Historical Nations Hockey Concepts 2.0

[SP00]

Ah, yes. The Vergina Sun. The symbol of ancient Macedonia. You do realize that the modern day Slavic Republic of Macedonia no longer uses this symbol, right? Greece protested this use and a UN committee sided with them. Because the Vergina Sun is, culturally, a Greek symbol. Seeing as ancient Macedonia was a Greek kingdom.

This Symbol and the flag are still widely used in Macedonia and by all Macedonians world wide. They are seen on the streets, on jerseys, on flags, on statues and everyday ancient sites and artifacts are being discovered with this symbol. No UN committee sided with anyone, that's crap. Get your facts straight.

[SP00]

I don't claim them as my own. I'm half eastern European Jew and half British. Not a drop of Greek blood in me.

What you are doing, however, is claiming the symbols and history of an ancient Greek kingdom as your own. It's historically unacceptable.

Well kind sir, that's even more disturbing, that you believe and embraced this ridiculous, history twisting and xenophobic claims of the Greeks.

[SP00]

Im not following you and you really dont need to explain it to me clearly because you have it wrong. I stopped reading where you started to say that the macedonian kingdom was found by greeks lol. Its clear that you really have no idea about this history and the Macedonian issue. So as I said, Im not even going there, especially not on here. Again, this is a sports forum. Ive said what I wanted to say above.

Have a nice day

Nice post this was. I should have left it with that. I will do so now, because this is just ridiculous, yet because of it im tempted to bite and continue to debate this with someone who clearly does not know anything about the Macedonian issue.

You kind Sir, should read some of our good old friend, Demosthenes. Also, in being a historian, it is good to accept and be open for other views and resources, instead of modern day Greek xenophobic megalomania. That's not being a historian, thats just being a puppet. Im not saying you should take a side, im saying you should be open for other views.

I'll end with this. The world knows the truth, the majority know what Macedonia is and who the Macedonians are. I don't think that Macedonians give a damn about what some people and some philhellenes like yourself think or have to say about them, their country, their history and their ethnicity. They know what they are, they know their history. They know they are Macedonians. Do you see them telling you that you are not a jew, or disputing that you are a Brit? No, why would they? Its pointless, you are who you are and you know what you are.

Also, anyone that keeps saying that Macedonians do not exist, that the Republic of Macedonia has nothing to do with ancient Macedonia, that there are no Macedonians in modern day Greece, that Macedonians are all Greeks are being just plain ignorant. Macedonians were tortured and murdered by the Greeks just because they were Macedonian. The government expelled Macedonians, they claimed their lands and gave it to Greek refugees from Asia Minor. The government forbid the Macedonians to speak in their Macedonian language. The same government renamed all Macedonian cities and villages into Greek sounding names, they forced Macedonians who did not fled, to change their surnames into Greek names. Even today Macedonians are still being discriminated and afraid to speak and declare Macedonian.

I've seen it with my own eyes. You should visit the places. Go see Aegean Macedonia.

Have a good day

[IceCap]

I don't claim them as my own. I'm half eastern European Jew and half British. Not a drop of Greek blood in me.

What you are doing, however, is claiming the symbols and history of an ancient Greek kingdom as your own. It's historically unacceptable.

Well kind sir, that's even more disturbing, that you believe and embraced this ridiculous, history twisting and xenophobic claims of the Greeks.

I believe the true historical record, which states that Alexander and the ancient Macedonians were Greek.

I'm open to different interpretations to history, but what your talking about isn't a a different interpretation of history, it's an outright lie created to justify the Republic of Macedonia's theft of an ancient Greek kingdom's identity.

Your propaganda-fueled faux-historical rants have taken up way to much of my thread as is. I've reported this to two moderators.

[fumbler]

Just let the poster get on with it.

Stop being a flog

[SP00]

I don't claim them as my own. I'm half eastern European Jew and half British. Not a drop of Greek blood in me.

What you are doing, however, is claiming the symbols and history of an ancient Greek kingdom as your own. It's historically unacceptable.

Well kind sir, that's even more disturbing, that you believe and embraced this ridiculous, history twisting and xenophobic claims of the Greeks.

I believe the true historical record, which states that Alexander and the ancient Macedonians were Greek. Your propaganda-fueled faux-historical rants have taken up way to much of my thread as is. I've reported this to two moderators.

