Volume XLVII: Periphery Nations, Pt. III—Marian Hegemony

Fact Sheet: Marian Hegemony
Founding Year: 2920
Capital (City, World): Nova Roma, Alphard
National Symbol: The bust of an armored Roman warrior against a tan banner that bears the name “Marian Hegemony” in English at its center, and the Latin words “Pax” (Peace) and “Mortis” (Death) on its opposite ends.
Location (Terra relative): Coreward and anti-spinward, beyond Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey and Rim Commonality
Total (Inhabited) Systems: 22
Estimated Population (3130): 28,605,000,000
Government: Monarchist Republic
Ruler: Caesar Ignatius O’Reilly
Dominant Language(s): English and Latin (official), German, Spanish, Greek
Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Lutheran), Judaism, Islam, Agnostic
Unit of Currency: Talent (1 talent = 0.22 C-Bills)

Anyone walking the streets of downtown Nova Roma would almost believe they had stepped into a time warp, what with the classical Roman architecture and the virtual absence of motorized transportation in the heart of the capital city. Unlike most modern metropolises, the skyscrapers and office blocks of Nova Roma ring the downtown area, rather than cluster within it, creating a virtual oasis of a classical age in the heart of a modern industrial city. Powered transportation is almost completely forbidden in the central districts, where the roads are narrow and traffic lights few and far between. Instead, the locals here are encouraged to rely on unpowered bicycles, public shuttle cars styled as multipassenger chariots, or the subway for all their downtown transportation needs. Though electric lamps and neon lights may still be found by night, their presence almost vanishes by day, adding to the illusion of time travel. Nova Roma was not physically annihilated during the Word of Blake Jihad, as many other state capitals were, despite then-Caesar Julius O’Reilly’s resistance to the Blakists. Instead the people of this city died in the horrific blasts of neutron bombs, which left the buildings standing, desolate and haunted. A reconstruction was nonetheless ordered by Prefect Michael Alexander, regent for Julius’ successor, Cassius O’Reilly, who enhanced the Roman feel of the downtown area, in keeping with the style of the rest of the realm.

For all its splendor and style, the Marian Hegemony is neither ancient nor as cultured as its rulers and tour guides might have one think. The realm was founded barely two hundred years ago, when Johann Sebastian O’Reilly, a Periphery native, struck it big with his discovery of a storehouse of germanium on Alphard (left over from the former Alphard Trading Company) valued at over fifty billion C-bills. With his newfound wealth, O’Reilly wasted no time hiring BattleMech units to help establish a colony on Alphard, and installed himself as its leader. As a former trade center, Alphard’s modest industrial base and stores of germanium made it possible for O’Reilly to build a small empire, which he styled after Terra’s ancient Roman Empire and named after Gaius Marius, a seven-time Roman consul.

But for all the classical styling, in truth, O’Reilly could not support the empire he dreamed of on a finite stockpile of germanium and the limited industrial capacity of a long-abandoned frontier world populated by refugees of the Succession Wars. To support his ambitions, he authorized and encouraged raiding along the borders of nearby states, including the Illyrian Palatinate, the Magistracy of Canopus, the Circinus Federation, and even the Free Worlds League. The Hegemony became just another pirate realm, albeit one with delusions of grandeur.

The rise of Johann’s grandson, Marius O’Reilly, led not only to the increase of these pirate attacks but to an outright effort to conquer neighboring systems and assimilate them. Viewing expansion as the key to the Hegemony’s survival and prosperity, Marius moved against worlds claimed by every interstellar neighbor save the Magistracy of Canopus. The stepped-up raids and assaults reaped far greater booty than two generations of casual raiding had, and Marius funneled these funds into the development of new industries, the foundation of educational institutions, and other efforts to strengthen the national infrastructure and military. Though the basis of this transformation was piracy, the result was a nearly self-sufficient realm on the threshold to being a respectable nation.

A foiled assassination attempt, allegedly ordered by an unknown Free Worlds League agent on Astrokaszy, spun the Hegemony back on the path of conquest with a brief foray to the unclaimed and fragmented Periphery planet on a mission of retribution and conquest. Only the marshaling of several other nearby realms’ military forces forced the Hegemony to back down. In the years that followed, the Marians expanded through colonization, and it was while leading the colonial expeditions of the 3040s that Sean O’Reilly, Marius’ son and successor, began to build his own power base.

