Corinthia: a king??????

[LucaCherstich]

Another question for Vincent:
I always thought Corinthia was a veeeeeeeeery loose confederacy of city-state but I recently noticed in RttRoK (in the government paragraph) you mention a senate and even a King!
Cursed be the one who cut all the bibliographical notes on that book! So, I have to ask you directly: did you create this or is it the idea of someoneelse?
If the idea is not yours, can you indicate me the source? (novel, comic book, etc..)
Thanks

 

[Lagavulin]

I don't have return but do have the original rok and the Corinthinian king is mentioned there as well but again only briefly.

Some clarification on how Vincent envisages Corinthias government would be nice.

 

[VincentDarlage]

The idea of Corinthia as a loose collection of city states is the pastiche idea, IMHO. Roy Thomas wrote the comics in that fashion.

To write Corinthia, I presumed "Rogues in the House" took place there. Here are some lines in Howard's "Rogues in the House":

"Murilo's voice sank to a whisper. 'Nabonidus, the king's priest!'"
"Nabonidus would strike through the king - of that he was certain."
"'You exploit a whole kingdom for your personal greed, and under the guise of disinterested statesmanship, you swindle king, beggar, the rich, oppress the poor, and sacrifice the whole future of the nation for your ruthless ambition."
"I had intended telling the king a jest about you in the morning."
"Then the king is unaware of my foreign enterprises."
etc.

On the other hand, Howard says in a letter that he sees Rogues in the House taking place in a city-state west of Zamora, which could mean Corinthia, or it could be a little semi-nation between Zamora, Brythunia, and/or Corinthia. In this case, we have virtually no stories taking place in Corinthia.

There also appears a group of "nationalists," which appears to be a political faction of some sort, so the king may not be the sole power.

In "The Hour of the Dragon," Howard says:
'The older kingdoms of Ophir, Corinthia, and western Koth, which had been subject to the kings of Acheron, regained their independence with the fall of the empire.'

Howard calls Corinithia a kingdom, which implies a king, so I went with that, and created the senate based on pastiche novels, which allowed the existance of both a king and city-states.

Here is the original paragraph discussing this from RoK:

Rogues in the House mentions a king; however, Howard does not name the city. Does Corinthia have a single king, or is it a collection of city-states, each with a king? Comments by Howard show that it is a city state, yet the king commands imperial legions, again implying the existence of a single ruler over all Corinthia. Opposing political factions are rampant in the city. Conan the Fearless, by Steve Perry, indicates the existence of senators, which supports the political factions indicated by Howard. Conan the Great, by Leonard Carpenter, mentions a governing council. Corinthians, then, are ruled by bodies of politicians and a king reigns supreme over that senatorial council.

 

[Lagavulin]

Thanks Vincent

I think I will go with a King of "Corinthia" proper - say the capital and around half the country, but one who has to work with senate of powerful nobles. Keep a feel to it a bit like Imperial Rome where a weak emperor can be ousted by a powerful enough faction of senators. This would also let it have a cultural feel not too different from how I envisage Nemedia.

The rest of the country can be vassal city states, fairly autonomous at least where internal affairs are concerned and squabbling between themselves, but defintely subordinate to the King. That covers the "Imperial" aspect.

 

[B_Steele]

I personally go with the idea that there might be several 'kings' claiming the 'throne' of Corinthia. Basically the various city-states and noble bloodlines might back their own kings, and so forth.

I figure that form of view to the area does not disqualify anything that was already written, but gives us some wiggling room for our own stories and such as well.

Rogues in the House...man, I need to re-read that. I loved Thak.

-Bry

 

[VincentDarlage]

I think I will go with a King of "Corinthia" proper - say the capital and around half the country, but one who has to work with senate of powerful nobles. Keep a feel to it a bit like Imperial Rome where a weak emperor can be ousted by a powerful enough faction of senators. This would also let it have a cultural feel not too different from how I envisage Nemedia.

The rest of the country can be vassal city states, fairly autonomous at least where internal affairs are concerned and squabbling between themselves, but defintely subordinate to the King. That covers the "Imperial" aspect.

I would say that is perfect.

 

[VincentDarlage]

I personally go with the idea that there might be several 'kings' claiming the 'throne' of Corinthia. Basically the various city-states and noble bloodlines might back their own kings, and so forth.

That is the way Brythunia seems to work. Corinthia could work that way too, but I really like Lagavulin's presentation (because it is closer to my own conception, and fits better with the pastiches/comics - and makes it different from Brythunia).

While Aquilonia and Nemedia seem to have the feudal system down pat, Brythunia's government is less certain. From the various stories, Brythunia slowly emerges as a kingdom without a sense of itself, a kingdom without a supreme feudal king, or, rather, a kingdom with far too many 'supreme' kings. Each city state fancies its capital as THE capital of Brythunia and each king styles himself the King of Brythunia. Brythunia has its Gryphon Thrones, Ebon Thrones and several others to be sure.