Post by Kamenwati on Nov 22, 2011 15:05:24 GMT -6
Carnia is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It constitutes an autonomous region, the Regione Autonoma Carniana (Carnian Autonomous Region) of what is now known as the Tamazgha.
Carnia has a rich and unique culture, with roots deep in Roman and Greek ethos, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language. There are six Counties that make up the isle of Carnia - Lycia, Pontus, Martius, Genoa, Thracia, and Agora. The Carnian economy is diversified with the counties of Lycia and Genoa known as wool districts. The counties of Pontus and Thracia known as Farming districts. Martius is the lowest peninsula county and is known for its fishing communities. The agriculture sector is significant with Wheat being the dominant grain grown. Pulses and vegetables are also grown. The characteristic tree crop is the olive with its use and export of olive oil. Figs are another important fruit tree, and citrus, (mainly oranges and lemons), are grown where irrigation is present. Grapes are an important vine crop, grown for fruit and to make wine. Rice and summer vegetables are grown in irrigated areas.
Even though the county is named Agora, the Capital city is named Agora as well and is the major city of the whole isle. Agora, the Capital City, is known as the heart and center of Carnia where the council and Emperor reside. Here the city bustles with life. Here is where the Emperor and his council reside with a wealth of expert trade experts and the affluent of the island, the high lords from other areas outside of Agora county. Agora City is the best place to find exactly what you need from Clothing and Weapons to Food and Drink.
Cities of Carnia
Smyrna
Xanthos
Dacia
Philippi
Ravenna
Salaria
Carsulae
Cyrene
Vercellae
Carnian History
About 750 BC, the Greeks began to colonize Carnia, establishing many important settlements. The most important colony was Smyrna; other significant ones were Xanthos, Dacia, and Philippi. The native Sicani and Sicel peoples were absorbed by the Hellenic culture with relative ease, and the area was part of Magna Graecia along with the rest of the Tamazgha coast, which the Greeks had also colonized. Carnia was very fertile, and the introduction of olives and grape vines flourished, creating a great deal of profitable trading; a significant part of Greek culture on the island was that of Greek religion and many temples were built across Carnia, such as the Valley of the Temples at Dacia.
Politics on the island was intertwined with that of Greece; Smyrna became desired by the Athenians, who during the Peloponnesian War set out on the Carnian Expedition. Smyrna gained Sparta and Corinth as allies, and as a result the Athenian expedition was defeated. The Athenian army and ships were destroyed, with most of the survivors being sold into slavery.
While Greek Smyrna controlled much of Carnia, there were a few Carthaginian-founded colonies in the far west of the island. When the two cultures began to clash, the Greek-Punic wars erupted, the longest wars of antiquity.
Greece began to make peace with the Roman Republic in 262 BC and the Romans sought to annex Carnia as its republic's first province. Rome intervened in the First Punic War, crushing Carthage so that by 242 BC, Carnia had become the first Roman province outside of the Carthaginian coast.
The Second Punic War, in which Archimedes was murdered, saw Carthage trying to take Carnia from the Roman Republic. They failed and this time Rome was even more unrelenting in the annihilation of the invaders; during 210 BC, the Roman consul M. Valerian, told the Roman Senate that "no Carthaginian remains in Carnia".
Carnia served a level of high importance for the Romans as it acted as the empire's gateway to the Carthaginian granary. Under Augustus a strong attempt was made to introduce the Latin language to the island and Carnia underwent a complete cultural Romanization.
The island was used as a base of power numerous times, being occupied by slave insurgents during the First and Second Servile Wars, and by Sextus Pompey during the Carnian revolt. Christianity first appeared in Carnia during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313 when Constantine the Great finally lifted the prohibition on Christianity, a significant number of Carnians became martyrs such as Agatha, Christina, Lucy, Euplius and many more. Christianity grew rapidly in Carnia during the next two centuries. The period of history where Carnia was a Roman province lasted for around 700 years in total.
As late as 698, the Muslim commander Hasan ibn al-Nu'man and a force of 40,000 men crushed Roman Carthage on the Tamazgha mainland. Many of its defenders were Visigoths sent to defend the Exarchate by their king, who also feared Muslim expansion. Many Visigoths fought to the death; in the ensuing battle Roman Carthage was again reduced to rubble, as it had been centuries earlier by the Romans. To Carnia, this bastion of Roman culture, feared it would be next.
As the Western Roman Empire was falling apart, a Tamazgha Desert Coalition sailed to Carnia in AD 700 and assimilated the Island under the rule of their Amir. The Tamazghan forces had already invaded the entire coast of North Africa and spent many years asserting themselves deeper into the desert, formulating themselves as an important power in Africa.
