History of Etruria
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The History of Etruria.
Central Danetia is considered a cradle of civilization. Its inhabitants lay claim to many achievements throughout history. Much of this is due to central Danetia's comparatively mild climate despite Aurora's historically extreme climatic shifts.
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Ancient Times
(40,000 BCE-900 CE)
The first anatomically modern humanoids arrived in what is now modern Etruria at least 40,000 BCE and displaced earlier hominoid populations. Stone tools found at the banks of the River Sequana indicates that these early populations entered central and northern Danetia through eastern Etruria. These early societies were migratory nomadic bands that reached deep into north Danetia during climatic warming periods. From these populations would arise the various indigenous Danetian populations.
Southern Danetia, nearest the equator, is the most climatically stable and allowed the earliest permanent human settlements. As human populations moved from the equators, they were subjected to greater extremes in climate and were forced to endure ever greater migrations. Perhaps the most advanced of all ancient culture was that of northern Samir. As this advanced proto-agrarian culture expanded north into Danetia, it displaced the less advanced semi-nomadic culture of Southern Danetia. In turn, this forced the further northern displacement of the nomadic indigenous cultures of central Danetia. By 25,000 BCE, the indigenous population of Southern Danetia had been pushed north to the Alesian Range of Central Danetia and the indigenous peoples of central Danetia had been pushed as far north as Aesmund. The result were four distinct cultural groups: hunter-gatherers of far north Danetia and Aesmund, the nomads northern Danetia, the semi-nomadic people of central Danetia, and the advanced proto-agrarian culture of southern Danetia.
Several theories attempt to explain which cultural groups gave rise to the different peoples of modern Danetia. The prevailing theory is based on probable correlations from archaeological evidence. It is clear that from the great northern displacement of indigenous Danetian peoples around 25,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE there were very few critical differences. Physically and genetically the differences were little. However, one critical distinction supported by evidence is in they way they lived and the level of apparent permanency of the archaeological sites.
The northern nomadic people, knowns as Anadili Type 1, stretched from modern Nuythco to the northern regions of Antara. It is believed that these peoples followed herds as they migrated across that vast open, and often frozen, expanse in northwestern Danetia. While on the hunt they lived in temporary shelters. The earliest sites of any permanence are limited to caves in the far north. Very little evidence remains of the temporary structures utilized during warmer periods. Archaeozoologist found evidence of nomadic pastoral societies in the region dating around 12,000 BCE. It is believed the first animal to be domesticated were the hearty goats native to the region. This development represented a revolution in northern Danetian culture that was closely followed by more permanent settlements by 7,000 BCE. However, the northern culture remained at the mercy of climatic shifts. The harsh cold cycles still demanded migration, albeit separated by centuries or even millennia. From this culture it is theorized came the fair skinned Nordon and Aesman peoples.
In contrast, the peoples of southern Danetia lived stable lives with plentiful food sources available year round. However, with such stability comes stagnation and it left the peoples of Southern Danetia no more advance than the continuously mobile northerners. When the Samir population moved north they brought with them devastation and very little remained of the indigenous population by 20,000 BCE. The newcomers brought husbandry and primitive agriculture by 13,000 BCE and some of Danetia's first cities by 7,000 BCE. It is believed that by 5,000 BCE this advanced culture from Samir developed into its own distinct culture known as the Dravia.
Although Central Danetia enjoys a far more stable climate than the North, it cannot escape the consequences of cooling cycles. Each climatic cycle has forced populations towards the equator making central Danetia a turbulent crossroads. The result was a society that benefited from relative climatic stability while at the same time receiving constant exposure to new challenges and ideas. At 25,000 BCE the peoples of this region, known as Anadili Type 2, lived a semi-nomadic life only slightly more settled than their northern cousins. Husbandry was imported from Samir between 13,000 and 12,000 BCE and was shortly followed by primitive agriculture in 10,000 BCE. By 6,000 BCE, small settlements had been established throughout central Danetia. At this same time the advanced Samir cultures continued to expand North into central Danetia creating large cities, such as Parsa, that dominated surrounding territory. This resulting in a brutal conflict, memorialized in Anadili mythology, that stopped this advance near what is the modern south eastern borders of Antara. This marked the defining moment in forming what is recognized as the Anadili culture and would later become the Antarans and Etrusci.
