So I have been listening to the "Fall of Civilizations" podcast while playing recently, and I guess I am feeling apocalyptic... But it got me thinking about how the people of the empire would think about the end of their world. It is a massive empire, spanning many cultures that has now lasted, if we include the republican period, well over 1000 years, and they are coming up on the turn of the millenium in the Imperial calendar.
In our world, of course, there were plenty of cults and preachers who considered the end of the world, but those were mainly abrahamic, and well, those are pretty much not represented in this world. In fact a while back the last holdout of Tengri in Mongolia buckled, so now every single province in the world is Greco-Roman of some variant.
So how would the nature of apocalyptic millennialism look in this world? What different interpretations could there be? And considering how important magic is in these religions, how would that impact the differing views?
For anyone curious about the actual gameplay, which wont really be touched in this entry I ended up as Lukose, the zealous first son who became the new Pontifex Maximus. I did switch over and made his brother Hekatean, he had lived with his landed Hekatean wife in Belgica for a couple of years, he is a witch, the current king of Media is Hekatean, so it made sense, even with his lands being mostly Malleanite.
As we have,
finally, passed the year 900 we are now into the early medieval period and the kings have started to tighten royal control as new inventions have come around for the first time in
400 years. From a narrative, as well as gameplay standpoint, this will of course mean less chaos and mad invasions willy-nilly, and the coming of a more stable empire. Speaking of, the empire is disgustingly stable. I haven't glossed it over, there haven't been a civil war since the revolt of Marcus the Dungeondweller, which was in the 7th century. The Oppius dynasty is just way too OP. Did I mention we have 33 million renown stashed up and nothing to use it for with every single legacy already being filled up? Yeah, that's a thing.
Going into this game I was expecting the empire to crack due to the -100 opinion pentalty due to distance almost every king has due to letters and loyalty, and if I had let the AI play the emperor for the first couple of years that might have happened, but with all the legacy buffs my dynasty have now rebellion is pretty unheard of. I kind of regret I made the empire elective, as that adds to the stability, the current dynasty, the Laskarids, have held power for almost 200 years. I am very much considering switching over to the emperor and abolishing elective so we can have some proper roman civil wars over succesion.
Also the current emperor, who have been on the throne for over 50 years, and also is awesome is pretty much every other way, is zealous, so pretty much every direct vassal of the empire is now Hekatean, which probably will have some ripple-effects for the future with Hekateanism becoming even more dominant than it already is. Mainline Hellenics still outnumber them just over 2 to 1 in provinces though, but with all these kings being Hekatean that will be their state-religion going into EU4, and that would be pretty boring. But that's a long way off, and things could change, obviously.
On another meta-note the game runs like crap. I have played for 585 years at this point, and as anyone who have played a vanilla startdate until the enddate knows, it's pretty bad. I have played for that long and I still have over 400 years more to go... I'm not married to the idea of starting EU4
exactly in 1444, but I would like to atleast reach the 15th century. But if it gets much worse I might have to settle for the 13th. I want us to atleast have invented bombards so it makes sense that everyone suddenly have cannons, and also fight Genghis Khan obviously, before I convert the game to EU4. That is the goal atleast. I get occasional crashes, and if it gets bad enough I might have to settle for an earlier switch than I would like. But the longer I can go the better.
For my next succesion I have a 20% of continuing as the Pontifex Maximus, who now resides in Hamadan but don't hold the duchy due to, well, circumstances, a 20% chance of the duchy of Isfahan, at which point my plans is to create something cool by making a Kurdish/Roman hybrid culture since that duchy contains 2 of the 3 kurd provinces in the game, as well as some roman ones, and a 60% chance of one of three possible one-county counts in the duchy of Daylam, those will of course be all about trying to wrest the duchy from the Pontifex Maximus, who by now is disgustingly rich and powerful, but haven't really had any, I guess we can call it "personal drama", that would make for a good story, which is why this entry is pretty meta rather than focusing on the person of Lukose. Not that he haven't had an interesting life, but nothing that has happened while playing him felt story-worthy. Besides, he is humble, so not the kind of ruler who would commision a flattering story about his reign either way, so history-book style also felt wrong. "Modern history book" might have worked, but since I don't know how the world will turn out I don't want to get into timey-wimey trouble by setting the wrong tone. Oculanism could be the dominant religion of the world, or it could be an obscure cult from the middle ages by the time of the modern era, I just don't know how it will turn out so I wont use that form.
Anyhow, that ramble got longer than planned, so anyway...
