Lothros

## Republic of Lothros

The Republican seal of Lothros, created during the term of dominetes Amientas Kallisthenes.

## Court & Country

### Cities

Lothros, Mesocresse, Isidoropolis, Etharos

## Vassalage

### Protectorate(s)

Mesocresse, Tangia

The **Republic of Lothros** (shortened simply as Lothros), formerly the Kingdom of Lothros, is a major nation located at the south-eastern point of the Sýnkrassos, which owns colonies across the Sýnkrassos and holds large influence in the region.

Founded some time around the 3rd century *BTR* (before the Republic), the city was originally a monarchy, reigned over by 13 half-mythological kings, the last one being Alkaios, who founded the Republic in the year 0 *OTR* (Of the Republic). Lothros had since expanded past a humble city-state, and assumed a role as the premier power of the Sýnkrassos. Lothros reigns over Tangia, Etharos, Mesocresse and Vedegessos, as semi-independent realms with different levels of autonomy.

## Etymology

There are multiple theories for the etymology of the name *Lothros*, which is also sometimes transliterated as *Lótros*, a version closer to the original spelling. The most accepted one is that the people settled in the region before the first Imperial colonists arrived were known as the *Lothii*, which would then combine with the suffix of *-ros* to form the name of the city.

## History

### Prehistory

Very little is known of the people who lived in the area of present-day Lothros before the arrival of colonists from the Northern Empire to the area. They were supposedly a strange race of purple-skinned human-like creatures, though it is disputed whether they were human or not. They was a significant level of development in the area even before imperial colonists arrived, and maybe even a small city. The only surviving uncovered building from this era is the ruined *Temple of Aellia* (original name unknown), which shows a great level of skill in masonry.

### Kingdom Period

#### Founding

According to the historian Versecles, the modern city of Lothros was likely founded around the 3rd century B.T.R. by colonists from the Northern Empire. These colonists arrived by triremes, likely from the area of present-day Tangia.

The founding myth of Lothros, as narrated by Versecles, shortened: *"The old city which stood there* *was home to a most ancient people, ones some claim descended from Térios himself, which they called Lót. When Akenessos, ever the brave adventurer, sailed out to the king of Lót, he found the city in mourning, for a giant hydra, a most hideous and evil creature, one descended from the time the earth quaked with Aellia's fury, had set up hold in the mountains above the city, and reigned in terror over its inhabitants. Every year, the hydra would demand seven maidens to soothe its terrible hunger. The king promised Akenessos wealth, and even the hand of his daughter in marriage, and in exchange, Akenessos set out to slay the vile creature. However, he could not beat it without help, and so he called upon Aurelia, who was secretly his divine mother, to help him. Aurelia heard her son call out, and in that moment the moon stopped moving across the sky for a moment, and the spear of Akenessos was blessed with the light of the night-mother herself. And Alkaios slew the hydra, and cut off its seven heads as trophy, but when he returned, praised by all that lived in the city, the king refused him entry, fearing his popularity would lead to his doom. But the people, mad at their weak king, let Akenessos in, and he slew the cowardly king of Lót, and founded the city of Lótros."*

The accuracy of the founding myth of Lothros is disputed by several prominent authors, most significantly by Xeno the Younger and Aristophonos of Isidoropolis. The very existence of Achenessos is indeed a matter of debate, and some consider him to be more of a legendary mythological figure rather than an actual king. However, we know that the city was indeed founded some time in the 3rd century BTR, thanks to an inscription on the old villa of the Kings.

According to Xeno, Achenessos was an imperial exile who was allegedly forced to leave the nation after an attempted usurpation of the throne. When he arrived to the city of Loth, he was treated with generosity and hospitality, but soon murdered the king and usurped the throne. The seven-headed hydra, Xeno alleges, represents 7 maiden priestesses that Achenessos ravaged to assert his authority over the city. After doing this, he allegedly had them beheaded, their heads placed on pikes, and a bull sacrificed in honour of the death god Therios, which would later be confused as the body of the hydra.

#### The Kingdom

The kingdom-period, especially in its early days, is intertwined with many mythological tales. Versecles lists 13 kings that reigned over Lothros, 11 between Achenessos and Alkaios. If he was to believed, some of these kings would have been at least 150 years old when they died. They are listed as follows: ***Achenessos, Archimedes, Aquellios, Armenicos, Allestios, Aktios, Arenecles, Aurelikrates, Alverios, Arestes, Antonios, Aneistos, Alkaios***. From Arestes onward, all kings are real historical figures who had many other biographers, and whose statues survive in Lothros to this day. Allestios and Arenecles are also most likely real as well, since monuments they allegedly constructed survive to this day, namely the White walls of Lothros (Allestios) and the Azure gate (Arenecles).

The most significant of these kings besides Achenessos are as follows: Allestios, who allegedly began the construction of the White walls after a raid by Sudrlander vikings some time in the 2nd century BTR.His reign supposedly also oversaw the largest expansion of the Acropolis, and the Temple of Aurelia was built during his reign. Arestes, who reigned from 115 BTR to 85 BTR, and founded the Academy of Lothros, was known as a wise and scholarly king, though this is heavily disputed by Aristophonos.

Antonios, who reigned for a brief 7 years from 85 BTR to 78 BTR, was agreed by most authors to have been an inept and hedonistic ruler, who cared only for wordly pleasures, and was eventually ousted from power by his young brother Aneistos, who then had a very long and stable reign, from 85 BTR to 23 BTR, living to an illustrious 94 years. During his reign, the second wave of imperial settlers came near Lothros and founded the city of Etharos. According to Versecles, these settlers acted like barbarians, and not all like brotherly aid from the Empire, and they even attacked the city on multiple occasions. This is disputed by Aristophonos, who claims that Aneistos discriminated against them from the very beginning due to their religious differences, and even raided Etharos multiple times, causing great devastation.