Formation of the Anadili Tribes
Archaeological evidence shows the Anadili peoples were largely a cohesive cultural group through much of prehistory. It was not until approximately 7,000 BCE, that the people of central Danetia developed a distinct physical and genetic distinction. This developed the modern distinction between the fair skinned northern Anadili Type 1 and the darker skinned southern Anadili Type 2. Both northern and southern populations remained largely independent with no cohesive culture until the threat of the expanding Dravian culture forced a cultural unity that resulted in what is recognized as a distinct Antaran culture around 5000 BCE.
Among this loose alliance of Anadili tribes was the Etrusci. Archaeologist now know that the Etrusci tribe inhabited the region near the modern border of Antara and Erösország as late as 5,000 BCE. This explains the lighter skin-tone and eyes found almost universally among modern Etrurians instead of the dark skin-tone and eyes found among the Antarans. While several periphery tribes, such as the Etrusci maintained a level of independence, the dominant Antaran tribe largely determined southern Anadili culture for the next three thousand years.
This was a period marked with conflict as the first recorded climatic cooling cycle and a resurgent central Danatia increased tensions with neighboring cultures. Approximately 2000-1000 BCE, Antaran culture entered the first of many golden ages as the modern borders of what is now considered the Antaran "Fatherland" were set. The first copper and iron tools were developed in Antara during this time and it was also during this period that monotheism (Arkanism) gained popularity among the Antaran elite. As the Antaran tribes rose to preeminence, they increasingly pushed their will upon their fellow Anadili. Around 2,000 BCE, trade disputes resulted in the northern tribes cutting their ties with the southern Anadili. At about the same time, the Etrusci tribe broke from the Antaran alliance and moved south.
According to myth, the King Anadilius ruled a region in what is now modern Antara at the time of the Dravic Wars. It was prophesized by the oracle at Akatosh that Anadilius shall have two sons from which would raise two nations. From the oldest shall rise a great empire but he shall serve the younger. Anadilius' queen bore him twin princes, Leander (the lion) and Lykaios (the wolf). Even in the womb the sons of Anadilius struggled with each other. Leander was born first with Lykaios following second, grasping his brother's ankle. The rivalry between the two brothers continued into adolescence. As was custom at that time, Leander inherited a life of privilege and prestige as heir apparent while Lykaios lived and enjoyed a modest existence of a simple soldier. For his devotion to his station, King Anadilius decided to make Lykaios his successor. However, Anadilius passed before he could name Lykaios as his heir. Fearing the oracle's prophecy, Leander immediately exiled his brother. From Leander came the great Antaran Empire and from Lykaios came the Etrurians.
Although this myth holds popular appeal (and is even taught in Etrurian schools), most historians believe that it is likely that the Etrurians left the Antaran alliance over religious differences. This is supported by the fact that Etruria has maintained to this day a polytheistic religious tradition that incorporates many pre-Arkanian dieties. Indeed, the Ecclesiarchy had spread through much of the Antaran Anadili regions by 1000 BCE due to the works of Saint Brenna. There is also a less dramatic mythical tradition that is supported by historical events that claims that, Lykaios, a bellicose Anadili commander felt that the Dravia should be driven from central Danetia but his fellow commanders of the Antaran League would not attack. Furious the Etrurian patriarch launched his own campaign, eventually driving the Dravia from central Danetia.
No single theory fully explains why the Etrusci left the Antaran alliance. In any case, the people of Lykaios first appeared around 1,400 BCE in a region that is now northern Etruria but was in those days controlled by the Dravia. The descendents of Lykaios fought for generations to forge a homeland in the rough Atenian highlands and after a long and brutal campaign the Etrusci captured the fertile Aretini Valley. These hard years formed the basis of the Etrurian warrior character. This put a temporary end to the Dravic Wars allowing a period of expansion and wealth for the Anadili tribes and the foundation of the First Antaran Empire around 957 BCE.
