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*Official Language: Attic Greek, Koine Greek
*Mineral: Palladium
*State Motto: "
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==Daily Life==
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''Main Article: [[Fanon:Ecclesiarchy#Kallisto's Codex|Ecclesiarchy]]''
As a fundamentalist state, the Papal State technically runs on religious laws. The most significant part of the law is that romance and WooHoo is strictly forbidden to the followers of the faith, which comprises a significant part of the population of Hekatonschoinos, and a less significant presence in Sunset Valley and Twinbrook. Due to the fact that the said law applies only to registered followers, sights of couples can be still seen even in the streets of Hekatonschoinos, although in Hekatonschoinos the religious pressue is so high that such heretical relationships are nearly nonexistent, and couples usually take to their homes. Nonetheless, the Ecclesiarchy in practice largely adheres to the modern concept of separation of church and state, thus it uses only ecclesial bodies to enforce religious decisions among believers. There is an exception to this, as the Ecclesiarchy uses its government clout to screen the Simnationian pop culture material that passes through the Papal territories. All in all, a life in Papal State generally are largely similar to life in the secular developed countries. However, the increasingly liberal mood of the Ecclesiarchy meant censorship such as these are in decline, and SimNationian pop culture is no longer scrutinized by the government.
Given the Ecclesiarchy's pro-technology attitudes, Papal State is also highly advanced in terms of science. For one, Simbots are far more common in Papal territory than in any region of the SimNation, especially so given that [[Fanon:Stratonike Attalida|Stratonike]] has been the pioneer in the field, and the makings of a simbot is an arcane art held currently only by the members of the Big 6, although some, such as Parthenope, has the aptitude and experience to be ready to make one. The Papal State is also a leader in the fields of cybernetics and biotechnology, claiming many artificial humans (e.g. Phthinophoria Eschateria) and prosthetics (such as one proudly borne by [[Fanon:Hypatia Pydnaia|Hypatia]]) given the attitudes that look unfavorably to the "natural" way of reproduction.
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In fact, the Papal State is one of the least oppressive of fundamentalist regimes, and an average citizen of Papal State can expect a level of personal freedom in par with most democratic nations. Although no official laws or experimental policies were set in place, the Ecclesiarchy is actually open to offering representation to the nonbeliever segments of the Papal population. While the political system available in Papal territories were largely dummy systems with little power, the Ecclesiarchy shows interest in giving nonbelievers a say in the government, especially in the fields of economics where they wouldn't interfere with say laws against romance amongst believers.
====Edict of Veracity====
However, the relative freedom of the press that Kallisto once espouse was reversed when a false rumor (that the Ecclesiarchy was effective at suppressing for a time) hit Kallistrata: once Kallisto took note of that, Kallisto issued the Edict of Veracity: in effect, Kallisto purged all Paparazzis from the Papal State, and also ensured all media posted would be subject to reviews by the Ecclesiarchal chapter of the respective cities. So infuriated were the Big 6 (who were already fed up with the memories of constant false rumors) that they also added an addendum, the Warning to Falsehoods, in which the Big 6 legislated death penalty to any more propagators of false rumors.
With that, the Big 6 effectively clamped down celebrity culture, and destroyed the celebrity news section of the media industry of the Papal State.
However, later revisions to the law softened the penalty, although the harsh example set by the previous example have wiped out the paparazzis, and the Big 6 doesn't mind having their domain paparazzi-free.
===Things to do===
The Papal State is known for its large public projects, and one of the vaunted accomplishments of the Papal State is the concept of a public workhouse in which commoners may practice skills that would be otherwise not feasible to hone. In Hekatonschoinos, this is fully implemented with the Public Workplace in the central islet at the Agora region, while Nectar making is available to the public at the Nectar Market (Emporion Nektaros) right next to the public generic school and the Business Tower. The Papal States (at least in Hekatonschoinos) offers plenty of activities, such as horse riding, swimming, and in Hekatonschoinos, two large (and currently simple) libraries, alongside a multitude of shops. The Papal State generally frown upon night parties, and the only state-supported party place is the Palace of Pella-Syrakousai at Hekatonschoinos that is classified as
The Papal State is also liberal on foreign arts, as mentioned with the Nectary. This is an Attalid influence given that it was the Attalids who were open to foreign things, which was also an benefactor of the Simbot craze in the first timeline. Given the Papal state's love of euergetism, Martial Arts facilities are also provided via the Palaistra Stratiotike, although a public counterpart was missing in Sunset Valley even before Esomena's renovation.
