Mithfindel
Aseyakone
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Posted - 2010.02.11 11:23:00 -
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Edited by: Mithfindel on 11/02/2010 11:23:32
Like several people noted, it is a political (possibly political science) monograph written or at least attributed to Emperor Heideran VII during the end part of the Emperor's reign. I wrote "attributed to", because I think it might be likely that the actual editing etc. was done by a whole lot of Emperor Family staff under the direction of the Emperor, who then read the result (or had it read to him) and said it was ok. In a way, it is the legacy of Emperor Heideran, and as such carrying it could have multiple messages.
Heideran was the last Emperor that was elected traditionally - Doriam II had capsuleer champions for his trials. Jamyl just became Empress by the Heirs agreeing on the thing to happen. (Of course here "traditionally" means according to the post-Moral Reforms tradition - arguably Doriam II would still be elected traditionally, and was a successor of Heideran's work.) So carrying one could indeed be flipping Jamyl in several ways, not only the pacifist nature of the book.
The main message, I believe, was that the Empire had near-equals now, and as such couldn't just go on enlightening people with lasers & glassing planets. A policy change would be required to make the Empire a natural leader in interstellar politics, with the ultimate goal being instead of conquering the entire cluster merely extending Amarr hegemony over the entire cluster. (This is strongly hinted by the name - for example, Pax Romana didn't mean that the Romans would have begged other people to leave them alone, they just had conquered everyone who could threaten them.) This would be, of course, shrouded in religious language etc., or at least likely not stated directly. Of course, we don't actually know the contents of the text. Also depending on how it is read, traditionalists ("you should bow down to us, and we will let you live in peace") and liberals ("hey can't we just all get along") would likely emphasize different parts.
On Heideran and peace efforts: It is quite of funny for Heideran to be stated to be the "first Emperor to get the Aidonis" when Heideran was already an Emperor for a few hundred years before future President Aidonis Elabon (of the GalFed) was born (and the Aidonis Foundation handing out the prize was formed post-YC, so about 110 years ago).
On Amarr Scripture and secular works: If we accept the statements of former Tetrimon Grand Master Elata Ardo (even the heretic he is), the Amarr Scripture doesn't only collect religious history, prophesies, epistles and so on, but also all "church-accepted good works", such as a large portion of the Empire's scientific results etc. As such, the Pax would likely be considered "good literature" now, and if the Theology Council does the paperwork, it becomes Scripture. (Of course, there's so much of the Scripture and likely double the amount of commentaries on Scripture that any single piece might just accidentally be "forgotten" or just "interpreted in a creative way" to suit the current regime.)
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