The Lost Anadili Tribe
The first inhabitants in western Etruria were an Anadili tribe, known as the Cimmerians, who arrived by sea in dugouts. These inhabitants remained along the Gulf of Etienne where retained the ancient tribal oligarchy until their integration into Etrurian culture around 500 CE. The dense forest of central Etruria and the rugged Atenian made travel inland nearly impossible and made their long standing isolation possible.
It is established that the Cimmerian people remained a considerable sea power in ancient times. In the centuries following 1200 BC, the Cimmerians formed the major naval and trading power of the region. According to local legend, the Cimerrian hero Archeron travelled as far as what is believed to be Abezin and Miotus. There is historical evidence that they had traveled extensively to Lusitierra, Samir, and Aesmund. It is likely that several sea faring peoples of questionable origins have been assigned to Cimmerian origins. In many Danetian societies, these seafaring Cimmerians were known as Tyrians, sea-people or individually by local tribal names. In Etrusci legends the Cimmerians are a mythical utopian lost tribe living beyond the Atenian range. The Aretini King Attrilles encountered the Cimmerians, called at that time the Tyrians, in the Dravic War Epic and described them as an advanced society of the purest ancient stock. It is likely that this tradition inspired much of the meritocratic ideals of ancient and modern Etruria.
The sea faring reach and strength of the Cimmerians was severely reduced as the Samirians (Dravian and other cultures from Samir) settled southern Danetia. A major sea battle against the Dravia around 1000BCE resulted in a crushing defeat and marked the end of the Cimmerian naval preeminence. Despite a gradual decline over the next thousand years, the Cimmerians retained a close relationship with the sea. Several infamous Cimmerian pirates and raiders where well known and documented in Antaran records.
Around 500 CE, the Dravia culture began to collapse. As the scales of power began to shift, the Alesian Kings began an aggressive southern expansion that put them in direct contact with Cimmerians for the first time. Although very little of the great Tyrians of 1200BC remained in the Cimmerians of 500CE, the Cimmerians again caught the imagination of the Etrurians. The Etrurian King Laurus Augustus described the Cimmerians as noble savages and models for purity of the Anadilian way.
The Cimmerians remained independent, under the reverent amusement of the Etrurians, until the Antaran colonization of the Etienne Gulf in 720CE. The Antaran attempt to place the Cimmerians under the rule of their empire instigated a long war between the Etrurians and Antarans that resulted in the fall of both the Antaran Mograne Dynasty and the Etrurian Lykaionian Dynasty. Following the conflict, Etruria lost most of it's new holdings south of the Eridanos River while gaining the Cimmerian territories to the west.
Aretini Kings
(900 CE - 1700 CE)
By 900 BCE, the southern Anadili cultures flourished as a system of independent city states in what is now northern Alsatia Province in Etruria. Although each city state was sovereign, they were part of a larger cultural area with similar political and social structures. Southern Etruria was, at this time, under the control of the Dravian overlords at Parsa. The southern coastal city of Gubla, now known as Gibelet, was under the rule of a Dravian supported Angu King. The Angu, originally an Anadilian tribe, had by this time heavily intermarried with the Dravi. They favored hereditary kings and a centralized government modeled after the Dravi system. North of the Angu cultural region was the ethnic Anadilian Sicauna culture. The Sicauna were a sea faring power that exerted limited political control over it's dependent cities. The Sicuana culture was a far more closed society that hardly intermarried among even its own cities. The Etrusci Aretini culture was limited to the Aretini Valley near what is now Arretium. These were the last to develop city states.
The Lykaionian Dynastic period begins ca. 1400 BCE and includes such legendary figures as Lykaios and Attrilles—who are supposed to have reigned shortly before the historic record opens ca. 1300 BCE, when the now decipherable syllabic writing started to develop from the early pictograms. The earliest king on the Aretini king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is Etana, 3rd king of the Dynasty of Lykaios. The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Attrilles of Lykaios (ca. 9th century BCE), whose name is also mentioned in the Anadili-Dravic War epic—leading to the suggestion that Attrilles might have been a historical king.
