Cambria (Terra Cognita)

Republic of Cambria
Repoblek Kembra
Timeline: Terra Cognita

Flag Coat of Arms Motto Onen Hag Oll ("One And All")
Anthem	"Gwlas Goth ow Thasow"
Capital (and largest city)	Lundein
Other cities	Redones, Alauna, Cathures, Caerodor, Loidis, Caredin, Lyerpoul, Manceinion
Language	Cambrian Anglian (recognized minority)
Religion   main	Hellenism 60 percent
others	Non-religious 25 percent, Christianism four percent, Islamism four percent, Intism two percent, Judaism one percent, Buddhism one percent, Vodunism one percent, Hinduism 1.5, Other 0.5
Ethnic Groups   main	Cambrian 76 percent
others	Aba three percent, Hibernian two percent, Malian two percent, Indian two percent, Congolese two percent, Tsalagian one percent, Sinaean one percent, Wendish one percent, Syrian one percent, Persian one percent, Ovamboan one percent, Magribian one percent, Wallachian one percent, other five percent
Demonym	Cambrian
Legislature	Unitary constitutional representative republic
Pennminister
Population	103,720,060
Currency	Peunt ₤

Cambria is a sovereign country located on and off the north­western coast of the Europe, made up of the island of Britannia (Breten in Cambrian), part of the Celtic Isles (Enesow Keltek in Cambrian), and on the European continent, Letavia (Letow in Cambrian), as well as various overseas territories.

Cambria is a unitary state and a representative democracy, also known as an indirect democracy.

Cambria's capital is Lundein, a global city and global financial centre. Other major cities include Redones, Alauna, Cathures, Caerodor, Caredin, Loidis, Lyerpoul, Evrek, and Manceinion.

Cambria one of the world's largest economies by nominal gross domestic product. It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating. It was world's first industrialised country and has remained among the foremost powers since the dawn of the Fifth Age. With considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally, Cambria is one of the world's most powerful states. Cambria is often considered to have the most powerful navy in the world and has the most formidable airforce. Cambria is the leading financial center of the world and Cambrian political and economic philosophy has reigned supreme across the globe for centuries, with commercism’s home often considered Lundein. Cambria is also the world leader in higher learning with its Universities the most sought after.

Despite income and wealth disparities, Cambria continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, median income, median wealth, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity.

Etymology

The Cambrian word Kembra (Cambria), along with Kembry (Cambrian people) is descended from the Brittonic word combrogi and Proto-Brythonic *kömrüɣ, plural of *kömroɣ, meaning "fellow-countrymen". The term thus conveys something like "[land of] fellow-countrymen". The use of Kembry as a self-designation seems to have arisen in the post-Roman Era, to refer collectively to the Brythonic peoples of Britannia.

Exonyms for Cambria originating from the Cambrian self-designation:

Cambrian: Kembra
Romanian: Cambria
Francian: Kemrischland
Scandian: Kymrskland
Hibernian: Chomraig

History of Cambria

Golden Age - Prehistoric Era (3.3 mya to AUC -2245)

The island of Britannia was probably first inhabited by those who crossed on the land bridge from the European mainland, with a continuity of people between prehistoric Britannia and Letavia.

Human footprints have been found from over 800,000 years ago in Norfolk and traces of early humans have been found from some 500,000 years ago and modern humans from about 30,000 years ago. Until about 14,000 years ago, it was connected to Hibernia, and as recently as 8,000 years ago it retained a land connection to the continent, with an area of mostly low marshland joining it to what are now Saxonia and Frisia.

One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found in Ploeneg, Pen-ar-Bed in Letavia. It is 450,000 years old.

In Cenant Mendipa, near Caerodor, the remains of animal species native to mainland Europe such as antelopes, brown bears, and wild horses have been found alongside a human skeleton, 'Mendipa Man', dated to about AUC -6396. Britannia became an island at the end of the last glacial period when sea levels rose due to the combination of melting glaciers and the subsequent isostatic rebound of the crust. Britannia's Iron Age inhabitants are known as Britons; they spoke Celtic languages, the ancestor of modern Cambrian.

First Age & Second Age (AUC -2245 to 1370)

During the Ancient Era, Letaviawas inhabited by a number of Celtic tribes, including The Curiosolitae, who lived around the present town of Kersot, the Namnetes, who lived in the border area of modern Romania and Cambria. They gave their name to the city of Nametis located in modern Romania. The Veneti, who lived in the present Mor-Bichan department in Letavia and gave their name to the city of Venedens. Despite confusion by the classical scholar Strabo, they were unrelated to the Adriatic Veneti while both the Adriatic Veneti and the Letavian Veneti are both also unrelated to the Venedic (sometimes called Venetic) languages and peoples of Eastern Europe (such as the Wends and Ruthenians). The Letavian Veneti people had strong economic ties to the Insular Celts of Britannia and Hibernia, especially for the tin trade. Several tribes also belonged to an "Armorican confederation" which, according to Julius Caesar, gathered the Curiosolitae, the Redones, the Osismii, the Unelli, the Caletes, the Lemovices and the Ambibarii. The last four peoples mentioned by Caesar were respectively located in Constanten.

In around AUC 4 iron working techniques reached Britannia from southern Europe. Iron was stronger and more plentiful than bronze, and its introduction marks the beginning of the Iron Age. Iron working revolutionised many aspects of life, most importantly agriculture. Iron tipped ploughs could turn soil more quickly and deeply than older wooden or bronze ones, and iron axes could clear forest land more efficiently for agriculture. There was a landscape of arable, pasture and managed woodland. There were many enclosed settlements and land ownership was important. It is generally thought that by AUC 254 most people inhabiting the Celtic Isles (Enesow Keltek in Cambrian) were speaking Common Brythonic (predecessor of modern Cambrian), on the limited evidence of place-names recorded by Pytheas of Massalia and transmitted to us second-hand, largely through Strabo.

Certainly by the Roman period there is substantial place and personal name evidence which suggests that this was so; Tacitus also states in his Agricola that the British language differed little from that of the Gallians.

