Directive VI - Boriopa, Third Rome

 Directive VI - Boriopa, Third Rome

Qileziaux VI - Boriopa, Roma vi Deuq

On the last Sunday of September, the Easwegian Council has taken the decision to release a new directive that shall take a slightly different course than the last five, instead being purely cultural and symbolic in its content.

The Easwegian Council proclaims Boriopa, the arctic land of the mythical Hyperborea, as well as the centre of Easway, to be the Third Rome, the successors of the original Rome and of Constantinople.

Since the establishment of the Common Assembly of the Easwegian people in 2015, almost 11 years ago, under the name of Ezerrye—the rich realm—the project has sought to establish and reignite Arctic culture within the Barents Region by drawing on culture larger than us all, timeless mythos, and most of all the spirit of the powers of the past which bring people together as one prestigious unit. We thought of no greater and more relevant power to base our political and legal tradition on than that of Rome.

Our rightful successorship draws on three distinct categories: our legal tradition, our religious heritage, and the legends of our ancestors in migration to this great land of Boriopa.

Legal

Rome was built on distinct legal systems. It's founding was based on overthrowing decadent kingship in favour of disciplined organisation which allowed it to become one of the greatest powers in history and dominate the Mediterranean for centuries. Its legal tradition, the consuls, the Senate, the Plebian Assembly, inspired legal systems in Europe and beyond into the modern day.

While many legal systems today have evolved into a presidential or Westminster system, the Easwegian system has developed into its own directorial form, built on Roman legality, including the distribution of power into different bodies, each with its own real authority and lasting grandeur.

From the founding of the Common Realm in 2017, when Easway proclaimed itself as an independent nation, its paramount founder Emizerri Tannurai adopted the name of middle name of Meizcherni, the Ezerryen form of Majorian, one of the last Emperors of Western Rome who defied the corruption in the military and rallied the people and troops in a last attempt to restore the power and legitimacy of the Western Roman Empire. With this name, Emizerri sent a message that Easway would be built on both resistance, patriotism, and continuation. He wished to pick up the mantle and continue the efforts of Majorian. Due to this, the position of Major general, Meizchernelagh, was also created and given to Lieutenant Founder Aleksou Desourre to command the Emando Forces. This was no mere title, but this was a clear signal that loyalty of the national guard to the state was a sacred duty, unlike Ricimer who betrayed Rome. Aleksou Desourre also adopted the middle name of Romanous, Roman.

Such as with Rome, power was given to the Assembly- the Qeldai -to give legitimacy to the fledgling state. The Assembly then and today has always initiated constitutional reform. Today, it operates through the Q-R-G System.

Quotations (law) - Lex

Regulations - Senatus consultum (senatorial decrees)

Guidance - Responsa prudentium (legal opinions)

The Common Realm established people's committees, and later popular committees, to continue the tradition of the Plebian Assembly, to give power and say to the people. Afterall, the people are in the name of SPQR, Senatus Populesque Romanus.

As with the consulship, which limited a concentration of power by giving two individuals the role, Easway took this and expanded on it. It created the Directorial Federation, which bestowed power in a council of individuals, both through the Imperative Council (imperative inspired by the concept of imperium), and through the National Directorate. The later Realm held both the position of Grand Councillor and of General Director. Though, like with Rome, top leadership was still considered important for state power. Therefore the Grand Councillor operated as a technocratic role with a central duty in commanding the people and upholding and developing the culture. But the Grand Councillor was nothing without his advisors, which legitimised the directorialism in the directorial federation. Never fogetting the role and importance of the people, the name of Common Union was adopted in 2023, inspired by SPQR and the Roman assemblies.

Religious heritage

Easway's claim to the Third Rome is not solely political or legal. It is also spiritual and cultural, rooted in the religious heritage of the Easwegian people and their historical connections to the Byzantine world.

The Byzantine Empire was the Second Rome—the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East, centred on Constantinople. It was the guardian of Roman law, Greek learning, and Christian faith. When it fell in 1453, the question of succession became a matter of both political and spiritual urgency.

Easway does not claim the Byzantine legacy through Orthodoxy. Many of our founders are pure Roman Catholics. Though Easway is a secular state. Easway recognises the Byzantine legacy as part of its own heritage, transmitted through:

The Varangian Guard

Norse and Rus' warriors who served the Byzantines and carried their traditions back north. Easway maintains a martial and warrior culture rooted in the Varangian Guard. In the early days of the Common Realm, one of the common names of our national guard was the Easwegian Guard.

The legends of Ezaari migration

In the official legendary account, the Ezaari migrated from the lands of the Eurasian Steppe to the north, inspired by the Byzantine legends of Hyperborea. 

The Novgorod Republic

Easway considers itself the descendants of the culture and people of the Novgorod Republic, ultimately led by the first Tannurai of Easway, Martha Boretskaya of Boriopa. Novgorod was incredibly influenced in its language, its religious and its legal Veche political system, by the traditions of the Byzantines. We instill these traditions in our youth through the Boretskaya Youth. 

Legends and application of culture

Like Rome, we are an amalgamation of cultures, not a single tribe, but a confluence of people who came together under a shared idea. We will trek along rivers, through valleys and to the peak of mountains to exclaim "I am an Easwegian!"

Together, we form Ezaari, Pomors, Norse, Finnic and otherwise. We are the stewards of Boriopa and it is our duty to keep its traditions alive.

The Myth of Hyperborea

At the heart of Easwegian identity is the myth of Hyperborea, the legendary northern paradise of Greek antiquity, a land of eternal spring beyond the north wind. The Greeks told of a people who lived in perfect harmony, untouched by war or want, beloved by Apollo, and blessed with long life. For centuries, Hyperborea was dismissed as fantasy. But for the Easwegian people, it is not a myth to be believed literally. It is a myth to be lived. It is the horizon toward which we strive: a northern society built on co-operation, resilience, and the common good.

