its large number of colonies. In this period, two primary types of colony were often settled, one which was driven mostly by the exodus of parties of extremist dissident philosophers, and a second type which were military colonies established by the Republic itself, which was steadily turning into a totalitarian dictatorship. The former usually paid lip-service to their kinship with the homeland, except for severe danger or necessity, while remaining largely estranged; the latter form of colony was generally smaller and less populous at first, but contained some form of armed garrison and primarily served as a series of outposts for Theban maritime commerce.

EARLY MONARCHY (800 – 1350 AD) – At the end of the 8th Century, Hagias Katarkonides the military dictator of the Republic accepted a staged offer from the Council to become King of Thebes, in a process littered with the trappings of godhood. The Katarkonid quest to create an Empire out of the community of their neighbors lasted for centuries. Although most of their time and energy was consumed by that effort, some notable colonies still were settled during this early period of the monarchy, even if they were mostly just conspicuous displays of power. While there were only a handful of state-sanctioned colonies, this period also saw the creation of a number of independent Theban colonies founded by adventurers, dissidents, and visionaries of all kinds.

LATE MONARCHY (1400 – 1670 AD) – The end of the monarchial period, from the birth of the Panteloarchesthai movement to the completion of the Revolution in 1669, is considered to be one of the most active periods of colonial activity in Theban history. Not only were countless colonies founded at this time, benefiting from the crown’s wide-open embrace of its overseas offspring and generous desire to patronize them, but there was also a huge spike in colonial population growth owing to the mastery of new homesteading techniques and the emigration of many from the homeland, as the links between Thebes and its overseas colonies grew much more stable and closer than ever before. During the Revolution, which lasted roughly from 1630 to 1669, this integration was thrown into chaos as Thebes’ colonies struggled with whether to choose sides or try and remain neutral.

COMMONWEALTH (1669 AD – present) – In some respects, the period since the completion of the Revolution has been the greatest yet for Theban colonialism. Protected by the mighty Royal Navy, supported by an activist foreign policy and receiving a massive wave of investment and population growth, those Theban colonies which remained intact by the time of the Commonwealth quickly became states in their own right, and began to exercise influence on their respective regions as legitimate powers. Wholly new attempts at colonization, however, although pursued at times with a fervor, were significantly less successful than they had been in the past, as attempts to found new colonies generally led to explosive wars, diplomatic turmoil, and widespread devastation, usually to the detriment of all involved. Those which succeeded, were oftentimes known for their neo-revolutionary zeal, and imagined as utopia projects.

[Lillorainen]

Date of Colony Founding:
July 20, 1346.

YN’s Historical Name (at time):
Lillorainen as a whole has not existed in those days yet. The northern islands at those days were referred to as the Kingdom of Sigurdslandet.

YN’s Historical Ruler (at that time):
Kind Sigurd I. (northern islands). The southern islands were uninhabited at that time.

Name of Colony:
Lefkagor

Location of Colony:
At the east coast of the island of Terra Bianca, Lillorainen's southernmost state.

Initial Pop:
~200

Did YN eventually conquer this colony?:
Let's say yes - our history is a bit complicated, see below.

Present Day Status:
Lefkagor is the capital city of it's own region - one of three Greater Regions of Terra Bianca, one of the nine constituent republics the Federation of Lillorainen consists of.
The metropolitan area has a population of 256,384 (in 2015). The license plate area code is LF. The average annual income is 76,495 Lillorainian Marks, which is only slightly below national average.