My propaganda rants? Well, It's not entirely my fault, so that you have to report it. You have your opinion and posted about it and I have my opinion and posted in a normal manner about it. I was not the only one ranting and posting Sir.

I agree about this being offtopic thats why I also have stated at least 3 times, that I dont want this to turn into a political historical discussion because its a logos forum. You continued with it and kept answering. I have no problem with that, but don't go report to admins as soon as I answer to your post. It looks like as if you can answer to me, but I cant answer to you, because then you will report something?

I was just answering something which I did not even want to do at first, I just responded because you responded to me, simple as that. And Im not mad, cussing or anything, just answering to you just as you answered to me. I did not do anything wrong and Im not trolling. I mean if you thought this way, you also just could've stopped discussing it and responding about this when I said I wasnt going further with it. So, you have posted and continued about this as much as I have. So I don't know why you report it

Those two mods should just remove the last 10 posts about this.

Anyway. Have a nice day.

[GriffinM6]

Has the Ottoman Empire been done?If it has then nevermind. Any way, can you do Petoria from Family Guy?

[SP00]

Has the Ottoman Empire been done?If it has then nevermind. Any way, can you do Petoria from Family Guy?

Ottoman empire, good idea.

What about the Free territory of Trieste or the Vatican city. The symbol of the Isle of man would be nice on a jersey too.

[gésier123]

I have franco-american origin and it would be cool to make cajunland or franco-american hockey team

[speedy]

I'm have more historical knowledge in my pinky then you do in your entire pea-brained head.

The CSA went with grey because it was cheaper, yes, but the colour has since become associated with the Confederacy in the context of the Civil War. Ever heard of the Grey House? It's what the Confederates called their Presidential mansion.

Blue was never a prominent colour of the CSA, and likely never would have been. Their advisories, the United States, fielded an army that dressed in blue. Why would a national team representing the CSA ever wear blue themselves?

I'm sorry, but you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and I wouldn't expect someone from Ontario to have a great understanding of American history. Nonetheless, you have only made a fool of yourself. Your stupidity is truly astounding. =)

Wasn't this idiot banned numerous times?

Apparently, you're showing your true colors again (no pun intended). IC is spot on here, you're little rant about dye prices that I'm sure you learned in a freshman level US History class is basically the only thing in your incoherent responses that make sense. Gray was the prominent dress color for Confederate soldiers and is associated with them to this day. If they had a national hockey team they most certainly would not have been dressed in navy. Thanks for playing.

[docrocket]

I have franco-american origin and it would be cool to make cajunland or franco-american hockey team

Or what was Acadia before they were deported from the Maritimes and relocated to Louisiana...I'd look forward to seeing both this and the above. I'd hate to equate a deportation with a "franchise relocation" (and I apologize in advance if I have offended anyone), but I would be interested to see if there would be a difference in the jerseys.

Keep up the excellent work, 'Cap...much like Buc's and Robbman's previous work(s), the backstory provides a great context to the choices you've made in designs/colours/logos.

[IceCap]

The Kingdom of France, 843-1792/1814-1815/1815-1830

Trying to establish the exact date that the French Kingdom emerged as a nation is tricky. 843 is often cited, coinciding with the reign of Charles II, aka the Bald, though you could easily push the date back even further. 843 is cited as the beginning here for the sake of simplicity, but I will discuss a bit of the events that pre-date Charles II's reign and laid the foundations of not only the Kingdom of France, but the French nation as a whole.

428 marks the year Merovingian Dynasty, the first royal dynasty in France, emerged as the premier power of the region, with King Chlodio cited as the first. It was his descendent Clovis I, however, that became the first king to unite all of the Franks under one ruler. Clovis I reigned from 509-511. Though he only reigned for two years his legacy is was profound. He united the Frankish people, conquered modern day France by defeating the Celtic Gauls, and his conversion to Roman Catholicism.

The Merovingian kings would grow lazy, however, and when Theuderic IV died the Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel simply continued to rule. In 732, at the Battle of Tours, Martel led the Franks to a victory over the Umayyad Caliphate, halting the Muslim conquest into Europe. Martel ruled the Frankish kingdom without a king from 737-743. In 743 Martel's son Pepin returned the Merovingian dynasty to the throne by crowning Childeric III king. Childeric III died, however, and Pepin quickly assumed the throne himself.

