Irhmeti Empire

The Irhmeti Empire, derived from Martuk irh-, meaning greatness, -h-, an infix denoting a relationship between two nouns, and -mēti, meaning people, ultimately from Proto-Martuk urtmihe and thus related to Meruk ermifi, was an early empire of Hieret and based around its capital, Irbid. It was formed in 4611 ED and by 4300 ED it had taken control of much of western Hieret. The empire finally fell to internal and external pressures in 4012 ED, but left a lasting legacy.

Founding
The Irhmeti Empire was formed in 4611 ED, after its first king, King Ikaŋ I, constructed walls around an outpost near to Irbid, which became the city of Irem. The empire served as a balance to the Yilireti Empire, formed in 4632 ED, which held much of southern Hiereti on both sides of the Hidesh River. The Irhmeti kings remained wary of the Yilireti Empire to their south, and were careful not to provoke the empire. Through careful diplomacy and the use of bribery, the Irhmeti Empire remained out of conflict with the Yilireti Empire, which had swallowed many kingdoms by this time.

Expansion
While the Yilireti Empire concerned itself with southern and eastern Hieret, the kings of the Irhmeti Empire expanded westward, gradually adding towns to their empire. In 4314 ED, the city of Tabid, on the shores of the Viffe Ocean, was conquered during the First Erhemmii War. Within seventy years, the Irhmeti Empire had expanded across the ocean to the Rivi Peninsula, where the maritime city-state of E'Dabbi lay. The capture of these two cities, already powerful without the empire's influence, and with well-established networks with people and tribes in the distant north, greatly added to the Irhmeti Empire's might. Soon, various goods were being transported from Tabid and E'Dabbi to Irbid, which became a hub of northern and central Hieret. By 4120 ED, the Irhmeti Empire had eclipsed the Yilireti Empire in economic and demographic terms, a development that was recognised by the rulers of both empires. This realisation would directly-affect the policy of the Yilireti Empire towards its northern neighbour.

Collapse
Prior to 4100 ED, there was a number of diplomatic incidents orchestrated and planned by the Yilireti emperor to bring the Irhmeti Empire into conflict and goad their leader into attacking. The first incidents were a series of raids against Irhmeti border towns, which the Irhmeti king, King Sanko I, failed to respond to. Irhmeti merchants were later banned from the important trading centres of Rohm and E'Wayyli. The most violent and damning event happened in 4102 ED, when a group of Irhmeti priests and traders were killed in the Yilireti capital, on the orders of the emperor. King Sanko I remained cautious throughout this period. He was deposed in 4101 ED by priests and replaced by his more robust son, King Sanko II, who pursued a more reactive policy than his father. Despite this, Sanko's three years as king was not enough to address the problems which faced his empire and he failed to win support from the priests in the provinces in the far west of the empire, depriving his army of manpower.

The Irhmeti Empire was only brought to war with the Yilireti Empire over the city of Gizenatter. Gizenatter was an independent city on the southern border of Irhmeti Empire and considered a protectorate of the Irhmeti kings. The Irhmeti Empire had secured a close relationship with the priests of Gizenatter and exacted a regular tribute from them. In 4098 ED, however, the Yilireti Empire swiftly captured Gizenatter, casting out the priests and installing a loyal government. The Gizenatter War was swift and brutal. The Yilireti Empire quickly defeated the Irhmeti army under King Sanko II, capturing the king and exacting a harsh tribute from the Irhmeti Empire. The loss of two cities and the annual payment of several carts of gold left the Irhmeti Empire weakened. By 4020 ED, the Irhmeti Empire was facing rebellion, with the priests of many cities of the empire already having revolted. In 4012 ED, with the revolt of Adirem and the death of King Irsanko I, the empire collapsed.

Authority of the Kings
In the Irhmeti Empire, the kings operated as the chief priests of Irud and their authority came from their religious position. The kings had a symbiotic relationship with the priests, with the priests imparting the legitimacy of Irud onto the kings, and the kings fulfilling their duty to the bedem (defence) of the empire and the success of makosan (growth of the empire). Under strong kings, during good times, the priests held little power and the king ruled without limits, however, when weak kings reigned, or during particularly harsh times, the priests exerted great power over the kings, to the point that the king was only a figurehead for the priests. In this sense, it can be seen that the priests imparted legitimacy to the Irhmeti kings, thus translating their power into authority.

The kings had to carry out ceremonial duty, such as the konb-r-ko (lighting of fire), in the role of chief priest. These ceremonial duties cemented the kings position as the head servant of Irud and was the reason for the king's great respect among the people of the empire. Politically, the kings fulfilled the roles of the executive and legislative branches of government, passing some laws and implementing all legislation. The king had only little control over the justice system, but could some appoint judges from the priesthood.

Succession
Succession in the Irhmeti Empire was governed by an elective system. Upon the death or impairment of the king, the priests would convene to elect a new king from among the priests. In the early history of the empire, succeeding kings rarely had any familial links with previous kings. In fact, such relationships between succeeding and preceding kings were frowned upon and priests deliberately chose other priests that did not have such claims to power. However, gradually, kingship began to be chosen along dynastic lines and the most powerful priest was generally the son, brother or uncle of the current ruler. For example, King Sanko II succeeded his father as king and his father had succeeded his older brother.

Power of the Priests
The priests acted as nobles in the Irhmeti Empire. They held great power and governed the cities of the empire on behalf of the king. The council of priests gave legitimacy to the king (and thus authority), who could then neuter the powers of the priests. When weak kings were in power, and totally at the mercy of the priests, the priests grew greatly in importance and ruled the empire as though they were the king. The priests also assisted the king in his ceremonial duties and were expected to help the king in bedem and makosan. The priests had control over much of the legislative and judicial functions of the empire, passing the laws which affected most people in the empire and appointing juries and judges. In this way, they balanced the power of the king, by preventing the monarch from gaining control over all branches of government. Powerful kings, however, could overpower the priesthood simply by refusing to honour and implement any laws they passed.