The foundation of Arretium, marked a period of rapid growth as the Aretini expanded east. Within 100 years, the Aretini city-states were allied under the Etrusci King Cuine, also called Kull. Cuine first took his army east to invade the neighboring Anadilian Sicauna hoping to gain control of the fertile Alesian basin and access to the Bay of Triest Vistula. The Sicauna allied themselves with thier powerful neighbors, the Angu, and defeated Cuine at the banks of the Sequana. Cuine was forced to turned his attention south where he pushed back the Dravia and captured Parsa in 622 BCE. However, the Dravia returned in force and recaptured the city. Cuine retreated north and ingeniously held off a Dravian counter attack in the [Alsatia Province|Morovian foothills]]. Cuine approached the Antaran ruler for support but was denied. Alone and significantly out numbered, the Etrusci returned to Parsa and soundly defeated the Dravia. This secured the Aretini as the regional power in central Danetia. This battle is also considered one of the most important in Danetian history as it was the first time an Anadilian army successfully defeated the Dravia.
The First Antaran Empire was bringing the last remaining independent Anadili tribes under its wing. Within 200 years, the Antarans had dominated its neighboring Anadili tribes. Most scholars believe the rise of the Adamantine Order in 883 BCE and the founding of Imperial City of Cedelphia in 501 BCE marks the true birth of the imperialist agenda in Antara. However, the new empire was in need of ever increasing tribute. As the trimethian winter cold rolled south, the young Antaran empire began crumble under the pressure of the fierce northern Anadili tribes. The Antarans turned to the Anadili tribes that had settled to the South. The Antaran generals sent envoys demanding these Anadili tribes submit to Cedelphia and send young warriors to help defend the Empire's northern frontier. When the Aretini refused, the massive Antaran military marched for the narrow Arretium pass to force obedience. The battle was fought near strategic fortifcation at Arethenas, now known as Arretium, in northern Etruria in 628 BCE. The war hardened Aretini, nearly defeated at the bloody battle for Parsa only six years before, held off the much larger Antaran advance with the assistance of the neighboring Sicauna peoples of the Alesian basin. Being attacked from the north and the south, the Antaran generals had no choice but to accept the complete independence of the southern tribes and direct all attention to preserving the Empire against annihilation at the hands of the northern tribes. The resulting treaty, one of the first of its kind, is still recognized to this day between Antara and Etruria and established the modern eastern border between the two nations.
The Consolidation
The battle of Arethenas left a lasting legacy on Aretini culture. Although victorius, King Cuine was mortally wounded in the battle. This left the Aretini kingship without a clear heir. One of King Cuinte's generals, Cai Artorius, assumed command and was the first to adopt the title of Imperator. It also put an end to Antaran ambitions to control the southern Anadili tribes and, perhaps most importantly, it facilitated an alliance between the Aretini, Alsatian, and Alesian Kings.
From the reign of King Cai onward, the Aretini kings were technically elective. Cai and his successors worked to unify what is now modern Etruria. By 320 CE, the Aretini Kings had forced the Angu north into what is now modern Sam'thuma by forming a secret alliance with the Sicaun. However, the Alsatians would not contral all of Alesia until the rule of King Atrinus 497 CE. Upon gaining control of all Alesia, King Atrinus was crowned at Arretium King of all the Etrusci and changed his name to Augustinus.
 Lykaios, Patriarch of Etruria |
 Laurus Rex |
 The Fall of Kings |
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 Ti. Iulius Sabinus, Fmr Imperator |
Augustinus returned the Etrurian crown to the Lykaionian line. The Lykaionian remained strong for several centuries and Etruria remained under stable kingship for over a thousand years. In 502 CE, Augustinus ordered all Etrurian nobles adopt the tria nomina. Atrinus himself adopted the nomen Augusti and the agnomen Rex as the royal cognomen.