Among these people were skilled craftsmen who had begun producing intricately patterned gold jewellery, in addition to tools and weapons of both bronze and iron. It is disputed whether Iron Age Britons were "Celts", with some academics such as Cambrian historian Julian Collen actively opposing the idea of 'Celtic Britannia', since the term was only applied at this time to a tribe in Gallia. However, place names and tribal names from the later part of the period suggest that a Celtic language was spoken. The traveller Pytheas, whose own works are lost, was quoted by later classical authors as calling the people "Pretanoi", which is cognate with "Britanni" and is apparently Celtic in origin. The dispute essentially revolves around how the word "Celtic" is defined; it is clear from the archaeological and historical record that Iron Age Britain did have much in common with Iron Age Gallia, but there were also many differences. Many leading academics still use the term to refer to the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britannia for want of a better label.

Iron Age Britannia

Iron Age Britons lived in organised tribal groups, ruled by a chieftain. As people became more numerous, wars broke out between opposing tribes. This was traditionally interpreted as the reason for the building of hill forts, although the siting of some earthworks on the sides of hills undermined their defensive value, hence "hill forts" may represent increasing communal areas or even 'elite areas'. However, some hillside constructions may simply have been cow enclosures. Although the first had been built about AUC -746, hillfort building peaked during the later Iron Age. There are over 2,000 Iron Age hillforts known in Britannia. By about AUC 404 many hillforts went out of use and the remaining ones were reinforced. Pytheas was quoted as writing that the Britons were renowned wheat farmers. Large farmsteads produced food in industrial quantities and Roman sources note that Britannia exported hunting dogs, animal skins and slaves.

The last centuries before the Roman invasion saw an influx of Celtic speaking refugees from Gallia (from what is modern day Francia) known as the Belgae, who were displaced as the Roman Empire expanded around AUC 704. They settled along most of the coastline of southern Britannia between about AUC 554 and 796, although it is hard to estimate what proportion of the population there they formed.

Pre-Roman Britons

A Gallian tribe known as the Parisi, who had cultural links to the continent, appeared in north central Britannia. From around AUC 579, the area of Kint was noted for especially advanced pottery-making skills. The tribes of southeast Britannia became partially Romanised and were responsible for creating the first settlements (oppida) large enough to be called towns. The last centuries before the Roman invasion saw increasing sophistication in British life. About AUC 654, iron bars began to be used as currency, while internal trade and trade with continental Europe flourished, largely due to Britannia's extensive mineral reserves. Coinage was developed, based on continental types but bearing the names of local chieftains. This was used in southeast Britannia, but not in areas such as Dumnonia in the west. As the Roman Empire expanded northwards, Romania began to take interest in Britannia. This may have been caused by an influx of refugees from Roman occupied Europe, or Britannia's large mineral reserves.

Pre-Roman Britannia

Letavia became part of the Roman Republic before Britannia, in AUC 703. It was included in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis in AUC 741. Gallic towns and villages were redeveloped according to Roman standards, and several cities were created. These are the Cambrian cities of Condate (Redones), Vorgium (Karez-Ploger), Darioritum (Venedens) and the Roman city Condevincum or Condevicnum (Nametis).

They all had a grid plan and a forum, and sometimes a temple, a basilica, thermae or an aqueduct, like Karez-Ploger. The Romans also built three major roads through the region. However, most of the population remained rural. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their employees lived in proper villae rusticae. The Gallic deities continued to be worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman Gods. Only a small number of statues depicting Roman Gods were found in Letavia, and most of the time they combine Celtic elements.

Roman Britannia

Britons attacking Roman forces

The Roman invasion force in AUC 796 was led by Aulus Plautius, but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 813/814, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The Legio IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (Evrek) in 824 and on a building inscription there dated 861, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Life in Roman Britannia

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Ridpia in Kint.

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Ridpia landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Tames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Tames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (modern Caercolun). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside of Romania's direct control.

The Britons Revolt

Boudicca inciting revolt against the Romans

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Siluria in Cambria. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 804, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

Roman colonists defending against attacking Britons

On Nero's accession Roman Britannia extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Magribia and Moritania), then became governor of Britannia, and in 813 and 814 he moved against Mona (modern Enys Mon) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves. While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britannia rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica.

Boudica (Budiga in Cambrian, Budica in southern Cambrian dialects) was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus, in the area now known as Anglia. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging her and raping the two girls. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, rose in rebellion.

Boudicca remains a very popular historical figure in Cambria

The rebels' first target was Camulodunum (modern Caercolun), the former Trinovantian capital and, at that time, a Roman colonia. The Roman veterans who had been settled there had mistreated the locals, and a temple to the former emperor Claudius had been erected there at local expense, making the city a focus for resentment. The Roman inhabitants sought reinforcements from the procurator, Catus Decianus, but he sent only two hundred auxiliary troops. Boudica's army fell on the poorly defended city and destroyed it, besieging the last defenders in the temple for two days before it fell. A bronze statue to the emperor Nero, which probably stood in front of the temple, was decapitated and its head taken as a trophy by Boudica's army. Archaeologists have shown that the city was methodically demolished. The future governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis, then commanding the Legio IX Hispana, attempted to relieve the city, but suffered an overwhelming defeat. The infantry with him were all killed – only the commander and some of his cavalry escaped. "The victorious enemy met Petilius Cerialis, commander of the ninth legion, as he was coming to the rescue, routed his troops, and destroyed all his infantry. Cerialis escaped with some cavalry into the camp, and was saved by its fortifications." The location of this battle is unknown, but has been claimed by some modern localities. After this defeat, Catus Decianus fled to Gallia.

When news of the rebellion reached Suetonius, he hurried along through hostile territory to Londinium (modern Lundein). Londinium was a relatively new settlement, founded after the conquest of 796, but it had grown to be a thriving commercial centre with a population of traders, and Roman officials. Suetonius considered giving battle there, but considering his lack of numbers and chastened by Petillius's defeat, decided to sacrifice the city to save the province.

Boudicca's sack of Londinium was brutal and all men, women, and children were slaughtered.

Londinium was abandoned to the rebel Britons, who burnt it down, torturing and killing anyone who had not evacuated with Suetonius. Archaeology shows a thick red layer of burnt debris covering coins and pottery dating before 810 within the bounds of Roman Londinium; while Roman-era skulls found in 2766 may have been victims of the rebels. Excavations revealed that the destruction extended across the River Tames to a suburb at the southern end of Lundein Bridge.

The municipium of Verulamium was next to be destroyed.

