First Empire

The First Empire was the dominant form of ancient human society on Terra, and later across its interstellar vicinity, for much of humanity's early history. It endured from 16500 to 11105 BG, a span of 6395 years, and its eventual expansion into space outran its own machinery of government, so that the failure of swift communication across vast distances brought about its slow collapse.

Early history#

The First Empire succeeded the period of early civilizations on Terra, which ran from 19000 to 16500 BG, taking shape in 16500 BG. The Byzantine Empire came to an end in 14700 BG, opening the Century Without an Emperor, also called the Great Struggle. After the Battle of Englichannel in 14512 BG, the Imperial Seat was moved from Madrid to London. The era saw the first use of atomics in interprovincial war, when imperial atomics were used to end a rebellion and erase all trace of a House Major. Such use was rare, and afterward houses would typically surrender at once to any enemy that succeeded in placing atomic platforms in orbit. The period from 13402 to 13399 BG saw the Rescue of the Treasures from Terra, followed by an imperial edict in 13360 BG under which the planet was re-seeded and set aside as a natural park.

Decline and fall#

The suspensor-nullification effect was discovered in 13004 BG by a computer, the Verifax Mark II, developed by scientists of the First Empire some ten centuries after the empire first ventured into space. The discovery allowed a dramatic increase in space exploration and colonization, and that very expansion eventually doomed the empire. The central control that imperial administration required could no longer be maintained, because it was no longer possible to communicate swiftly from one end of the empire to the other, a limitation that would persist until the discovery of the Holtzman Effect in 7562 BG.

As communications grew strained, the First Empire passed into the stage called the Empire of Ten Worlds in 12200 BG, and then in 11200 BG into the Empire of a Thousand Worlds, a time of complete collapse when it remained an empire in name only and imperial power had grown so diffuse that it scarcely existed. In 11105 BG, Ceres was destroyed in a rebellion, the Imperial Seat ceased to exist as a single entity, and the First Empire ended.

Aftermath#

The fall of the First Empire was followed by the Age of Ten Thousand Emperors, from 11100 to 7562 BG, also known as the Great Dark Ages. That age gave way to the Wars of Reunification, from 7562 to 5022 BG. A united empire was not restored until 5022 BG, when it returned in the form of the Empire of Ten Thousand Worlds under Ladislaus the Great.

Imperial Seats#

The Imperial Seats and ruling houses of the First Empire followed in order from the early civilizations: a presumed seat in Greece from 16500 to 16400 BG, Rome from 16400 to 15800 BG, and Byzantium from 15800 to 14700 BG, with no known imperial houses recorded for these. After the Century Without an Emperor came Madrid under House Bourbon from 14608 to 14512 BG, London under House Windsor from 14512 to 14255 BG, Washington under House Washington from 14255 to 13402 BG, and finally Ceres under House Ceres from 13402 to 11105 BG.