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Centauri Republic

From The Babylon Project

Centauri Republic
Form of Government: Monarchy
Leader (Title): Emperor
Governing Body: Centaurum
Homeworld: Centauri Prime
Race(s): Centauri
Golians (Conquered)
Colonies: Ragesh III
Centauri Beta I
Immolan V
Tolonius VII
Protectorates: -
Golus III
Narn (Twice former)
Allies: Interstellar Alliance
(withdrawn 2262 - 2279)
Adversaries: Narn Regime


The Centauri Republic is the ruling governmental structure of the Centauri race and a major galactic power.

Contents

[edit] Government Structure

The Centauri Republic is a major galactic power and noted for being the first alien government with which Earth had open contact. The Republic is based on Centauri Prime but spans a number of other colonies and worlds. Despite its "Republic" moniker, the Centauri Republic is a nominal constitutional monarchy headed by an Imperial family. It is ruled by an Emperor or Empress, or, in the event of an interregnum, a Regent. The Emperor/Empress has enormous power in Centauri society, and all Centauri are taught to be deferential to the ruling monarch. The Centauri are not a democracy; the average citizen has little or no political power within the Republic. The Centauri Republic allows the practice of slavery, and owning slaves is legal within the Republic.

[edit] Centaurum

The only real check on the monarch's power, the Centaurum is an assembly of the leaders of the major noble houses formed in kind of parliament. Nobles able to manipulate the Centaurum successfully are able to wield great power. The Centaurum can vote to overturn a decree of the monarch although this would appear to be a rare practice. An exception to the power of the Centaurum came about during the brief reign of the Emperor Cartagia, whose personal madness drove him to have his enemies in the Centaurum assassinated, allowing him to rule despotically.

[edit] Centauri Noble Houses

Main article: Centauri Noble Houses

[edit] Royal Court

The Royal Court is the other ruling House of the Republic, a small assembly of nobles who are appointed by either the Emperor or the Centaurum. Many of the members in the Royal Court hold some of the highest government positions and the house is often regarded as the true stepping stone towards the throne.

[edit] Ministry Positions

  • Ministry of War
  • Ministry of Defense
  • Ministry of Intelligence
  • Ministry of Transportation
  • Ministry of Security

[edit] Titles and Positions

[edit] Emperor

Supreme ruler of the Centauri Republic. A hereditary title, determined either through direct succession or by the prerogative of the previous Emperor. The Emperor can be identified by his traditional all white dress (symbolising purity) and the Imperial star-burst crest mounted on the crescent shaped Royal pendant worn around the neck, know as the "Seal of the Great Centauri Republic". Several former Emperors of the Republic have been posthumously elevated to godhood in the Centauri Pantheon of Gods.[1]

Centauri Emperor Turhan in 2259.
The seal worn by the Emperor
Persons who have held this position are:

[edit] Regent

Old title of authority used in place of an Emperor when there is no clear line of succession or heir apparent. A Regent is a kind of steward to the throne of emperor. Once appointed they exercise the complete authority of the head of state in place of an Emperor. No one, including the Prime Minister of the Centaurum, can issue an order countermanding the orders of the late emperor without the regent’s approval, on pain of death. [11] The title is appointed by the Emperor or in some cases the Centaurum, if there is no clear line of imperial succession.[12] The authority of the titleholder is withdrawn or superseded with the appointment of a new emperor.[13]

Persons who have held this position are:

[edit] Prince Regent

Unlike a Regent, the title of Prince Regent appears to be used in a more ceremonial capacity, it is seemingly given to a Prince of the Royal Bloodline who is highest in the line of succession.

Persons who have held this position are:

[edit] Prime Minister

Second only to the Emperor in terms of executive power.

Persons who have held this position include:

[edit] Minister

Appointed to the Royal Court, often by the Emperor himself to run a particular aspect of daily business.

Persons known to have held this title: -

[edit] Lord

Hereditary title, usually the head of a Noble House and a member of the Centaurum.

