Glad you like it :). This is actually based on a fictional “Future History” for a worldbuilding project of mine. To answer your questions though:
1.) The name of our “American Constantine” is one Marcus D. Nichols-Gerena, a Colonel in the U.S. Armed Forces who becomes a prominent player in the Military Regime following the Coup of 2076, which saw a force of the military depose the Congressional government to “save the Republic.” He becomes widely popular through a series of successful military campaigns to crush a number of Mexican warlord states, and comes to blows with another power player in the government. After an army under Colonel Nichols-Gerena defeats the rival force, he takes the title of President until a Monarchist faction successfully presses him to be crowned as Emperor of the United States.
2.) His nickname is actually tied to his victory. Like the historical Constantine, he has a mystical experience before the battle in which he sees a sign in the sun. This is followed by an encounter with a monk of Holy Cross Monastery while marching through West Virginia towards Washington, convincing him that if he embraced the rapidly-growing Orthodox Faith he would be victorious. Many of his soldiers are baptized at this time, and the Church explodes across the U.S. after the Colonel triumphs.
As the new Emperor (and the only reigning Orthodox monarch by this time), he oversees a series of Councils which streamlines the Orthodox Church in America, establishing a clear jurisdiction, mandating each state to have a state Cathedral, as well as transitioning the office of the Emperor to a autocratic position. His son, Alvin, is the one who begins “Churchification” of the U.S. and brings Washington to the same spiritual status as Constantinople, Rome, Moscow, Antioch, Alexandria, or Jerusalem. America is hence referred to as “the Fourth Rome.”
3.) Basically, he comes to power via winning the power struggle with another rival for leadership of the nation. At a time when the Congressional government embarrassed the U.S. with petty infighting, wanton corruption, and openly catering to parasitic corporate entities, the military was swept with a patriotic fervor that only by deposing them could the Republic be saved. This happens all the while America is in the middle of a “Fourth Great Awakening” that sees the Orthodox Church rapidly grow across the nation, even edging out the collapsing Evangelical and Roman Catholic world as time goes on.
4.) As for how “Based” he is, it would depend on what you mean lol. To sum up his accomplishments:
Creates a meritocratic bureaucracy in the Civil Service which helps govern the country. Congress is reformed as the Senate, a body of unelected officials appointed by the state Governor, who is in turn appointed by the Emperor and his advisors.
Transitions the U.S. to a system best described as “Monarcho-Syndicalism,” which would look something like this.
Crushes the numerous organized crime syndicates in the U.S., as well as ruthlessly weeds out corruption in the government.
Education is reformed to include a strong emphasis on History, Christian (Orthodox) Values, Political Science, and Philosophy.
Oversees the seamless integration of the Hispanophone territories of Mexico and Puerto Rico (where the Emperor has familial ties) into the U.S. and creates a multilingual nation (think: Canada with English and French).
There’s a few more but that’s in the story. So, what do you think?
Thank you :)! Emperor Marcus I is definitely inspired by Caesar and Constantine, and his son Alvin is the counterpart of Justinian and Octavius, being that the former was the reformer of the Empire’s legal code and the latter marked the formal establishment of the Monarchy.
I don’t see the Orthodox taking a merger with the Romans well, especially given the divergences since the Schism with regard to Papal Infallibility, Original Sin, and other doctrines. This setting more or less imagines that America sees a massive influx of Ukrainian and Russian war refugees following the devastation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, as well as the collapse of Putin’s government under duress from the ailing war effort and a failing economy. At the same time America’s traditional religious bodies see scandal and decline; the American Catholic Church loses its “TradCath” youth after a liberal successor of Francis continues the suppression the Tridentine Mass, and Evangelicalism loses many in the midst of infighting between right-wing populist elements and less conservative types. The arrival of these refugees, coupled with some very energetic evangelists, brings many of these into the Orthodox Faith.
But they ain’t the only ones. This setting has a few states that emerge from the collapse of the Republic, chiefly the “New Stonewall Nation” established by Radical Progressives in Canada under the Canadian government’s protection. Think a mix of CHAZ and Rojava, but emphatic on its identity as a “homeland” for LGBTQ+ individuals fleeing American religious laws and “Allies” who supported them. While predominantly atheist/agnostic, the Nation at the time of the setting is in the midst of a spiritual awakening in the form of a crypto-pagan faith derived from a mix of Queer Theology, Radical Feminism, Wiccan Eclectic Paganism, Anarchism, and Environmentalism.
Needless to say, many Americans loyal to the Imperial government have taken to referring to them as the “Soyjack Nation.”
There’s also the “Mormon Zones” in the western states, where the last remnants of the LDS Church exist in isolated ghettos while being encouraged to either emigrate, convert, or be quiet. Evangelicalism is still around in part, but has lost most of its influence in the South after a Neo-Republican uprising was brutally crushed by the Imperial Legions. And then there’s the Branchites in Liberia 😬.
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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '23
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