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==Demographics==
Poverty rates in Papal State is very low, given the robust welfare system of the Papal State aimed to keep people floating. However, the birth rates in Papal State are also low: some claim that it is the living costs of the Papal State (which was unrefutable in old Hekatonschoinos, although Heptanomis seems to be better), others claim Ecclesiarchal sterilization, still others claiming Ecclesiarchal isolationism against the SimNation in general even though economic activity between the two states are greater than ever.
The Papal State's largest segment of the population
==Culture==
Culturally, the Papal State officially supports a more Ancient Greek one, and the Papal State is an proud practitioner of euergetism. Outside the realm of the state, Kallisto's influence remains strong, given Kallisto's status as a celebrity figure. As such, the effectively mainstream dress style prevalent in the Papal State is
On top of comparatively prude dress
The Ecclesiarchy is highly disapproving of nonfunctional pets, a
Another quirk of the Papal State is the shrinking importance of natural birth, and natural parentage. As females are pushed towards high-paying work that has longer hours, this would naturally conflict with the need to rear children, a primary reason for the apparent gender gap. The Papacy solves this by reducing the reliance on natural birth, having public sim-making vats to allow any sim to have a child. However, the vats are engineered to stimulate growth, and vats are optimized towards making sims that are biologically young adults or older teens. In addition, preexisting children are placed under the state's care in the Paidagogia system often manned by specially designed plumbots, further reducing the opportunity cost on females to have professional jobs.
The Ecclesiarchy also pushed for more Hellenism, and succeeded in propagating more Ancient Greek culture by building the Stoa, which is an homage to the [[wikipedia:Stoa of Attalos|Stoa of Attalos]], at the Hekatonschoinos' Agora area. They have also succeeded in building an larger public bath, the Balaneion featuring all aspect of the [[wikipedia:Romans|Barbarian]] thermae. They are also active investors in Hellenic education, re-establishing the Phrontisterion of Trapezous in Trabzon, Turkey that eventually resulted in the
As for subcultures, the Ecclesiarchy is one of the greatest proponents of gaming subculture: An fact held more dearly given the Big 6's love (and aptitude) of computers. The Big 6 is known for game making, and it has been a profound proponent of IT education. Given that, the Big 6 is an benefactor of many gaming communities, and is an proud
===Alternative Culture===
Although the Ecclesiarchal territories had a culture which is a spectrum between the traditional SimNationian culture and the Ecclesiarchal academistic culture, Heptanomis is given a very odd surprise: Heptanomis is not only the city dominated by technology, science, intellectualism, and abstemiousness, but Heptanomis would also be the focal point of multiple "rebellious" fashions, centered on the similar but distinct goth and punk fashion, mixed with a streak of lolita fashion. Like the roots of punk and goth fashion in the real world, both gained prevalence in the Papal State largely as a resistance towards the Papacy's semi-puritanical view on fashion.
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==Economies==
Economically, the Papal State boasts an overall trade surplus given a solid base of raw material as well as
The Ecclesiarchy is particularly distrustful of the power of financiers of SimNation, thus it took steps to limit the financiers: for one, the insurances on Papal stocks are sold exclusively by the Papal State as the law forbids selling of stock insurances by private entities. In addition, the Ecclesiarchy maintains a robust control on the flow of currencies, ensuring that the financiers cannot rapidly draw out or infuse foreign cash into the Papal State to cause a bubble or a collapse that would render it powerless against the financial sector. As a side effect of the strict financial regulations, Ecclesiarchy controls most of the banking functions in the Papal State. local banks do exist, but no banks in the Papal States are large enough to serve more than one neighborhood, and even those are often controlled in part by the chapter of the neighborhood. Lastly, as the Ecclesiarchy controls government functions, businesses by law cannot donate to the government as the Ecclesiarchy fears that such donations could corrupt the Papal States. On the other hand, the Ecclesiarchy is very friendly to individual entrepreneurship as well as capital investment: heavy machineries have one of the lowest tax rates, and Simnationian businesses often purchase Papal capital goods. In addition, the Ecclesiarchy gives out grants to aspirant skill-learners and entrepreneurs so that they may invest, which is helped out even more by the robust consignment market of the Papal State.