In the three settlements destroyed, between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed. Tacitus says that the Britons had no interest in taking or selling prisoners, only in slaughter by gibbet, fire, or cross. Dio's account gives more detail; that the noblest women were impaled on spikes and had their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths, "to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets, and wanton behaviour" in sacred places, particularly the groves of Andraste.

While Boudica's army continued their assault in Verulamium, Suetonius regrouped his forces. According to Tacitus, he amassed a force including his own Legio XIV Gemina, some vexillationes (detachments) of the XX Valeria Victrix, and any available auxiliaries. The prefect of Legio II Augusta, Poenius Postumus, ignored the call, and a fourth legion, IX Hispana, had been routed trying to relieve Camulodunum, but nonetheless the governor now commanded an army of almost ten thousand men. Suetonius took a stand at an unidentified location, probably somewhere along the Roman road, in a defile with a wood behind him – but his men were heavily outnumbered. Dio says that, even if they were lined up one deep, they would not have extended the length of Boudica's line.

By now the rebel forces were said to have numbered 230,000–300,000. However, this number should be treated with scepticism – Dio's account is known only from a late epitome. Boudica exhorted her troops from her chariot, her daughters beside her. Tacitus records her giving a short speech in which she presents herself not as an aristocrat avenging her lost wealth, but as an ordinary person, avenging her lost freedom, her battered body, and the abused chastity of her daughters. She said their cause was just, and the deities were on their side; the one legion that had dared to face them had been destroyed. She, a woman, was resolved to win or die; if the men wanted to live in slavery, that was their choice.

At first, the legionaries stood motionless, keeping to the defile as a natural protection: then, when the closer advance of the enemy had enabled them to exhaust their missiles with certitude of aim, they dashed forward in a wedge-like formation. The auxiliaries charged in the same style; and the cavalry, with lances extended, broke a way through any parties of resolute men whom they encountered. The remainder took to flight, although escape was difficult, as the cordon of wagons had blocked the outlets. The troops gave no quarter even to the women: the baggage animals themselves had been speared and added to the pile of bodies. The glory won in the course of the day was remarkable: for, by some accounts, little less than eighty thousand Britons fell, at a cost of some four hundred Romans killed and a not much greater number of wounded.

Boudica ended her days by poison; while Poenius Postumus, camp-prefect of the second legion, informed of the exploits of the men of the fourteenth and twentieth, and conscious that he had cheated his own corps of a share in the honours and had violated the rules of the service by ignoring the orders of his commander, ran his sword through his body. The Roman slaughter of women and animals was unusual, as they could have been sold for profit, and point to the mutual enmity between the two sides, likely owing to the rape and slaughter that had befallen the Roman women of the cities sacked by the Britons.

Roman Londinium

According to Tacitus in his Annals, Boudica poisoned herself, though in the Agricola which was written almost twenty years before the Annals he mentions nothing of suicide and attributes the end of the revolt to socordia ("indolence"); Dio says she fell sick and died and then was given a lavish burial. Catus Decianus, who had fled to Gallia, was replaced by Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus. Suetonius conducted punitive operations, but criticism by Classicianus led to an investigation headed by Nero's freedman Polyclitus. Fearing Suetonius's actions would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced the governor with the more conciliatory Publius Petronius Turpilianus. The historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus tells us the crisis had almost persuaded Nero to abandon Britannia. No historical records tell what had happened to Boudica's two daughters.

Roman Consolidation

Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of southern Siluria, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi. In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britannia. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in AUC 831. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 837 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in northern Cambria, in modern Pictavia.

Hadrian's Wall and the Roman fort Vindobala

This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britannia: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from the island back to Rome, and the Romans retired to a more defensible line along the Sea of Iudeu to the Mored of Clud isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers. For much of the history of Roman Britannia, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

Around 858 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts of northern Britannia: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Teyrbre) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germania, and an unnamed Briton war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Fordhmen (Cambrian for 'Stone Road').

Hadrian's Wall

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign (870): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Fordhmen frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Pictavia during this period, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (891–914) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north, where the Antonine Wall was built around 895 following the military reoccupation of Damnonia by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus. The first Antonine occupation of Damnonia ended as a result of a further crisis in 908–910, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to dispatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 917 it was abandoned.

Picts against Romans

The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Damnonia at this time: a large fort was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 933. During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall, Romania was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces.

A Romano-Briton woman

Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britannia at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Damnonia and Pictavia to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts. In 928, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 933, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 937 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia.

Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny. The future emperor Pertinax was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 945.

Roman War with the Caledonian Confederacy

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east.

Pictish training. The Picts were the enemies of the Romans for the duration of Roman control, never conquered despite repeated invasions

Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia — it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war. Albinus crossed to Gallia in 948, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 949, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the Briton governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britannia as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britannia. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions; but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots. The traditional view is that northern Britannia descended into chaos during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 960 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject — the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old.

Roman Londinium

Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britannia prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

Pictish Warriors training

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 962, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Pictavia on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians.

By 963 Severus had returned to Eboracum, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, again went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne. As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britannia by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century.

Picts of the Caledonian Confederacy

Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britannia to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts. During the beginning of the 11th century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 1012 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 1027 when Aurelian reunited the empire. Around the year 1033, a half-Briton officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus.

The (Brief) Britannic Empire

Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the Briton provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel. The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 1039 to 1049.

Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britannia and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 1041 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 1046, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet and defeated Allectus in a land battle in Britannia.

Twilight of Roman Britannia

Romano-Briton soldiers

Constantius Chlorus, or Constantius I, returned in 1059, despite his poor health, aiming to invade northern Britannia, with the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britannia and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. He died in Eboracum in July 1059 with his son Constantine the Christian at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britannia as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus. Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianism.

For a few years the province was loyal to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 1106, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britannia to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide. There were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti from Hibernia in the west. A series of forts was already being built, starting around 1033, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when a general assault of Saxons, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britannia prostrate in 1120. This crisis is sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy.

