Argus



The Sovereign Christian Imperial Free Kingdom of Argus (“Nation of Argus” or “Argus”) is a island nation founded a little outside of the Grecian Islands by a group of fleeing Athenians. It was started by Grand Dictator Wolf and a staff of wise provincial governors as well as other faithful officials helping to lead the country during its early days. Argus was created with order, justice, freedom, religion, and most importantly, Unity, kept in mind to differentiate itself from the corrupt government lifestyle by which some people run. For Argus!

~Excerpt from The Constitution of the Nation of Argus

Current State of the Nation:
Konshtantino BartuDafid (Xωνσταντiω BαρτυΔαφiδ) is currently the ruling Dictator of Argus.

Argeese Ideals:
As stated in the introduction and in the History section: Argeese believe in strong unity in all things, combined with the idea that everyone should be free and equal. That there should always be order, justice and complete honesty. Keeping all of these in mind, Argeese people live healthy and productive lives, and their Dictators lead the country expertly because of these ideals. The country as a whole works efficiently in industry and in war, with the whole government making decisions together as one. These ideals are the ones followed in every interaction with foreign countries and their peoples, as well as other such situations. Argus does not seek to impose these on others, however.

Governmental Structure:
Argus is a Dictatorship, meaning one person has ultimate authority over everything. Most people would say this a horrible form of government, and most countries fail eventually by this path. However, the Argeese Dictatorship is so far from what others think a Dictatorship is that it may not even be considered a Dictatorship. The dictator is the highest official in every governmental body. But there are people directly under the dictator who essentially run the bodies for him/her, making important decisions, paperwork, etc. The system really puts a lot of faith in people, that people will do the right thing, and to do it well. Because of these things, there is no governmental party, like in the United States.

Governmental Bodies: There are 3 main bodies: Military, Economy, and Legislative. The Military body has command over all of Argus's Militaristic operations. Specifically, it branches down into Offense, Defense, and Intelligence. Economy is the body that controls Imports, Exports, and Production for the Nation, like resource management and usage. The Legislative branch guides most of the more technical, on-paper things. Constitutional changes and both Law and Judicial courts lie here. For a more detailed explanation of these broad titles, go here.

Religion:
Argus harbors a multitude of religions, the largest being Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. When Argus was first founded, people decided to ban any Greek-based religion. After a while, when the Jews were first evicted from their God-given territory, they first came to Argus. After much observation of the Jewish faith, most of Argus's leaders accepted that religion as the true faith. Furthermore, when Jesus walked the earth and Christianity came from that, Argus adopted Christianity as the main religion for the country. Of course, as Argus believes in religious freedom, citizens of any religion are allowed to live in Argus unhindered. But there is a law in place that prevents the holding of any high-tier political position if a citizen is not of the Christian faith.

Demographics:
Population: 61,486,000

Largest Cities: Helleoshalenu, 4,700,000 Korinth: 2,000,000.

Geography:
The Argeese Empire is composed of many coastal areas or islands located in the Aegean/Eastern Mediterranean Seas. Argus contains such places as Crete, Cyprus, South Greece, and the Eastern/Southern coast of Turkey. It is very mountainous on the Grecian mainland, as well as on Crete, Cyprus, and many of the islands.

Economy:
For starters, all of Argus's citizens pay 10% of their monthly income per month as tax. Now, there are a few exceptions to this law. Citizens who do fall below a certain threshold of monthly income do not have to pay taxes. Citizens who go above a certain threshold have to pay an additional 5% of their monthly income per month. People who own businesses have to pay an additional 5% of their monthly income per business. There are 5 provinces in Argus. All of the money and all of the resources that are not being used by the provincial government go to the central government. A varied amount of that revenue/resources goes towards National Projects/groups or the Military. The remaining money is then spread out evenly among the provinces and the central government. The remaining resources go either to Exports or into storage. The central government uses its portion for more overall things, such as funding diplomatic missions, running courts, building government buildings, etc. The Provinces use their share of the money in whatever fashion they desire.

Argus tends to make a lot of money off of exporting goods, as well as hiring out mercenaries and shipbuilding.

History:
 March of 400BC:  The typical date given to the founding of Argus. Researchers have not been able to pin down a date or even week, but it is generally believed to be March of 400 BC. As noted in the Epic of Argus, a smallish group of people left Athens, Greece after the death of Socrates due to the oppression of their ideals. The story states that the group included such figures as the legendary Wolf, Nicole the Artist, Kham the Mapmaker, Demni Preyhunter, and Ariadne the Thinker, as well as other brave men and women who followed them. Each member of the party contributed equally to the creation of Argus, setting its ideals, building, etc.

 430BC:  Argus begins its expansion into territories outside of it's home island.

 200-180 BC:  Roman-Argeese War. Rome pushes down the Adriatic till they get to the Grecian border. This is when the Nation of Argus steps in and asks the Roman Republic to halt its advances. The Republic denies and carries through with its offensive. For 5 years the Romans fought with Greece and their Argeese allies. Then it came to a standstill in the southern mountains of Greece. The Romans possessed a formidable land army, but it was not enough to combat their opponents who fought at a decent capacity but were assisted by their knowledge of the area as well as the terrain. The Roman navy was not powerful enough to fight the superior Argeese fleets. For 15 more years, the Romans attempted to conquer their foes to no avail. They ultimately decided to ignore Greece and continue over the Dardanelles Strait into Anatolia.

July 7th 1789; The Official Flag of Argus was locked in the Argus Constitution as the official flag after a century of debating several designs for the Flag. It settled down to 2 main sides, one pushing a simple 3-color flag, and another pushing a wolf design flag. It was a grand display of unity when the two sides met to compromise on a simple flag design, birthing what is now the Flag of Argus.