===Hekatonschoinos->Heptanomis===
On the surface, the capital of the Papal State seems like a ticking time bomb as it seems like a command economy. Indeed, Heptanomis' most visible economic activities, such as high-tech production and heavy capital production, are largely owned by the Ecclesiarchy, which seeks to pursue an mercantilistic general policy for its capital. However, a closer inspection demonstrates that such preconception cannot be farther from the truth, since the preconception focuses only on the large-scale industries. On the other hand, small family-scale businesses are very easy to operate in the Papal capital, and its private consignment market is the largest and unrivalled of all in Time Paradox universe.
Heptanomis is one of the most mineral-rich places
Heptanomis also boasts fertile soil, especially at the southern river valley which mirrors Lower Aigyptos. Not only that, the years of breeding that the Ecclesiarchy has performed led to perfect quality fruits, which grace some public gardens such as the Basilikos Paradeisos Pankarpion and Agora Nektaros, latter serving also as a nectar market. As such, Heptanomis also boasts quality agricultural products, and Ecclesiarchal nectars are top-class to the point where it crowds out even the finest of Champs Les Sims nectars.
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As noted before, Heptanomis is the leader in state-of-the-art technology, which has attracted proposals from large SimNationian businesses that the Ecclesiarchy often rejects to keep consumerism in check. While this meant that SimNationian sponsorship and ads are rare sight in Heptanomis, it attracted purely scholarly factions around SimNation, some of which were ostracized by the growing anti-intellectualism in SimNation.
Heptanomis still suffers from low population compared to the amount of facility and jobs, although immigration rates are higher than ever, and Heptanomis boasts a population greater than Bridgeport itself.
===Sunset Valley===
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It is also the most lively economy despite its middle position, given a huge input by the locals. However, since quality isn't a priority in Sunset Valley (in comparison to Hekatonschoinos, which is controlled carefully by the chapter), Sunset Valley isn't noted for the products introduced to the markets there. However, the Al-Dar presents a significant presence there, and it is also the key figure in the Nectar market of Sunset Valley after Kallistrata's departure that created a huge vacuum there. The Al-Dar pretty much represents the Sunset Valley after it came with the brands Medina's Passion and Blessing of Allah, both receiving positive reviews by the connoisseurs. To this point, Kallistrata finds the competition very exciting, as Kallistrata always wanted to compete with an equally talented vintner, found in Anwar and to a lesser extent, Usaim.
Sunset Valley was far slower in taking in the Supernatural Revolution than Hekatonschoinos, and has yet to fully capitalize on the gains to be made. In fact, the lack of actions after the initial ruckus caused by the expulsion was so long and great that the Sunset Valley Chapter hasn't even started on the Alchemy Skills, only taking an initial peek for the moment. However, the Sunset Valley Chapter has been receptive of the said element, and have taken steps to
Although the technologies garnered were slow to be adapted, it was Sunset Valley in which the new member [[Fanon:Phthinophoria Eschateria|Phthinophoria]] was created, which marks the first artificial sim to be created using both science and the supernatural. Given this, Phthinophoria has shown interest in establishing a bioengineering facility here, which does not have a significant resistance given the removal of the native resistance that was the byproduct of Esomena's revolution.
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The most recent acquisition of the Papal State, Sunlit Tides already had enough infrastructures to have a decent standard of living, deriving most of its income from tourism. Although the Papal State has not taken much action yet, it has sought to improve the weaker portion of Sunlit Tides, such as lack of highly experienced scientists and teachers, hoping to fill the need with a chapter. With the removal of the preexisting corrupt regimes of the Kahales, it is reported that the residents have a slightly higher standards of living even without significant Papal investments.
However, the Ecclesiarchy finally made plans to guide development, having [[Fanon:Phthinophoria Eschateria|Phthinophoria Eschateria]], alongside a suitable retinue, to manage Sunlit Tides. It is widely believed that such retinue will include [[Plumbot]]s. Deployment and actual development would take a small amount of time, they estimate. With the arrival of Phthinophoria, the pacification stage of the government was replaced by a more powerful authority with closer ties to Heptanomis. With Papal State fully in charge, Sunlit Tides has seen the construction of new public structures, such as the Balaneion built on the same blueprint as that of old Hekatonschoinos (and new Heptanomis). It also has been endowed with consignment stores to cater to the tech-savvy robot nerds and magic store for the alchemists and witches. While this policy was met with some resistance by the surfer dudes and other pro-beach, pro-romance folks, the government got its way. A new string of protest developed after the plans to demolish the old gym (given the presence of the Balaneion) and replacing it with an artisanal art academy was leaked. However, this plan was put to hold.