The loss of the mainland African exarchate was an enormous blow to Empire in the West because both Carthage and Egypt were Constantinople's main sources of manpower and grain. It was also an enormous blow because it permanently ended Roman presence in Africa, ending Roman and Christian rule in the Tamazgha. Thus the last of the western provinces of the Roman Empire had ceased to exist, 222 years after the fall of Rome and the last Western Roman emperor.
But… in the clearing of War’s smoke, circa 750 AD, Carnia rose to prominence as a bustling island centerpiece hosting both the Tamazghan and ancient Roman cultures mixing with modern European styles, cultivating African and European trade and economic ideas. Using a millennia of Greek, Roman, and Tamazghan rule and cultural influence, and the interbreeding of the varied peoples, Carnia emerged a strong influence in the Tamazgha. Over the next couple of centuries, an alliance between Carnia and the Tamazgha would flourish and wane dependent upon the mindsets of the rulers.
TheTamazghan homeland had been part of Carnia's empire since the destruction of Carthage five hundred years before his birth. Carthage had been rebuilt by Carnia as the metropolis of Carnian Africa, wealthy once again but posing no threat. The language of business and culture throughout Carnian Africa was Latin. Careers for the ambitious, as we shall see, led out of provincial Africa into the wider Mediterranean world; on the other hand, wealthy Carnian senators maintained vast estates in the Tamazgha which they rarely saw. The dominant religion of Tamazgha became Christianity--a religion that violently opposed the traditions of old Carnia but that could not have spread as it did without the prosperity and unity that Carnia had brought to the Tamazghan world.
Carnian Africa was a military backwater. The legions that were kept there to maintain order and guard against raids by desert nomads were themselves the gravest threat to peace; but their occasional rebellions were for the most part short-lived and inconsequential.
Some distinctly Tamazghan character continued to mark life in the Tamazgha provinces. Some non-Latin speech, either the aboriginal Berber of the desert or the derelict Punic the Carthaginians had spoken, continued to be heard in dark corners. In some of the same corners, old local pagan cults could still be found.
A key strength of the Carnian Empire was its generally superior army that drew on the best elements of the Roman, Greek, Gothic, and Middle Eastern experience in war. The core of the army was a shock force of heavy cavalry supported by both light infantry (archers) and heavy infantry (armored swordsmen). The army was organized into units and drilled in tactics and maneuvers. Officers received an education in military history and theory. The army was backed by a network of spies and secret agents that provided information about enemy plans and could be used to bribe or otherwise deflect aggressors.
Carnia has a rich and unique culture, with roots deep in Roman and Greek ethos, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language. There are six Counties that make up the isle of Carnia - Lycia, Pontus, Martius, Genoa, Thracia, and Agora. The Carnian economy is diversified with the counties of Lycia and Genoa known as wool districts. The counties of Pontus and Thracia known as Farming districts. Martius is the lowest peninsula county and is known for its fishing communities. The agriculture sector is significant with Wheat being the dominant grain grown. Pulses and vegetables are also grown. The characteristic tree crop is the olive with its use and export of olive oil. Figs are another important fruit tree, and citrus, (mainly oranges and lemons), are grown where irrigation is present. Grapes are an important vine crop, grown for fruit and to make wine. Rice and summer vegetables are grown in irrigated areas.
Even though the county is named Agora, the Capital city is named Agora as well and is the major city of the whole isle. Agora, the Capital City, is known as the heart and center of Carnia where the council and Emperor reside. Here the city bustles with life. Here is where the Emperor and his council reside with a wealth of expert trade experts and the affluent of the island, the high lords from other areas outside of Agora county. Agora City is the best place to find exactly what you need from Clothing and Weapons to Food and Drink.
Cities of Carnia
Smyrna
Xanthos
Dacia
Philippi
Ravenna
Salaria
Carsulae
Cyrene
Vercellae
Carnian History
About 750 BC, the Greeks began to colonize Carnia, establishing many important settlements. The most important colony was Smyrna; other significant ones were Xanthos, Dacia, and Philippi. The native Sicani and Sicel peoples were absorbed by the Hellenic culture with relative ease, and the area was part of Magna Graecia along with the rest of the Tamazgha coast, which the Greeks had also colonized. Carnia was very fertile, and the introduction of olives and grape vines flourished, creating a great deal of profitable trading; a significant part of Greek culture on the island was that of Greek religion and many temples were built across Carnia, such as the Valley of the Temples at Dacia.
Politics on the island was intertwined with that of Greece; Smyrna became desired by the Athenians, who during the Peloponnesian War set out on the Carnian Expedition. Smyrna gained Sparta and Corinth as allies, and as a result the Athenian expedition was defeated. The Athenian army and ships were destroyed, with most of the survivors being sold into slavery.