A coup was most certainly in the works when Marius [O’Reilly] died—apparently quite by accident—in 3048. Up until this point, his son, Sean, was currying favor with almost every high-ranking officer in the First Marian Legion. Moreover, thanks to his siphoning funds from the Imperial Treasury to cover his rather wild lifestyle, which included no end of mistresses and gambling debts, relations between father and son had been strained for some time. In fact, there was a definite threat in place that the elder O’Reilly planned to bar his son from succession and turn the realm over instead to his grandson, Julius. All that taken into account, it’s no wonder that Marius’ death was often rumored to be no accident, though no evidence found to date supports a theory of patricide. Whether or not Marius was assassinated, of course, became a moot point when Sean ascended to the throne and, with his first proclamation as ruler of the state, replaced the title of Imperator, the title for Marian rulers since the Hegemony’s inception, with a more ominous title: Caesar. —Dr. Nickolas Smith, PhD, Pirates and Politicians, What’s the Difference?, Tamarind Publishing, 3099

Sean O’Reilly’s reign prompted the Marian Hegemony’s greatest surge in military strength and aggressive expansion. He revitalized the military and reorganized it even more along Roman lines, and consolidated his own political power base, giving himself near-dictatorial powers over the Senate and the military. In the early 3050s, while the Great Houses were locked in struggle against the Clan Invasion, O’Reilly launched the Hegemony’s most ambitious campaign ever against the nearby Lothian League. The conquest took longer than expected, thanks to League mercenaries who tried in vain to fend off the Marian Legions, but the realm did eventually fall after less than a year of fighting. Though resistance continued for many years, the Caesar declared victory and almost immediately began seeking new targets.

In the late 3050s, Word of Blake agents, attempting to destabilize the region further, entered into a secret alliance with the Marian Hegemony to upgrade its military and turn it against the Magistracy of Canopus. The plan’s failure, however, prompted the Caesar to look desperately for a new conquest, a victory to assure the masses that the Hegemony remained strong. But while Caesar Sean was at the helm, it was his son, Julius, who would steal his thunder by launching an unsanctioned—yet tremendously successful—conquest of the Illyrian Palatinate. The Illyrian conquest became Julius’ crowning achievement after negotiating a settlement with the Lothian resistance, and proved that the younger O’Reilly had not only built a power base within the Hegemony military (much the same way his father had), but was also adept at using it. Furthermore, unlike his father, Julius would see this power base used before an accident could claim the Caesar’s life. During a ceremony honoring his accomplishments, the coup was launched, with the backing of more than just a majority of the Marian Legions, but also of a Senate swayed by Julius’ declarations of his father’s failures and indiscretions. By nightfall of 8 August 3063, Sean O’Reilly was gone, impaled on Julius’ sword.

Under Sean O’Reilly, the Hegemony reached its peak of power and political standing, and drew ever closer to the classic Roman model after which it had first been forged. With his reforms to the government, he gave a voice to the plebe (lower) class in the form of the Plebian Tribunate, a body that won the right to vote in Hegemony affairs during the reconstruction period after the Jihad. He declared both the conquered Lothian League and the Illyrian Palatinate united territories in the Hegemony, and granted both nations a voice in the Marian Senate.

But it was Julius’ triumph over his father that would also doom his reign as surely as it had begun. With Sean’s ascent, the primary ties bringing the Hegemony covert support from the Word of Blake were cut off. Julius’ decision in 3066 to assault the nearby Circinus Federation next pitted his Legions against Circinans who were, surprisingly, armed with Blakist-provided weapons. With the collapse of the Hegemony offensive, it became apparent that the Federation was profiting from Blakist support, and the rift between the Marians and their one-time backers widened, erupting in open conflict during the Jihad.

Though Blakist agents savaged the Hegemony in the latter years of the Jihad, after first exterminating the capital city in a lightning blitzkrieg, the Marian forces acquitted themselves well. But, while able to hold onto most of their territory, renewed resistance in the conquered Lothian League would eventually result in that state’s effective separation from the Hegemony. The decades of reconstruction since have not seen this loss reversed, though every Caesar since Cassius O’Reilly has reinstated the Hegemony’s claim to its “wayward protectorate.”

Today’s Marian Hegemony has come a ways from its days as a pirate state with dreams of greatness, but to many, its roots are still visible. Though a democratic system forms the basis of the Senate, which handles all day-to-day affairs of government, the patricians who elect the senators are hereditary nobles, a class that rules over the plebes, or ordinary citizens. Slavery is still condoned in the Hegemony, though laws granting very limited rights to this class have been passed in recent years. Yet all of these rights remain in place only at the sufferance of the Caesar, who retains the ultimate authority over the military and the patriarchs.

Yet, for all its flaws, the Marian Hegemony remains a player on the frontiers of the Inner Sphere; a harsh nation, for a harsh region.

In our final segment on the Periphery, the scattered minor realms and independent powers of the Periphery will be our focus, along with a brief mention of the pirates who even now stalk the space lanes beyond the boundaries of the Great Houses! Please join us. I’m Bertram Habeas.