The following in a excerpt from the notes taken during a meeting of the premier religious authorities, the Second Great Council, of the Sacrum Romanum Imperium, held in Rome, December 978, to discuss the implications of the upcoming turn of the millenium.
These documents are sealed by order of the Imperator, on pain of death for any who unlawfully access them.
Finis Mundi
The end of the world
On December 1st, in what would come to be known as year 0 in the Imperial calendar, Cossus Oppius was elected consul, and he would found the Imperium.
It is said that on the day of his formal ascencion to the Imperial Throne a mad prophet spoke the following words:
The line of Oppius shall never falter
For Jupiter's hand are over them
And for a thousand years their rule shall last
And forever their names shall be on the lips of men
Until the final days of the earth
When fire will rain from the sky, and men make battle on the land, and in the air, and also under the sea
In the battle of the Lictors carrying the seal of their office
And the common man carrying the tools of his trade as his heraldry
When only the will of the Senate can be the salvation of man, and the hope of it's future
And Emperors and kings stand by the side, watching, or are swept away in the hellfire
Ever have this prophecy been proclaimed in the temples, and written on monuments, and every child have learned it during their schooling for centuries, for it have been interpreted as nothing but an endorsment from the Gods regarding the rule of the Imperium, and the Holy dynasty of Oppius. But as the years have passed, and we are ever closer and closer to the year 1000, different interpretations of this prophecy have started to appear amongst the Flamens of the various cults of the empire. Great unrest is felt amongst the people as preachers proclaim three different interpretations of the prophecy, and in the streetcorners in the cities of the empire, from Burma to Brittania, great confusion is felt amongst the people on how to interpret this foundational prophecy.
For this reason, the Imperator Secundus have called to his court 6 men, who represent all the main religious cults of the Empire, and who hold great sway over the opinions of the Flamens through their known piety or position.
Himself, the Imperator, being the Supreme Magici of the Imperial Domain, he will represent the Hekateans.
The three main schools of thought that are preached across the empire have come to be called the Literalist view, the Symbolic view, and the Apocalyptic view, and all three have their adherents. The purpose of the council is now to debate which view should be canonised as official imperial dogma.
The literalists hold that the prophecy is literal, with the coming of the year 1000 some mayor event will happen, maybe not right on the year, but at some point following that year, that will either unseat the Oppius dynasty from the imperial throne, or among the more radical thinkers, destroy the empire itself. Some believe that demons and Gods will walk the earth, and fly in the skies, and swim under the ocean, and that all men, not only the nobles and the magistrates, but even the common men, will have to fight, but ultimatly, that they are doomed to fail, as Gaia will die under the barrage of the hellfire.
Those who favour the symbolic interpretation hold that "one thousand years" is not to be taken literarly, but rather just is meant to be understood as "a very long time", and that the date of year 1000, and the turning of the millenium, is meaningless in a spiritual sense, and hold no special significance to the prophecy. They do agree that the world will end at some point, and will concede that this would probably destroy the empire, but they believe that the date of this event is set a long time in the future and they point to the many stories in the ancient chronicles that show that prophecy can only be understood in hindsight, so make no statement on the exact nature of the great calamity that will destroy the empire, and indeep, perhaps the world.
The most radical view, the Apocalyptic, holds that not only will the Oppius be unseated and the empire destroyed, but in fact the entire world will end, and the beginning of a new cycle of the universe will begin, the empire having been the pinnacle of human achivement and the purpose of the world having been satisfied, allowing all the souls trapped on this plane to move on and join the Gods on Olympus. This view is mainly propagated in the eastern provinces, where old indian traditions of reincarnation persist.
The arguments put forth by the delegates are as following:
The Imperator holds to the moderate literalist view. He claims that his scrying have revealed that, indeed, a great threat is somewhere over the horizon, but that he has found no reason to believe that the danger is imminent. But at some point a threat will be made manifest, and it will unmake the empire. However, being a moderate he does not believe this to be literal demons, rather some devious work of man. His views bordering on the Symbolic view, he also will concede that any reading of the the Sacred Chronicles clearly show that it is folly to be to certain about the meaning of prophecy, as so many times men have been decieved by the Gods and caused their own doom in a vain folly while attempting to avoid it, or, believing that they have the backing of fate, have rushed into situations that have been their unmaking.
Flavius, Pontifex Maximus of the traditionalist Hellenic high priesthood that was established by Imperator Arruns holds to the symbolic view. He argues that the Imperium is eternal, and that only the destruction of the world can unmake it, for it is made by the Gods, and only the Gods can unmake it. However, as does the emperor, he argues that the only way prophecy is ever made manifest in the Sacred chronicles is through the folly of men trying to avoid their fate. Any action that the Imperator, or the great lords of the empire, may take to stop this fall would likely only cause it, as the masses of the empire panic, which would indeed, possibly fulfill the prophecy. For this reason it is the view of the Hellenic High priesthood that it is to be made clear to the people of the empire that the words "one thousand years" is only symbolic.
