by Max Barry

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The Federal Commonwealth of Pax Aurea

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Category: Left-wing Utopia
Civil Rights:
World Benchmark
Economy:
Frightening
Political Freedoms:
Superb

Regional Influence: Contender

Location: European Union

OverviewFactbookPoliciesPeopleGovernmentEconomyRankTrendCards

15

History of Pax Aurea I: Prehistory and Antiquity

Prehistoric Settlement of the Golden Isles

The heart of Pax Aurea lies in the cluster of islands known as Insulae Aureae, or the Golden Islands, some 500 kilometers from the south-western shores of Europe. Due to this lengthy distance to the mainland, the islands were left relatively untouched by the prehistoric Europeans. Archaeological evidence does point out, however, that there have been habitation earlier than traditionally presumed. An excavation unearthed a neolithic campsite in 2008, and the carbon dating strongly suggested that there was at least some form of human culture circa 30 000 BC. It is highly probable that the first Aureans ever were in fact Neanderthals, possibly intermingled with Homo sapiens. At some point around the end of the last ice age (c. 10 000 BC), this neolithic culture vanished abruptly.

Phoenician Era (c. 700 – c. 500 BC)

Following the extinction of the first settlers, the Aurean Isles remained in almost complete isolation from the stone-aged tribes of Europe, until the arrival of the first Phoenician explorers in around 700 BC. The Phoenicians had by then founded mercantile colonies along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, and their bravest sailsmen even ventured out into the rocky waves of the Atlantic. It is likely that the first voyagers landed on the shores of the Aurean Isles by chance; but soon afterwards, a modest colony had been founded. These earliest villages were located in sheltered bays and lagoons, serving as safe harbours to resupply and repair the Phoenician ships.

At some point after the initial colonization, the Aurean Isles revealed their underground secrets from which they later received their name: the lucrative gold deposits. The isles had little copper and even less tin -- the most valuable metals of the Bronze Age -- and did not possess rich veins of iron, either, but they had gold, and an abundance of it. The significance of the colonies soon grew, and by c. 500 BC, thousands of people from Phoenicia, Northern Africa, Greece, and other Mediterranean ethnic groups had already migrated there to benefit from the mines.

Greek Era (c. 500 BC – 6 AD)

Little by little, over the decaded and centuries, the influence of the Phoenicians began to wane in the Mediterranean, and the Greek culture entered its golden age, growing ever more flourishing and powerful. Greekmen were among the first non-Phoenician colonists to arrive at the Aurean Isles, and they started to arrive in greater and greater numbers. To the Greeks, the far-west islands were known simply as Nesia ton Okeanon, "the Islands of the Ocean", and its gold and trading opportunities appealed to thousands of them.

There was never a Greek conquest of the archipelago. Rather it was a process of slow hellenization of the ethnicity and culture of the colonists. By 400 BC, the Phoenician culture was largerly vanished; the residents spoke mainly Greek, worshiped Greek gods, and practiced Greek customs. With the influx of new colonists, the old villages grew and prospered, becoming towns. The first real polis was officially established in 387 BC, although there had been a smaller fishing village at its location for centuries. The port was named Okeanopolis -- later, it would be known as Pacifica.

Under the Greek rule, the Aurean Isles prospered and entered their first golden era. Gold was mined aplenty, trade boomed, cities attracted more immigration. The wealth was used to construct grand temples and theaters, libraries and academies. Philosophers and scholars, priests and rhetorics would arrive far and wide to admire the wonders of the marble buildings and vast, bustling agoras teeming with trade and life.

The Romans Arrive (6–30 AD)

Back in the Mediterranean world, the Roman Empire had began its militant expansion. After the conquest of the Greek city-states, it was only a matter of time before they would turn their eyes on Okeanopolis -- as did happen. This mission was left in the hands of Proconsul Servius Aegyptus Aurelianus. He was a grizzled and scarred veteran of many wars. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, he had at first allied himself with the Republican loyalists, but after Filippoi, Octavianus had pardoned him, and he had continued to fight in the civil war against the Roman-Egyptian forces of Marcus Antonius. He had nearly drowned at Aktion and seen much bloodshed in Alexandria. After the civil war, he had retired, but as he still harboured secret Republican sympathies, he was only pleased for a chance to get far away from the court of Emperor Augustus.

Again, there was no true conquest, but a relatively peaceful annexation of Terra Ultima Occidentalis, as the Romans called the three main islands. The rulers of Okeanopolis had to only glimpse at the fleet of Roman galleys and their cohorts of steel glimmering in the morning sun to understand what was best for their city -- and their lives. Okeanopolis surrendered to Aurelianus without resistance, and as a reward, many of the local aristocrats and bureaucrats continued in their original posts. Aurelianus wanted to see no more atrocities, so he ruled with an even hand, and the annexation proceeded rather painlessly.

