011 -- The Collapse of Torman Civilization

Transcript of lecture by Professor Charles Anthony of the Cimbrian Central Academy, 6th November, 1203 S.E. Class: Cultural and Political Foundations of Cimbria

Professor Anthony: . . . and as you can see, we ended last week's lecture at the height of the First Torman Empire's power. We already covered their conquest of several other minor groups in the region, along with the subsequent assimilation and adaptation of cultures that came with it. Under the leadership of several highly successful kings, we saw the Tormans expand beyond their traditional borders, until finally the First Empire was declared with the defeat of the Agathians at the four day's battle. We also saw how the Tormans solidified their gains with a thriving trade network, standardized currency, and a system of public works that were highly advanced for the time. Any questions? Yes?

Student: In the text it mentions the conquest of a tribe, the Cim. Are they going to be related to the founding of Cimbria?

Professor: Yes and no. The Cim did indeed live in the area where the capital now stands. But the Cim tribe was so thoroughly decimated by the Tormans in their initial wars of conquest that it practically ceased to exist as a ethnic group. Eventually, Torman settlers arrived in the region, and in settling it they became known as the Cim. The name was applied to them only because of where they had made their home; in ethnicity they were almost wholly Torman. In the end, all that survived of the Cim tribe was their name.

Any more questions? No? Alright, let's move on.

The golden age of the Torman Empire started in approximately 1750 F.E. and spanned the next four hundred years. In that time we saw a outpouring of intellectual and cultural activity from all corners of the empire. The concept of rational empiricism, originally conceived in the Agathian river-states, totally upended the traditional tribal organization of Torman society. What had been a loose coalition united by the personal magnetism of a series of successful warlords became a rationally constructed system of imperial rule.

Leading this imperial system was the Red Cadre, a military elite composed of descendants of victorious generals of the Empire's formative stages. A small, tightly knit group, children (male and female alike) born into the Red Cadre were raised to be professional soldiers and administrators from a very early age. The eldest members of the cadre were responsible for the appointment of an emperor by way of an informal committee. With a few rare exceptions, emperors were chosen from the ranks of the cadre and served for life.

While competition for imperial favor was stiff and political intrigue rampant, there are surprisingly few examples of that intrigue resulting in death. In most cases, the disgraced minister, deemed too valuable for execution, would instead be appointed to a provincial governorship.

Instead of a typical system of houses, the division of power among the members of the Red Cadre was marked by which military unit its members came from. Children of generals were expected to serve in the units of their fathers, and ascension into the ranks of the cadre was not always assured. The most talented of soldiers could hope to secure a position in the cadre, although it was an informal process and the chances of this occurring without a union with a prominent family were slim.

The collapse of the Torman Empire was just as spectacular as its meteoric rise to power four hundred years before. Just over four hundred years from the pronouncement of the empire, the Red Cadre was removed from power in a series of devastating political revolutions and counter-revolutions. The spark that started this conflict was one of the key points of contention in Torman civilization, namely the concept of citizenship.

We will cover the concept of Torman citizenship in more depth next class period, but suffice it to say that the Torman Empire strictly upheld a complex system of citizenship with several levels, usually determined by ethnic background. These levels were mutable and not necessarily hierarchal, but it was never good to be an Agathian. When the Red Cadre enacted a particularly harsh crackdown on Agathian rebels, the backlash in public discourse, fueled by the liberal intellectual elite, led to the sudden downfall of the ruling military oligarchy. The power vacuum was never satisfactorily filled; a Torman Commonwealth was proclaimed by the merchant classes, supported by the intellectual establishment, but many provincial governors refused to recognize it, instead remaining loyal to the military units that they had served in under the Cadre. This fragmentation led to rebellion and war amongst the states of the Commonwealth.

Contrary to the previous political intrigue of the Red Cadre, this progression of upheaval after upheaval was extremely bloody. The death toll among soldiers was great, but it was the loss of trained military leaders that eventually caused the fall of Torma. An invasion of hill tribes from the North, allied with Agathian rebels, came at exactly the time when the Torman military had been devasted most by internal warfare. Without generals to lead it, the Torman army was beaten again and again until the invaders had laid siege to the Torma itself. The siege lasted seventeen years, due much in part to the brilliant young Torman general Altus Simon, but Torma eventually surrendered. The city was burned and looted, but remained settled due to its important location as a trade port -- a role that it still has today.

The collapse of Torman civilization led to a return to regionalism. The old tribes, too mixed in four hundred and fifty years of Imperial rule to be distinguishable, had died off, leaving place of birth as the only method of self-identification for the coming centuries. Torman provinces that had survived the invasion became self-governing fiefdoms, gradually modifying the inherited Imperial ordinances to their own ends. The Agathians and the hill tribes quickly fractured for want of a common enemy and began another several hundred years of bloody warfare. Some of the invaders assimilated into the old Torman provinces, while others continued to pillage until they became worn down by attrition and were defeated by the local militaries. Still others returned North, with prisoners, slaves, and sometimes wives and husbands.

By 2300 F.E., the Torman Civilization was irrevocably fragmented, and the First Era of Eos was officially at an end. 2301 F.E. is also known as year 1, Second Era. We find this date first used by Bea the Scribe in the prologue of her history of the siege of Torma and it's aftermath. She was one of the last Torman acolytes of the Agathian rational philosophy and one of the most important historians of the era. We don't have time to go into her life in much depth, but I encourage you to investigate it on your own.

I think that's it for today. Next class period we will discuss Torman culture, the Red Cadre, and Torman citizenship as it realates to issues in contemporary Cimbrian culture. Don't forget to start reading that biography on Altus Simon for next week, we'll be spending . . .

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