#### Alkaios and the founding of the Republic

King Alkaios was the sole son and heir of Aneistos, born when the king was already quite old in his age. He was sickly and weak from a young age, which Versecles, who did not witness the king's reign, claimed to be a curse from the gods, and Xeno claims was a consequence of the heavy inbreeding that had taken place in the Lothrosian royal line over the years. Indeed, it is well known that in order to keep their legitimacy, the kings of Lothros rarely had legitimate children with non-dynastic members.

However, Alkaios made up for his lack of bodily prowess with cunning, a keen eye for numbers and shrewd diplomacy. During his reign, the colony of Mesocresse was founded, the temple of Aellia was reconstructed and devoted to the earth-mother, as well as further expansions to the academy. His reign also oversaw rising tensions with Etharos, which would only continue to mount after he stepped down from power, but also the founding of the peace-keeping Southern Forum. Finally, Alkaios established the office of royal chronicler, who would later be transormed into the Republican chronicler, and write down all further histories. At 60 years of age, Alkaios was still childless, and he was believed to have been sterile.

After much deliberation, Alkaios appeared before the Citizen assembly, which had previously served an advisory position to the king, and announced the formation of the Lothrosian republic, to prevent a crisis of succession. He held his term as Dominetes, and then stepped down. By willingly giving up power, he gained great renown, and was deified after his death as *Theios Alkaios Iónios* in year 13 OTR.

### The early republic

The first years of the republic were marked with a slow transformation from despotic oligarchy to a true democracy. The first of these major steps was the founding of the Citizen assembly, a forum where about a tenth of the city's populace could gather at once, taking turns to discuss and vote on politics. While this system was a form of direct democracy, it would prove inefficient as the realm grew.

The reigns of the early dominetei were marked by a general upward growth, expansions to the city, and the city's growth as a regional power. Under Alkaios and Isidoros Harrakrates, the colonies of Mesocresse and Isidoropolis (later known as Isidorople) were established, with dominetes Fillipikos finishing the expansion with a victory over Etharos and its subsequent annexation, marking the end of Lothros's status as a city state. During the late reign of Fillipikos, Lothros was involved in the *Almost war*, preparations for which threw the realm in an economic crisis which it would take years to recover from.

A major change came with the reign of dominetes Miltiades, who came to power in year 15 OTR, and sought to solve the many issues that were present in Lothros at the time. He arrested and prosecuted many high-ranking lothrosian citizens, including Fillipikos, who was exiled. His subsequent reforms, which would come to be known as the *Miltiadean reforms*, restructured the system of governance, reducing the executive powers of the Citizen assembly and instead replacing it with the Lothrosian forum, a form of senate or parliament in which elected officials, composed of the rich and powerful of the city, decided on matters of politics. With the realm stabilised, growth continued during the term of Dominetes Amientas Kallisthenas.

## Government

### Administration

The Lothrosian government can be defined as a *classical semi-parliamentary republic*. The **dominetes** (f. dominaeta), who is elected every five years, takes his power from the people as well as the will of the gods, and has the job of conducting foreign policy and diplomacy. The dominetes is also the chief commander of the lothrosian army and navy in case of war.

However, the dominetes has little power without the approval of the **forum**, which is composed of anywhere between 40-60 members. In order to be eligible to be elected into the forum, one must be member of one of the following groups:

1. Provincial governors, generals and high ranking naval officers, *(up to 8)*
2. The chancellor of the Academy and other members of the Academy's board, *(up to 6)*
3. Any former dominetes, *(up to 6)*
4. Any member of an old recognised family, these being clans *Harrakrates, Leukippos, Achenessae (royal family), Demosthenes, Kallisthenos, Kleisthenes, Verexes, Fillienes, Kaurithos, Likenites, Inaretes* *(up to 30)*
5. Head priests/priestesses (up to 4) 6) Any free citizen of the city of Lothros *(up to 6)*

    Thus, the ruling class of Lothros is somewhat inflexible and largely separate from the general populace. This does not however mean that they have no power in the republic. Common free citizens may take seats in the **Citizen assembly**, where they can freely discuss politics and formulate counter-arguments to the decisions of the forum, serving as de facto opposition to them.

### Regional government

Outside of the city of Lothros, which has special status, the territories of the Republic are divided into provinces, whose governments differ from one to another. Generally, though, each province has its own regional parliament that elects the provincial governor, although the dominetes retains authority over appointing governors and may veto any choices made by regional parliaments.

The Republic also has two protectorates - Mesocresse and Tangia, with Tangia having more autonomy than Mesocresse, which is an integrated part of Lothros in all but name. Nevertheless, these two realms are (for most of the time) not governed by a provincial governors, but rather by a protector-govenor. They retain their own forms of government, such as the Tangian parliament, or the senate of Mesocresse.

## Influences

Lothros is largely based on on real-world hellenic city-states and kingdoms, most apparently the city of Athens and the Seleucid empire. Its architecture derives elements from both ancient greek and medieval byzantine architecture, but largely differs from region to region. Some of the structure of its government (for example the system of the forum), as well as parts of its mythology and legends, are derived from the Roman Republic.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 HERONIOS. On the Lothii.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 VERSECLES. History of the Lothrosian kings, *from Achenessos to Alkaios.*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 XENO the Younger. The Secret History.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 ARISTOPHONOS. An alternate history of Lothros.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 CALLICRATES. The city of Lothros, *A compilation of city plans.*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 LIKROKRATES. A practical guide for surgeons.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Formal chronicle of the Republic, *years 5-20 OTR.*
8. ↑ MILTIADES of Mesocresse, The Return to Glory, *transcripts of selected speeches*