From 65b1f4e92659599a829223eb8befacf4c62acecd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: MortenGM Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2024 19:24:18 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] docs: update HBW/Eirus/Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture --- .../Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture.html | 22 +++---------------- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-) diff --git a/HBW/Eirus/Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture.html b/HBW/Eirus/Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture.html index 3d564d4..cc47c59 100644 --- a/HBW/Eirus/Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture.html +++ b/HBW/Eirus/Concalian-Empire/Concalian-Culture.html @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ title: Concalian Culture description: published: true -date: 2024-04-30T19:15:01.568Z +date: 2024-04-30T19:24:16.400Z tags: game-master, concalia, concalian culture, concalian empire, concalian editor: ckeditor dateCreated: 2023-01-06T16:53:59.820Z @@ -38,25 +38,9 @@ dateCreated: 2023-01-06T16:53:59.820Z

The highest positions within this structure were held by the Empire's two Consuls, who governed not only the capital but also wielded supreme authority over the entire Empire. The Consuls had equal power and could each veto any decree made by the other, ensuring a balance of power at the highest level of governance. Their duties extended to implementing empire-wide policies and laws, reinforcing their roles as the paramount leaders of Concalia. The Consuls were additionally responsible for appointing new members to the Senate.

Below the Consuls were the Preators, who governed individual provinces and were the only officials permitted to lead military campaigns, except in cases where a Preator was incapacitated or killed during an ongoing campaign. When new territories were acquired, governance was officially determined by the Centuriate Assembly, which voted on candidates from a list presented by the Senate. However, this list was often strategically compiled to favor appointees selected by the conquering Preator—typically relatives or close allies—effectively ensuring that the Preator’s preferred candidates were elected. This practice highlighted the system’s vulnerability to nepotism and allowed familial dominance to persist under the guise of democratic procedures.

Lower magistrate positions, not directly elected by the Assembly, were appointed by Consuls or Preators. Although these appointments could be overturned by the Assembly, the Senate controlled whether such decisions were brought to a vote. 

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The Senate

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The Senate’s function was to draft legislation and prepare the candidate lists for Magistrate positions, which the Centuriate Assembly would then vote on. Senators, appointed by the Consuls, served for life unless a significant breach of public trust warranted their removal. This occurred through an Assembly decree, which could only be initiated if the Senate itself agreed to bring it forward. There were no fixed rule for how many members the Senate would have, though the number was generally kept close to a hundred. The argument for the Senate's existence laid in the belief that the regular citizen would not have the capacity nor time needed to come up with an informed proposition about the empire's future trajectory.

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Although Senators held no direct legislative power, they exerted significant influence over the political agenda by deciding which issues the Centuriate Assembly could vote on. This gatekeeping role enabled them to block or promote legislation and candidate nominations, effectively shaping the governance of the Empire. However, this power came with the expectation that Senators would embody the Empire’s core values. The empire had several instances of its entire Senate being lynched throughout its existence, brought forth by when the citizenry deemed their actions to have so grossly violated the empire's principles, it's interests, and their gods' mandates, that their actions were perceived as direct betrayal.

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The Senate's function was to draft legislations, and candidate lists for magistrate positions which, the Centuriate Assembly would vote on. Senate members were appointed by the Consuls. The Senate had no fixed rule for how many members it would have, though the norm was to keep the number close to 100. They served for life, unless they became so disliked that the rest of the Senate brought forth a decree for vote at the Centuriate Assembly to deprive them of their position, and said decree passed. The Senate acted as a forum where they, and people they invited in, would discuss the state and future course of the empire, and put forth decrees regarding these for the Centuriate Assembly to decide on the course of action through vote. The argument for the Senate's existence was that the regular citizen would not have the capacity or time needed to form an informed proposition about the empire's future trajectory.

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Senators were often former high-ranking magistrates, and the cyclical nature of consuls selecting senators, and the Senate picking candidates for the Consul position, meant there were often a lot of collusion between senators and magistrates. While the Senate held no direct law-making power, the soft power they held in being able to decide what the Centuriate Assembly would vote on meant they could indefinitely block legislature they did not approve of. The only thing effectively preventing the Senate from stacking the odds when it came to magistrate candidates, or refusing to put forth certain legislations for voting at the Centuriate Assembly, would be the public's opinion and reaction to said actions. More than once in the empire's history was the entire Senate lynched by the citizenry due to being perceived as so corrupt that the general public deemed them enemies of the Empire. This effectively meant that if certain people became too popular, the Senate may be indirectly forced to include them on the list of magistrate candidates to avoid public outcry. The similar situation would apply for popularly wanted legislation.

