Imperium

 This page is under renovation. Read about the overall process here. Do you want to see the original content? Check out the sandbox. Imperium (English: The Empire) is a country located in Central Arhet. It is a confederation governed as a constitutional monarchy, consisting of 90 first-level entities: 52 republics, 32 kingdoms and 6 archipelagos. Imperium covers an area of 13,847,000 km² (5.3 million square miles), has an estimated total population of 1.25 billion and shares borders with 26 countries. The Hegemonian institutions are seated in seven cities: Magium (the country's largest city), Arx Consularis, Orei, Dicaearchus, Balisipo, Merkatos and Lichas.

Due to its strategic position in Arhet and large extension, Imperium has been home to myriad civilizations. After thousands of years of human development in the area, the Phocaeans and the Icarians emerged as the predominant civilizations in the modern Imperium, consolidating their power through the Res Publica Phocaeensis and the poleis, respectively. Both civilization disputed the control of the area during years, until the intervention of Magius allowed both civilizations to consolidate their territories as the Ethereal Empire, the earliest stage of modern Imperium. The Ethereal Empire was governed by Magius itself for over 500 years, and by his direct descendants for 200 years following his ascension to the Ether.

The Dominate started in 221 when Titanius III became the first emperor without direct bloodline to Magius, and was established as an absolutist system in which the successors were direct or adopted descendants of the emperors. This system was superseded in 452 by the First Electivate, in which the emperor was elected by the High Council, consisting of the wise, regional, magical and religious leaders of Imperium. This system was reformed as the Second Electivate in 1072, with the creation of the first-level legislatures (elected by the people), who where responsible for appointing members of Senate, a federal legislative body responsible for formulating federal laws and ratifying the election of the emperor by the High Council. Following significant reforms to the system, the Reformatio Rei Publici of 1720 concluded the transition to a confederal constitutional monarchy.

Etymology and terminology
The term Imperium comes from the Hegemonian language (the only official language until the dissolution of the Second Electivate in 1720) and literally means "great power" and, by extension, "empire". The general consensus on the use of this term to refer to the country is based on documents attributed to the early historian Fabius Musca, who pointed out that the term was developed to indicate that the country has Magius Aeternus as its leader, conventionally referred to as the "great power" due to his status as the first wielder of magic and his divine origin (as he descended from the Ether). The early inhabitants attributed to Imperium the adjective Aetherium from the Hegemonian, meaning "ethereal, celestial, heavenly", which reinforced the idea that the country was led by Magius Aeternus through his direct descendants, who consequently were also deities (from the Hegemonian deitatem, which means "of divine nature").

The adjective Aetherium fell into disuse after the coronation of Titanius II in 221, the first monarch who was not a direct descendant of Magius Aeternus and thus did not constitute a deity. The First Electivate implied the inclusion of the Icarian word ἡγεμονία (hēgemonía), meaning "authority, rule, political supremacy" as a synonym of Imperium and demonym for its inhabitants, due to its "undeniable political, economic and military predominance over other countries", as Erichthonius points out in documents attributed to his teachings.