Cassius Stirling I

Cassius Stirling was the second king of Apicarta. He was the son of Letholdus Stirling I and Camilla. He became renowned for his exploits as a warlord and for expanding the borders of the kingdom by force.
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
Born the son and heir of King Letholdus Stirling I, Cassius was destined to be king. His mother Camilla died giving birth to him. As a result, he was distant from his father, who became a shell of the man he once was after the death of his wife.
Letholdus continued to fight the Exekians, repelling their forces up until his death in battle at the age of forty three. Cassius, only sixteen at the time, was immediately crowned king.
=== Reign ===
As there was no one else in the Stirling family to survive him, Cassius was pressured to marry and produce an heir. He quickly married his childhood friend Beatrice of Bodai. They went on to have only one son, Erasmus I; a series of miscarriages followed, and to avoid endangering Beatrice's health, they eventually opted not to have any more children.
Unlike his father, Cassius was not concerned with destroying the Exekians, although he did not shy away from encounters with them. Instead, he focused much of his efforts on uniting the various human settlements that had sprung up in the aftermath of the First Exekian War. In formerly Exekian cities, humans had overthrown their masters and attempted to form governments of their own, with varying degrees of success.
Cassius' first conquest was Zemar, whose government was weak due to infighting and disagreement. He marched into the city, which fell with little provocation, and declared it part of his lands. The populace revolted, but was soon put down.
His second and most difficult victory was in Hiberia, which had built a semi-stable economy based on slavery, which continued with humans enslaving other humans and a few Exekians who had failed to escape during the war. Disgusted by this, Cassius rallied his soldiers into believing they were fighting a holy war to destroy the last vestiges of slavery. The Hiberians in return fought to keep their property, believing that Cassius was a tyrant who intended to impose his power upon them. A battle for the city raged for ten days before it was finally defeated. Havoc broke loose in the slave camps as the Exekians captives were set upon by the humans. Many were killed, but a few managed to escape.
The city of Tyr, which was autonomous, economically prospering, and had developed a stable democracy, was convinced to join Apicarta for protection, as the city was located close to the southern border and was in danger of attack.
Cassius died after a reign lasting forty two years. He was succeeded by his grandson Letholdus Stirling II.
Category:Stirling family
Category:Humans
Category:Kings of Apicarta