Building an Empire in a Classical Civilization

¶ … First Edict of Iacolesamun I, the Great Priests of Priests and King of Kings, solemnly charge you my people beneath the gaze of the RE the Immortal God, the Sun and Light, by whose all-seeing eyes the world is held -- it is He who set me upon the holy throne, to be His voice and His incarnation to you. I speak to you with the authority of the son of RE, and the lawful Bridegroom of the Priestess of GA the Mother and the Earth.

I who am at the head of the priesthood speak to you of truth. For seven years I have traveled the world, following the wisdom of my Father RE. At the Delphic temples I was given His edict, which I pass unto you. From this day forth, let no law be written in stone, for the laws of God are carved upon the hearts of his people. (Plutarch) So shall it be that unjust laws will never stand, for only that which is true remains within the heart.

Let every man learn the laws in his infancy, that they will not depart from him, and let the priests of God and the elders of the city judge all men as the priestesses of the Goddess and the matriarchs of the people judge all women. Yet even as no law is written, let me say to you the ways of God which are carved upon the earth. You shall honor all the gods, and above all RE the Sun and GA the Earth, for these two give you life.

Likewise you must honor the priests and priestesses, who are the children of the gods -- but above all must you honor He who the gods have birthed and set upon the throne, for the role of the Kings is not in the hands of men but the hands of gods.

No man may be said to own the earth, for it is the body of the Goddess, which she gives to us to live upon -- but rather all the land is under the protectorship of the priesthood, and the king shall be wed to the land forever. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. When the spring has come, the priests shall go forth and make a survey of all the lands and all the people.

The land which is sacred shall be divided into equal parts, and each man among the people shall be given an equal share as his toil and the toil of his family, leaving aside a portion of the land to lie fallow for future generations. For seven years will a man work the soil of his mother, and on the seventh year in the spring once again will the priests make the census, and divide the lands fairly among all.

For such was the command of the Delphic oracle to Lycurgus in the days of Sparta, most blessed and most warlike of cities, (Plutarch) and so also was the command of the Nile in the days of the Pharaohs. (Dollinger) So the will of the God has ever been, and will ever be, that all people partake equally in the land. In the spring shall the surveyor and the priests walk across the land, and calculate what it should grow in ordinary times.

Of this, the tithe is the Lord's -- ten percent shall go to the sustenance of His priesthood. The remainder shall be given to the women for the sustenance of their children and their homes. Yet in years when the Earth grants a bounty, and the harvest is great, then half of this bounty shall be put aside into the King's warehouses in every town, to assure the people against famine. For the gift of the gods are not to be wasted.

Thus did Joseph in the days of old, and thus were our ancestors spared from famine. (Bible) Sacred is the earth, and all that comes from it. You shall build your houses of the earth, of sand and clay and wood. No roof or door shall you make unless it be cut with.