In 768 Charlemagne was crowned King and expanded the Frankish kingdom into Italy and what is today known as Germany. The Western Roman Empire had fallen by this point, yet the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, survived. The Emperor in Constantinople was thus, ceremoniously at least, the secular monarch of all of Christiandom. This was a problem for the Pope though. The Byzantine Empire was predominantly Greek oriented. All though the split between the Roman and Orthodox Churches hadn't occurred yet, there was still tension between the two branches of Christianity, and the Byzantine Emperor, the rightful successor to the Roman Caesar, adhered to the eastern Greek church, not so much to Rome. So when Charlemagne, King of the Franks, reunited western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire's heyday Pope Leo III crowned him Holy Roman Emperor, establishing him as a rival claimant to the legacy of the Roman Empire, one more friendly to the Catholic Church in Rome. When Charlemagne died in 814 his Empire was divided amongst his sons. His son Louis the Pious received the Frankish realms as King Louis I.

Now we get to 843. Charles II, Louis I's son, assumed the throne of the Frankish kingdom. It is at this point that historians begin to refer to a Kingdom of France instead of a Frankish kingdom, the distinction between the two being that the Franks were a Germanic tribe that the French people grew out of (much like how Anglo-Saxons laid the foundations for the English nation). Of course it's slightly more complicated then that, but I don't want to make these things TO long.

Anyway in 1328 Charles IV died. The problem was that the next in line was Edward III, King of England. Desperate to keep an English king off the throne of France, French nobles revived an ancient disused Germanic law that forbid the crown from being inherited through a woman. Edward III's claim was through his mother, so he was disqualified. Thus his French cousin was crowned Philip VI. This kicked off the Hundred Years' War between England and France, which ended with a French victory an a unified French nation.

In 1574 Henry III died, making Henry Bourbon the next in line. The problem was that he was a Protestant, while the majority of France, including the nobility, were dedicated Catholics. Thus France fell into a near anarchical state as Henry fought to gain the Crown and the Catholic nobility resisted him. Finally the matter was settled when Henry converted to Catholicism, remarking "the throne is worth a mass." This managed to piss everyone off, though it did mark an end to roving bands of religious fanatics slaughtering entire towns. So that was a plus. Henry Bourbon was crowned Henry IV.

Henry IV's grandson, Louis XIV, completely changed the way the monarchy operated, and in the long run doomed the French Crown. Louis XIV was raised to believe that as the next King of France he was the embodiment of France itself. Elizabeth I of England wanted her people to love her, establishing the British tradition of the Crown gaining its right to govern by the consent of the people and their political mouthpiece, the House of Commons in Parliament. Louis XIV disagreed. He didn't care if he was loved. He just demanded loyalty, from the highest noble to the lowest peasant. He built the grand Palace of Versailles and moved his court there. The nobility, if they wanted to have any influence in the court, had to move out there with him. Thus Louis was able to consolidate his power over the French nobility by keeping them all under one roof. Political fortunes of the nobility could be decided by a simple snub at the hands of the King at a dinner, and the nobility became dependent on the crown.

This autocratic style of government, however, led to generations of hardship for the French people. Taxed dry to appease the egos of the Bourbon kings, the French people eventually erupted in 1791. The French Revolution swept the nation and a new National Assembly forced Louis XVI to make a choice, constitutional monarchy or death. Unable to break with the tradition of autocracy established by Louis XIV, the revolutionaries executed him and France became a republic. The French Republic would morph into the French Empire when a Republican General Napoleon Bonaparte first got himself appointed First Consul of the Republic, and then held an election that resulted in him being elected Emperor. The revolution that spawned the Republic had given way to a new monarchy. Emperor Napoleon I led France to a string of victories on the Continent, but his disastrous Russian campaign and the British-supported guerrilla war in Spain eventually led to his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The British-led coalition restored the Bourbon monarchy to the throne in the person of King Louis XVIII. Louis XVIII died on the throne and was succeeded by his brother Charles X. It was during the reign of Charles X that France first began to make inroads in Algeria.

In 1830, however, Charles X faced the July Revolution. Rather then accept a constitutional monarchy he abdicated and fled to Britain. Louis Philippe was crowned as Louis Philippe I and established a constitutional monarchy. This regime, however, would succumb to another revolution which resulted in the Second French Republic, which gave way to the Second French Empire when Napoleon III took the crown. The Second French Empire met its demise at the hands of the Prussian-led Germanic alliance in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

I wanted to do something unique with the striping. To get a clearer idea of what I was aiming for, here's some of my work-in-progress. I wanted to keep the gold limited to the fleur de lis and play up the blue and white colours throughout the rest of the uniform, blue and white being the colours that were often associated with the Kingdom of France.

