---
title: "Imperium"
url: https://austenasia.org/history/the-year-of-the-three-emperors/imperium/
date: 2026-08-13
modified: 2026-08-13
lang: en
author: "austenasia1"
description: "May - September By the time Esmond emerged victorious from the Austenasian Civil War, a new image of the Emperor had been cultivated. Esmond III came to the Throne largely..."
image: https://i0.wp.com/austenasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/figure-11-page-11.jpg?fit=257%2C395&ssl=1
word_count: 877
---

# Imperium

**May - September**

![Esmond III](http://127.0.0.1:5500/output/three-emperors/media/figure-11-page-11.jpg)

By the time Esmond emerged victorious from the Austenasian Civil War, a new image of the Emperor had been cultivated. Esmond III came to the Throne largely unaware - and his soldiers, certainly, were for the most part recruited entirely unaware - of the more ceremonial, constitutional role that had been played by Terry I.

In their eyes, the title of “Emperor” - and especially an Emperor at war to defend his throne - summoned up images of the Roman Emperors of old, *imperators* in the original sense of the word. From Esmond’s point of view, and from that of his supporters, he was not the constitutional monarch of a tiny nation but rather the highest ranking individual in the western world. The Crown Prince, always an avid student of history, explained upon request the constitutional and diplomatic worldviews of entities such as the “Byzantine” and Holy Roman empires, and Esmond began to promote himself as being the literal successor to the Western Roman Emperors. Jonathan was at that time steadily making his way through Gibbon’s *and Fall of the Roman Empire*, and would spend whole morning breaks with Esmond and his courtiers quoting and explaining passages which would go on to be used as inspiration for an increasingly autocratic and “Roman” style of rule.

Although his powers were defined and limited by law, Esmond’s influence had now become great enough so as to have the Throne the most powerful that it would ever be under the 2008 Constitution. Sentiment amongst the Imperial Court was such that Crown Prince Jonathan presented an Act to the Emperor which even further increased the power of the Monarch: Act 124, passed at the start of July, removed Parliament’s power to call a Vote of No Confidence on the Emperor to establish a Regency (this was restored in March 2011), gave the Monarch immunity from prosecution, and bestowed upon him the power to grant the titles of Caesar and Augusta (reflecting the emphasis now placed by Esmond and his courtiers on the idea of succession from Rome).

Esmond III had begun to use the title Western Emperor or Emperor of the West in unofficial contexts, and in many ways presented himself less as the ruler of Austenasia alone but rather of the entire western world. It was with this worldview in mind that he was approached in late June with a request to found a new country.

Over the summer holidays (late July to early September) of 2009, several groups of friends meeting in parks around the local area - most of whom were of similar ages to Esmond and Jonathan - united into a single social group often referred to as “the Green lot,” named after Sutton Green, their initial primary meeting place, which by early 2010 had mostly been replaced with the Grove Park in Carshalton. Esmond was a member of this large group, and so were several other students at Stanley Park both in his year and in the year below, most of whom had enlisted in the Austenasian Army or joined the Imperial Court. One such student, Calum, who was in Esmond and Jonathan’s classes, approached Esmond with the idea that as the Emperor of the West, he could declare the Grove Park to be an independent state for the use of what was now referred to as “the Grove lot”.

Taking inspiration from the Roman Tetrarchy, Esmond agreed to grant Calum the rank of Caesar and grant him sovereignty over the Grove Park, which was to be named the Caesarship of Orly with “the Grove lot” as its citizens. This was an extremely significant moment in the history of the Austenasian Throne, with the Emperor assuming the right to allocate sovereignty over non-Austenasian land as he saw fit. The founding of Austenasia was based on the ideals of national self-determination, but Orly was founded on the idea that the Emperor of Austenasia, as Emperor of the West, had the right to remove territory from the sovereignty of the British Crown and grant it to whomsoever he wished; in this case, Calum. By Jonathan’s insistence, a rudimentary declaration of independence was drawn up to pay lip-service to some idea of grassroots self-determination, but this was only signed by six people, merely three of whom were actually part of the group which regularly visited the park.

Orly officially became independent on Sunday 4th July. The next two weeks were spent by Esmond and Jonathan’s school year group on work experience, with only one more week after that spent at Stanley Park before the school year ended and the summer holidays began. With the Imperial Court no longer meeting at school, all in-person interaction between Esmond, Jonathan, and their friends amongst the newly established nation of Orly took place in Orly itself. Esmond’s influence therefore continued to grow in Orly, where - despite not technically being head of state - he was universally regarded as the source of legitimacy, taking on an aura of absolute power.

To most members of the social circles in Carshalton aware of the town’s small nations, it was half-forgotten that Esmond was Emperor *of Austenasia*. Rather, he was simply “the Emperor,” with Austenasia just a small part of his rightful jurisdiction.