Yilireti Republic

The Yilireti Republic was a short-lived republic centred in Jiyteb, spanning two interrupted periods of history, existing from 3172 ED to 3167 ED, and then from 3128 ED until 3068 ED. It replaced the stratocratic second-coming of the Yilireti Empire after the death of its warlord Yiḥidhevsa I, lasting for only a short period until it was conquered by Adi'ater I. It was restored in 3128 ED, taking advantage of the instability in the Ateter Kingdom provoked by Adi'ater's death, but became the focus of many bandit and pirate raids. With the start of the Ateter Civil War, the republic found itself beset on all sides by foreign and invasive forces and its leaders became increasingly unable to defend the sovereignty of Jiyteb. In 3068 ED, the city was sacked, provoking many of the citizens to rise up against what was perceived as an ineffectual democracy, replacing it with a kingdom.

Background
Prior to the formation of the Yilireti Republic, Jiyteb was the political and economic centre of the Second Yilireti Empire, founded in 3187 ED by the warlord Yiḥidhevsa I. Yiḥidhevsa began a reconquest of all territories formerly governed by Jiyteb under the first iteration of the Yilireti Empire, conquering the lands surrounding the city, such as Wayyteb. He also tried to extracted tribute from a number of cities along the Hidesh River, including Rum, commanding their leaders as though they were his vassals. The governors of Rum, by this time a remnant of the Ateter Kingdom, led their neighbouring towns and villages in opposition to Yiḥidhevsa's empire, refusing to pay homage and rejecting all attempts by Yiḥidhevsa to impose authority over them. This provoked a small conflict between Rum and Yiḥidhevsa's kingdom, resulting in the death of Yiḥidhevsa and Rum's ascendancy as the main power in the southern region of Hieret.

Yiḥidhevsa was succeeded by one of his marshals, whose reign was short in comparison to his predecessor. With the majority of Jiyteb's male population dead or captured in the war with Rum, there was much civil unrest in Jiyteb. Yiḥidhevsa's successor was overthrown by popular revolt and a republic declared in his place.

Executive
The Yilireti Republic had a weak executive branch, which was greatly limited by the powers of the legislature and judiciary, extending from Yilireti fears that investing too much power in a single person would lead to dictatorship, but also recognising that some separate authority was required for the bureacracy to be sustained. The vāḥikit, meaning without king, who led the executive along with a wholly elected cabinet of bureaucrats, was forbidden to pass laws, and was made to function within the legal realms created by the citizen assemblies and in the ways interpreted by the citizen juries. The executive, however, was not without power and represented the people spiritually, working to correctly appease the gods, in this way assuming the role that kings and warlords had previously held. He could also vote within the legislature, if the citizen assemblies could not produce a majority vote.

Legislature
The highest authority in the Yilireti government was the legislative branch, under the citizen assemblies. These citizen assemblies were large groups of civilians, taken by rota, to legislate on behalf of the entire population of Jiyteb, with each assembly chaired by a group of chosen individuals. There were a number of citizen assemblies, with each subsequent assembly having more power and a different focus than the previous one, and each assembly having a number of satellite sub-assemblies. The largest assemblies comprised of thousands of citizens, representing a wide cross-section of society, with the elderly, the young, wives, bakers, soldiers, priests and many others sitting on each assembly. Due to the near-impossibility of having so many people legislate on so many matters, these massive assemblies were called with less frequency than others, with smaller, less representative assemblies legislating on more mundane and trivial matters. The citizen assemblies were considered to have more authority than both the judiciary and executive branches, as the citizen assemblies could vote to remove the vāḥikit from power and impeach members of the citizen juries. The citizen assemblies could not also be considered to act outwith any constitutional bounds, as their authority in all matters was considered absolute, and their ability to shape and amend existing legislation was unlimited.

Judiciary
The judiciary of republican government was administered by citizen juries which, like the citizen assemblies, formed their ranks through a rota, though each citizen jury retained a small core of professional, elected jurors, who were to direct the rest of the jury in ensuring that the laws and crimes set out by the citizen assemblies were followed. The role of the citizen juries was ultimately to make sure that the laws proscribed by the citizen assemblies were adhered to, to establish if any citizen had broken any laws and to ensure that the vāḥikit ruled within his bounds. They also could interpret legislation passed by the citizen assemblies, though the citizen assemblies were invested with the right to overrule the interpretations of the citizen juries. As with the citizen assemblies, citizen juries were of different sizes, with larger, more infrequent and more important juries being convened for constitutional matters and capital crimes, and with the smaller juries being called for monetary crimes or civil disputes.

Elections
The Yilireti Republic held a number of elections for a number of different posts. Most elections involved every citizen of the republic, but some elections, for more specific, focused roles, lay in the hands of the citizen assemblies or the citizen juries. Elections involving all citizens were considered binding, and could not be overruled by either the vāḥikit, the citizen assemblies or the citizen juries. Only through a revote could the results of the election be brought into question.

Elections of v āḥikit
Originally, the v āḥikit was elected by all citizens of the Yilireti Republic to serve a ten year term (though early elections could be prompted by the citizen assemblies, if the vāḥikit was found to have acted outside of his limits by the citizen juries). It was considered that this period of time was a trade-off from the weakness and limitations of the position of vāḥikit, however, this would prove to be a frustrating reality. When the Yilireti Republic was attacked by Adi'ater I in 3167 ED, the current vāḥikit acted indecisively, grinding the execution of law and order to a halt. As Jiyteb was under siege, it would be foolish to call an election and thus bring the citizenry in to danger. For the election to be considered free and representative, it would also be required that the soldiers, currently engaged in the city's defence, be brought to vote.

Following the resurrection of the republic, the vāḥikit was elected to serve a four year term, which was then reduced to three years. A second position, that of the vāḥikitodh, was created, to assume some of the abilities of the vāḥikit and to replace the vāḥikit if necessary, and if ruled just by the citizen assemblies. The vāḥikitodh was elected annually, but the position generally remained in the hands of one person throughout a ruler's reign. The vāḥikit and the vāḥikitodh were permitted from fraternising before their elections, to prevent the vāḥikitodh from being influenced by the vāḥikit, and to ensure that the vāḥikit's powers were successfully limited.

Elections of military commanders
In the Yilireti Republic, ascension to a number of military positions were decided through elections. The position of general, known as ḥikatiḥdhev, was elected by popular vote, involving all citizens of the republic, to serve a single, ten year term. Under the second iteration of the Yilireti Republic, the length of terms was shortened to six years, though candidates were allowed to serve two terms. The length of each term could also be increased by a maximum of two years, if the general was currently on campaign. The general was considered to be the head of the armed forces, though was subservient to both the citizen assemblies and the vāḥikit. The general could only be removed through a general vote, which could only be called by the citizen assemblies and if the general had been seen to operate outside of his station by the citizen juries. Generally, there was only a single general, but a second position could be created if the current general was on campaign and a general was required for the defence of Jiyteb.

The citizen assemblies directly elected ḥikatiḥdhevodh, sub-generals, of which there were two for each general. The intention of these sub-generals was to better administrate command and order over large bodies of troops and to establish a chain of command but, more importantly, these sub-generals also served to dilute and balance the powers of the ḥikatiḥdhev. As with the position of vāḥikitodh, sub-generals were forbidden to have previous political or familial links with the general. Lower positions in the military were elected by specific citizen assemblies, generally numbering no more than thirty members and including the ḥikatiḥdhev and the ḥikatiḥdhevodh.