Era 5: The Classical Age
(map: click for big version - dots are now only shown for the most important cities)
This age is known as the 'Classical' because so many of the classic writings of the ancient mediterranean were written at this time (it should be noted that the Indus valley and far east Asia already had plenty of their own classics). Across the world, there was a revival of strong centralised states and interest in cultural pursuits. Actually, the rebound happened so fast, that some historians continue to question whether the deterioration of civilizations in the period 1900-1100 BC is exaggerated by the agreed-upon history. In any case, it seems that memories of warlike invaders had left a scar in the collective minds of some cultures, such that they were left with a feeling of vulnerability, even after foreign dynasties were deposed and exiled. The building of great temples, writing of great literary works, and a newfound obsession with warfare and tactics may all be seen as attempts to erase all memory of earlier weakness and create a feeling of superiority over the 'barbaric' cultures.
Of course, civilized peoples were still willing to wage war on each other too, and there was potential for unmatched violence at this time, as three large empires grew up next to each other in Eurasia - the second Pargian Empire (the Utuap dynasty of the upper Nile was ejected by King Hanan III of Hekroi, who became divine ruler of all Pargia), the Kaj Empire (founded by a strong and expansionistic Kajivati kingdom, which united the others and expanded further, and gained partial authority over the Jornmarin kingdoms of the Indus), and the largest of them all, the Kraman Empire (a successful fusion of Kramtob and upper Ummite cultures, with superior iron weapons and a powerful army). Yet the frontiers soon stabilised into accepted zones of influence - border provinces were often exchanged back and forth, but each empire faced distractions on many fronts and within their own lands, and none could afford an all-out war.
The big empires did make attempts to conquer smaller states. In particular, the Maitan cities formed strong alliances to hold off invasions by Pargians on many occasions, both on land and at sea - many great naval battles were fought (the Maitan generally winning with fewer, bigger ships with better-trained crews). But while large empires were generally consumed with the tasks of maintaining order and some form of unity, often involving oppression and harsh taxation, smaller states and city-states were able to put more effort into great monuments and works of art, both physical and literary kinds, and their influence was able to spread far beyond their political borders. They also tended to have more loyal populations, and soldiers. The 'golden cities' of the Yeuren Kingdoms are generally considered the most sophisticated and cultured to exist at this time.
One result of the collapse of the previous kingdoms and empires was the spread of 'civilized' culture, as exiles and refugees moved to new areas. Firstly, this increased the amount of trade goods floating around, and secondly, territories with large farmlands and towns were much more rewarding to conquer than lands with only simple villages, or nomads, which is another factor in the appearance of such large empires at this time. In any case, there was now much greater opportunity to trade. The Black Sea and the Mediterranean were home to fleets of trade ships. Despite Mavan sympathies for their Maitan kinsmen, profit often came first, and there was lucrative trade with the Pargians (as evidenced by ancient shipwrecks found laden with gold and precious stones). Culture was spread by sea trade, as shown by growing signs of Agrian influence (from the Kaj empire) in south-east Asia. There was also much overland trade between the great empires of Eurasia, although the Sai-Hsin tribes (who were introducing the concept of horseback riding) were able to cause havoc with caravan routes, and often penetrated beyond imperial frontiers in search of more loot.
Over in the Americas, the Yucatan saw a revival of civilization. Seemingly from nowhere (some suspect a missing link in known history of the region), the great city of Zutlnutla came into being, followed by the rapid transformation of the Axlmec chiefdoms into city-states. None of this was helped by the Timiquican sea-raiders who are blamed for the destruction of several ancient coastal cities.
Finally, it should be noted that iron weapons became commonplace in Eurasia. Iron-working seems to have developed independently in Europe and the Far East, by the Bohemoi and Yueren respectively. The Bohemoi and Czechy culture spread the technology to the middle-east (their early lead in iron weapons allowed them to hold up Krilik migration into the Po Valley and beyond), and the people India were able to acquire it from both east and west. Iron working also spread into Africa through the Pargian Empire - it is believed the Zuru highland people of east africa (related to Zul seafaring culture) had iron at this time.
Its now around 550 BC.
Cultures and Factions Ownership:
Amestrian tribes: Crezth
Pelonar Kingdom: Fuschia / NPC
Maitan City-States: Fuschia / human-slaughter
Mavan Kingdom: human-slaughter
Sarvonian tribes: Lord Iggy
Yiphesh Kingdom: Lord Iggy / lord_joakim
Iphas kingdoms (vassal of Kraman Empire): lord_joakim
Utuap chiefdoms: lord_joakim
Pargian Empire: Neverwonagame3
Pargian colonies: Neverwonagame3
Champay chiefdoms: Luckymoose
Jornmarin Kingdoms: Luckymoose
Kaj Empire: Luckymoose / Ninja Dude
Kraman Empire: Ninja Dude / NPC
Krilik chiefdoms: Ninja Dude
Syhin State: Ninja Dude
Yueren chiefdoms: kkmo
Yueren kingdoms: kkmo
Shan-Ren kingdom: kkmo / Charles Li
Hai-Ren kingdom: Charles Li
Sai-Hsin Kurzan tribes: Charles Li / NPC
Tianshi tribes/chiefdoms: LightFang
Tiandshi kingdom: LightFang
Washagon tribes/chiefdoms: Bestshot9
Timiquican Oltaxlatl: BananaLee
Xanto tribes: Nick014
Panto chiefdoms: Nick014
Nanto mound-builders: Nick014 / NPC
Zuru chiefdoms: mythmonster2 / NPC
Zul sea-peoples: mythmonster2
Hom kingdom: mythmonster2
The rest: NPC, and may be claimed by new people. Feel free to ask for details.
Note that there are some mixed cultures which are under the dual authority of two people, who may well give them conflicting instructions, and I'll try to decide the outcome.
It can be assumed that there are tribes all over the place. They will get names on the map as and when they become relevant.
Notes:
@Lord Iggy, missed your input, sorry
@ lord_joakim, I hope to refer to your place-names in future
@Charles Li, the Toyon Kingdoms are defending Japan!
@Ninja Dude, I notice your culture now has part-control of the two biggest empires, nice job
@All, again, I'm open to any thoughts or suggestions you may have, about how to make this more realistic/interesting!
Next Era:
Era 6 will be The Conquerors, where leaders of small states (or 'barbarians') could suddenly conquer large empires - perhaps in the name of freedom and virtue, or perhaps just for glory. Large empires can also be led to even greater heights, although that would be more difficult - their main problem may just be surviving. Great leaders and great personalities will be most important! The theme of cultural achievements and building of great monuments could continue too.
I intend to post Era #6 at some point over the weekend, maybe tomorrow if there is enough input by then.
Reminder: Please feel free to give any kind of input you want, but a simple list of priorities would be good. Names of great cities and leaders (NEW: and places!) could also be useful, though may not actually appear in the updates for some time. I will accept PM's if need be, otherwise you can just post in the thread. It would be helpful if you could take a second to
boldify the name of your tribe/chiefdom/people, so I know what you are talking about, and can easily find that post again...
New Cultures:
These are still accepted at this time, please refer to the template on first page. NPC's on the map can also be claimed.
