HISTORY OF THE PANEMINE GOVERNMENT
After the Fall, the region called North America was in complete disarray. There was no organization, very little infrastructure, and practical anarchy. For thirteen years there was nothing—the remaining population stole from, pillaged, and murdered each other, fighting over resources like animals. This resulted in the rise of small tribes called clans, usually ruled by a semi-tyrannical leader.
Clan life was brutal—there was of course variations in form across the hundreds of thousands of clans across the country, but they tended to follow a general pattern. Any weak members were cast out and left to die, as well as anyone who challenged the clan leader. Switching clans was rare, so being cast out of one was generally a death sentence.
Cory Mercado was born into one such clan on the Yucatan Peninsula. His mother, a former schoolteacher and student of philosophy, taught Cory the concepts of representative democracy, in secret, so that the Clan leader wouldn't begin to see them as a threat. She was trying to raise Cory to believe in a better system, but, not having the resources or time that her old school-system had, she taught him a very simplified version of it, and underestimated how much of an impression the circumstances of his birth would make on him. She also gave him her remaining copies of Shakespeare's plays, which she had managed to save from destruction.
Cory, brilliant and passionate, grew quickly, secretly hating the clan leader and planning his overthrow. Because he had to do it in secret to avoid being cast out or killed, he also learned the skills of deception and manipulation, skills his mother had never wanted him to learn. He also was strangely superstitious, believing one day after waking with the sun in his eyes, that he was chosen by the heavens to be a great leader.
At fifteen, Cory Mercado murdered his clan leader as he slept, and declared himself the clan leader. He was not simply a leader, he told the clan, he was a Kaiser, and he would make Panem clan the greatest and largest clan the world had ever seen.
With a new, almost religious conviction, he charmed his clan members into loyalty, even adoration, and wherever they went they fought mercilessly for Clan and Kaiser. His followers regularly died for the young leader, even fighting over the honor. Their fervor and determination crushed other clans, and the young Cory Mercado quickly proved himself to be as brutal as any other clan leader.
Whenever Panem came across another clan, they slaughtered the leader publicly, so as many of the clan's members could see. He then turned to the members themselves, saying that he could offer them lives of untold abundance and safety from fear, so long as they pledged him their loyalty. Those who refused, or hesitated, were swiftly executed, and those who agreed, desperate for an easier, safer life, quickly began to see him as their savior.
Panem grew larger and larger, traveling northwards into the continent, and soon there were no clans left that even had a hope of defeating it. It had become a nation of fervent followers, bound together by their Kaiser. Cory's reputation was inflated by rumors of supernatural powers and mind reading—he'd become a demigod in the eyes of his people.
Within twelve years, Panem controlled almost all of North America, and Cory decided it was time to establish a government, as the needs of the country had grown too large for him to handle by himself. Remembering what his mother had taught him about democracy, he decreed that there would be fifteen Counselors, elected (ostensibly) by the people and presided over by the Kaiser. He established the Seat of the Counselors at his birthplace in Yucatan. The Seat was a grand and beautiful building, and Cory began adorning himself with jewels and precious metals during Sessions. The first Counselors composed of his friends (he'd completely ignored the results of the convoluted, clumsy election) and most loyal advisors.
Cory, now twenty-seven, was fond of his larger-than-life persona, and so decided to get rid of his simple, ordinary name: Cory Mercado. Instead, he took the name Coriolanus I, after his favorite play. This name probably sounds familiar to many people today—Coriolanus I was the namesake of the late President Coriolanus Snow, the last President of Panem before the Mockingjay Revolution.
Kaiser Coriolanus I was suspicious and cautious, like most people who have achieved high status by manipulation, lying, and murder. He was notoriously fickle, especially as he got older, and had a tendency to dismiss Counselors for small slights, lest they begin to believe they could challenge him. Officially, they were the land's lawmakers, but in practice, they had no say next to the Kaiser. Coriolanus I is the only Kaiser in history to govern this way, as his son Coriolanus II changed many aspects of the position after his father's death.
Despite his totalitarianism, decadence, and grand self-image, Coriolanus I was an effective leader for the fledgling country. He encouraged trade with the unattached clans outside of Panem's borders, built miles and miles of infrastructure, mainly in the form of trains, and brought peace and certainty to his subjects.
Though suspicious of his counselors for their want of power, Coriolanus loved his people, because they adored him. Once Panem had recovered the ability to broadcast (a phenomenal feat, considering televisions had not been used since before the Fall), he gave weekly addresses to the citizens of Panem, affectionately calling them his "children." He signed off every week with "Coriolanus's kiss," a gesture where he would press three fingers to his lips, and then hold them out in salute. This gesture entered Panem's culture immediately, though it has been completely forgotten in all Districts but the twelvth, where it has become a signal of farewell, usually associated with grief and death.
Coriolanus I reigned for sixty-three years, dying at age ninety, and the only period since his rule that has seen as much development and progress is the current one under the first Parliamentary government. Ninety-seven thousand Panemine citizens attended his funeral, where he was given the posthumous title Coriolanus the Conqueror. He was succeeded by his son, Coriolanus II, who immediately terminated the office of as Kaiser as a hereditary one. Instead, he decreed that the Counselors should choose the Kaiser by election, and then immediately abdicated. He was subsequently elected to the Kaisership after all, and proceeded to reign peacefully for sixteen years, dying at age eighty-seven.
Coriolanus II marked the beginning of a line of Kaisers who were in essence the lead Counselor, rather than the monarch his father had been. He is famous for listening and considering the opinions of all of his Counselors, and never once in his sixteen-year reign made a unilateral decision, a tradition that would continue until the elimination of the office by President Daedalus Talbot over one hundred and fifty years later. When he died, Coriolanus II was given the title Coriolanus the Modest.
The Seat remained at Coriolanus the Conqueror's birthplace until midway through the reign of the fourth Kaiser, Atticus I, when he moved it to a small town in the Rocky Mountains. The reason for this move was officially to be more "central" in the country, but there were whispers that the true reason was the growing wealthy and aristocratic class in the town. Atticus's reign was an unpopular one, because of his seeming preoccupation with the rich and powerful in the land. He was known for inviting his friends to stay at the Seat with him, something that had been reserved for the Kaiser's family before that. In fact, the Counsels of Atticus I seemed to care more about partying and decadence than they cared about the country. Atticus I most famous quote comes, in fact, from a party, when he was so drunk that the hostess asked him if he'd be able to make it back to the Seat on his own. He replied loudly, falling comically into a low bow: "May the odds be in my favor, madame." It is perhaps no surprise that he was subsequently called Atticus the Drunk.
In the early days of Panem, it was perfectly allowed to travel out of the country. It was the second counsel of Atticus the Drunk that forbade this, as well as he who divided the country into Districts, fostering generations of enmity and competition between them. The reign of Atticus I is widely considered the one of darkest of First Panem, topped only by that of Patolemy II.
The last Kaiser was Patolemy II ("Patolemy the Fool"), whose downfall marked the beginning of the Hunger Games era, the most totalitarian and brutal period in Panem's history.
A/N: This was an idea I had that sort of bloomed into something larger. Stay tuned for History of the Talbot family, the powerful aristocratic family that produced SIX victors, and the History of the Mellark family, an old family from District Twelve.
If you liked this, check out my full length Hunger Games mystery story, Within These Walls.
please review!
-ryrous