Relationship between the Kings and Priests
The relationship between the kings and priests varied from ruler to ruler. The priests can be said to have held the power to appoint the kings and, without the blessing of the priests, the claimant to the throne could not exert power over the people. After the king had been appointed, however, the priests were typically subservient to him and their executive powers were absorbed by the king. The kings and the priests had the important function of ensuring order in society. The king had complete control of the execution of laws, moderate power over the introduction of laws and little power over the administration of justice, while the priesthood had almost total control of the judicial branch of government, considerable control over the passing of legislation and had only the power to appoint the king to the executive branch of government. It was in the priests' best interests to appoint the best candidates, as their fate was linked to the king's success, but it did not prevent weak kings from coming to power.

The priests can therefore be said to have wielded more power that the kings, as it was ultimately their decision that enabled the king to rule. Yet, except during interregnal periods, the king had more influence than the priests, as strong kings were able to rule without the consent of the priests. This was only possible if they were popular with the people and achieved bedem and makosan, and as such occurances were limited. Priests were also important in that they imparted legitimacy to the kings. Without the legitimacy from the priests, kings would have power but no authority.

Organisation
The Irhmeti Empire retained a small core of permanent soldiers. These soldiers were arranged into groups of fifty, under the command of a priest. The king held a retinue of around one hundred soldiers. These soldiers were known as Ikaŋ and acted like royal guards. At the height of the empire, there were just under one thousand of these soldiers. The Ikaŋ enjoyed a lifestyle similar to that of the priests, and had food and drink given freely to them. They were also given the greatest weapons and armour. These soldiers were trained from a young age and could only be taken from the city. During times of war, levies were recruited from the farms around the cities. They were given minimal training and directed by the most prestigious of the Ikaŋ. Each Ikaŋ captain led twenty levies, arranged into blocks of eight groups, totalling one hundred and sixty men. These blocks were known as zidko. The eight zidko would become an irzidko, of one thousand two hundred and eighty men. Each irzidko was led by three priests, who commanded the army equally. At the empire's greatest extent, there would have been five irzidko led by three priests and a single irzidko led by the king and one priest. Half of the irzidko had missile troops, while the rest were equipped with spears and daggers.

The Irhmeti Empire was famous for its use of camels. Eight camels and their riders formed an iknatuk, which would be used separately from the army to scout the enemy during battle. Eight of these groups formed an iriknatuk of sixty-four camels. Each irzidko had a single iriknatuk. During battle, all six iriknatuk would charge the enemy, in an attempt to rout them, with three hundred and eighty-four camels in total. Each city of the empire also held a force of eight camels and riders, to be used as messengers.

A single army would be assembled and sent at the enemy. When the Irhmeti Empire was at its largest, the army would have comprised of over eight thousand soldiers. The army of the Irhmeti Empire was one of the most efficient in Hieret. Even the Yilireti Empire struggled against the army of the Irhmeti Empire, despite having over double the amount of men. This was due to the employment of distinct groups within each army, which allowed a general to use more inventive strategy. This contrasted with the Yilireti Empire's policy of using a single, central group under the command on one leader, with only small groups of skirmishers outside this group.

Weaponry and Tactics
The Irhmeti Empire had a well-established heritage of metallurgy, owing to the fact that they had access to some of the largest ore deposits in the world at the time. Like the Yilireti Empire's forces, the professional core of the Irhmeti Empire was well-armoured and well-armed. Each soldier was equipped with bronze or copper helmets, leather body armour and wicker shields. While they employed spears like most of Hieret's militaries, their spears were shorter in length, perhaps just over a metre in length. The soldiers also had short swords instead of daggers, made using arsenic copper or, in later years, bronze. The Ikaŋ generally operated in their distinct groups, with each group acting as a separate organ of the army. This required stronger emphasis on the chain of command and for greater discipline to be administrated, but allowed the Irhmeti to employ a greater variety of tactics. Each group of these soldiers would be arranged in a tightly-packed square and advance towards a spear-wall with their shields. The second line of soldiers would push the first line forward, breaking through the spear-wall. The Ikaŋ would then engage the enemy with their short spears or swords. This tactic was generally sufficient against most enemies, including the long-speared infantry of the Yilireti and missile troops. The levies, though not boasting the great armour of the Ikaŋ, could expect to be modestly-equipped with wicker shields and, rarely, copper or leather helmets. They were equipped with a variety of spears and daggers. Some would be missile troops, lightly-armoured and wielding slings or javelins. They would act as skirmishers, operating independently from their melee counterparts, attacking the flanks of the enemy forces. Overall, the Irhmeti favoured tactical innovations and military prowess over numerical advantage. By using less soldiers per army, they were able to field a better trained and better equipped force.

The Irhmeti Empire's greatest weapon was perhaps the iriknatuk, the groups of camel riders. They would generally be held in reserve and engage the enemies flanks and rear only when all troops had been committed to battle. They were typically armed with clubs and spears, but occasionally used javelins, slings or even bows, combining mobility with force. They were lightly-armoured, affording them greater speed, and were generally too fast to be assaulted by enemy missile troops. The iriknatuk were representative of Irhmeti tactical innovation and allowed them to win a number of battles against numerically-superior forces.

Navy
The Irhmeti Empire had only a simple navy of only a few ships. The ships were little more than giant rafts and were propelled through the Hidesh River with reed paddles. Each ship bore around ten men and supplies, and were used to scout enemy positions from the safety of the water. The Irhmeti navy was involved against another at least once during its history and proved to be victorious.