The Republic of Texas is up next.

[GriffinM6]

What others are you planning on doing as of right now.

[fumbler]

Nice Kits Ice Cap and the history lessons are opening my eyes right up.

[IceCap]

Glad to hear it footy_fumbler!

The Republic of Texas, 1836-1846

Mexico emerged as an independent nation in 1821 as a monarchy, the Empire of Mexico. The original plan was for Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, to take the crown and reign over both Mexico as Emperor and Spain as King. Ferdinand VII, however, refused to recognize Mexican independence, and so Agustín de Iturbide, one of the leaders of the independence movement, was crowned Emperor Agustín I of Mexico. The Empire was short lived and a republic, the United Mexican States, was declared in 1823. One of the new states established by the 1824 Mexican Constitution was Coahuila y Tejas.

Mexico faced a problem, however. The bulk of the Mexican population lived in the central and southern regions of the country. The northern states, one of which was Coahuila y Tejas, were sparsely populated. The Mexican government, for its part, had little to no presence in these northern states. The Mexican government decided that it would offer land in these areas to American settlers. They promised the settlers land and relative political autonomy if they would agree to take oaths of Mexican citizenship. The problem, however, was slavery. Most of the American settlers who took up Mexico on the offer came from the southern states and brought their slaves with them. The native Mexican populous, however, had been pushing for the abolishment of slavery since independence. In 1829 slavery was declared as illegal in the United Mexican States and tensions between the Mexican government and the American settlers in Coahuila y Tejas grew. In 1830 the Mexican government attempted to limit immigration from the United States of America in an attempt to curtail the situation.

In 1835 President Santa Anna, who was also a Mexican general, abolished the 1824 Constitution. He wanted to abolish the independent states all together and govern Mexico a single political unit. The American settlers, though nominally Mexican citizens, proved to be a problem. After Santa Anna abolished all state governments the Americans in Coahuila y Tejas revolted and declared the independence of the Republic of Texas, kicking off the Texas Revolution. The conflict was a short one, lasting only a year. The two sides engaged each other, trading victories. The most famous engagement, the Battle of the Alamo, resulted in the slaughter of a Texan garrison at the hands of the Mexican army. The Alamo became a rallying cry. In 1836 Santa Anna was defeated and captured by Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto. As a condition of Santa Anna's release he was forced to sign a treaty that granted Texas its independence. Santa Anna reneged on the treaty as soon as he was freed, but the Texan government had survived the Mexican army's onslaught in control of the bulk of its claimed territory. Texas was a de facto independent nation, earning the recognition of the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Britain never formally acknowledged Texan independence due to its friendly relationship with Mexico, but it did open up its ports to Texan merchants.

Texas' period as an independent nation was marked by internal conflict between two factions. Mirabeau B. Lamar wanted Texas to continue on as an independent nation and expand to the Pacific, while Sam Houston wanted to use independence from Mexico as a stepping stone to annexation by the United States of America. The debate over Texas in the United States was between northerners and southerners. Southerners wanted to annex Texas as it would add another slave state to the Union. In fact some southerners advocated annexing Texas and then splitting it up into several slave states. Northerners opposed the annexation on the grounds that it was just an attempt by southern Americans to spread slavery to areas that had legally outlawed the practice (in reference to Mexico's abolishment of slavery). Some southerners even proposed leaving the Union and joining Texas. Great Britain, for its part, had abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1833-34 and was looking to crack down on the institution elsewhere. They recognized Texas' potential as a base of operations to disrupt slavery in the southern United States. Britain secretly made a proposition to Texas. Outlaw slavery and Britain would formally recognize it as an independent nation and pay off all of Texas' foreign debt.

Word of this deal leaked to US President John Tyler, who then came out in support of annexation. The deep divide between northerners and southerners, not to mention Whigs and Democrats, proved to be to much to pass an annexation treaty through both Houses of Congress, which both required super majorities. Tyler then convened both Houses in an attempt to pass the annexation treaty, as a join resolution of both Houses only required a simple majority. The treaty passed and in 1846 the Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States of America as the State of Texas.