History of the Colony in YN:
(You might find these Maps of Lillorainen helpful to get the idea ^^)
In 1346, Kyriakos Fasseas, a Theban sailor, adventurer and dissident (he resented the Theban Republic and somewhat disagreed with the monarchy) took about 200 of his followers with him and left Thebes with his ship Bartholomea. How he got that close to a Nordic colony is unknown - it might have been a navigation error, or Thebans somewhat already knew about that place (maybe Theban historians know better?). He discovered this mostly sandy and mountainous island with some fertile land, decided to settle down here and he named it Lefkagorión, derived from the Greek expression for "white village" - because of the white sand on the island. Also, the name kept fitting because of the white sandstone mined from the mountains, which was used for the first structures built here.
Over the time, the village grew - it mostly lived off farming and fishing. In 1500, it had a total population of about 6,000.
In the late 16th century, the area ceased to be a peaceful place - settlers from the Levante started to colonize other areas of the island. Some skirmishes followed the colonization. Later, settlers from both cultures started leaving the island and populating other islands around - especially the southwestern parts of present-day Lillorainen (today known as Polypolia).
However, the expansion of the Nordic empires in the northeast and the German settlements in the northwest urged the southern colonists to forge together. They started to live peacefully next to each other, erecting trade outposts and common mining facilities. After a sea war on the Syddanske Kongerigetsligaen (South Danish League of Kingdoms) resulting in a collapse of the common settlement structures with some parts of the state switching sides, the 1811 treaty turned the settlements in the southwest into a vassal state of the League with the name Terra Bianca - the name "white land" was Italianized for the reason of linguistic neutrality. The League collapsed a few years later, but the name remained. - In the southwest, settlers emigrated from Terra Bianca as well as founders from many other cultures formed a League of Cities on their own, similar to the Hanse.
While especially in Lefkagor, the Greek language was still spoken and maintained, another language got formed over the time in other parts of Terra Bianca - the language of Abyadi, a mixture of Arabic and Greek with some Germanic and Slavic influences, became the lingua franca, especially in the city of Melapolis, the biggest city and capital of Terra Bianca - the name means "black city" (on a "white land" - ironic, I know) and had a total population of 300,000 in 1850. Lefkagor was much smaller, but still remained an important seaport and a bulwark of Theban-Greek culture.
The industrialization caused a growth of population in Terra Bianca. Machine-controlled agriculture and trout fishing became the most important sectors. However, the Biancoterran economy grew less fast that those of the northern islands, resulting in mass emigrations by Abyadi people in the early 20th century. In 1920, 300,000 Abyadi were registered in the Rathland (dominated by German settlers from the Rhineland, which is why they refer to themselves as "Rhenish Islanders"); another 100,000 in Danish and Slavic dominated Lillöer. They were welcome as cheap employees - yet not as parts of society.
Because Abyadi culture got largely feared of by northern islanders, many Biancoterrans got expelled from there during the Civil War (1974 to 1976). The idea of a Lillorainian unification was another issue that caused multiple war crimes. While Lefkagor only had to face a mostly peaceful occupation, large parts of Melapolis got carpet-bombed. After the end of the war, Terra Bianca got rebuilt by workers from the northern islands; the governments in Lysköping (Lillöer) and Jillich (Rtld.) also paid billions of Marks for compensation. The official reconciliation happened in 1978.
Lillorainen politically unified in 1981. Terra Bianca became one of eight founding states (the 9th one was our capital region, founded years later). Lefkagor is the second largest city and still economically and culturally meaningful.
The southeastern League of Cities formed the State of Polypolia (="many cities"), the most multicultural area in Lillorainen - and interestingly enough, it was the least-suffering area during the Unification War. Although some cities there were founded by settlers from Lefkagor, the original Theban culture is hardly anywhere present outside Lefkagor. Although it has turned into a modern Greek-Oriental city, many structures from the founding era are still there.
Next to German, which is the official language of the Federation of Lillorainen, Greek and Abyadi are co-official languages in the state of Terra Bianca.
The airport of Lefkagor got named "Kyriakos Fasseas International Airport Lefkagor" in 1994.
In 2010, the census bureau registered about 60,000 Lillorainians with the name Fasseas (or Fassea, if female) - possibly, they are descendants of the city's founder.
On April 19, 2018, President Silas Flemming celebrated the 42nd anniversary of the end of the war with a very unusual idea. It took place in Melapolis - yet, there were also big celebrations in Lefkagor.

---

So, yeah, that was the history of Thebans in Lillorainen. Of course, territorial cessions are completely out of question - but that was already clear, I assume. However, tourists as well as government officials from Erythrean Thebes are always welcome for a visit!

[Erythrean Thebes]

***

That's awesome! What a great first post. You are my kind of guy, you really appreciate the idea. If you have a thread for embassies, I'd be happy to set one up in your nation. It would make perfect sense, because in the period you are thinking of (14th Century) the Theban monarchy was wont to claim at least nominal leadership of all Theban people, including the various colonies - hence good reason for diplomatic relations between Thebes and the successive governments of the isles, up to the present-day.

