Aksum (Game of Nations)

The Republic of Aksum, also known simply as Aksum (Or, alternatively, Axum) is a powerful nation based in eastern Africa and on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula. It is a populace and influential state - far and away the most powerful in Africa, and a major player on the world stage. It is also one of the oldest nations on the planet, existing in some form or another from 100 BC all the way to the present day - an impressive run of more than 2000 years.

The nation was originally a trade nation on the Ethiopian coast, little more than a way station for major trading powers. However, over time the nation gained power and wealth, and over a period of 500 years went from a small nation to a powerful Empire. Since that point, Aksumite history has wildly varied, from a powerful Empire to a collection of city states, before settling into its current state as a Republic.

In the modern day, Aksum is one of the richest and most developed nations, with the 7th largest economy and the 29th highest HDI. Not only that, but its massive economy and powerful trading fleet allow it to project economic influence across the world, notably across Africa and the Indian Ocean. Their powerful military is also respected, and the army has been used multiple times in recent years, mostly for peace keeping missions in Arabia.

Throughout history, Aksum has often been powerful, but even when it wasn't the nation's ability to survive almost anyhting is unquestionable. Even in the present, this trait shows across the board - such as the 2000 economic crisis, where Aksum was hardly affected. The nation's military, political and economic strength, and most of all, its ability to survive, have always been part of the nation's culture, and continue to be into the present day.

History
See main article - History of Aksum

Early Aksum
Aksum started as a trading nation situated between the powerful empires of the west and the resource rich kingdoms of the east. While it originally served as little more than a waystation before egypt, effective taxes and even smarter lesdership allowed the, to become increasingly wealthy. In fact, by the year 1 AD, it was supposedly the third richest nation ln earth, though to be fair, records from that era are generally unreliable, and often forged entirely. However, whatever the exact case was, it was defiantly fair to say that Aksum was a wealhty nation.

At the beginning of the first millenium, Aksum began to take advantage of its wealth and expand its influence. A powerful army was created, meant to secure the Aksumite frontier, and expand it in many places. Using the newly centralized Military, the kings were able to gain far more power over their nation. Another thing the expansion allowed for was incresed economic development and access to motr tesources. This centralizing trend was a huge boost for Axsumite trade, and even allowed them to trade the aforementioned resources, rather simply serving as a waystation for other nation's trade routes. This massive increase in wealth attracted the attention of nearby nations, notably raiding tribes in Southern Arabia, who despised the Aksumite settlements om the Arabian coast. During this time, the monarchy decreased in power, and the army's power increased in a corresponding way, mostly becayse of the Arab attacks in Yemen. In 390 AD, these attacks moved from small raids to a full fledged attack on the cities. Of the four major cities in Arabia, two fell within a month, while the other two barely maneged to hold their ground. The overal general at the time, Dakkar, rallied his army, and for eight bloody years fought, and eventully pushed back the Arabs, and recoverd both cities.

The First Empire
After Dakkar returned from his conquests in Yeman, he was applauded by the local poplace, and welcomed as a hero. using his popularity and the weak monarchy to his advantage, he quickly set a coup in motion that allowed him to become Emperor of Aksum. While Aksum had techniclly been an Empire before this, under Dakkar, it exponentially increased its power and it began to take on more of the hallmarks traditonally associated with an Empire, such as semi-autonomous provinces, and a much more powerful military. This quickly allowed Aksum to become a much larger trading power, which in turn made further expansion into Africa possible.

For a long time, this proved to be a sucessful model, and Aksum grew in both welth and power, eventually taking up large parts of east Africa, as well as most of the southern Arabian Coast. However, by the late 1100s, chinks began to appear in the massive empire. The main problem was imcresingly large revolts im eastern Yeman, as well as smaller scale revolts in the northern parts of the Empire. This caused massive tensions, and drained huge amounts of national wealth, and destroyed moral. Over the next 100 years, these chinks continued to grow until the Empire cracked apart, creating several smallr states.