Augustinus' descendent, Laurus Augustus defeated the Dravian warlord Ajatasatrus at Calva in 580 CE. This pushed the Dravia even further south and reaffirmed Etruria's position in central Danetia. It was Laurus the Lawgiver who codified the eugenic and meritocratic order in 603 CE. According to tradition, Laurus had difficulty convincing his fellow Etrurians to embrace his tough laws. After deep consideration, he declared his son rule in his absence and the Etrurians vowed to follow his strict laws while he made the arduous trek up the Ambrosi to confer with the Pertubius Oracle as to how to improve his laws. Instead of returning, Laurus disappears forever from history, thereby eternally obliging the Etrurians to honor their agreement not to change the laws.
Warlord Kings
The period from 500 to 700 CE was notably stable for the peoples of central Danetia. For the first time in thousands of years, the Dravian culture had entered a period of decline. Most of it's northern frontier had been largely abandoned and the southern borders of Etruria were no longer under constant threat. This era of peace centralized control of the Etrusci Kings who before 700 CE were little more than regional lords. At the end of Laurus' reign the Etrurians developed militaristic national ethos that asserted the dominance of Anadili blood over all others. Conquest began slowly under Laurus. Under the reigns of Antonius and Tullus Hostilius, the Etrurians accelerated what began as the near bloodless conquest of the region just south of the River Eridanos, once controlled by the Angu. This expansion continued and Etrurian control extended as far south as modern TBD by 750 where heavy Dravian resistance was finally met. However, a resurgent Antaran Empire had also entered a period of expansion. In 720 CE, Antaran waships had landed on the southern shores of the Etienne Gulf and began colonizing what is now Galea. Philippus' legions were held at a standstill as the bloody seige of TBD entered its third month. Turning his back on the TBD frontier, Phillipus marched west to reclaim Galea and remove the Antaran foothold in southern Danetia. The resulting conflict consumed Philippus' reign and nearly destroyed the Mograne Dynasty of the Antaran first Empire. In 752, Phillipus defeated the Antaran army and sacked the Antaran colony at Hahn Nova burning it to the ground. Phillipus then returned east to repel the Dravian advance where he was defeated, captured, and executed by the Raja Rama who had formed an Alliance with the powerful Osman of Northern Samir.
Phillipus was succeeded by his son, Tiberius. Tiberius inherited a war weary kingdom that again faced destruction at the hands of the Dravians. Etruria had been repeatedly gaining and loosing ground in a 200 year war with the Dravia. It had been the most expensive and destructive war in Etrurian history. The city of Parsa had been reclaimed nearly twenty times. Tiberius destroyed and routed the Dravian-Osman force at Parsa. Marching south, he sacked Byrullum and reestablished Etrurian control over central Danetia. Upon his return to Etruria, Tiberius reorganized the Etrurian kingdom and founded Arretium before consulting the Senate on his plans to invade Antara. His fellow Etrurians, content with the new wealth he had brought them and tired of war, would not support another long war. Furious, Tiberius ignored his nobles and began to raise an army of foreign soldiers from the conquered southern people. The Senate moved quickly to depose Tiberius.
The sudden abdication of the gifted Tiberius in 780 CE, destabilized the dynasty leading to the crowning of his sickly seven-year-old nephew, Quintus. The Oracle at Pertubius had prophesized at Tiberius' birth that he would be lord of many nations but not of Etruria. Quintus died 13 years later of possible assasination, ending the Augustian line. As Etruria struggled with internal strife, an ambitious Emperor rose to power in Antara. According to legend, the new Antaran Emperor was Tiberius himself. Although the connection has never been proven, the new Antaran Emperor picked up where Tiberius left off. In 791 CE, Antara returned to Galea in force crushing the Etrurian armies at Angband and beginning a march of conquest that would cover a fifth of the world. For the next five hundred years, Etruria remained on the defensive as the ever growing jaws of the Lion surrounded them.
