Flavius Ataliates

Flavius Decimus Ataliates (5 July 267 - 4 November 324) also known as Flavius Ataliates was the first emperor of the Arrenese Empire reigning from 301 to 324. During his reign he fought off numerous barbarian invasions that had plagued and destroyed central and northern Sertoriea, securing the frontiers of the comparatively stable southern Sertorian Empire. His proclamation and senatorial ratification as Emperor had officially confirmed the permanent movement of governance of the dissolved Sertorian Empire from Janjirie to Iatanum and later Maressa, forming the successor Arrenese Empire that would remain in existence for a further thousand years. His campaigns in Pradena and Anetal and the pacification of barbarians north of the Empire were one of the first substantial victories the Sertorians had experienced against barbarians for many decades, demonstrating Ataliates' ability to trust and field capable generals and military strategists, most notable of which was Legate Marcius Amapelius whom had became easily the second most powerful man in the Empire. However, Ataliates and Amapelius strategies had meant the security of the greater southern Empire but at the heavy cost of the economic and societal devastation of central Pradenum (modern-day Elizondo) thus further cementing the divide between the central and southern Vestea and setting up the stage for the foundation of novel barbarian kingdoms in western Damsmar.

Ataliates was a competent administrator before and during his reign, having prior been appointed Praefectus Iatanae by the Emperor Tritan in July 292. He excelled at legal matters and was known to tend to judicial concerns even while on the field before battle. While Emperor, Ataliates demonstrated a level of moderation in that his governance allowed for the toleration of both Pagan and Christian beliefs, a practice which had never existed in antiquity, he rolled back previous restrictions on pagan worship, currying him favor with pagan senators and factions. This toleration originated from his dual Pagan-Christian upbringing, in which his father was a devout pagan within the Sertorian Senate and his mother a Christian from Lepidocea. Contemporaries often described this posture as weak and ineffective and it did suffer from numerous drawbacks, but it is thought to have helped maintain stability in a religiously divided empire.

Ataliates while inheriting a dire situation, managed to increase the size of the Southern Sertorian Army and simultaneously had managed to lower the tax burden on civil society. By improving tax collection and cutting down on unnecessary civil service, while leaving the economy largely intact by sparing the population centers of the east from barbarian attacks - meant Ataliates was able to maintain a relatively stable economic picture and was able to leave his successor an adequate fiscal state.

He was the founding member of the Atalian Dynasty, which spanned 26 years from the beginning of his reign. Ataliates was known as a traditionalist and instead of having a biological heir had chosen his Carpidese military commander Marcius Amapelius as his heir through adoption. Ataliates largely respected the senate and their decisions, increasing senatorial relevance in Southern Sertorian politics. It would not be long however until this tradition of adoption and senatorial respect was abandoned in favor of more traditional dynastic succession and associated autocracy.

Early Life and Senatorial Career


Flavius Decimus Ataliates was born Lepidocea, province of Iatea on 5 July 267 AD to a rich Sertorian senatorial family. Growing up in a villa outside the town of Lepidocea itself, Ataliates was the product of a quiet and largely stable early upbringing. His father Gaius Antony Ataliates rarely stayed in Lepidocea, he was often committed to his work in the Sertorian Senate in Janjirie. A devout Pagan he was thought to have rarely been home long enough to prevent his mother, Talea Caesariea from enlisting Christian scholars to educate Ataliates whom was her only child. This education benefited him with the knowledge of a variety of subjects including Sertorian history, philosophy, painting, and sculpting.

Antony Ataliates was killed defending the Emperor during an attempted assassination by aristocratic conspirators against Tritan in Janjirie in the year 290. This left a vacancy in the senatorial post for Cerea, one which 23-year-old Flavius Ataliates the only and direct heir to his father was destined to claim. After spending years of his late-teenage and early adult life in the municipal administration, he became the senator and thus de-facto governor for the province of Cerea and moved to Janjirie, leaving his mother and town of Lepidocea behind, only returning during the summer but such visits became increasingly rare as the political and societal situation in Sertoriea rapidly deteriorated between numerous barbarian waves, usurpations, and rebellions. Flavius became quickly involved in palace politics, and as his father's son - became a trusted confidant of Emperor Tritan and a close advisor. This is where he became a competent administrator, often tending to the governance of Janjirie while the emperor was absent at war.

Return to the South
Sometime in July 291, shortly prior to his assassination of Tritan, the Emperor had returned to Janjirie briefly after hearing news of the abrupt death and likely assassination of the Praefectus Iatanae Anicetus and the new usurper Gordanis proclaiming himself Emperor of the South in Iatanum. Tritan dispatched Ataliates with two legions (2,000 soldiers) to retake the office of Praefectus Iatanae and become the effective custodian of the southern Sertorian Empire. Ataliates planned this by joining with the southern loyalist army in Maressa, commanded by the Legate Marcius Amapelius. Together this would give their fighting a force size of 17,000. Ataliates willingly took the opportunity to not only return home but to leave Janjirie, which by now had been in a state of chaos much worse than that in the south.

Ataliates arrived in Maressa in September 291, and began organizing with Amapelius to retake Iatanum and the province of Iata from Gordanis. It was at this point that Ataliates had first met Amapelius, and they formed a close friendship.