Britannia and Hibernia, AUC 1053

A combined force of Picts, Attacotti, and Scots had killed the Comes litoris Saxonici Nectaridus and Dux Britanniarum Fullofaudes. At the same time, Frankish and Saxon forces were raiding the coastal areas of northern Gallia. Romania was in danger of losing control of Britannia altogether. Roman Emperor Julian the Philosopher set out for Britannia, sending Comes domesticorum Severus ahead of him to investigate. Severus was not able to correct the situation and returned to Gallia, meeting Julian at Samarobriva. The emperor then sent Jovinus to Britannia and promoted Severus to magister peditum. Jovinus quickly returned saying that he needed more men to take care of the situation. In 1121 Julian appointed Theodosius as the new Comes, or Count, Britanniarum with instructions to return Britannia to Roman rule. Thedosius was a brilliant strategist and a rising star. He was a Christian, quite openly, yet was appointed and heralded by Julian, the champion of Hellenism.

The Collapse of Roman Britannia

There were growing barbarian attacks in Britannia, but these were focused on vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium. Some urban centres remained active, surrounded by large farming estates.

Urban life had generally grown less intense and coins minted between 1131 and 1141 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus. Coinage circulation increased during the 1140s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 1155, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 1160 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 1183 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

Britannia came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks, and there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier and devout Hellene, Marcus, to become emperor in 1160. He crossed to Gallia but was defeated by Eugenius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britannia was ever reappointed.

Two Romano-Britons surround an Anglo-Saxon

Picts attacking a downed Romano-Briton cavalryman

A Saxon incursion in 1161 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 1162 the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration from Britannia during the Bacaudic rebellion which simultaneously saw the Briton inhabitants of Armorica (modern Letavia), in the aftermath of the revolt, do the same - all of Armorica and the rest of northern Gallia followed the example of the Britons.

After the legions retreated from Britannia the local elite there expelled the civilian magistrates in the following year; Armorica rebelled, throwing out the ruling officials, as the Romano-Britons had done. A letter from Emperor Eugenius in 1163 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a Briton appeal for help. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britannia, still utilizing Romano-Briton ideals and conventions.

Map of Britannia AUC 1203

Cambrian Historian Steren Lewarn has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the Briton tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms. In Briton tradition, Saxons, or Angles, were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts and Scoti. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britannia much earlier).

Romano-Briton's led by the legendary Ambrosius

The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Angle and Saxon occupation of the eastern edges of Britannia by 1353. Around this time, at the height of the Angle and Saxon invasion, many Britons fled to Armorica (modern Letavia), Galicia (in modern Romania) and probably Hibernia. A significant date in sub-Roman Britannia is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Roman Emperor and fellow Hellene Nicomachus Flavianus, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 1199, only to be turned away and ignored, causing a long-time sore point between Roman and Briton.

The famous figure of Emrys Gwledig (Ambrosius Aurelianus in Latin, known as Ambrosiu Guletic in Romanian) appears in this period, though his role as High King of all the Britons is unlikely to be true. Caradog, the famous Cambrian Hellene priest, writing in 1273, stated that Emrys was "a gentleman who, perhaps alone of the Romans, had survived the shock of this notable storm (the Angle invasion). Certainly his parents, who had worn the purple, were slain in it. His descendants in our day have become greatly inferior to their grandfather's [avita] excellence. Under him our people regained their strength, and challenged the victors to battle. Helios assented and sent divine favor to Emrys, and the battle went their way."

Likewise the mythical figure of Arthur appears. The Historia Brittonum, written in the late 1500s, is a Latin historical compilation attributed to a Cambrian preist Elvod (Elbodus in Latin), contains the first datable mention of Arthur, listing twelve battles that Arthur fought and declaring him as the most prominent general of the legendary King Emrys. These culminate in the Battle of Beren, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men. Recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum and if Arthur was a real person. His figure only expands in the tales of Emrys and their search for the Cornucopia alongside other legendary heroes Cei and Bedwyr.

Some basic information on Ambrosius, or Emrys, can be deduced from the brief passage: Ambrosius was possibly of high birth and very likely a Hellene (Caradog says that he won his battles "with Helios' help"), and Hellenism was the majority belief in both Romania and Britannia. Ambrosius' parents were slain by the Saxons and he was among the few survivors of their initial invasion. According to Caradog, Ambrosius organised the survivors into an armed force and achieved the first military victory over the Saxon invaders. However, this victory was not decisive: "Sometimes the Saxons and sometimes the citizens [meaning the Romano-Briton inhabitants] were victorious," wrote Caradog.

Anglo-Saxon invaders

The legend of Emrys would grow well beyond a briefly successful war-leader during the Anglo-Briton War and, throughout the Post-Classical period, in both Cambria and Romania, would evolve into a mythical King of the Britons, favored demi-god son of Helios, and engage in all sorts of mythical adventures.

The Anglo-Briton War would remain a stagnant event for years, with roughly the middle of Britannia a perpetual frontline between the two sides. The tide would begin to change after Odoacer, magister militum of the Western Roman Empire, began a campaign against the Visigoths in 1230, gradually and decisively pushing west until, in AUC 1234, he defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Arelate and restored Provence to the Romania. This Roman re-expansion westwards put pressure on the Franks and other Germanic tribal nations. The Dominion of Syagrius (sometimes called the Kingdom of the Romans), holding on just barely against the barbarian tide was returned to more nominal Roman control by Odoacer, under Romulus Augustus. In 1239 Syagrius would meet defeat by King Clovis of the Franks. Syagrius’ route home, to Rome, was blocked by the Visigothic remnant, making a landlocked pocket out of Syagrius' Roman realm, causing the Gallic-Romans to turn toward Armorica, an independent Briton-Gallic realm made up of Briton and Gallic refugees. From Armorica Syagrius fled into Britannia – proving to be a boon to the struggling Romano-Britons at war with invading Angles, Saxons, Frisians, and Jutes.

Armorica and the Flight of the Britons

During the 10th century, the region of Armorica (modern Letavia) was attacked several times by Franks, Alamanni and pirates. At the same time, the local economy collapsed and many farming estates were abandoned. To face the invasions, many towns and cities were fortified.