Lukose, Pontifex Maximus of the Cult of the Eye of Mithras, argues the Apocalyptic stance. His research have shown that not only this prophecy, but others as well, points to the world ending as it reaches 6000 years old, and by his calculations, and he have consulted with many other learned men in the matter, this time is coming within the century. However, he also argues that this information should not be released to the great masses, but instead held in secret by learned men, so that the simple people can live their simple lives, undisturbed, until the day of judgement, and their souls not be tarnished by the fear such lesser men would feel knowing that the world is coming to an end.
Annama, Pontifex Maximus of the Cult of the Hammer of Mithras holds a hardline literalist stance. He argues that in the coming decade there will be portents, plagues, and wars and rumours of wars, and that with the turning of the millenium the hordes of the underworld will breach our world, and all men will be called upon to fight in this final battle. He urges the council to release the knowledge to the public, for a great many arms must be manufactured, and the peasants be taught the ways of battle so that their souls will be worthy to sit at the Table of Mithras when they die, or else they will be lost to oblivion and forgotten, and that is a great evil.
Dux Ancus, who in the absence of a formal priesthood, have been elected to represent the Eleusinian Mysteries holds to the symbolic view, similar to Flavius of the Hellenic high priesthood, although his view is more mystic rather than pragmatic. He believes that the words of the prophecy is of the Gods, but as the Gods are eternal, and do not speak as men speak, their words can not be taken to be literal. How would a being which exists outside of time comprehend, or for that matter, communicate, the passage of years? In the view of the venerable Dux, deemed a most holy man, the timing of the event spoken of is immaterial, and no man can know it's date, only that it WILL happen. He urges the council to consider not just the date, as simple men do, but look at the prophecy in it's entirety. What is the meaning of the senate, which is supposed to be the salvation of man? What does it mean that the common man will wear the tools of his trade as his heraldry and do battle with the Lictors, carrying the symbol of his office? These are better questions than focusing in on three little words when the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Vicarius Kot, who rules in the land of Borysthenia, and is a well-known Magici, even though that practice is shunned by his fellow Mithrans of the traditionalist Mithran cults, considers that all interpretations likely holds some degree of truth. He argues that in his view, one day the empire must fall. That is inevitable, for everything but the Gods is temporal, and while the empire is indeed Holy, it is still temporal. He will not, however, offer a clear opinion on wheter the turning of the millenium might be significant, and outright rejects the notion that man, with imperfect knowledge, no matter how much he studies magic or the Sacred chronicles, are able to with any certanity divine the will of the Gods.
Dux Nigalemi faulters in all his responses to the Imperator's inquiry. Called as a representative of those sometimes called "Old hellenics", those that have accepted no Pontifex Maximus, he is considered mighty and important amongst those men, but their people sent their most skilled war-leader instead of a learned man, and he is daunted by the great intellects that surround him. His view is that of the simple people, and he views the coming of the millenium with great trepidation, but he can not articulate the reasons for his worries, other than some Flamen have told him to bevare the coming of the year 1000, for that is an auspicious number.
As the days of debate passes, no agreement can be made between the delegates, and in the end only the Imperator himself must decide what dogma is to be made official, and he preached in the official temples of the Empire, and what views must be squashed by all loyal lords when it is openly spoken in the streets.
The Imperator concede that the millenium must be given it's due, and the 1000 years of the empire should be noted, but he also urges that no preaching of sedition must be tolerated. Those that claim that the empire will end will be treated as if they activly worked towards that end. The dogma of the Hellenics, for theirs are the most widespread temples, will preach that no man shall take it upon himself to speak the will of the Gods, for that is hubris, the ultimate sin, and the Magici of the Imperial Orders shall instruct all those who seek their council that fate is unknowable, and that we mere mortals may only glimpse a small fraction of the will of the Gods. The Mithran cults are not to contradict this, and urge their followers to calm, and the Flamens who still hold to the old ways will preach this too, to their simple flocks, or else imperial wrath will be brought down on those congregations. And the followers of the Mysteries will heed Ancus, for he is considered the first amongst their ranks, and all will listen to his words, and he will send word to the Flamens of that faith, and they will follow his lead.
So is decreed by the second Great Council of Rome - May Jupiter strike dead any who contradict it's rulings.