This uniform draws from three Texan flags, but not the most famous lone star flag that served as the Republic's flag from 1839-1846 and the flag of the State of Texas from that point on. The crest is based on an unofficial Texan independence flag that featured a white star on blue with the letters T-E-X-A-S in between the points. I've always liked this design, and I thought it would make a great national team logo for a hypothetical Republic of Texas. The shoulder patches are based on the Goliad Flag that flew in the city of Goliad, Texas where the first Texan declaration of independence was signed. The striping is based on the Pilot Flag of Texas.

The Roman Empire is up next.

[IceCap]

What others are you planning on doing as of right now.

Roman Empire

Byzantine Empire

Ottoman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

Austro-Hungarian Empire

Then I work on the requests.

[tvko]

France, I'm not feeling as much. The fleur-de-lis looks forced, and the pattern inside the striping is irregular.

Texas, on the other hand, is outstanding. Absolutely love the crest.

[UnclearInitial]

Wow, Texas is fantastic. I always loved the goliad flag design.

[knnhrvy16]

Texas is fantastic. I love how the uniform is so historically inspired, it's really a thing of beauty. I wish I could see this on the ice! Nice job!

[IceCap]

Thanks for the kind words regarding Texas. I'm very happy how that turned out.

France, I know it's flawed. I was trying something different with the FDLs, and it didn't quite turn out as I wanted. I may go back and straighten the FDL pattern out, and see if I can add some gold to the striping.

Anyway double duty today.

The Roman Empire, 27 BCE-476 CE

The early history of Rome is hard to piece together. Two main myths exist, and both hint at Rome's founding having some connection to ancient Troy. The first is that of Romulus and Remus, two descendants of Aeneas, a cousin of the last king of Troy, Priam. Romulus and Remus, the legend goes, were orphaned and raised by a wolf. The two grow up as shepherds, and later found Rome. The second account, detailed in the Roman poet Virgil's work Aeneid, is that Aeneas himself founds Rome after fleeing Troy's destruction. The Trojan link to Rome is, in all likelihood, fictional. The Romans adopted much of their culture from the ancient Greeks, and it would seem that the Trojan origin stories were created during this early period of Roman adoption of Greek myths and gods.

Rome, the legend goes, grew into a monarchical city-state. The Kings became corrupt, however. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was ousted in a coup led by nobleman Lucius Junius Brutus. With the monarchy done away with Rome was declared a republic. A Senate, all of whom were noblemen, would elect two Consuls, or heads of state, a year. In dire circumstances the Senate could elect a dictator to hold absolute power until the crisis was resolved.

The Roman Republic itself has a long history, but since this is a concept for the Roman Empire, we'll skip to the end of the Republican era so this doesn't go on forever. Mithridates VI was king of Pontus, a large state formed by descendants of the old Persian Empire on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Mithridates VI's life goal seemed to be pissing the Roman Republic off, as he often raided Roman settlements on the edge of his kingdom. In 88 BCE he authorized the killing of 80,000 Romans living in Pontus. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a Roman general, was sent to crush Mithridates VI. Sulla was at first successful, driving Pontus' forces out of Greece. He could not chase them back to Asia Minor, however. Sulla's rival for power, Gaius Marius, was attempting a power play in Rome. Sulla was forced to conclude a peace with Mithridates VI and return to Italy. War resumed again, however, when Rome and Pontus clashed over a Mediterranean province they both wanted. In the Battle of the Lycus Sulla's apprentice Pompey defeated Mithridates VI. Not only did this result in Pontus becoming a Roman province, but it also made Judea a Roman client state, as it had previously been within Pontus' sphere of influence. Pompey solidified his standing when he cleared the Mediterranean of pirates in just forty days.

Meanwhile Julius Caesar had just finished serving as Consul, and was appointed as governor of three Roman provinces, Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy), Transalpine Gaul (southern France) and Illyria (the Balkans). Caesar wanted more, however, and decided to invade Gaul itself (modern day France). He needed an excuse though. He got one, kindasorta, when two Gaulish tribes started to migrate towards a Roman trade route on the edge of the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul. It was flimsy, but Caesar took and ran with it, claiming Rome's provinces were under attack. The Gallic Wars lasted between 58-49 BCE and ended with a Roman victory in the Battle of Alesia, bringing all of Gaul under Roman rule. Caesar was a national hero.

