Codex-Imperial Federation

Neo-Hellenism

The history of the Imperial Federation would probably have been a whole lot different without the religion founded by the second head of the Vignoli dynasty, Federico I. Neo-Hellenism was intended as a way to bring back the old cult that, according to the king, had brought the peoples of Italy to greatness in the past, but it was almost entirely overhauled to make sure the faith could stand up to the two major religions of the Mediterranean at the time: Christianity and Islam.

Even if today religion plays no major role in the political life of the Federation, the impact Neo-Hellenism had on the conduct of the Vignoli dynasty and on the society under their rule over the centuries cannot be understated, as it was arguably this religion that allowed the dynasty to reign over hundreds of different ethnicities and religions without incurring in major unrest.

History

On May 11th 1110, king Federico I won his war of independence against the Holy Roman Empire, and made Italy an independent reign after he had been repeatedly denied an electorate inside the Germanic empire, despite Italy being by far the biggest principality. Immediately after that, Federico launched an expedition against the Normans in southern Italy and, by the end of 1112, he had submitted the various dukes.

It was at that point that Federico, during a royal visit in Sicily, stumbled upon the ancient temple of Lentini, where he and his people found a rich collection of ancient pagan texts.

Federico had wanted for a long time to separate from the Catholic Church and take Rome for himself, so he seized this opportunity and started a persuasion campaign of many of his vassals, telling them how this discovery was a revelation from above and that God wanted the Italian people to spread His new truth.

Many nobles decided that they, too, wanted to get rid of the powerful influence of the Church, and in 1115, Federico declared the creation of Neo-Hellenism, a cult that would reorganize the ancient religion of the Romans while integrating some key tenets of Christianity.

After repelling the Crusade that the Pope called against him, using his great military knowledge and using one of the first standing armies since the Roman empire, Federico captured Rome and made it the capital of his new Italian empire, and the seat of the Capitoline Concordat, the new body of scholars and priests aimed at defending the new faiths against the intellectual power of the Church.

Divinity and Pantheon

Much like the ancient Romans tended to allow the conquered peoples to continue practicing their rites, Neo-Hellenism is a pluralist religion.

The base tenet is that there is a Supreme Entity, which can be compared to the Abrahamic God, that is omniscient and omnipresent, that has created the universe but it is essentially detached from the affairs of the mortals. Instead, the Hellenists affirm that the ancient Gods of the Pantheon are the direct emissaries on Earth of the Supreme Entity. However, since the real nature of this entity is impossible for men to know, every interpretation is considered to have some merit, and everyone is free to try and interpret it the way they prefer, so long as they don't disrupt the social order.

As such, the Hellenic clergy often encourages dialogue between different cults and religions to promote social peace, instead marginalizing every cult that professes violence and supremacy over others.

Every Hellenic faithful usually chooses one of the major gods to dedicate their prayers and to invoke protection based on their personality and job. The major gods are 7:

Jupiter: King of the Gods and divinity of thunder. Jupiter is considered the main patron of the Hellenic emperors, as they turn to him in search of the strength necessary to protect their people.