The Black Prince
Tarquinius Magnus, believed to be behind the death of Quintus, assumed the Etrurian throne in 793 CE. Tarquinius is remembered by history as a debauched, blood-thirsty, and violent warlord who saved Etruria while at the same time nearly enslaving her people. His brilliance at the battle of Empryea stopped the advance of Tiber Vastano's armies. Despite Tarquinius' critical victory upon the field of battle, his success was blemished by his personal vanity and ruthlessness. To prevent an Antaran invasion, Tarquinius conscripted thousands of young men and used them as a human wall to defend Etruria. According to legend, over two hundred thousand Etrurians, many ill equipped or even unarmed, died at the battle of Empryea. The battle is regarded as a defining moment in Etrurian history and, had Tarquinius lost this battle, Etruria would likely be part of the Dominion.
Famously self consumed, Tarquinius built a new capital city south of Alesia and named it Tarquinia. The city was built with the slave labor of thousands of Etrurian peasants. Many of Etruria's most famous and extravagant palaces were constructed by Tarquinius: including the Sacerdian Temple. As Etruria sank into one of the worst periods of poverty, Tarquinius lived a life of lavish luxury within the many palaces of Tarquinia. Tarquinius was infatuated with gladiatorial games. In the arena Tarquinius always won, since his opponents always submitted to the king. He would often have wounded soldiers and amputees be placed in the arena for him to slay with a sword. He also would routinely club the deformed or crippled to death as monsters in gruesome reenactments of myth. He was also known for fighting exotic animals in the arena, often to the horror of the Etrurian people.
Although Tarquinius is largely considered the worst Etrurian king, he was followed by one of the greatest. Aulus Galeacus was one of Tarquinius' most gifted aides. At the Battle of Empryea, it was Aulus' tactical brilliance that prevented the total massacre of the ragged Etrurian defenders. In 816 CE, Aulus, supported by his fellow commanders, assassinated Tarquinius. According to legend, Aulus remarked at a royal party that Tarquinius may be skilled against the maimed or defenseless but could not repeat such feats against a true soldier. Enraged, Tarquinius challenged Aulus to gladiatorial combat. Aulus accepted and promptly killed Tarquinius.
Five Good Kings
Upon his coronation, Aulus returned the Etrurian capital to Arretium. This move was largely in response to the destructive Barbi invasions of the eastern coast that at its worse destroyed Alesia in 812 CE. To reassure his nobles and prevent his own possible assassination, he established the Etrurian Senate which he modeled after the Antaran Senatorum Antara founded some forty years prior. Aulus did much to improve life of common Etrurians and to form a single Etrurian identity. He worked to arrange peace with Antara and set Etruria on a course that would allow it to take advantage of the economic opportunities provided by Antara's vast Empire. Aulus's reign was one of the longest lasting 48 years and was the first of a line of so called five good kings.
Following the reign of Aulus, Etruria entered a period of relative domestic peace and prosperity for the next two hundred years that would be remembered as the high mark of Etrurian kingship. Whereas previous kings were little more than warlords or and powerful tribal chieftains, the kings that reigned from 800-1000 CE established many of the political and social traditions that would be later reclaimed by the modern Etrurian state.
During this period, the Antaran domination of Danetia allowed for a level of commerce never before seen. Etruria developed a respectable merchant class and extended its reach throughout much of the known world. Further, Etruria's eastern coast formed a critical point of passage between Antara and its holdings in the south. This led to an influx of new ideas and wealth that forever changed the once rural and rough edged Etrurians. It was during this period that the
Unfortunately, this period of relative peace was interrupted by the return of Barbi raiders in 912 CE. Unlike previous attacks, the Barbi invaders established a permanent settlement at the banks of the Ambrosi delta at what is now Marsilla. By time word reached Arretium, Marsillia had developed into a formidable Barbi foothold in Central Danetia. It would take the reign of two Etrurian kings, Callus and Aulus Barbatos, to expel to invaders. In 921 CE, Callus sent an expedition to cross difficult terrain into western Etruria. However, the expedition never reached Marsilla. His successor, Aulus, sent two more failed expeditions before a third successful expedition. The success of the third expedition of 1000CE was owed to a young western Etrurian prince named Con, who led the expedition through the dangerous journey over the Atenian and through the central junbles. The small expedition worked with the western Etrurians and a small group of friendly Barbi allies to massacre the Barbi invaders. A considerable Barbi population descendent from the Barbi allies remain in Marsillia today.