==Political Standings==
In general, the political atmosphere of the Papal State leans mostly to the left, looking favorably to homosexuality and abortion. Although the Ecclesiarchy frown upon other issues such as drugs, no laws prohibit usage of controlled substances as Kallisto cites examples of failed prohibition attempts. There are no political parties in the Papal State, as there are no elected representatives yet. Kallisto does seek to introduce a democratically elected local council, and despite its fundamentalist roots, the Papal State is far less autocratic than most perceives. While the Papal State collects personal data often and has a strong antipathy for WooHoo, it has largely kept out of the lives of ordinary citizens. Kallisto does lean economically to the left, although Kallisto is quite centrist when it comes to level of government.
Given a largely female ruling body, the Papal State is also a center of feminist sentiments, although Kallisto et al. does not approve of radical feminism hooting down males. As such, the Papal States boast a level of gender equality that is not seen in most regions of SimNation. Despite this, or maybe because of this, there are no major private feminist groups in the Papal State. Culturally, the Papal State is very antagonistic to the ever-growing sexualization that marks the pop culture of SimNation, and looks towards desexualization, which often is cited by conspiracy theorists as a "proof" that the Ecclesiarchy secretly engages in suppression of WooHoo-oriented thoughts through chemicals, machines, etc.
Corruption is absent on the high levels of the Papal State, and Eurydike has been confirmed in multiple cases to be free of corruption, and most politicians are also clean. However, Arsinoe of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, wife of Ptolemaios Philadelphos, has been confirmed to defraud people and hence is marked as an exception.
Although major political dissent is minimal, there have been complaints about high taxes in Hekatonschoinos, and people demand cheaper, smaller housing (as noted by the extreme popularity of the Oikos Ptochon style housing in the Persis Road as well as the Nesos Poleos, despite the shameful name: Oikos Ptochon meaning house of the poor and the Nesos Poleos carrying a stigma to those who are aware of the Roman insula) as well as malls, and Kallisto responded by renovating Hekatonschoinos, adding more of the former. Heptanomis fared better, but still with high taxes, perhaps even greater than the social democracies such as those of the Scandinavia.
While there have been incidents like the Edict of Veracity that could have been seen as a preface for a pogrom or dictatorships, the Papal State have proven fortunate enough to avoid keeping problematic laws like this for too long.
==Diplomatic Situation==
Given the lack of independent states outside SimNation besides the micronation city-state in Appaloosa Plains that Thessalonike found, the annexation of Sunset Valley, Twinbrook, and Sunlit Tides put the Papal State in a cold relationship with SimNation. Despite the nominal hostility, as well as the opposition of the Bridgeport celebrities, things aren't as hostile as the media from both nation portrays out to be. While the Council of Bridgeport (in its bickering, inert state) continually talk readiness and constantly painting the Papacy as the big boogeyman that will force everyone to relinquish WooHoo, for the vast majority of SimNation's citizens the Papal State isn't much of a problem in the ways that the Council of Bridgeport claims it is. Yes, the Papal State does possess economic and techonogical means to construct and fire strategic weaponries as demonstrated by the orbital bombardment of Bridgeport and Moonlight Falls, but the ruling body that is the Ecclesiarchy has grown much more interested in building their own domains, namely developing Heptanomis and the rest of their towns, all but Sunset Valley quite underdeveloped. In addition, the Ecclesiarchy has grown much less interested in picking a fight with SimNation as a whole, preferring to use their allies to remove mutual enemies. Lastly, the Papal State is the undisputed leader of science and technology, having capital that puts even the University to shame, which has led to some cooperation between the academics of each nation.
While the vast majority of SimNation actually benefits from the existence of Papal State as a whole, the same could not be said of "war zones." The Papacy-backed witch cults, headed by the celibate Silver Lilies, openly fight against the pro-WooHoo forces led by Ezekiel Gretchyn in Moonlight Falls. Given the Silver Lilies' openness about their methods, which included several potion bombings, anti-Papal sentiments are very strong amongst Moonlight Falls' citizens. While Bridgeport also has a strong anti-Papal sentiments, many disillusioned folks, many of them who have falled short of stardom, have looked toward Papal States as a way to get even with the system that left them behind.