Toward the mid 1100s Britons began to emigrate to Armorica, fleeing encroaching Germanic violence in Britannia. Post-Classical Letaviaand Alban sources connect the Briton migration to Letavia to a figure known as Conan Meriadoc. Cambrian literary sources assert that Conan came to Armorica on the orders of the Roman usurper Magnus Maximus, who sent some of his Briton troops to Gallia to enforce his claims and settled them in Armorica. Maximus un surped the Western throne from emperor Eugenius in 1136, through negotiation with Eastern emperor Theodosius I. Maximus was born c. 1088 in Gallaecia, on the estates of Count Theodosius (the Elder), to whom he claimed to be related, and was a member of the Theodosian Dynasty and a Christian. He was made emperor in Britannia and Gallia by Theodosius. Maximus moved to make good his claim, having control of Britannia but not Gallia, moving south in 1141. Maximus' first and last battle took place at an unknown location and his death ended his claim, with Eugenius retaining the Western throne. Maximus was abandoned by most of his Briton troops when arriving in Gallia, possibly due to religious conflict between the Christian Maximus and Hellene Britons. In the view of some historians, Maximus' death marked the end of direct imperial presence in Northern Gallia and Britannia.

Angle and Saxon settlements

It is known that Maximus' Briton migrants were not the only to leave Britannia for Armorica, with successive Britons fleeing their island for the continent, ultimately altering what is not Letavia from a Gallic speaking region to a Britonic one.

Scholars  have suggested a two-wave model of migration from Briton which saw the emergence of an independent Letavian people and established the dominance of the Brythonic language in Armorica, establishing pettery Kingdoms. Although the details remain confused, these colonies consisted of related and intermarried dynasties which repeatedly unified before splintering again according to Celtic inheritance practices.

The area of Letavia was finally consolidated in the 1593 under King Rivallon in resistance to Frankish attempts at control, known as the Kingdom of Domnonea (Domnonia in Latin, Domonia in Roman, and Devnonea in modern Cambrian), named after the region in Britannia called Dewnens - the likely source of the migrant Britons who founded Domnonea in Armorica.

Domnonea won another war against the Franks in 1620, and the kingdom reached then its maximum extent, gaining all its current territory and expanding eastwards as well, at the expense of Francia.

Domnonea would retain its unity and repel repeated Frankish incursions, becoming a fortified ally of Romania to its south, retaining its independence until its unification with Britannia in the mid 1600s.

Third Age - Postclassical Era (AUC 1370 to 2100)

The Kingdom of Britannia

According to Caradog, initial vigorous Briton resistance was led by Ambrosius Aurelianus (Embrys), from which time victory fluctuated between the two peoples - Angle and Briton. Caradog records a "final" victory of the Britons at the Battle of Beran in 1309 and this marks the point at which Anglo migration was stemmed.

Caradog and other historians credit Afranius Syagrius (Syagrius I) and Syagrius' successor Syagrius II as giving the Angles and Saxons their final defeat, with Syagrius II defeating the Angles and Saxons at Beran. Some attribute the legendary Arthur to Afranius Syagrius, possibly combining the historical Emrys with this figure to turn into a companion and champion of Emrys.

Syagrius II, King of the Britons

Caradog states after Beran that a time of great prosperity followed. But, despite the lull, the Angles took control of eastern Britannia, what is now Anglia, cementing their already large presence there. The Britons were evidently unable to dislodge the Angles from this region and, after Beran, the Angles did not have the strength to continue their conquest of the island.

By 1355 Syagrius III had consolidated all of Alba save for the eastern Germanic Kingdoms of Anglia, Lindsey, and Northumbria, pushing the northern border of what his father, Syagrius II, had declared the Kingdom of Britannia to the old Antonine Wall line. Syagrius III would spend his rule at constant war with the Picts to the north, the Scoti raiders in the west and various resurgent Angle raids from the east, as well as turbulent and constant rebellious war-leaders within the nominal Kingdom of Britannia.

In 1450 King Geraint mopped up the last Angle Kingdoms, annexing Anglia and, previously but unknown years, absorbing Lindsey and Northumbria as well. Geraint's reign was also characterized by near constant war with Dalriada and Pictavia to the north. In 1463 the north rebelled against Geraint, re-declaring the Kingdom of Alclud. The subsequent Briton War tore Britannia apart, ending in 1492 with the ascension of Queen Syagria, ruling Geraint's rump-state Britannia (reduced to the area around Lundein) and the King of Alclud, Arthgal.

Syagria and Arthgal ruled Britannia jointly and their son and successor Rhun would rule the island Kingdom unified as well. This did not end the tension on the island and usurpers would plague the Arthgalian Dynasty for the duration of its reign.

Britannia during the 1500s

The Six Kingdoms Era

The Arthgalian Dynastic collapse appeared inevitable and indeed it was. The death of King Rhun, at the young age of 16, would leave the realm in tatters and the splintering was immediate. The north reformed as two realms, the Kingdom of Alclud led by Brân Galed and the Kingdom of Rheged led by Rhaith mab Urien. The Angle realms of Anglia and Northumbria likewise regained their independence, while the south lingered in the legacy of Syagrius in the form of the Kingdom of Loegria (this being the Roman and Latin name. It is called Lloegr in Cambrian and Logres in Anglian). The far north, what had been beyond the reach of the Britannia already, consolidated as the Kingdom of Caledonia (sometimes interchangeably called the Kingdom of Alclud, aforementioned) after the absorption of the Pictish tribes by their southern neighbor, Alclud.

The era has spotty historical documentation, owed in no small part to the chaos of the time, the fluidity of the borders, and the consistent warfare between all the Kingdoms in the effort of each to reform the Kingdom of Britannia under their dominion. The isles would spend much of the period from the late 1400s to the mid 1500s in this era of division and warfare and, though known as the Six Kingdoms Era, there were actually an endless growth and shrinking of kingdoms, at times with as many as 16, if not more.

King of all the Britons

The Venetens Dynasty of the Kingdom of Loegria-Domnonia proved up to the task of re-unification of Britannia, though the process was slow and painful. Loegria always had the ideal position on the island, centrally and southerly located with the ideal climate and population zone, it was able to sustain more food for its people, mine more resources, and always had larger manpower reserves, and its union with Domnonia redoubled this ability.

King Alain, Bane of the Northmen, would prove clever in his dynastic alliances as well as in possession of the ideal kingdom on the isles. Alain's wife, Mynan, was the princess of the Kingdom of Loegria and would, due to a series of deaths, become the Queen of Loegria before taking Alain's hand in marriage and thus uniting their realms.

