User:AWpCR/Roman Empire




 * This country is part of Altverse.

The Roman Empire (: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, tr.  Basileia Rhōmaiōn) is a transcontinental sovereign state comprising of territories in Eurasia and Africa. Roman Europe is situated at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula and all of Anatolia, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Armenian Highlands. The only overseas territories held by the Roman Empire is the City of Alexandria in North Africa. Rome spans 927,382 km2, making it the 31st largest nation on Earth. As of the 2015 census, the Roman Empire is home to 95,836,513, making it the 14th most populous country on Earth. It shares border with ,, and  to the north,  to the northeast,  and  to the east,  and  to the south, and.

Rome is a unitary constitutional monarchy. The six hundred member Senate is the country's unicameral legislature. The Premier is the head of government and is appointed by the Senate every five years. After being appointed the Premier then chooses the cabinet, who are then officially approved by the Emperor. The Emperor may reject the Premier's choice in cabinet, but generally approves out of tradition. The Emperor, unlike other European monarchs, has extensive powers granted by the constitution.

Rome holds the distinction as the oldest continually existing sovereign state in the world, with a traditional founding date of 753 BC, making it two thousand seven hundred and sixty nine years old as of 2016. During the state's long history of existence it has shifted from being a monarchy to a classical republic to an autocratic empire, at the time the largest in the world. It's borders evolved significantly over it's 27 centuries of existence, going through many periods of civil war, territorial decline and recovery, coups, and rebellions.

The empire faces its biggest crisis during the Fourth Crusade when crusaders under the control of Venice nearly sacked Constantinople after a coup led by Roman general Sebastian Sebastopoulos overthrew the then-current Emperor Alexios IV Angelos, who was then crowned sole Emperor of Rome. Under his new rule the empire succeeded in defending the city from the crusaders, and when peace was established in late 1204 the new Emperor Sebastian implemented military and economic reforms, revitalizing the struggling empire's military and economy. These reforms, along with the Mongol invasions later in the century, paved the way for the reversal of the Empire's fortunes, turning it from an empire in decline to an economically prosperous military power able to exert it's influence over other realms.

Rome is a charter member of the League of Nations, a member of , the, the , the , and the Point Dana Group. Rome's economy is the 6th largest in the world, and it has a very high Human Development Index and a fairly high average life expectancy. Rome is an internationally recognized middle power and is the regional hegemon in the Balkans and maintains a high level of influence in the Middle East.

Government and politics

 * Main article: Government of the Roman Empire

Rome features a unitary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The Emperor is the head of state and, unlike most European monarchies, holds a considerable amount of political power. The Premier Senator, or simply Premier, is the head of government. Both the Emperor and the Premier are considered to be the head of the executive branch, while the Emperor is also considered the head of the judicial branch (alongside the supreme court) and the Premier is the head of the legislative branch. Constitutionally, the Emperor is the head of the armed forces and is responsible for the nation's foreign and defense policies while the Premier is responsible for the nation's economic and domestic policy.

The six hundred member unicameral Senate, which is seated in Constantinople, is Rome's legislative body.

Administrative Divisions

 * Main Article: Administrative divisions of the Roman Empire 

The Roman Empire is divided into 27 administrative divisions called themes (Romaic:  θέματα, themata ; singular θέμα,  thema). Each theme is further divided into regional units (Romaic:  περιφερειακές ενότητες, perifereiakés enóti̱tes; singular περιφερειακή ενότητα, perifereiakí̱ enóti̱ta).

Each theme is headed by a proconsul  (Romaic: ανθύπατος,  anthýpatos) who is appointed by the Senate (with recommendation from the Premier) to enforce the national and local laws of their appointed theme. Each proconsul also commands a small paramilitary unit, the size of which depends on the population of the theme. There has been growing opposition to this state of affairs among Romans, who seek to have elected proconsuls or an equivalent so they can have a greater say in public policy.

Foreign relations

 * Main Article: Foreign Relations of Rome

Rome is a founding member of the League of Nations and NATO, and is a member of the G20,, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Point Dana Group. It maintains embassies in over 190 countries worldwide, and is an active participant in world affairs. Foreign embassies are housed in Constantinople.

Rome enjoys regional hegemony in the Balkans and its influence has steadily grown in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caucasus, based on the 'strategic depth' doctrine, also called Neo-Romanism. It maintains an interventionist foreign policy in these regions and acts as a stabilizing force to safeguard its own interests and stability. As of 2016, Rome has 2,683 troops stationed abroad, participating in many LN and NATO missions around the world. It has troops stationed in Afghanistan since 2001 as part of the NATO-led .