While Greek Smyrna controlled much of Carnia, there were a few Carthaginian-founded colonies in the far west of the island. When the two cultures began to clash, the Greek-Punic wars erupted, the longest wars of antiquity.
Greece began to make peace with the Roman Republic in 262 BC and the Romans sought to annex Carnia as its republic's first province. Rome intervened in the First Punic War, crushing Carthage so that by 242 BC, Carnia had become the first Roman province outside of the Carthaginian coast.
The Second Punic War, in which Archimedes was murdered, saw Carthage trying to take Carnia from the Roman Republic. They failed and this time Rome was even more unrelenting in the annihilation of the invaders; during 210 BC, the Roman consul M. Valerian, told the Roman Senate that "no Carthaginian remains in Carnia".
Carnia served a level of high importance for the Romans as it acted as the empire's gateway to the Carthaginian granary. Under Augustus a strong attempt was made to introduce the Latin language to the island and Carnia underwent a complete cultural Romanization.
The island was used as a base of power numerous times, being occupied by slave insurgents during the First and Second Servile Wars, and by Sextus Pompey during the Carnian revolt. Christianity first appeared in Carnia during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313 when Constantine the Great finally lifted the prohibition on Christianity, a significant number of Carnians became martyrs such as Agatha, Christina, Lucy, Euplius and many more. Christianity grew rapidly in Carnia during the next two centuries. The period of history where Carnia was a Roman province lasted for around 700 years in total.
As late as 698, the Muslim commander Hasan ibn al-Nu'man and a force of 40,000 men crushed Roman Carthage on the Tamazgha mainland. Many of its defenders were Visigoths sent to defend the Exarchate by their king, who also feared Muslim expansion. Many Visigoths fought to the death; in the ensuing battle Roman Carthage was again reduced to rubble, as it had been centuries earlier by the Romans. To Carnia, this bastion of Roman culture, feared it would be next.
As the Western Roman Empire was falling apart, a Tamazgha Desert Coalition sailed to Carnia in AD 700 and assimilated the Island under the rule of their Amir. The Tamazghan forces had already invaded the entire coast of North Africa and spent many years asserting themselves deeper into the desert, formulating themselves as an important power in Africa.
The loss of the mainland African exarchate was an enormous blow to Empire in the West because both Carthage and Egypt were Constantinople's main sources of manpower and grain. It was also an enormous blow because it permanently ended Roman presence in Africa, ending Roman and Christian rule in the Tamazgha. Thus the last of the western provinces of the Roman Empire had ceased to exist, 222 years after the fall of Rome and the last Western Roman emperor.
But… in the clearing of War’s smoke, circa 750 AD, Carnia rose to prominence as a bustling island centerpiece hosting both the Tamazghan and ancient Roman cultures mixing with modern European styles, cultivating African and European trade and economic ideas. Using a millennia of Greek, Roman, and Tamazghan rule and cultural influence, and the interbreeding of the varied peoples, Carnia emerged a strong influence in the Tamazgha. Over the next couple of centuries, an alliance between Carnia and the Tamazgha would flourish and wane dependent upon the mindsets of the rulers.
TheTamazghan homeland had been part of Carnia's empire since the destruction of Carthage five hundred years before his birth. Carthage had been rebuilt by Carnia as the metropolis of Carnian Africa, wealthy once again but posing no threat. The language of business and culture throughout Carnian Africa was Latin. Careers for the ambitious, as we shall see, led out of provincial Africa into the wider Mediterranean world; on the other hand, wealthy Carnian senators maintained vast estates in the Tamazgha which they rarely saw. The dominant religion of Tamazgha became Christianity--a religion that violently opposed the traditions of old Carnia but that could not have spread as it did without the prosperity and unity that Carnia had brought to the Tamazghan world.
Carnian Africa was a military backwater. The legions that were kept there to maintain order and guard against raids by desert nomads were themselves the gravest threat to peace; but their occasional rebellions were for the most part short-lived and inconsequential.
Some distinctly Tamazghan character continued to mark life in the Tamazgha provinces. Some non-Latin speech, either the aboriginal Berber of the desert or the derelict Punic the Carthaginians had spoken, continued to be heard in dark corners. In some of the same corners, old local pagan cults could still be found.
A key strength of the Carnian Empire was its generally superior army that drew on the best elements of the Roman, Greek, Gothic, and Middle Eastern experience in war. The core of the army was a shock force of heavy cavalry supported by both light infantry (archers) and heavy infantry (armored swordsmen). The army was organized into units and drilled in tactics and maneuvers. Officers received an education in military history and theory. The army was backed by a network of spies and secret agents that provided information about enemy plans and could be used to bribe or otherwise deflect aggressors.