Evgenia Exteberria, First Tribune of the Grand Secretariat of the Byzantine Commune
Inaugurated October 28th, 1884
The Athens Commune
: I… I suppose the pressure’s getting to all of us a bit. History’s eyes are upon us! The decisions we take at this First International will reverberate out into ages. We are the architects of the future. That’s a lot of responsibility!
: While all the various subcommittees hammer out the details, there is still one last vote for the plenary session to make.
: As you know, we’ve issued a general amnesty for the officials of the Old Republic and the officers of its military, accepting that— unfortunate incidents at Saranta Ekklisies and Denizli aside, the Hadjiapostolou government made a good-faith effort to peacefully deal with the general strike and the red guard. Believe me, look up the death toll of the 1802 Revolution, or even the 1702 Revolution or the Peasant’s War— it could have been much worse.
: There is one army officer who we need to further consider the case of, however— General Valentinos Spyromilios. After he and his forces defected from the Byzantine Army to the Red Guards, he seized power in Constantinople… or… whatever we’re calling it… and became the self-appointed Dictator of the Commune.
: This was clearly out of line, and to his credit he was cooperative once a republican form of government was re-established. Nonetheless, many are calling for further consequences, and it falls to us to consider the question.
We need to make an example of him, of course. Wait, no, that sounded like I meant to shoot him or whatever! I meant more, like, an example of how soldiers to act. I don’t know what Spyromilios himself wants, or why he did what he did, but it’s up to us to make him into a Cincinnatus instead of a Sulla. He’ll voluntarily retire from public life and rejoin the common people and become an icon for doing so. Doesn’t matter a bit if he actually volunteers or not, of course. This isn’t about Spyromilios the man.
##Support the Florentine Student
A republic is a fragile thing. Time and time again, the Roman Empire— the Commonwealth of the Romans— the Old Republic— were forced to make choices that changed everything. If even one of those choices had been made differently, we would have gone down a different fork in the road, to despotism, to feudalism, to Pangalism, to annihilation. We must therefore take care to remain on the path that took us this far– imagine if the National Assembly had accepted Kaisarios as their emperor, if the Discordians hadn’t overthrown the Senate, if the Senate hadn’t convinced the empress Basillike to fight her doukes for the throne. If even one of those decisions had been reversed, all Byzantium would be unrecognizable from the Commune we have fought so hard to establish. If we are really the heirs of Noor Sallajer, rather than the destroyers of her legacy, than we must remember the first law of her republic— No man or woman shall conspire to restore the Empire of Rome. Spyromilios styled himself after Julius rather than Augustus, which is a novelty, but a Caesar is a Caesar. He must die.
##Support the Counterfactual Historian
Do you believe in the Commune? Then its establishment is worth any price. Do you think the Revolution could have been victorious without men and women like General Spyromilios? Of course not. All that strength built up by the unions and communes, all the anger and passion that drove the people to the Red Guards should have scattered to the four winds and achieved nothing had it not been harnessed and put towards the singular end of victory over the bourgeoisie. Great change is never achieved with one’s scruples intact. The idea that Spyromilios should be punished is absurd— he should be recognized as the Hero of the Commune that he is!
##Support the True Believer
Do you truly believe anything we decide here matters? The broad strokes of the course of history have already been sketched out; the forms of the future already taking shape on the canvas. The details and minutiae we squabble over cannot change this. I see no need to further waste my breath.
##Support the Traitor to Her Class
##Support the Florentine Student: “Let’s be smart about this.”
Zikan
Rumda
Hutter
Lustful Man Hugs
RZApublican
Rodyle
crimea
ThatBasqueGuy
ThaumPenguin
Another Otter
Sindai
WeaponGradeSadness
AdventFalls
D3m3
GSD
Kellanved
Vernii
mcclay
Thordain
Soup du Jour
StrifeHira
Clayren
Aeromancia
Lynneth
##Support the Counterfactual Historian: “…”
tabris
Raserys
GunnerJ
##Support the True Believer: “Who among us hasn’t noticed the taint of blood on every breeze blowing across the Bosphorus?”
sniper4625
Flesnolk
Lord Cyrahzax
TheMcD
QuoProQuid
Ghostwoods
##Support the Traitor to Her Class: “Another acted through his skin. ”
Freudian
AJ_Impy
GoatLord
Frontspac
Ghetto Prince
Glenn Zimmerman
Chwoka
VOTE CLOSED
: Well, that’s it for today! Spyromilios makes a fine Cincinnatus. Perhaps in the modern age that will involve a bit less nude farmwork, but that’s Cincinnatus for you.
: I noticed a lot of you are voting to adjourn, though. I can’t wait to get out of here and get back to work, either! So don’t worry, we’ve worked through the agenda, and tomorrow we’ll all get to go back to our communes and put all this into practice.
: Oh, so if you want to register as an international delegation, you should probably get that out of the way. I’ll be saying a few brief words tomorrow, and then we’ll all be on our way.