Journal Entry #6

Gladly the God of War, Caroline, was on our side today. While I was overseeing our main port along the Red Sea, the Egyptians decided to launch another attack against us. Using our pontoons we fought a short while on the waters, but eventually we won. No surprise there. 

I hope that Emperor Ali saw my valiant efforts in this small battle against the Egyptians, maybe I will be promoted even. I would just love to be the head of a surprise attack in which we use our chariots and our most prized horses.

I take much pride in our success as a very strong military empire. We've been able to perfect the making of chariot's in very timely manner. Most of this would not be possible if it weren't for the enslaved constantly putting hard work into everything they do. They work as foot soldiers within the Janician Empire and they are the foundation of our entire empire.

Journal Entry #5

Today I went to a temple to pray. There are three gods we believe in our empire. First one is Aubre, the god of Red Sea, who controls the waves and winds of the Red Sea. Every time sailors go out to the sea, they do a ritual praising and ask help from the god of Red Sea for protection. The second god is Caroline, the god of war. She gives soldiers knowledge of war and protects soldiers while they are fighting enemies. Every soldiers in our empire prays to the god of war everyday asking for victory and glory. I prayed to the god of war this morning for victory of our empire in it's efforts.

People of our empire believe that there is afterlife if we follow the code that the gods gave to us. The code of afterlife tells us how to live basically. How to be dressed, how to live, what to eat and other codes to live by. When a person follows the code and live righteously, that person is mummified after their death. Just like the Egyptians do, we take out all the internal organs and use preservatives. We wrap the dead body and put it into a tomb. The mummified person will then resurrect when "the end of the day" comes and be will greatly rewarded.

Last, I prayed to god of agriculture, Jeff. Lately, our empire has had difficulty of providing foods due to the wrath of the god of agriculture. Priests say he has gotten mad because of the slavery and he doesn't like slavery. However, in order for our empire to thrive, we need slaves. Every farmer in our empire prays all day for foods and abundance like we've had before. I wish the food crisis will end soon so people can live abundantly like we did before. 

Journal Entry #4

Today I went to trade center that is located at the shore for a patrol. Most of people were looking for people who want to trade the goods. Our empire is very strong exporter of agriculture goods and cottons. Also, due to the hundreds of mineral mines in my country, in this region, it is one of the strongest exporter of the minerals including copper, lead, gold, silver and etc. I was walking by a trader who exports gold to near countries. As I walking by, I heard complaints about the tax that has been raised few weeks ago and I felt sorry for them but there was nothing I can do. If the emperor stops building his new palace then he would not have to raise the tax and make people suffer from it.

After I finished patrol at trade center, I went to the harbor to see new slaves from other countries. Our empire is one of the biggest slave exporters in the region and slaves are usually from the captives of war and they are sold in very high price.(a slave costs about 5 golds) Since many countries and empires buy slaves, slave trade is one of the biggest part of our exporting. Usually mine owners and farm owners buy slaves because they need massive work force to farm and mine. Today about 300 new slaves came and most of them were sold. Usually slaves who are wick or old are killed since they are useless in working. I feel sorry for slaves but I think it is a good system since we can get massive work force easily and cheaply than hiring people.

For the last place, I went to a construction site for the new road. Our empire has a very well-developed road system spread throughout the whole empire. Of course, in order to construct this huge road system, massive labor force was required and mostly slaves were used to do it. The road is used for tradesmen. People use wagons to transport goods to other places. For the outside- country export, people trade through seas and rivers usually. Not only overseas but also using roads we trade.

 

Journal Entry #3

Today was not a good day. First, the slaves tried to rebel and were taken care of, and then Egypt invaded the northern side of our Empire. Some of us soldiers were sent to help rebuild the walls and houses that were destroyed since a large portion of the slaves were executed earlier. We fought off the Egyptians, but they're persistent. They won't back down so easily.

And while the Egyptians were attacking, there were attacking, a great storm with strong winds and heavy rain swept over the entire empire. Some people think it was Jeff, the God of Agriculture punishing us for the intense slavery that will destroy our fields.

To make things even worse, another one of our trade partners broke their ties with us, so now the common people will go hungry. Emperor Ali took most of the food shares for himself so he doesn't starve and shares it with his highly ranked subject. I won't go hungry, but I'm worried for the commoners.

Journal Entry #2

Today, I was told to go observe the slave houses. There were so many. I almost wondered why they wouldn't just rebel and get out of slavery. All of the slaves are from the other civilizations Janicia has conquered. They're forced to build our walls and houses, but those that can't do hard labor work in the fields by the Red Sea.

These slaves aren't even the number of people we've conquered, that's the sad part. Sometimes, we're forced to pillage all the surrounding villages and completely destroy the houses and all the people. Sometimes they're sent into exile, but sometimes, the important captives to their people are beheaded.

The slave quarters are pretty peaceful, but the other taskmasters aren't as lenient as I am. All of the slaves are terrified of me because I'm not just a regular taskmaster, I'm a general. They all start to work incredibly harder whenever I walk by. But, I can't bring any unwanted attention to myself since I don't sympathize with our empire. And if they find out, I'm dead.

Journal Entry #1

My name is Sani. I am a General within the Janician army. Though I find my empire to be incredible cruel, I still remain here. I oversee many things as needed by my empire. One of these includes being at the side of our Emperor Ali. He is a strict man regarded as almost a god among our people. 

Emperor Ali offers no mercy to the common people and often murders our people for seemingly no reason at all. I wish that I could stop his murderous ways and possibly make him a more loving ruler. But I do not see this being possible, the only hope would be to have a new ruler.

It is true that the Janician empire is well known for being unfathomably strong, but this has only come true due to the extreme strictness on the enslaved. I still question myself as to why I have become a general when I do not believe in what we do here in Janicia. But every time I question myself I remember, if I left, I would be killed.