[edit] Grand Fleet Admiral

Highest ranking fleet officer and a direct advisor to the Emperor.[14]

  • Example: Grand Fleet Admiral Dromo

[edit] Guardsman Elite

Highest ranking Imperial Guardsman and a direct advisor to the Emperor.[14]

[edit] History

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[edit] Early History

Around the Earth year 3000 B.C. the first true Centauri civilization appeared. This rapid burst of technological development was a result of being at war with another sapient species on their own world called the Xon. First isolated by oceans, when the two species finally did meet, the result was a bloody war of genocide and attrition. A Centauri expedition of three vessels happened upon a Xon coastal city. The vessels returned to the Centauri continent, carrying a Xon invasion force (its original Centauri crew was slaughtered).

As the Centauri entered a historical period similar to the Renaissance, around the Earth year 738 BC, the Xon began attacking and raiding Centauri villages in small-scale regional wars. The Xon, riding high on these easy victories, then began a massive campaign to destroy their Centauri cousins only this time on a global scale. Losses on both sides were substantial in a thousand-year war against the Centauri. The Centauri-Xon war would last for a thousand years, and would nearly lead to the extinction of the Centauri. Although technologically inferior to the Centauri, the Xon were apparently physically larger and stronger than the Centauri and possessed superior endurance. Battles raged across the planet's surface, with whole cities being destroyed and entire regions being depopulated.

However, the conflict forced the Centauri to greatly increase their level of technology, weapons, and eventually this superiority gave them the upper hand in the fighting. By the earth year 262 A.D., the Xon were eradicated from the face of the planet. By this time the Centauri Republic was well into the Industrial Age, obtaining a technological level equivalent to Earth at the beginning of the 20th century.

Defeat of the Xon gave rise to the current class structure of modern Centauri society. Centauri families who had done the bulk of the fighting, and had the most survivors at the end of the war, became the great houses of the Centauri. This new government of nobles created the Centaurum. The nobles appointed Lord Tuscano, who leads the war against the Xon to the position of Emperor. These noble families would maintain their power and privileges for hundreds of years, even after the planet's population had grown into the billions. Furthermore, Centauri females were relegated into the roles of mothers and housewives, as the nobles believed that females needed to focus on bearing children and rebuilding the population instead of competing with males for power and social position. Even in the 23rd Century, Centauri females are discouraged from seeking power or careers for themselves.

The Shoggren, attempted to invade Centauri Prime in the last years of Tuscano's rule, but were defeated. The technology acquired from them and the discovery of a Jumpgate in the Centauri system allowed the Centauri to leap ahead technologically at a very fast pace and the modern Centauri Republic was born.

[edit] Before 2258

Although the Centauri population did eventually grow, by the time the Babylon 5 station opened in 2257 A.D. the population of Centauri Prime was only three billion, considerably less than that of the galaxy's other major planet, such as Earth, Narn, or Minbar. However this is a little over a fifth of the fourteen billion Centauri that Adira says Londo will eventually rule in "Day of the Dead". Having a minority of the population on the homeworld is a legacy of the Centauri's rapid interstellar expansion while their own population was still quite small, and the many centuries that have passed since that time - the populations of some older Centauri colonies are comparable to that of Centauri Prime.

The Centauri Republic quickly began a period of expansion spanning the centuries before the second second Shadow war and the birth of the Interstellar Alliance. The Centauri first left their homeworld just as the first Shadow War was ending and consequently played no part in that struggle. Ships and some outposts fell to the Drakh suggesting the Centauri did encounter Shadow forces to a limited degree. These defeats were stricken from public record by the Emperor's order, yet surviving crewmen and colonial defenders brought stories back to Centauri Prime.

At its greatest extent, hundreds of worlds were subject to the Centauri Republic, hence its epithet, 'Lion of the Galaxy'. The occupation of the Narn homeworld began in the early 22nd Century. For the next hundred years the agrarian and technologically primitive Narns were exploited and their world stripped of resources. The Centauri withdrew a hundred years later in the face of growing Narn resistance (see Narn Regime). By 2258 the Centauri Empire had dwindled to a few colony worlds and Centauri Prime itself, seemingly more through the growing apathy and decadence of the Republic than military inferiority.