However, turmoils in Al-Simhara also created a renegade state by the name of Aigytos, led primarily by reactionaries and revolutionaries affiliated with Al-Dar, banding against the common enemy that is viewed as the more affluent people such as those of Bridgeport. The Aigytian ruling body is split in attitude towards the Papal State: the more liberal revolutionaries wishes to embrace Papal State as an ally in overthrowing the soulless consumerism and pop culture, while the reactionaries are much more cautious in dealing with the Papal State: after all, they are led by females. How can women be leaders of nations, the reactionaries argue. While even the reactionaries agree that Papal State can be a powerful ally against the current foe, they fear that the Papal State might make overlords out of women to rule over them, something they find unacceptable.
==Education==
''"παρεχε πένεντι ἄρτον και πένης ἐσθίει ἡμέρας. παρεχε πένεντι δῠνᾰμιν και πένης ἐσθίει αἰῶνος." - Give the poor a bread and he will eat for a day. Give him ability and he will eat for ages. - Papal Doctrine''
The Papal State boasts a great educational system that focuses on careers in a manner very similar to the Singaporean system. Given the sheer rigor of the educational system, it is difficult for all but the brightest or diligent students to achieve high marks. The Papal education usually involves work training as well, and teens are often assigned to specific workplaces to study in a fashion similar to interns
Given the relatively liberal political atmosphere of the academia in the Papal State, alongside the love of science and empiricism, the education in the Papal State is considered one of the greatest enemies of the Austrian School: The Big 6 themselves have considered Austrian School voodoo religion wearing the skin of economics, and have often decried it as economic theology of the bad kind. In fact, praxeology is taught in secondary level simply as a mean to deride the Austrians. However, the Papal State hasn't taken outright hostile steps against the Chicago School, given that they actually incorporate numbers into their arguments and study. Given Ecclesiarchal love of computers, there exists an educational game in which the player defaces statues of prominent libertarian leaders, such as Hayek, Rothbard, and Rand by answering correctly questions about economic facts.
Papal State is particularly generous in grants and other material supports particularly in the vocational field: Kallisto has always been active in supporting skill developments, and have encouraged gardening and nectar making. Given so, Kallisto had first invested in Yuri, later on investing on Kyriake after seeing initiatives made from each recipients.
===Phrontisterion of Heptanomis===
Perhaps the rising star of skill-oriented education, Phrontisterion of Heptanomis is starting to grab the attention of SimNationian public. It is the central tertiary educational institution of the Papal State, and a state-owned one as well. The Ecclesiarchal belief in maximizing human capital to maximize progress is reflected in its admission and tuition policies: Ecclesiarchy rarely turns down an applicant: after all, there's plenty of empty rooms to be taken, and tuition is a nominal fee.
Since the Ecclesiarchy is the leader in robotics and bioengineering, especially cybernetics, the Phrontisterion is not surprisingly noted for its science and technology sectors. However, other fields like art are equally enlightening experience, and the forward-looking enterprises which hired Phrotisterion-trained sims have reaped great rewards.
While admission is quite simple, the educational schedule is rigorous to say the least: after all, the huge gains in skills could not have come from slacking around. With the Big 6 often leading classes themselves, students are often kept at their toes just to keep up and to meet the minimal skill thresholds. This has resulted in the emaciation of regular "jock" parties associated with colleges, and it is study parties that are the vogue way of socializing in the Phrontisterion. Given that even parties have been engineered to fit the rigorous schedules, knowledge-seekers predominate the student population of the Phrontisterion, resulting in the predominance of Nerds. Rebels find limited but significant appeal in the Phrontisterion: after all, the Big 6 created the Papal State to challenge the status quo, and flock primarily to the philosophy and art classes, while deviance from that, such as enrolling in technology classes, is a common sight amongst the Rebel population. Jocks are pretty much vestigial, as it is very difficult to party and play sports a lot all while keeping up: in fact, more bowling parties are held by professor-led groups than by students. The Phrontisterion supports one sorority and one fraternity, named Gynai Aristai Cheirotechnai and Huioi Epistemes Kalliphengai respectively, shortened to ΓΑΧ (gamma-alpha-chi) and ΥΕΚ (upsilon-epsilon-kappa), meaning the Best Women Artisans and Shining Sons of Knowledge respectively.
==Special Thanks==
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==Trivia==
*The exchange rate of Drachma is an reference to l33t: Ancient drachmai are worth 6 obols, and conveniently enough 1337 is divisible by 7, and the quotient (191) is the number of simoleon equivalent of an Papal obol.
*Speaking of the State of Simazonya, the Papal State could be considered an antithesis of the mentioned state: Simazonya is a
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