Gothia

**Gothia**, or officially the **Gothic Empire** (Latin: *Regnum Gothorum*) is a country located in Southern Europa. The country's core is located on the Italian peninsula and includes the immediate surroundings. The kingdom is a unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy composed of several regions, further subdivided into provinces, counties and municipalities.

## History

The nation was proclaimed originally in 493 AD, but after the events of the final Gothic War in 535 and the subsequent Byzantine and Lombardic conquests of the peninsula, the Gothic nobility had little to no power.

There was hope however, as the Goths, instead of assimilating and conforming to Italian traditions, kept their cultures alive throughout the centuries. Instead of engaging the Romans at the battle of Taginae, Teia retreats to the region of Venice and other lawless areas to collect his strength. From him, the Amal dynasty survived thanks in part to luck and support from the Merovingian dynasty, who were tied when the Burgundian princess Clotilde, daughter of Athanaric, was married to Amalaric, a Balti king. Theudius, also the Visigoth king, sent help as well.

### The Collapse

After the coll and se of the Guadalete, the Visigoths chose to not continue life under the Moors. They either fled north or went to incorporate themselves into the Ostrogothic families in Italy under duke Visimar. With the combined wealth and manpower, the Amals reformed their structural identity to once again avoid destruction. They renamed themselves to 'von Gothia' in 723.

### The Family's Meteoric Rise

What came after is not very well documented or either contain shaky assumptions, although historians do know that the Goths continued to grow in size and they eventually assimilated other Italian, French and German families whom they met during their rise to power. Gothic culture is attested to have "modernized" during this period, and various stories mentioned in how they partook in various events in Italy's history, such as the Lombardic & French invasions, the rise of the Italian city states, the Black Death and more recently the Renaissance.

### Prince Theodore

The apparent heir of the family, Theodoro, was thrusted into the position of *pater familias* after his father was viciously murdered by the a group of vagabonds hired by the Medici family. Theo and his family eventually moved to Ravenna to become closer to the heart of the old capital.

When the Italians states wanting to set up a unified state in the 1650s, they were desperate to find a prestigious candidate for their leader. Eventually, the Gothic family, with their Germanic heritage, came to mind. The von Goths then set out to draft a constitution and law for the basis of the kingdom, which would be the first time Italy would be unified in over a thousand years.

This constitution states that every citizen, whether he be a Gothic, or an Italian, or a Roman, or a Griko, would be subject to one single universal law, which would be fair for all and would not alienate any one ethnicity. This was achieved by officially embracing state tolerance and various other Renaissance and Enlightenment ideas such as humanism and nationalism.

With the constitution drafted, the kingdom came into existence in the year 1655 on January 7th, with Theodore choosing a new executive, legislative cabinet and a Parliament. Theodore would emphasize his legitimacy from the basis of divine rule as well as for the power of the people, endorsement from both God and the people.

Theodore exercises almost unrestricted power and influence however, as he can legally veto the passing of legislations, appoint officials and choose the governors of counties and districts.

## War of the Four Kingdoms

This short peace in Ravenna would not be enjoyed for long, as soon as the new kingdom was declared, Hellas, Thracia-Dacia and Portalejos declared war on the young country. Ships departed from the Adriatic coast, aiming to land in the north of Italy and travel down the peninsula along the Alpenenes mountains. Meanwhile, Hellenic forces departed from Ithaca, landing on the coast of Puglia, and attempted to secure any ports or access points to the sea and establish a beachhead. On the western side, tens of thousands of Portalejan musketeers move north from the hills of Sicily, in the Tyrrhenian sea, the Portalejan fleet sailed east to Rome.

Unexpectedly, the Goths put up a stiff resistance using their terrain and home theater advantage, they delayed the initial landings significantly and in some cases, managed to fend off the Coalition's fleet. However, the Gothic fleet did not manage to engage a one on one confrontation on the sea. A blockade was only partially successful. Repeated attacks on the Portalejans stopped them dead on their tracks, and Gothic part of Sicily would remain in their hands.

After a stalemate and sudden stop to tje conflict, the three nations were forced to tend to another war in Pritania, and agreed to sign a peace treaty a second time after initial talks failed.

### Treaty of Ravenna

1. The Gothic and Dacian border on the Adriatic became demilitarized.

2. Venice was open to Portalejan merchants, but they were not be granted any extra rights like extraterritoriality.

3. T&D and Hellasan actions in either North Africa or the Balkans could not be opposed by Gothia, meaning the Goths promised not to *enforce* any claims over the area. However, they were allowed to continue expanding there.

4. Gothia joined the South European Sphere, and was invited to the Europan alliance by T&D.

The war is seen as a victory in the Gothia's eyes, as national sovereignty was maintained and expansion continued. Many in Italy rejoiced after the treaty was signed, and support of king Theodore has risen.