If you like the idea that Kyriakos set out as a dissident, I think in this case there are several possibilities. At a date of 1346, he would have been born likely before 1300, which would put his early life in the period when the Theban kingdom had achieved mastery of much of its neighborhood, establishing the Theban empire of popular tale. There was a palpable amount of dissent in the Empire at this time, but it had to be carefully expressed. It is likely that, whichever feelings of escapism or rebelliousness Kyriakos felt, publicly, he would have expressed them safely through the germane language of the Stoic philosophy that the crown was officially endorsing during the same period. For good measure, he might have described his voyage as a quest for personal fulfillment, as an attempt at a society of high excellence, or as his ambition to settle some distant parts of the world - all of these would have been seemly reasons in the eyes of the monarchy.

However, at his group's small initial size of about 200, we have to consider that Kyriakos could possibly have left Thebes in secret. That includes the possibility that he fled from some crimes or troubled past. In either case, being a fallible human being, he was likely to have more mundane motivations for leaving too, perhaps he hoped for more personal power as the master of this new colony, or he dreamed of making big riches through trade and commerce. Or, it is also possible that he was genuinely a visionary - they do exist after all.

You did say that, given the colony's far-flung location, the discovery of the island could have been a navigational error. On one hand, that could mean that Kyriakos was intending to go somewhere else but he arrived here instead. Alternatively, perhaps he was a sailor when he was a young man, and recalling the beauty of these tropical islands, he eventually decided to return. Might depend on how close our nations are geographically.

If you're interested, there's room during the 19th and 20th Centuries for historical politics between Thebes and young Lillorainen. The Commonwealth (confederate government of our nation post-1669) did not mindlessly protect all overseas Thebans as the empire had done, but with the advent of the Age of Sail and its related technologies, Thebes and her colonies were in some respects closer than they had ever been. It's possible that the plight of the Lefkagorians and the Abyadi would have triggered public reactions in the homeland, if not a formal response from Thebes. On the other hand, its also ambiguous whether or not they would be recognized as true Thebans by the more Hellenic population back home...

[Lillorainen]

***

***

Currently we don't have an embassy program, but we're considering launching one - we're gonna get back to you as soon as it is established.

Most likely, the number of people who knew that Fasseas was going to escape was very limited. Though, he officially owned the Bartholomea, and of course someone would have had to realize that he's gone sooner or later. - His exact age at that time remains unknown, but it is said he was in his 30s - which means he was born somewhere between 1306 and 1316. He quite was an experienced sailor - though, the ship types of those days probably didn't have the best devices for navigation. Since the southern islands of Lillorainen are influenced by sea currents, his ship may have been dragged away from the actual course by the wind and streams without anyone noticing. Of course, this is only a theory - it's just as possible as the theory that Fasseas was searching for a place that is fairly far away from Theban mainland or other Theban colonies. Although Terra Bianca has several research facilities dealing with this question, it is considered very hard to find out.

As he was a follower of the Theban Republics, which apparently have not really been a thing in Thebes in the early 1300s, he might have tried to establish a "Republic of Lefkagor" independent from the Theban monarchy - which would make him a visionary trying to put his dream into effect. Of course, your possibities to establish such a new state are fairly limited, if you only have 200 people around you.

From our side, his early life in Thebes is pretty much unknown. Should there be any records where someone kept track of what he was doing, they will probably be in Thebes.

Of course, the cultural influences of numerous non-Hellenic tribes surrounding Lefkagor have changed the common awareness of Lefkagor's populace a lot over the time - especially since 1981, but also before. Today, if you ask someone on the street what they identify as, they'll probably refer to themselves as 'Lillorainian' or 'Biancoterran' or just 'Lefkagorian' - there is also some historical awareness, and being asked where they're originally from, some might respond "hmm, I must be somewhat Theban, from what I know." Of course, this might still have been quite different in the 19th and early 20th century - yet, as you say, Hellenic purism in Thebes might have brought government and/or people to the conclusion that "they were probably Theban once, but there's too much of foreign blood in them." ((to speak in RL terms - for example, hardly anyone would refer to modern-day Hungarians as a 'Uralic tribe' - though, the Magyars originally were, but they mixed a lot with their Slavic and Germanic neighbors, so they genetically surely are not Asian anymore)) Especially if they consider how independently Lefkagor has developed until the era where Theban colonies found back to each other again.