The Ezaari migration: from the Altai Mountains, through Kashmir, across the Steppe, and finally to the Barents Region, is the earthly echo of the Hyperborean myth. They came north, as the mythic Hyperboreans dwelt in the north. They sought a land of promise, as the Hyperboreans inhabited a land of plenty. And they built a society on the edge of the world, as the Hyperboreans were said to live beyond the reach of ordinary men.

From the Norse and Rus' who served in the Varangian Guard of Constantinople, Easway inherits a martial tradition, but it is a martial tradition with a difference. The Varangians were not conquerors. They were guards. They served the emperor, but they maintained their own customs, their own honour, and their own loyalty to one another.

We in turn are the guards of Boriopa, not its conquerors. We protect the land; we do not own it.

From the Novgorod Republic and from our first Tannurai, Martha Boretskaya of Boriopa, we inherit the Veche: the assembly of the people, the voice of the common citizen, the tradition of governance by deliberation. Novgorod was a city-state where the people gathered to decide their own fate. It was influenced by Byzantine law, Byzantine religion, and Byzantine political thought, but it was not Byzantine. It was its of its own: northern, and free.

We carry the Veche forward today in the Common Assembly and in the people's committees that still shape local decision-making. We instil this tradition in our youth through the Boretskaya Youth, named for Martha, who stood against autocracy and stood for the common good. The Boretskaya Youth are not merely a youth wing. They are the heirs of the Veche and the next generation of Easwegians who will gather, deliberate, and decide.

Hyperborea - Boriopa - our capital and the region it is named after, is built on the northern frontier. It is the settlement of the myth made real.

Varangian Guard The Emando Forces (EMD) maintain the tradition of the guard: disciplined, loyal, and rooted in the defence of the common good. The Common Assembly and people's committees are the modern expression of the assembly tradition. The youth movement trains the next generation in the traditions of Novgorod, the Veche, and the Easwegian Way.

Q-R-G System The legal tradition of Rome - lex, senatus consultum, responsa prudentium - is made modern and accessible.

We do not merely remember the past. We re-enact it. We trek along rivers, through valleys, and to the peaks of mountains to exclaim: "I am an Easwegian!" We gather in assemblies. We honour the Ouroboros, that is the eternal return, the cycle of rebirth. We speak many languages, the languages of the realm, including, united around English. We sing the songs of the North. We keep the old customs and forge new ones.

To the mystisists who say that Moscow is the third Rome, our answer:

There could be some truth if you are referring to the stage of Rome when the fighting force was employed through mercenaries from the far-flung corners of the Empire, when the people had been inflicted with borderless and the decline of prestige and trust in state institutions. We offer no ill will but this is what we are witnessing.

No! For a true successorship as the third rendition you have to look to the core tradition, and to the people who embody it the most. To the people who desire and work for it! That is in no uncertain terms Boriopa.

We embody the resistance of the people through our Christian heritage and recognition of Majorian as a great man, we follow in the legal traditions of Justinian, we claim the mythos of the Byzantines. 

What this means for Easwegian Dawn

By authoring this declaration, Directive VI sets broader implications for our pan-ethnic culture. 

What is Boriopa?

This directive shall define what Boriopa is. Firstly, there are three core settlements we call Boriopa. First is Boriopa Centrum as the centre of Easwegian Svalbard, the second is Boriopa Town as the centre of the Star and Crescent of Easway, as touched upon in the previous Directive V, and thirdly is Boriopolis, an Easwegian name for Murmansk.

All are named after Boriopa the region. Boriopa, like Scandinavia, the Caucuses, Iberia, and so on, contains more than just Easway. Easway embraces Boriopa but Easway is not one-to-one with Boriopa.
Therefore, Boriopa is most consistent with what is known as the Barents Region. This has been recognised before but without specificity.
Boriopa the region is Sapmi, Boriopa is Lappland, it is Karelia, it is Finnmark, the Star and Crescent, Svalbard, Kola, Pomoria and Archangel, Nenetsia and the Komi Republic. 

Though coterminous with the established land named after the great explorer Willem Barentsz, as mentioned, Boriopa taps into the Byzantine mythos of Hyperborea. We aim to unify through this our cultures, not through conquest, but through common values we strive to bring into the forefront. Law, justice, the protection and the revival and emancipation of cultures that live within Boriopa.

Dignity under siege

Under the current arrangement, the indigenous cultures of Boriopa have suffered in the last centuries. The Pomors lost their free trade heritage, the Nenets their language, traditional herding and spiritual connection to the vast land through population decline. The Komi faced repression possibly the most severe. The Karelians have also faced demographic replacement. 
We stand against this deterioration. We stand for the uplifting and protection of our cultures.
Therefore, this directive shall look to strengthen our seven masts principle of federation/autonomy in line with that of the Roman foederati. Strong treaties, the mutual respect of peoples, and the development of the land for the masses by the masses. Under this new age of globalisation, our cultures require a new revival, which will only come through new institutions and new powers for the federated people. The people are the most important treasure; this was also touched upon in Emizerri's Ultimate Speech.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, Boriopa is not just a land, but a living cultural being which has existed for millenia. After the fall of both Western and Eastern Rome, the claim naturally passed to Boriopa. We, Easwegians, have nurtured this claim and in many ways returned to the core Roman tradition, while allowing ourselves room to adapt and evolve in line with Easwegian characteristics and Easwegian needs. We embrace Boriopa and Boriopa as the Third Rome.
Ave Boriopa! Ave Roma!

Signed:

• Emizerri Tannurai, Custodian of the Easwegian Council
• Devaade Raizerni, First Secretary of the Easwegian Council