St Aurea and Her Golden Peace (30–92)

Aurelianus renamed the island Aurea, after the gold mines and after his only child, Aurea Aurelianus (4 AD – 92 AD), who had become the joy of his later years. When the old Proconsul died in 30 at the ripe age of 86, the provincial council wanted to name his young nephew Claudius as the next Proconsul. Claudius was also married to Aurea. His health was fragile, and from 30 to 40, Aurea assumed more and more responsibilities of her husband, becoming the de facto ruler of the island bearing her name, and in 40, when Claudius died, she was accepted as the first female Proconsul in Roman history.

This didn’t raise shouts of glee in Rome, but the Aurean colonists had grown to love and admire their governess. From 40 to 92, Aurea Aurelianus ruled the remote island colony, and her reign was a prosperous one. From the then somewhat stale community of Okeanopolis grew a bustling trade port of Pacifica, and the gold mines made the colony wealthy. Aurea was a well cultured and learned woman, and she excelled as a patron of arts and culture, founding libraries, academies, and temples, and attracting numerous scholars, philosophers, artists, and religious figures to her quickly growing provincial capital.

One of the most notable persons who arrived in Pacifica during the 40s was a Hellenic Christian missionary called Apollonia of Antioch, later canonized. Aurea became her patron and later, in 45, converted to Christianity. Some contemporary authors have rumoured the two women may have been more than friends, though there is no undisputed historical evidence for this. After her conversion, Aurea funded the construction of the first basilica of Pacifica; the church still exists and is today known as the Basilica of St Aurea. Because of her conversion and support to the early church, Aurea was officially canonized in the fourth century, and she became the patron saint of the country. The scholarly Aurea and Apollonia together were responsible for the seeds of pacifism and universalism that later became central elements in the Aurean branch of Christianity.

Under Aurea’s benevolent rule, trade flourished, people prospered, and different philosophical and religious traditions lived in peace and friendship. Her 52-year-long reign was later named ”The Golden Peace”, or Pax Aurea.

The Late Antiquity (92–476)

Despite the troubles that began to run amok in the Roman Empire around year 200 and continued to plague the slowly crumbling empire despite (or because of) the actions of the post-Commodus emperors, the remoteness of the Aurean Isles blessed them with peace and stability. As long as the mines produced gold, and taxation continued to bring coin to the coffers of the whoever sat on the imperial throne, the emperors were more concerned in their wars against their powerful neighbours or eliminating their political rivals than the autonomous governance of a distance island colony.

This gave Pacifica and the rest of the Aurean Isles a chance to develop a unique, colourful culture. Most of the Proconsuls followed in the footsteps of the beloved St Aurea, and continued to invest in trade and culture. As wars raged on the mainland, more and more learned men and women journeyed to the academies, monastic communities, and libraries of Provincia Aurea to study and debate.

The Aurean Isles were a particularly appealing locale for people of many faiths. Not all Proconsuls were Christians after St Aurea, but they saw it best not to stir the religious pot as long as everyone went on their ways without throwing stones and rioting on the streets. The Roman persecutions did not affect the Aurean Isles except during Diocletianus and Galerianus, when Proconsul Caius Pergamonius ordered 17 notable local Christians to be executed in 303. Pergamonius was soon displaced by the provincial council, however, and the persecution did not continue. The Pacificans had had their first martyrs, though.

The society did not grow fully Christianized, either, even after Constantinus the Great. The old gods were still revered by many; Jews and Manichaeans continued to teach and worship without harassment; the oriental mystery cults such as Mithraism and the Cult of Isis were popular. There were many trends of Christianity as well, and in Rome, not every pope thought too highly of the "troublesome Aureans" who were not keen on silencing the deviating opinions.

The prosperity and the continuing "Pax Aurea" of Aurea Aurelianus, along with the tolerant atmosphere, made it possible for the academies to continue their work even after they dimmed into nonexistence in many parts of the decaying Roman Empire. Many noteworthy scholars and philosophers migrated from Alexandria to Pacifica following the destruction of the world-famous library. Likewise, Jewish thinkers in their diaspora found a new home in the westernmost islands of Europe, where they were welcome.

When the Western Roman Empire let out its final sigh and died in 476 as Odovacar claimed Rome, it signaled the end of Antiquity in many parts of Europe. But the turmoil had left the Aurean Isles largerly intact, and the Aureans now realized they were "Romans without Rome, alone in the world", as historian Publius Blaesus commented.

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