Military

 * Main Article: Roman Military 

The Roman Military (Romaic: Ρωμαϊκή Στρατιωτική, Romaïkí Stratiotikí) is organized into four distinct branches: the Roman Army (Romaic: Ρωμαϊκό Στρατό, Romaïkó Strató), the Roman Navy (Romaic: Ρωμαϊκή Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Romaïkí Polemikó Naftikó) and the Roman Air Forces (Romaic: Ρωμαϊκή Πολεμικές Αεροπορίες, Romaïkí Polemikés Aeroporíes). The Roman Empire spends about $82,080,000,000 on its military every year, or roughly 2% of it's GDP. As of January 2016 the Roman Military has 498,000 members in active service and another 329,000 reservists.

The Roman Army provides the bulk of the nation's ground forces, numbering 315,000 active personnel and 120,000 reservists. Combat vehicles used by the army include, but are not limited to, the M113 and ROMA Constantine-2 armored personnel carriers, the Leopard 2 main battle tank, Cobra I and II infantry mobility vehicles, the AH-1 SuperCobra and the RAI/AgustaWestland T129 attack helicopters.

The Roman Navy is the largest naval force in the Mediterranean, with 76,000 active personnel, 108 commissioned ships (not including small attack boats), and 521 aircraft. It is equipped with two Augustus-class aircraft carriers (Augustus and Trajan), two Crete-class helicopter carriers (Crete and Cyprus), and numerous amphibious assault ships, frigates, destroyers, submarines, cruisers, corvettes, and various other small craft.

The Roman Air Forces have 97,000 active personnel and operates 1,209 aircraft, including 982 combat jets.

Members of the armed forces swear fealty to the Emperor, who serves as their head (with the title Supreme Strategos of the Armed Forces). The daily management of the armed forces falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense, which is headed by the Defense Minister. It works in conjunction with the Roman Defense Chiefs of Staff, the seats of the highest ranking generals (strategos) and admirals (navarchos) within the armed forces.

While Rome possesses an all volunteer military, conscription may be used during times of war through the country's selective service. Women are exempt from conscription but may volunteer for any branch of the military, often serving on the front lines and are not discriminated against when applying for special forces. Due to the country's long martial tradition, Rome maintains a very well trained military force, among the most disciplined in the world.

Language
The official and most widely spoken language in the Roman Empire is, an independent member of the Indo-European language family. It is spoken as a first language by 78% of the population, with 99% of the population being fluent in the language. 98% of the population can read and write in the, which is the country's official writing system, being used to write all languages native to the Roman Empire, including languages with their own script. Romaic replaced  as the official language of the Roman empire in 610 as Latin fell into disuse among the educated classes.

Religion
Although the freedom of religion is enshrined as a basic human right in the Roman Empire through the Articles of Liberties for Imperial Citizens and Residents of Rome, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is considered the official religion of the Roman Empire, with the Orthodox Catholic Church being the official state church. Citizens who are listed as part of the religion, which is affirmed at the age of 18 upon reaching adulthood, is required to pay a small 'church tax' towards the funding and maintaining of historical churches and the institutions of the Pentarchy. Unlike many countries which exempt religious institutions from taxes, the religious institutions in Rome must pay all applicable taxes, unless designated as a charitable non-profit organization, and are legally barred from becoming involved in politics.

Christianity is the most widely followed religion, with Eastern Orthodoxy representing the largest Christian sect within Rome. Other sects include Eastern Catholic, Miaphysite, and various Protestant sects. Islam is the second largest religion, with the Sunni sect being by far the most widely practiced sect of Islam, practiced largely by the Kurdish minorities. Judaism has been present in the Roman Empire for more than 2,000 years and is the third largest religion in the country. Aside from having a substantial minority during much of its existence, many Jews fled Europe during WWII and sought refuge within the Roman Empire to escape religious persecution in Germany and German-occupies lands. While most of these Jews would leave and establish themselves within the the State of Israel, many of them stayed and became naturalized citizens.

Recently there has been a revival of the ancient Greco-Roman polytheistic religion that was once the main religion of the Roman Empire, with over 25,000 adherents and 500,000 sympathizers.

Culture

 * Main Articles: Culture of Rome and Bureau of Culture and Art

The Roman Empire is a culturally diverse nation, the result of it's over 2,000 years of existence and it's geographic location. Conquest, migrations, invasions, deliberately adopting aspects of other cultures has shaped it culture for more than two millennium. Rome's location at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East gives it a unique blend of Western, Orthodox, and Islamic/Middle Eastern culture.