Predaconian Empire

The **Predaconian Empire** (Tenecousian: *Imperium Predaconum*), officially the **Universal Empire** (Tenecousian: *Imperium Mundi*), also known as the **Holy Predaconian Empire** (Tenecousian: *Sacrum Imperum Predaconum*), or **Perpetual Predaconian Empire** (Tenecousian: *Perpetuus Imperum Predaconum*), and commonly referred to as simply the **Imperium** (Tenecousian for *empire*, *sovereignty*, or more simply, *rule*) is a sovereign state and the hyperpower of the universe, located primarily in the Hyperion proto-supercluster. As a polity, it is a multi-ethnic complex of territories which is nominally a federal union of multiple national empires; in practice its government and economy are highly centralized.

The Predaconian Empire is a unitary semi-constitutional monarchy. The monarch, Draconicus the Great, Holy Predaconian Emperor, has reigned since \_\_. The capital and largest city is Rifarious, a universal city and financial centre with a metropolitan area population of \_\_. The Imperium consists of nine national empires, the Predaconian heartland directly ruled by the Capital, which is considered *Domina Provinciarum* ("Ruler of the Provinces"), *Rectrix Mundi* ("governor of the world") and *Omnium Terrarum Parens* ("parent of all lands"), and is *de facto* a nation-empire of it's own; the Prefecture of Constantinople, stemming from the old Eastern Empire; the Prefecture of Germania, the lands once the limit of the empire that later carried it's banner; the Prefecture of Gaul, from the Dual Monarchy of Francia and Anglia; the Prefecture of Hispania, referring both to the ancient province and the reconquered territories of the system; the Prefecture of Africa, from the various empires across the Maghreb system; the Prefecture of the Orient, with it's Eastern traditions; Prefecture of Parthia, the land which the old empire always wished to conquer but never could; and last but not least the Prefecture of Aethiopia, the hidden kingdom which survived despite loss of all contant from the others. All the constituent empires have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers. Furthermore, each of these contribute to the empire with their colonial empires, composing of dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled/administered by the respectives national empires.

## Name and Etymology

*Tenecous*, as a name, is accepted to stem from the ancient founder, **Tenebros**, a descendant of *Satanas*. This theory has gone nearly undisputed for the last two and a half millennia. Nevertheless, historians note a similarity to the Tenecousian word *tenebrae* for darkness, though the comparison only shows its appropriateness and possibly where Tenebros got his name. When the City encountered Predaconian system Hellenes, the state and all its possessions began to be referred to simply as *Rifarious*. This is an insightful moniker because whether a republic or an empire, the state's primary purpose has been serving the interests of this city.

*Predaconia*, the by-far more popular name, is considered to be from the name **Predaconis**, the true name of God in the Universal Church, as well as the name of the creator in the Old Ways. This name was only adopted to refer to the state *after* it's conquest of the planet; originally referring only to the planet, the term was later applied to all early colonial territories of the planet, once the city Rifarious expanded over the entire planet. It is also useful to recognise that the native inhabitants of Rifarious and it's vast populations in the empire call themselves *Predaconi*.

References to the state from within have always been simple. Its old name was *the Republic*. In the time of Julius Caesar, senators would urge people *to act "in the interest of the Republic"* or "*to preserve* the Republic*"*. By the death of Nero, the Senate would refer to the power of the Caesars over Predaconian territory. The word for this, *Imperium*, evokes strong patriotic sentiment. No other state has imperial power, only royal or popular power. On maps, Predaconians label these monarchies with the distasteful word *Regnum* and democracies with the simple *Republica*.

## History

The Predaconian state was founded, along with its capital, Rifarious, on the eponymous planet Predaconia in 753 AAC by Tenebros. Shortly thereafter, the city was taken over by Etruscan kings. The last one, Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown by Brutus of the Junii clan in 509 AAC in revolt against recent disrespect to a noble. This series of events created the Rifarian Republic.

The Republic's history was tumultuous, defined by long periods of unrest and dictatorship. But it upheld the democratic principles on which it was established until a general named Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon Space. Ridge into Predaconia in 49 AAC. His actions plunged the Republic into civil war. Fighting did not end until 27 AAC. Predaconia — the enlarged territorial extent of the Rifarian city alone — was reborn from the fire like a phoenix into a magnificent new entity, the Predaconian Empire.