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The Senate’s function was to draft legislation and prepare the candidate lists for Magistrate positions, which the Centuriate Assembly would then vote on. Senators, appointed by the Consuls, served for life unless a significant breach of public trust warranted their removal. This occurred through an Assembly decree, which could only be initiated if the Senate itself agreed to bring it forward—highlighting the considerable power and responsibility held by this body.

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Although Senators held no direct legislative power, they exerted significant influence over the political agenda by deciding which issues the Centuriate Assembly could vote on. This gatekeeping role enabled them to block or promote legislation and candidate nominations, effectively shaping the governance of the Empire. However, this power came with the expectation that Senators would embody the Empire’s core values of virtus, pietas, res publica, and fides—courage, piety, public service, and trustworthiness.

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Instances when the entire Senate was lynched by the citizenry were not mere acts of mob violence but were driven by a profound sense of betrayal. Such drastic actions occurred when the Senate was perceived to have grossly violated these principles, acting against the Empire’s interests and the gods' mandates. These were seen not as random acts of anger but as calculated responses to perceived failures in leadership and governance. In such cases, the citizenry believed that the Senators had not only failed in their civic duties but had also forsaken the moral and ethical standards essential to the welfare and integrity of the state. By removing the Senate, the people acted to protect the res publica and restore the fidelity and honor that were foundational to the Empire’s prosperity and stability.

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The Senate’s function was to draft legislation and prepare the candidate lists for Magistrate positions, which the Centuriate Assembly would then vote on. Senators, appointed by the Consuls, served for life unless a significant breach of public trust warranted their removal. This occurred through an Assembly decree, which could only be initiated if the Senate itself agreed to bring it forward. There was no fixed rule for how many members the Senate would have, though the number was generally kept close to a hundred. The rationale for the Senate's existence was based on the belief that the average citizen lacked the capacity or time to formulate informed proposals about the empire's future trajectory.

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Although Senators held no direct legislative power, they exerted significant influence over the political agenda by deciding which issues the Centuriate Assembly could vote on. This gatekeeping role enabled them to block or promote legislation and candidate nominations, effectively shaping the governance of the Empire. However, this power came with the expectation that Senators would uphold the Empire’s core values. Throughout its history, there were several instances where the entire Senate was lynched when the citizenry deemed their actions to have so grossly violated the Empire's principles and interests, and the mandates of their gods, that they were perceived as a direct betrayal. This meant the Senate always had to balance their power with public opinion and could find it challenging to maintain prolonged gatekeeping of popular propositions or Magistrate candidates.

The Clergy

The Clergy unofficially formed the 4th pillar of the Empire's government. They held no official political power, but held a lot of soft power over the other bodies due to being perceived as the conveyers of the very will of the gods. The Empire's deeply religious nature meant that any official would find it hard going too far off what the clergy decreed to be the gods' will, out of fear of public outcry. The clergy tended to have its members closely accompany both magisters and members of the senate in order to levy this soft power as much as possible.

The Clergy was on paper led by the Oracle, though a more accurate term would be that they acted as the Oracle's attendants. The Oracle was a cleric kept in a constant trance through a mix of herbs and incenses, and who was believed to be able to commune directly with the gods while in this trance. The other members would attend to the Oracle, listen to whatever was said or done by the Oracle, attempt to decipher its meaning, and convey that to the governing bodies and the populace. The Oracle was seen as a sacred being in Concalian society, though the permanent trance tended to take such a toll on the person's body that they'd usually die after only a few years as Oracle. The senior members of the Clergy would typically pick a healthy young cleric, whose abilities indicated a lot of favor with the gods, as the new Oracle whenever the last one expired. This dynamic meant that, aside from the wrath of the gods themselves, there were little stopping the senior clerics from using the Oracle as a convenient puppet.