Alain's heir and succesor was Ridored Varvek, or Ridored Twistedbeard, who would strive for the unification of the island under his hand - an effort which witnessed great success. Ridored began this process by following his father's example by wedding a foreign monarch, in Ridored's case this was Eadburh the Queen of Anglia, serendipitously ruling alone in a repeat of the situation his mother had been in. Anglia was absorbed by Loegria as a result, without bloodshed.

May 1687 witnessed the last step of King Ridored's drive towards the title "rex totius Britanniae (In Cambrian "Brenin oll Breten") - a title he already had claimed. The preceding years saw Ridored defeat an alliance of the Norse Kingdom of Dublin led by Olaf III and and the Kingdom of Caledonia led by Causantín II, self styled King of the Caledonians, Picts, and Gaels (Caledonia, sometimes interchangeably called Pictavia, consisted of three distinct 'kingdoms' - Pictavia in the north, Gaelia in the southwest, and Caledonia or Albia in the south) - a man who had eyes on the conquest and division of Hibernia with Olaf. This plan was derailed by the success of Cambria in these early conflicts and paced the way for a full Cambrian invasion of Caledonia.

The Cambrian invasion consisted of the King and chief members of his court, including Howel Dda of Deheubarth (known in Roman as Hovelu, theancestor of the future prominent and longest reigning Cambrian dynasty, the Venedotia Dynasty), Idwal 'Lord of the Wall'Foel, Morgan ap Owan (the legendary warrior, known in Roman as Eugeniu), and Tudur ap Griffri. His retinue also included eighteen priests, including two high-priests, and thirteen yurls, four of whom were Danes from Anglia while two were Angles from Anglia, owed allegiance to Ridored via his wife, Queen Eadburh.

The invasion was launched by land and sea. The Cambrian land forces ravaged as far as Dunnottar, while the fleet raided Cathnais (then called Katanes, in Norse meaning "headland of the Catt people" a Pictish tribe), which was then part of the Norse kingdom of Orkney.

By September the invasion was complete and featured strikingly few battles. The north, Land of the Picts, rose up in favor of Ridored, or rather in opposition to Causantin and his "southerners". Caledonia would succumb to Cambria but full control was not concrete. Nominally Ridored now ruled over the whole of the island, but the Picts of the far north had merely thrown off Causantin and refused to submit to Ridored. Pictish raids and battle would rage in the far north for decades to come.

The Viking Age

Viking raiders struck Cambria and the British Isles in 1546 and raided Hellene temples, killing the priests and priestesses and capturing the valuables and people for slaves. The raids marked the beginning of the "Viking Age of Invasion". Great but sporadic violence continued on Britannia's northern and eastern shores, with raids continuing on a small scale across coastal Britannia, heavily damaging Anglian and Alban communities. While the initial raiding groups were small, a great amount of planning is believed to have been involved.

The Vikings raided during the winter of 1593–1594, rather than the usual summer, having waited on an island off Hibernia. In 1603, they overwintered for the first time in Britannia, in Kint. In 1607, a raiding party overwintered a second time, at the Isle of Davenys (Sheep Island) in the Tames estuary. Sporadic assaults plagued much of the coastline, though in a number of instances the locals managed to kill the small crews of Norsemen, such as in the Kingdom of Northumbria at Wearmouth, where the Vikings met with stronger resistance than they had expected: their leaders were killed. The raiders escaped, only to have their ships beached and the crews killed by locals. This represented one of the last raids for about 40 years, with the Vikings focused instead on Hibernia and Pictavia.

In 1618, a group of hitherto uncoordinated bands of predominantly Danish Vikings joined together to form a large army and landed in the Kingdom of Anglia. The Anglian Chronicle described this force as the mycel dena here (Great Dane Army) and went on to say that it was led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson.  The army crossed into the Kingdom of Northumbria and captured the city Evrek (known in Anglian as Eborwick and by the Norsemen as Jorvik). In 1624, the Great Dane Army was reinforced by what was known as the Great Summer Army, one of its leaders was Guthrum. In 1628, the Great Army split into two bands, with Guthrum leading one down to Loegria and Halfdan taking his followers north. Then in 1629, Halfdan shared out Northumbrian land amongst his men, who "ploughed the land and supported themselves"; this land was part of what became known as the Kingdom of Daenfro (in Anglian called Danelagh and by the Norse Danelagen).

The banner of Loegria, the most powerful Cambric realm during the Viking Age.

Most of the Briton kingdoms, being in turmoil, could not stand against the Vikings, but the south and middle of the island under King Alain of the Kingdom of Loegria-Domnonia defeated Guthrum's army in 1633 and also saw off a number of attacks along Domnonia, what is modern Letavia (though many Nordic attacks here were successful also). There followed the Treaty of Pencraig. This treaty formalised the boundaries of the Cambric kingdoms and the Viking Danelaw territory, with provisions for peaceful relations between the Cambrians and the Vikings. Despite these treaties, conflict continued on and off. This period also began the formalisation of the Cambrian identity. Previously there tended to be a general division among the Celtic peoples of Britannia. The utterly-alien Norsemen may have given the Celtic Britons a shared identity, excluding the Angles save for a shared religion, and the term Kembra began to see common use to describe all the Britons from the far south to the Picts of the north, with the invading Gaels and Norse seen as 'others'.

Alain and his successors eventually drove back the Viking frontier and retook Evrek, bringing about a degree of consistent violence between Briton and Norse. The Norsemen had at this point been reduced to, essentially, the Angle lands - the former Kingdoms of Anglia and Northumbria, now the Kingdom of Danelagh.

A new wave of Vikings appeared in Cambria in 1700, when Erik Bloodaxe re-captured Evrek. The Viking presence continued through the reign of the Norse prince Cnut the Great, heir to the so called King of All the Northmen, Olaf the Eternal King. Cnut formed what would become known as the Empire of the North, encompassing the Scandian realms amalgamated by his predecessor (Daneland, Sweden, the various realms of Norway, and Gothland) along with Cnut's conquests in Britannia. With the death of Cnut a succession crisis erupted in the northern Nordic realm and the Empire of the North proved to be a fleeting concept, dying with the man who created it. A series of inheritance arguments weakened the hold on power of Cnut's heirs. The crisis was acted upon swiftly by the King of Loegria, Mynan the Great. Having already consolidated the various southern realms into the increasingly powerful Loegria, Mynan marched on the Danelagh and absorbed the fractured realm, capturing Evrek by December 6th, 1790.