[edit] 2258-2278

Beginning in 2258, the Centauri once again mapped out a path of conquest, taking over not just Narn space but also worlds formally belonging to the Drazi, pak'ma'ra, and other members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. A non-aggression treaty between the Earth Alliance and the Centauri Republic ensured that, unlike the situation in the earlier Dilgar War, the Earth Alliance would not come to the League's aid, making resisting the expansion of the Centauri Republic much more difficult.

The revival of Centauri power and territory was made possible by their covert alliance with the Shadows, an ancient and extremely powerful alien race that was using the Centauri for their own ends. The Shadows were allowed to base a fleet of their ships on an island on Centauri Prime by the Centauri Emperor Cartagia. This move nearly led to the total destruction of Centauri Prime by a massive Vorlon warship that had traveled to Centauri space to eradicate any Shadow influence from the planet. The Shadow vessels were destroyed by Londo Mollari, the acting Prime Minister, and the planet was saved. However, by 2261 the Shadows had departed the galaxy along with the Vorlons and other First Ones. The Shadow's former servants and soldiers, the Drakh, were driven from their homeworld by the forces of Captain John Sheridan and the Interstellar Alliance. The Drakh decided to secretly settle on Centauri Prime, which they remembered from the Shadow occupation under Cartagia, and make it their new home. The Drakh secretly gained control of the Regent and used him to start a war with the other worlds of the Interstellar Alliance in 2262. The destruction of civilian shipping by the Drakh was blamed on the Centauri. Thanks to the Drakh's random attacks on alien shipping, almost every other race fought the Centauri during the war, leaving them almost completely isolated, which was the Drakh's intention. Near the end of the conflict a large force of Narn and Drazi warships made for Centauri Prime, while Drakh agents forced the Regent to deactivate the planetary defenses and send any warships defending the planet away on a false mission.

The Narn/Drazi fleet bombarded Centauri Prime and the planet was laid waste, with most of its major cities reduced to rubble and many civilians killed. The Drakh then forced Londo Mollari to accept their secret control of Centauri Prime by threatening to detonate nuclear bombs hidden under the planet's major cities, which would have killed billions more people and totally destroyed Centauri civilization. The Regent was then killed, and Londo was crowned the Emperor of the Centauri, but he was merely a puppet for the Drakh. Under the Drakh's direction the Centauri severed all relations with the Interstellar Alliance. 2278 left little of the grandeur of the Centauri save their pride, their patriotism, and their determination to rebuild their devastated planet.

[edit] After 2278

After John Sheridan, the President of the Interstellar Alliance, and his wife Delenn had saved their son David from the Drakh and fled from Centauri Prime, the Emperor Mollari died. Vir Cotto, the Emperor's close aide, went to Minbar, and met with the surviving leaders of the Centauri noble houses. In keeping with Lady Morella's prophecy, Vir's claim to the throne was accepted, and he became Emperor Cotto.

The Interstellar Alliance, realizing that they were the victims of a massive Drakh manipulation, joined forces with the Centauri military to hunt down the Drakh. With help from the Alliance, Emperor Vir spent the next several decades rebuilding his homeworld to its former glory - without the need for conquest and imperial expansion.

[edit] Notes

In the movie The Gathering, Babylon 5 Ambassador Londo Mollari laments that Centauri Prime has been reduced to "A tourist attraction... See the Centauri Republic, nine to five... Earth time". [1]

[edit] References

  1. ↑ In the Beginning
  2. ↑ Day of the Dead
  3. ↑ The Official Guide to Babylon 5 (CD ROM)
  4. ↑ Strange Relations
  5. ↑ Shadow of His Thoughts
  6. ↑ The Long Night of Centauri Prime
  7. ↑ The Coming of Shadows
  8. ↑ The Hour of the Wolf
  9. ↑ The Fall of Centauri Prime
  10. ↑ Sleeping in Light
  11. ↑ A Tragedy of Telepaths
  12. ↑ Epiphanies
  13. ↑ The Fall of Centauri Prime
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Official Guide to Babylon 5 (CD ROM)
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