Upon returning to Rome Caesar formed an alliance with Pompey and Crassus to share power and influence over the Senate and Consuls behind closed doors. Crassus led a military campaign against the Parthian Empire and perished when his army was cut off from supplies in the desert and slaughtered. Without Crassus Pompey and Caesar began to move against each other, Crassus being the linchpin that kept the two working together. Caesar left Rome to put down a revolt in Gaul. While he was away Pompey forged an alliance with Caesar's political enemies. They knew Caesar wanted another term as Consul, and they would give it to him, if he agreed to dissolve his army. Realizing his army was his source of political strength, Caesar refused. In 49 BCE Caesar's army crossed the Rubicon River, the dividing line between Italy and the Roman provinces. It was forbidden for a Roman general to bring his army into Italy itself, and when he crossed the Rubicon Caesar had committed himself to civil war. Pompey fled Rome as Caesar's army moved on Rome, almost unopposed. Pompey fled to the province of Iberia (Spain) where he hoped to mount a counter-attack on Caesar. Caesar emerged victorious at the Battle of Pharsalus, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was killed. At the Battle of Munda Caesar defeated the remnants of Pompey's forces and became the primary leading figure in the Roman Republic, receiving a second go as Consul. Fearing that Caesar would restore the monarchy with himself as King, Marcus Junius Brutus led a group of Senators in assassinating the new Consul. Brutus was the descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus, who had led the rebellion against the last Roman king.

With Caesar's assassination the Republic was thrown into chaos. Mark Antony, Caesar's lieutenant, allied himself with Caesar's nephew and adopted son Gaius Octavian. The two defeated Brutus and his co-conspirator Cassius at the Battle of Philippi. This alliance wouldn't last, however. Octavian saw Antony as a threat, and built up a power base in Rome. Antony sought outside help and allied himself with Cleopatra VII, the Pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, the Greek-ruled kingdom of Egypt that was established upon the death of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra and Antony engaged Octavian in another civil war that ended with Octavian's victory in the Battle of Actium. Antony and Cleopatra VII's army and navy were both destroyed, and Egypt soon feel to Rome. Octavian changed his name to Augustus and was granted the title of Princeps, indicating that he was higher then all other Roman citizens. He adopted the title Imperator Caesar, becoming the first Roman Emperor. After so many civil wars and assassinations the Roman people celebrated the new monarchy as a sign of stability and peace.

Tiberius, Augustus' step-son, succeeded him as Emperor. Tiberius' reign was relatively uneventful, save for an incident in Judea. A rabbi from Nazareth named Joshua began making a name for himself. He preached a more egalitarian version of Judaism, which clashed with the orthodox teachings of the High Priesthood. He also began criticizing the Priesthood and King Herod, the latter of whom he was related to, for bowing to the Romans. Executed by Rome at the behest of the ruling Jewish elite, Joshua's story was spread by his supporters who claimed he was the messiah of Jewish prophecy. Since everyone, Roman and Jew alike, spoke Greek, Joshua's story was translated into that language. Joshua the Messiah became Jesus Christ.

Tiberius was succeeded as Emperor by Caligula, nephew of Germanicus, Tiberius' son. Tiberius had a cold and distant persona, secluding himself for days. Romans enthusiastically celebrated the charismatic Caligula's rise to power. Caligula's reign started off well enough as he looked to increase the distribution of public funds. He granted housing to those who had lost homes in fires and cut taxes. He even opened the Senate up to more members, making it a more egalitarian body. He also pardoned many political enemies of Tiberius who had been sent into exile, allowing them to return to Rome.

Soon, however, it all began to fall apart. A sexual deviant, Caligula hosted and participated in many orgies. Though the film Caligula exaggerates things, he did indeed sleep around. It's believed he contracted syphilis, which affected his brain. He named his horse Consul of the Senate and marched his army to the Rhine River. The army thought they were being sent to invade the Germanic lands. Instead Caligula had them collect shells on the river banks. He clashed with the Senate and made claims of divinity.

Finally the Praetorian Guard, bodyguards of the Emperor, executed him. The Senate tried to use his death as an opportunity to restore the Republic. The military, however, remained loyal to the office of the Emperor. The Praetorian Guard found Claudius, Caligula's uncle, hiding in the palace when they assassinated Caligula, and chose him as the new Emperor. As the Senate was discussing plans to restore the Republic the Praetorian Guard marched into the Senate chamber and declared "all hail Emperor Claudius," ending the debate. Claudius' reign saw the Empire expand, as many bordering lands and client states, including Judea, were formally annexed. Claudius also began a massive public works project across the Empire, and developed a working relationship with the Senate. Claudius died in 54 CE, though whether he died of old age or poison is still debated. He was succeed by his great-nephew Nero.