In 1838 Cnut IV of Scandia planned a major invasion of Britannia but the assembled fleet never sailed. No further serious Norse invasions occurred after this. Although, raiding occurred unabated until the AUC 1950s.

The Northern Deluge

The reign of Griffid Gethin Seisyll Deheubarth (Swarthy Griffid) secured the Brittanic throne for the Venedotia Dynasty (as it is known in Roman, called the Deheubarth dynasty in Cambrian) after the string of Cambric Civil Wars of the preceding years. Prosperity would not immediately follow, however, and the woes of the Cambrians would mulitply.

Cambria would succumb to a quagmire in the form of a Scandian invasion. The conflict that came to be known as the Northern Deluge (2169 - 2190) and it would impact Francia and Romania as well (the conflict affected the richest provinces of Francia. Almost all cities, towns, castles and temples were destroyed or damaged by the Wendish-Scandian invaion).

The causes of the invasion was multifaceted in cause. The Scandian focus seems to have been a massive raid on Cambria to obtain religious sacrifice victims and a way to alleviate overcrowding and restless young men at home - giving them the option of a glorious death in battle, also religiously linked. Adding to this was the preceding Cambrian Civil War which drained the nation of fighting men - and made it ripe pickings for raids and, possibly, conquest. The Scandian's focus turned toward Francia as well and, in the eyes of most scholars, had the Norsemen not raided both the Franks and the Brittanic Isles it seems plausible that Cambria would have been overrun and possibly made into a "Slave-Farm" in the words of then Scandian King Bogislav Darlov (Bogusław Darłowo in Wendish).

The initial Scandian landings in Anglia received little resistance and before long the Scandians had marched Beyond Anglia and taken the city of Caergrawth to great carnage.

The battle for Cambria was a bloody affair and devestation and plague wrecked an already battered land, a period to be known as the 'Time of Woe' in Cambrian lore. Wanton pillaging, slave raids, rape and murder, were found to be commonplace alongside blood-eagles and various brutal actions hoisted on the Cambrians by the invading forces. Battle were sporadic and grew to be non-linear and confusing, leading to little gained but destruction by the Scandians. This raises the question of Bogislav's army intending to actually conquer Cambria at all, as actions suggest mere intent for combat and chattel.

Cambrian foot-soldiers during the late 22nd century, bearing the banner of the Venedotia Dynasty (Dynastic banners were used then, before the advent of a 'National Flag')

On the European mainland the Battle of Lucerna in 2176, pitting the Romans against a combined Wendish and Scandian force, brought about a devastating blow to the Wendo-Scandians by Roman legions under the command of Duke Ricevutu Lunardella. It is estimated as one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. The Wendo-Scandians were on the defensive from that point onward and the remainder of the war witnessed a gradual pushing of them out of Francia where the war then began to take place in Wendia. A dwindling of Scandians in Cambria and the smaller invading force in Hibernia also began a shrinking from battle. This was owed in part to their leaving to bolster the continental forces and in part to the Hiberno-Cambrians getting an upper hand; though the two might not be exclusive to one another.

The Time of Woe

The 2190s were a dismal time for Cambria. The Northern Deluge ended in Scandian defeat and resulted in the Treaty of Ochen. Cambrian gains included Erch Island, the separation of the other German Sea islands from Scandia (recently gained), and a cessation of all raids outside of the Baltic Sea. Wendia lost its budding empire, its Baltic possessions were released and Lombardia was shifted from Wendish hands into Frankish hands. But there was little cause for celebration in Cambria. The land lay bare and destitute after the back-to-back wars. The invasion had witnessed utter devastation and Cambrian literature, poetry, and folklore would take a very dark turn, not seen since the Black Plague ravaged the land. Banditry was rampant and the population seemed to have been soaked in brutality. The Deheubarth dynasty appeared on the brink of losing Cambria completely and a splintering of the country seemed on the horizon.

Society

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The Boudicca (Budiga in Cambrian) Monument, created after the Borromeic War, is a popular patriotic monument in Cambria and also an anti-Roman symbol

Politics

Administrative Divisions

Cambria is made up of the island of Britannia (Breten in Cambrian) and, on the European continent, Letavia (Letow in Cambrian), as well as various overseas territories.

The Talaith (meaning province or state) are the highest tier of sub-national division in Cambria. Talaith have limited legislative autonomy and are, in essence, not semi-autonomous entities. The Talaith have considerable discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. This has meant that the heads of wealthy Talaith such as Loegria can be high-profile positions. Each Talaith is headed by the President of the Talaith Council, or Provincial Council.

The Talaith of Cambria are Lundein, Loegria (Loegyr in Cambrian) Caledonia (Keleson in Cambrian), Kint, Rheged, Statclota, Deheubarth, Venedotia, Bernicia, Armorica (Arvorig in Cambrian), Domnonia (Devnonea in Cambrian), Pictavia (Peithia in Cambrian), Anglia (Einglia in Cambrian, Inglan in Anglian), Ternoa, and Dolgway.

Demographics

Ethnoculture

The Cambrians

The Cambrian people declare a Romano-Briton cultural identity and heritage, and a Brittonic genetic identity.

Modern Cambrian people

The Roman cultural legacy is considered paramount to the evolution of Cambria, particularly in the realm of law, literature, and religion, while the genetic impact of the Romans is considered minimal by contrast.

The Cambrians largely descend from one main historical population group - the Brittonics, or Ancient Britons, (the Brythonion in Cambrian), born of a mixture of Celts who spread north along the Atlantic seaboard during the Bronze Age and the indigenous European Paleolithic people of the island; genetic studies show a large continuity between Iron Age and older Briton populations, suggesting trans-cultural diffusion was very important in the introduction of the Celtic languages.

Paleolithic Europeans seem to have been a homogeneous population, possibly due to a population bottleneck (or near-extinction event) on the Iberian peninsula, where a small human population is thought to have survived the glaciation, and expanded into Europe during the Mesolithic. The assumed genetic imprint of Neolithic incomers is seen as a cline, with stronger Neolithic representation in the east of Europe and stronger Paleolithic representation in the west of Europe. Most in Cambria today regard themselves as modern Celts, claiming a heritage back to the Iron Age tribes, which themselves, based on modern genetic analysis, would appear to have had a predominantly Paleolithic and Neolithic indigenous ancestry. When the Roman legions departed Britannia around 1150, a Romano-British culture remained in the areas the Romans had settled, and the pre-Roman cultures in others.