Also, what might the other predecessor states of present-day Lillorainen have thought about the idea of Thebes trying to forge her colonies together again? - Certainly, there might be plenty of time between the first time someone said "hey, what about turning all of these small island states into one big one?" and the real unification. Though, for a long time, this idea seemed utopian for most people including those in power - especially after 1950, when Lillöer-Serböer and Visholm spent plenty of time trying to negiotiate over a union of their lands without getting to a result - while the Rathland turned into a socialist PR, Rigesöer and Vedjading formed a military dictatorship, and the Polypolian city states were in a severe economic crisis and experiencing some minor skirmishes. Their predecessor states have already experienced a number of civil wars before, beginning in the 19th century - considering this, an attempt by Lefkagor (or even entire Terra Bianca) to get closer to Theban mainland does not even seem unrealistic. They might have seeked a protective power that can assist them by economic and military means in case something dumb happens (which, as you know, indeed occured in the 1970s, the indubitably darkest chapter of our history, which, however, made it possible to unify and form the Federation). Surely, the distance between Lefkagor and Thebes might have been a problem, but Thebes, with her long experience as a colonial power, would possibly have tried to manage it however - especially since communication technology has improved over the centuries.

[New Transeurasia]

Date of Colony Founding: 1774
YN’s Historical Name (at time): Russian Empire.
YN’s Historical Ruler (at that time): Emperor of Russia Catherine II.
Name of Colony: Unalaska
Location of Colony: Unalaska Island, Aleut Islands
Initial Pop: Population not taken before 1880, 1880 population 406.
Did YN eventually conquer this colony?: We took it back.
Present Day Status: Part of Alaska Occupational Province
History of the Colony in YN: Founded in 1774. Sold to United States of America in 1867, USA became New Transamerica in 1971, New Transamerica fell into Second American Civil War in 2026, New Transeurasia captured all of Alaska in 2027.

[Diarcesia]

Date of Colony Founding: 95 BC
YN’s Historical Name (at time): N/A (City states)
YN’s Historical Ruler (at that time): N/A
Name of Colony: Eucaria
Location of Colony: Island off the northeastern coast of the Pronotus Peninsula, almost due south to the future location of Arcesius
Initial Pop: ~200
Did YN eventually conquer this colony?: Yes
Present Day Status: One of the seven Heptarchies of the Palaeodiarcesian Dieresis
History of the Colony in YN: According to the traditions of the Diarcesi, Eucaria on the Island was founded by a certain Chares of Thebes in 95 BC, on the back of a particularly lucrative trade route he helped established with the other cities of Old Diarcesia. Eucaria grew rapidly in the next few decades and by 60 BC is one of the more powerful city states in the area. The republican character of the government (actually more like a confederacy) of Eucaria, said to be patterned after that of Thebes, constrasted with the more despotic character of the rest. Of particular note was the Tyrant Newptolem (Neoptolemus) of Metanoea, considered the first to have united the city-states under one banner in 55 BC.

Eucaria was largely spared of the destruction -and retained much of its fighting forces- because of its relatively peaceful acceptance of Newptolem's overlordship. This played a role with the chaos in the aftermath of the Metanoean lord's disappearance in 52 BC. With Metanoea scrambling to keep government in order, the opportunistic Archon of Eucaria at the time, Alke (Alcaeus), took advantage of this and convinced the other cities to throw out the Metanoean garrisons and depose the incompetent successor of Newptolem.

Another notable period is the life and rise of Arkess (Arcesius), one of the greatest Eucariots, and the first Monarch Diarcesian. Having maintained much of its traditions and culture since the city's establishment, Arkess, at the age of 20, traveled to Thebes. For several years, Arkess debated, ate, and hunted with the Thebans, and was even present at the moment of Hagias Katarkonides's coronation in 781. When Arkess later united the Diarcesi into the current Monarchy, it is said that he refused to make Eucaria his capital because "the cities of Old Diarcesia are all equals in the headship of the New City [the capital city Arcesius]." Nevertheless, it is the closest major city from the seat of power and thus benefited greatly from it.

Mercantile traffic in Eucaria was adversely affected in the 19^th century with the completion of the Hylvobrigian canal, forcing it to build up commerce and industry to give merchants a reason to continue stopping by its ports.

One of the (Old Diarcesian) Heptarchs and the current elected Archon of Eucaria is Nicket Catsar (Nicetas Catsarus), and boasts an unbroken lineage of holders since Chares himself.

[Erythrean Thebes]

That's good! I've added you to the list