Nero came to the throne at the age of 17, and was heavily influenced by his mother, suspected of murdering Claudius. Nero had his mother killed in 59 CE. Nero then began to convince the Senate that plots to undermine Imperial and Senatorial authority were afoot. The Senate began handing more and more power over the Emperor. In 65 CE Nero had 41 members of the Roman Senate executed for treason.

A year earlier large areas of Rome were burnt to the ground in the Great Fire. Nero was criticized for apparently ignoring the tragedy. He didn't make things any better when he had a large portion of the devastated areas used to build a grand palace, displacing hundreds. Nero also imposed harsh taxes, in part to pay for said palace. A Roman provincial governor named Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against the Emperor. Servius Sulpicius Galba, another governor, soon joined him. Vindex was defeated, but support for Galba continued to grow. Nero fled Rome when the head of the Praetorian Guard voiced his support for Galba to replace Nero as Emperor. Nero committed suicide, ending the dynasty established by Octavian.

Nero's death was followed by a chaotic period known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Galba succeeded Nero as Emperor at the beginning of the year 69 CE. He punished the Roman legions in Germany for remaining loyal to Nero, and Marcus Salvius Otho, an influential businessman, won their support. Otho also bribed the Praetorian Guard, and he replaced Galba as Emperor. Vitellius, governor of the Germanic provinces, moved to replace Otho after three months after the two clashed for influence. Vitellius throw himself a massive parade, which bankrupted the Imperial treasury. Vespasian, in command of the legions in Judea, rose to challenge Vitellius. Gaining support from the governors of the middle eastern provinces, he marched on Rome. Vitellius was caught by Vespasian's men and killed. The next day, December 21 69 CE, Vespasian was crowned Emperor. Vespasian brought a sense of stability back to the Empire, establishing the Flavian dynasty, which also included his two sons, Titus and Domitian.

In 285 Emperor Diocletian faced the reality that the Empire was simply to big to govern as a single political unit. He decided that he would rule the western half from Rome. He appointed Maximian co-Emperor, who would the eastern half from the city of Nicomedia in Asia Minor. This ushered in a period of political instability that ended with two men vying for the Imperial crown, Constantine and Maxentius. Constantine emerged victorious after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The night before the battle Constantine dreamt that an angle told him he would win the throne if he fought under the sign of the Christian cross. When he won he took it as a divine sign and converted to Christianity, ending the centuries of Christian persecution in the Roman Empire. Licinius became the Emperor in the East. Lincinius opposed Constantine's conversion to Christianity and began persecuting Christians in his half of the Empire. Constantine defeated Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis. This marked the end of the Greek pagan religion and opened the door for Christianity. It was proposed that a new, Christian city should be built to celebrate this eastern victory for Christianity and the Empire. Constantinople was built atop the old city of Byzantium in 330.

Theodosius I reunited the Empire in 392, but died in 395. The Emperors in the west after that point were largely weak figureheads, controlled by military officers. In 476 Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain, led a revolt against Rome, sacking the city and forcing the Emperor, Romulus Augustus, to abdicate. The western Roman Empire collapsed, and Odoacer was crowned King of Italy. The rest of the western Empire crumbled. The Roman centre was knocked away and the provinces became isolated. The Empire in the east, however, remained strong.

I wanted to go with something that recalled the New York Rangers with this one. Hence the striping pattern, particularly on the sweater's shoulder yoke and and the pants stripe. New York has been described as the "modern Rome" so I wanted to translate that sentiment over with this concept. The crest is one of many renditions of the Roman Imperial eagle, the Aquila. Yes, it's clutching a fasces, and no this is not a nod to Fascist Italy. The Italian Fascists co-opted many of the symbols of the ancient Roman Empire. The alternate mark is the initialism SPQR, which stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus (The Senate and People of Rome), the motto of the Empire (and the Republic that proceeded it).

Yeah, I went the obvious choice of using the Ottawa Senators' number and name font. In my opinion, however, the Roman theme is more fitting here then it is on a hockey team from Ottawa

The Byzantine Empire is up next.