In 1054, the Antaran Empire launched an attack on southern Miotus. The ensuing conflict drew in many of the Danetian nations, including Etruria. For a short period from 1066 to 1070, the Heloans occupied parts of northern Etruria. They were expelled in 1070 by the Etrurian King Merovius Miotucis. Merovius led a counter attack in Miotus that resulted in the establishment of several Etrurian colonies in Miotus.
Awareness Beyond Danetia
The colonies in Miotus were the first of several expeditions to foreign continents sponsored by Arretium. In 1134, Lucius Verus authorizes envoys as far as Aesmund and Samir. Envoys from Northern Samir return with warnings of the powerful Parsii. This began a period of calm before the storm. Within 200 years the Parsii would descend upon central Danetia, nearly destroying Etruria.
In 1221, King Caius dispatched Ferdinand Lusiora on a western expedition that resulted in the discovery of Lusitierra. Lusiora was named governor of Etruria's new holdings. However, Etruria's interest in Lusitierra was shortlived as the Parsii invasion of 1295 swept through eastern Etruria.
Osmani Occupation
By 1230, the Parsii occupied Arretium and had reached as far north as modern Samuthuma and the southern Provinces of Antara. Many of the Etrurian nobility made the difficult trek to western Etruria where a temporary capital had been established at Fatia. The Etrurian King, Ancus Osmanicus, retreated with his army to the foothills of the Atenian where they fought a hard 37 year resistance to the foreign occupiers. Ancus died in the harsh winter while hiding high in the Atenian. His son, Marcus Danlevicus, assumed the Etrurian throne and eventually defeated the Parsii invaders.
Pax Antara
The expulsion of the Parsii required a combined effort among the Danetian states not seen since the invasion of Miotus 200 years before. However, the end result was a renewed period of peace known as the Pax Antara. The next 200 years saw no major conflicts on the Danetian continent.
Decadence
(1600-1700)
The Republic
By the time of Cassius, the kingship had gained exceptional wealth and power. The nobles grew envious of the king's wealth and revolted in 1704 CE. Led by Publius Valerius the nobles executed Cassius and established a republic. Under the republic, Etrurian nobility held unprecedented wealth and rose to economic dominance. Within a short 300 years of Republican rule, Etruria entered the industrial age. In its last days, Etruria's republican government was corrupt, unstable and its society hollow. Under a proud and beautiful façade, social decadence and immorality had reached an unprecedented level. Corruption appeared to have infested the highest levels of government and industry. Etrurians had arrived at this moment after thousands of gradual social, politically, and economic developments since the industrial revolution.
The Guardian Era
By TBD, many Etrurians found the changes disturbing, but as long as Etruria remained a viable economic power, most continued their daily lives without much regard. Despite the overal decadence of Republican Era Etruria, the military culture of the various Republican militias. Although Etruria's political and economic strength was unprecedented the tensions between the social classes had reached a breaking point. Wealthy traders had bought out the noble blood. A small group (many ethnic Dravi and Barb foreigners who did not follow the Laurian Law) of merchants, roughly 5% of the Etrurian population, controlled over 20% of the nation's wealth. The military establishment in Arretium, which continued to follow Laurus' strict laws, had long advocated the return of the old ways. When a wealthy Senator, an ethnic foreigner named Malachi, raped an Etrurian woman named Lacretia, a group of military officers marched on Tarquinia, siezed foreign wealth, and restored the laws of Laurus. So began the modern era of Etrurian Guardians. Under Publius Atrillius, Etruria underwent a social, politica, and economic revival that continues to this day.