## Politics

### Leadership

**Gothic King-Emperor (*Gothici Caesar*):** Theodoric II von Gothia

**Commander-in-Chief:** Theodoric II von Gothia

**Imperial Chancellor:** Alaviv Hildebrand

**Imperial Secretariat:** Rodolf Sondheim

**Director of State Affairs:** Viliaris Lettman

**Minister of Foreign Affairs:** Tribigild Havenstein

**Minister of Economic Affairs:** Fretela Stamm

**Minister of Finance:** Gadaric Gerster

**Minister of War:** Asbad Gennadius

**Minister of the Interior:** Hunumund Vieweg

**Minister of Revenue:** Edica Paullus

**Minister of Justice:** Gainas Kracht

**Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Kindins):** Aoric Schildenfeld

**Minister of Religious Affairs:** Unila Weisser

**Minister of Public Works:** Vismar Clasen

**Governor of the Imperial Bank (Reiksbank):** Marcomir Koppen

**Chief of Staff of the Army:** Ataulf Catus

**Supreme Army Commander:** Eraric Wenzel

### Factions

The current political landscape of Ravenna is divvied up by the House of Gothia, (formerly the Amal) currently in charge, and several other major factions from the native aristocracy, nobility and gentry.

During the widespread transition to a Gothic society, much of the former ecclesiastical nobility and clergy who had close ties with the former Vatican were charged under accusations of nepotism, corruption and treason.

Major families includeds the *Orsini, Borghese, ltoviti, Aldobrandini, Gondi, Farnese, Gonzaga, Ludovisi, Giustiani, Pamphili, Colnn, Este* and *Barberi*. Many have history in Florence, Milan, Venice, Rome or Genoa. Some more Germanic factions are the *Hielschers, Weiszs* and *von Osten.*

## Culture

Currently, the Gothic culture is based off of that of early Germanic culture, particularly East Germanic. Names, traditions and so on have bene influenced by the groups of people the Goths met during their migrations, from Iranian Alanians, to Scythians, to Sarmatians and most importantly, Roman.

Gothia's polytheistic and pagan religion has made its culture very different from other Europan states. Rituals, familial bonds and honor are hallmarks of Gothic society, but so is debauchery, drunkeness and violence. Goths are generally an optimistic people.

## Religion

Gothia follows a very diverse set of beliefs based off of Germanic paganism and the old Norse religion. At first, the kingdom tolerated the presence of Gothic Christians, however by 1659, the Edict of Ravenna ruled out that the Gothicism would become the official state religion, along with the traditional polytheistic Hellenic, Roman and Slavic faiths. A cult around Theodore sprung up and was tied to the pagan god Gaut.

## Military

Below is a list of the armies and navy as planned.

### Army

The Gothic army is one of the largest land forces in Europe, numbering at around 275,000. A robust military budget has allowed for the army to properly study new army doctrines, tactics and strategies. The Gothic army, without seeming cocky, might be the most sophisticated in Europe

The reforming and modernization program of the country's army in the past decade have been instrumental in strengthening the army. For example, we have reformed a version of the original Greek phalanx, named the tercio. It is a mixed formation of pikemen and musketeers. Through experimentation, the unit was reduced from an initial 75% of the unit, to 25%, increasing the square's firepower tremendously. This type of unit of course was drifted towards defense, first the pikes would serve as a shield or screen for the musketeers.

Then secondly, they would prevent cavalry attacks on the front, which was a huge problem as the time in between shots took a considerable time. The rank-and-file unit was created as a method to solve the issue of long reloading times, where instead of keeping the front troops in the first file, they would be replaced by the row behind them and rotate back and forth. This would increase the firepower capability of the troops significantly.

Realizing the usefulness of artillery as a supporting force on the battlefield, the army commissioned the construction of more mortars, cannons and howitzers. Flintlocks would also replace all of the remaining matchlocks and other obsolete firing mechanisms.

### Navy

**Eastern Fleet**

- 50 galleys

- 20 galleasses

- 70 galliots

**Western Fleet**

- 40 galleys

- 10 galleasses

- 80 galliots

**Reserve Fleet**

- 15 carracks

- 7 ship of the lines

- 9 galleons

- 6 caravels

**In Construction**

- 8 ship of the lines

- 17 frigates

- 5 galleons

- 12 caravels

- 24 galleys

## Territories

Gothia holds sovereignty over 26 regions in its metropolitan area, not counting it's colonies.

## Overseas

The Goths maintain a naval presence outside of the Middle Sea through trade routes in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic and the East Indies. These sea routes provide money to the North Africa Company, the West Indies Company and the East Indies Company, who are particularly interested in the spice, slave and textile trade.

## Relations

Gothica maintains friendly relations with Frankia and the American National State, after both countries agree to let Gothia set up two towns in their nations in 1656.