Third Imperium (0 to present)
Also called The Imperium. Founded in 0 by Cleon Zhunastu from the Sylean Federation in what is now Core
sector. The Imperium grew swiftly during
the pacification campaigns and
more slowly thereafter until stability was reached in the 600's, by which
time the Imperium had absorbed much of the territory of the First and Second Imperiums.
Government Structure: The Imperium can be best thought of as a form
of feudal confederation. Member
worlds of the Imperium agree to pay taxes and obey a few fundamental laws
which the Imperium promulgates, known as the High Laws. In return, the
Imperium agrees to patrol the space between the worlds, to protect interstellar
trade, to encourage travel and commerce, and to arbitrate diplomatic relations
between worlds. Beyond this, individual worlds are left to their own
devices so long as they acknowledge the power of the Imperium to rule the
space between the stars.
Imperial power is present on member worlds in the form of consulates, bureaucratic
offices, and bases. Sometimes, larger enclaves of Imperial power are
placed where they can enhance the emperor's strength.
The Imperium's territory is divided into sectors, which are in turn divided
into subsectors and systems. Groups of sectors, called domains, have been created above the sector level.
During the Pacification Campaigns, Emperor Artemsus divided space into six
regions, labeled them domains, and appointed an archduke over each of them.
To each archduke, he assigned the continuing pacification of the domain's
many systems and their integration into the Imperium. The domains were: Sylea
(Core, Fornast, Massilia, Delphi), Vland (Corridor, Vland, Gushemege, Dagudashaag),
Gateway (Ley, Glimmerdrift Reaches, Gateway, Crucis Margin), llelish (llelish,
Zarushagar, Reaver's Deep, Daibei), Antares
(Lishun, Antares, Mendan, Amdukan), and Sol (Diaspora, Old Expanses, Solomani
Rim, Alpha Crucis). Most of the domains were never totally absorbed
into the Imperium.
In 589, during the First Frontier War,
a seventh domain was established: Deneb (Spinward Marches, Deneb, Trojan Reach, Reft). The
intent was to appoint an archduke to be responsible for their supervision.
However, the Civil War broke out before an
archduke was appointed.
Following the civil war, the emperors expressed
concern about individuals with powers equaling their own, so they moved to
lessen the power of the archdukes in the Imperial government. Because
of this, no archduke of Deneb was never appointed. As a result, the
domains came to have little practical significance. Each archduke did
retain the power to create knights and baronets.
In the years after the Fourth Frontier
War, and after the problems it presented from lags in communication, Emperor
Strephon felt a strengthened archduke
position could enable the Imperium to more quickly respond in defending the
realm. Against the protests and opposition of some prominent members
of the Moot, Strephon reestablished the domain
as a level in the bureaucracy of the Imperial Navy and returned to the Domain
the ability to collect taxes. Still later, Strephon gave the archdukes
the ability to legislate and enforce the desires of the emperor on the local
level. One of Strephon's most recent acts was to finally appoint an
archduke of the Domain of Deneb: Archduke Norris.
See also Sylean Federation.
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