The 'Romano-British' were the descendants of the native Brittonic-speaking population that lived in the area of Britannia under Roman rule. The multi-ethnic nature of the Roman Empire meant that small numbers of other peoples may have also been present in Cambria before the Roman departure. There is archaeological evidence, for example, of an early North Libian presence in a Roman garrison at Aballava. Although the Roman Empire incorporated peoples from far and wide, genetic studies suggest the Romans did not significantly mix into the Briton or Cambrian population and the legacy of Roman rule had minimal genetic impact on modern Cambrians.

A Cambrian girl in Cathures, northern Cambria

The departure of the Romans opened up an invasion by Germanic tribes known as the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians from the east and Gaelic tribes from Hibernia in the west.

The exact nature of the arrival of the Angles (the collective name for the Germanic invaders due to the relative success of that tribe) and their relationship with the Romano-British is a matter of debate. The traditional view is that a mass invasion by various Germanic tribes largely displaced the indigenous Cambrian population in far eastern Britannia (modern-day Anglia, Kentia, areas east of Lundein, and the area that became the Kingdom of Northumbria which was made up of what is now Bernicia and Deira). This is supported by the writings that describes the slaughter and starvation of native Britons by invading tribes. Furthermore, the Anglian language contains no more than a handful of words borrowed from Brittonic sources excluding more modern loans.

The Angle's impact was felt along eastern Britannia, focused around modern Anglia, and radiating outwards towards the west and north. Two major kingdoms formed - Anglia and Northumbria, with lesser realms on the Isle of Wight, Kentia, and a Saxon realm near Lundein. The reversal of the Angle invasion and its subsequent defeat appears to have tempered the genetic footprint. However, with around 25 percent of modern Cambrian DNA containing Angle markers (while those in Anglia contain around 40 percent Angle DNA) there appears to have been a lasting impact on the whole.

This reveals a settlement pattern outside of the areas conquered long-term by the Germanic tribes (Anglia and Northumbria) and thus a genetic impact on the Cambrian people more broadly than the borders of the Angle and Saxon realms.

From about 1550 waves of Viking assaults on the coastlines of the Celtic Isles were gradually followed by a succession of Norse settlers in Cambria. At first, the Vikings were very much considered a separate people from the Cambrians but overtime, after a series of defeats, the Norse were settled and intermarried, along the eastern coast of Cambria, predominately in Bernicia, Deira, and Anglia. The genetic footprint is, so far, indecipherable from the Angle DNA and thus impossible to say how impactful the Norse settlement was.

Some speculate the Germanic marker, at a quarter, in Cambrian DNA is in fact not Angle but is Norse - its higher percentage among Anglians and in the area of what was Northumbria is merely because the Norse settled mostly along the east coast (as had the Angles) because this is where they would first come ashore. Other historians suggest the Germanic DNA predates the Angles even, being present during the Roman era.

Anglians

The Anglian population is the result of the Germanic tribal invasion of Britannia, consisting of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians. The Germanic tribes initial success, pushing into central Britannia, reversed and resulted in a peaceful settlement in what is now Anglia, eastern Cambria.

Initially the Anglian realm was governed separately in all facets from those Briton Kingdoms to its west, but this ended with the Viking Age and subsequent collapse of Anglia and conquest of much of Britannia by the Norsemen.

Anglian cultural identity can today be seen similarly to Letavian or Pictavian only perhaps more keenly aware of a difference from itself and broader Cambrian culture. Where the two former share a Brittonic dialect with standard Cambrian, the Anglian cultural area is bi-lingual with Cambrian and a completely separate language in the Germanic Anglian. Likewise the Anglian population can claim a larger impact from the Angle and Saxon migration, representing around 40 percent of their genetic background.

Flag of Anglia and the Anglians

The Anglian Self-Government Movement has called for greater recognition of Anglian culture, politics and language, and urged that Anglian people be accorded either greater status, semi-independent, or, among the more radical wings, outright secession from Cambria, represented by the Anglian Independence Movement (AIM).

The AIM pushes for a conversion of Anglians from Hellenism to Heathenism, claiming it is the 'indigenous' and natural religion of the Anglian people, rather than the Romano-Cambrian Hellenism. The AIM movement has consistently been dogged by ethno-nationalist and racist ideas within the ideology and AIM tends to support anti-immigrant ideas. The support in Anglia for either movement tends to be numerically a minority, though a vocal one, and the Anglian people tend to largely support their status as different and unique among Cambrians.

Anglian people in Lindun (Linkylen in Anglian), Anglia

The traction gained for independence or autonomy has also increased significantly in the last two decades with a record number of Anglians voting in an independence/autonomy referendum in 2771, with 25 percent of Anglia voting for independence or autonomy (a striking jump from 2760's referendum which had a result of 15 percent for independence).

Anglian Language

The Anglian language is a minority tongue in Cambria, officially recognized by the government of Cambria. It is spoken as a second language by around 20 percent of the population of Anglia. The language is witnessing a bit of a comeback after centuries of slow decline, with more schools taking an interesting in teaching the language.

The alphabet is the same as Cambrian with the exception of the added letter Ȝ (called yoch).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Anglian:

"Aa folkricht sauls ar born free and scleff in mense an richts. Thai ar dotit wi wit and stickles and suid ack thither ane anither in a spirit o britherheid."

Word List:

aye - yes

befare - travel round

busen - example

deemster - a judge

eblins - maybe

elddom - age

eldfather - grandfather

eldmither - grandfather

eneuch - enough

fae - from

folkly - public, popular, populous

folkricht - human/common, right

frith - peace

guid - good

holdsome - economical

laund - land

lede - language

nae - no

nicht - night

ongetful - perceptive

reeve - official

thrithely - excellent

wylcome - welcome

ȝetsing - avarice

ȝondsend - distribute

ȝuil - Nadales Day

Culture

The North

Cambrians from Statclota and north refer to their southern countrymen as Romenyn (Little Romans or Romanlings/Romankin) and as Southrons.