Roman Empire

The Banner of the Roman Empire

## Founding

The Roman Empire was founded on 5/24/23, ~2 weeks before the Earthcraft server launched. During that time, the Roman Empire grew from a small nation in Greece and the coast of Turkey to a massive Empire spanning the entirety of eastern Europe. Along the way, the Republic of Venice, led by Nethermob(555) and Bunkerboy, joined the Roman Empire as a province.
The government of the Roman Empire is a Monarchy, with governors called "Despots" who maintain their assigned territories. The current Despots are Pruper, Despot of the whole Empire, Broman, Despot of Constantinople, Zomb33, Despot of Theodoro, Nethermob(555), Despot of Venice, and Bunkerboy, Despot of Carthage. The leader of Rome is Pruper, who is the "Basileus", Emperor of the Romans. The current population of the Roman Empire is 19 players.

## The Age of Raiding

Following the opening of the server on 6/2/23 and consequent founding of Constantinople, the Roman Empire started off strong. Despite a small raid by LinusTearier on the first day, construction on the city went well and work on the Hagia Sofia began. However, on 6/3/23, mdad1427 stole a horde of materials from neighboring Mordor. After two days of failed negotiations, Mordor called on the French Empire to punish mdad and the Romans for their actions. The 6/5/23 raid executed by Linus and habibicat was brutal, leaving many citizens dead and a set of diamond gear lost. This began the bad relations between the Roman Empire and her neighbors. Despite the near-constant raids by the French and other rogue players, the Roman Empire continued to grow, with Roman morale staying high.

## The French Skirmishes

Despite a fear of the looming French threat, the hardy Romans continued to work on their capital, keeping to themselves after the French raid on the 5th. Working against the wishes of the Roman government, Nethermob worked to repair relations with Mordor, eventually succeeding. After a few days of relative peace, arguably the inciting incident of the Romano-Pogo War occurred. Linus' appearance in Constantinople was highly worrying to France, and over 5 members were online by the time Linus started punching them off buildings. Despite this, the Romans remained tolerant until Linus took 40 gold ingots, refusing to return them. Despite being heavily undergeared, the Romans fought hard and eventually forced Linus off Roman land, with Nethermob earning a triumph by killing the entirety of the enemy's wolven forces.

Not even 5 hours after the previous skirmish, Linus returned with Ethan, emperor of the French, at his side. Linus continued his harassment of the Roman people until they had had enough, attacking both Linus and Ethan. While the extent of Roman losses is unknown, mdad was able to kill Ethan, earning himself a triumph in the process.

Despite the victories Rome had managed to earn in these small skirmishes, what ended up occurring as a result was not so favorable to the Roman Empire.

## The Romano-Pogo War

While a more complete coverage of the Romano-Pogo War can be found on its dedicated page, there were two major changes to the Roman Empire as a result. Firstly, and much more important, the Roman Empire merged with the French Empire to protect itself from the superior fighting force of Pogatogo. The second, more subtle change, was a shift in Roman thought. After the thorough defeat at the Battle of Constantinople, it became clear to the Romans that a modernization was needed. Thus Rome focused itself immediately on replacing their weak enchantments with much more powerful enchants, partially thanks to the newfound resources of their French friends.

## The Pax Romana

Following the Romano-Pogo War, the Roman Empire and Europe at large found itself in a very peaceful age, dubbed the "Pax Romana" or "Roman Peace". During this time, the Roman Empire was able to finally focus on its greatest strengths: building monuments and creating culture. The Romans finally finished the Hagia Sofia on June 22nd, and began work on the Library of Constantinople, a repository of the world's textual knowledge. Not only were major landmarks built, but Rome continued to develop its groundbreaking infrastructure and beautiful city, even building a district for new members to live in while working on their permanent houses.

## Departure from Earthcraft

After weeks of activity, the Earthcraft server began to die. Despite this, the Roman discord was still well and active, and the users were getting restless. Thus Pruper assigned Chekados to the position of Basileus, and reforms in the server began.