The first two centuries of the Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Predacona ("Predaconian Peace"). Predaconia reached its greatest ancient territorial expanse during the reign of Trajan (AC 98–117). A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus (177–192). In the 3rd century the Empire underwent a crisis that threatened its existence, as the Gallic Empire and Palmyrene Empire broke away from the Predaconian state, and a series of short-lived emperors, often from the legions, led the empire. The empire was reunified under Aurelian (r. 270–275). In an effort to stabilize it, Diocletian set up two different imperial courts in the Hellenic East and Tenecousian West in 286. Christians rose to positions of power in the 4th century following the Edict of Milan of 313. Shortly after, the Migration Period, involving large invasions by Germanic peoples and by the Huns of Attila, led to the decline of the Western Tenecousian Empire. With the fall of Ravenna to the Germanic Herulians and the deposition of Romulus Augustus in AC 476 by Odoacer, the Western Roman Empire finally collapsed; the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno formally abolished it in AC 480. Attempts were made throughout the years both by the East and by various others to revive the title and/or territories, to their failure.

Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Empire's Hellenic East and Tenecousian West diverged. Constantine I (r. 324–337) reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital and legalised Christianity. Under Theodosius I (r. 379–395), Christianity became the state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. In the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), the Empire's military and administration were restructured and Greek was adopted for official use in place of Tenecousian.

The borders of the empire fluctuated through several cycles of decline and recovery. The reign of Justinian I was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized *renovatio imperii*, or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal Kingdom in the African system. Subsequently, Belisarius, Narses, and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicilia, Predaconia, and Rifaria to the empire after more than half a century of rule by the Ostrogoths. The praetorian prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Hispanic system, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Imperial control over the western universe, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million *solidi*. During his reign, Justinian also subdued the *Tzani*, a people on the other side of the Black Wormhole that had never been under Predaconian rule before. He engaged the Sasanian Empire in the east during Kavad I's reign, and later again during Khosrow I's; this second conflict was partially initiated due to his ambitions in the west.

And yet, upon the expiration of Emperor Justinian the Great, the General Belisarius, governor of Predaconia, finally caved in to the demands of the barbarians, and allowed himself to be crowned, done so by the Pope, who himself wished to regain true primacy of the Universal Church. The coronation came with a caveat: with the lack of an Imperial heir, the title would return to the Papacy, not the Eastern Empire, as it had historically. This term was used quite abruptly, as Emperoe Belisarius died of his wounds fighting the barbarians in battle; subsequently barbarians would raid even the Predaconian system, with only Rifarious/Predaconia being spared.

On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in the West, more than three centuries after the fall of the earlier ancient Tenecous Empire in 476. In theory and diplomacy, the Emperors were considered *primus inter pares*, regarded as first among equals amongst other Catholic monarchs across the known Universe. The title continued in the Carolingian family until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Predaconia in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Predaconian claimant, Berengar I, in 924. The title was revived again in 962 when Otto I, King of the Teutons, was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption of the imperial title and role.

The exact term "Holy Predaconian Empire", today used in reference to it's Teutonic successor, was not used until the 13th century, before which the empire was referred to variously as *universum regnum* ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to the regional kingdoms), *imperium christianum* ("Christian empire"), or *Predaconum imperium* ("Predaconian empire"), but the Emperor's legitimacy always rested on the concept of *translatio imperii*, that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rifarious. The dynastic office of Holy Predaconian Emperor was traditionally elective through the mostly Teutonic prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire; they would elect one of their peers as "King of the Predaconians" to be crowned emperor by the Pope.

This changed at the end of the intergalactic Great War, also known as the 30 Years' War or the Imperialist War, a conflict where after centuries the emperor would triumph over his vassals, and in turn also annex vast portions of the former empire. This would situation would, to the surprise of many contemporaries, survive the century, stabilizing into a grand empire in the like of which the Holy Predaconian Emperors always claimed. With the capital returned to Rifarious at the invitation of the Papacy, the Empire reached it's final phase, which it currently thrives in today.

## Armed Forces

Army[1]
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