Imperial Hegemony, part 1/3: Economy

I've been playing with this idea for a while, but I have finally been able to write it down. I figured it would be best in the form of three posts, each dealing with a different asset of the Imperial might.

Up untill the dramatic collapse of the Imperial hegemony in the late third and early fourth era, Cyrodiil, and with that the Imperial culture, had been dominant throughout the provinces of the Empire. Some of the more important aspects of this spread of culture, ideals, and religion were the economy of Cyrodiil, the ideals and philosophy in the Empire, and the form of their pantheon and religion.

ECONOMY

The hegemony in world trade was only achieved relatively late by Cyrodiil. While Cyrodiil was an important political player in the first and second era due to its centred position on Tamriel, and the resolve and tenaciousness of its inhabitants, their economical power was surprisingly weak. Indeed, most of the wealth of the Second Empire was produced by Imperials, but not in Cyrodiil.
This was due to the limited amount of goods the Imperials were able to export. Before the rise of Tiber Septim, the Imperial economy was mostly based on the export of Ancestor Moth Silk and various types of spirits, due to the tropical climate making widespread agriculture impossible. The spirits gave just a small marginal profit, due to the scarceness of the necessary products, but due to the size of the export, and the renown of such spirits as Cyrodiilic brandy and Shadowbanish wine, it is notable nonetheless.
The backbone of Imperial export at the time was, as stated earlier, based on the silk produced by the Ancestor Moth. This type of silk shows a surprising amount of strength, while still flexible and soft enough (when treated properly) to offer comfort to the wearer. Along with the excellent quality and properties of the silk, the massive scale of production in Nibenay made the silk affordable not only to the highest of nobility, but also to the richer traders and lower lords. An important note here, is that the silk production was mostly restricted to Nibenay, and Colovia was left out of the loop, which partially caused the difference in culture of the two regions. It also explains the relative peace and richness of the area around the Niben, as opposed to the many wars and skirmishes for scrapes of fertile land in Colovia.

The economy of Cyrodiil was boosted at the start of the Second Empire, due to its ties with the lands of Akavir, causing a strong influx in luxury goods. Apart from the products already exported by the Imperials, the people of Cyrodiil were also able to import various spices and new products from Akavir, and selling them to the rest of the continent. With Colovia and Nibenay united, the former now profited from the new trade economy as well. Furthermore, the Cyrodiilic smiths learned from their Akaviri colleagues, crafting new equipment. While these crafting techniques had lost their popularity in the Third Empire, they were still employed by the Blades, and, at the time of the Reman emperors, were a good source of income. It should be noted, though, that it was not purely an Imperial business. the Dunmer had also learned from the Akaviri invaders, but favoured their own crafts mostly, gicing more room to the Cyrodiilic smiths. Secondly, Cyrodiil had never been very rich in resources, and most of those had to be imported from the corners of the Empire, most notably Skyrim and High Rock, further trimming down the profits.

The major shock in the Cyrodiilic economy came with Tiber Septim, who, in honour of his red legions, changed Cyrodiil's climate to a more temperate one. This made sizeable agriculture more viable, and made Cyrodiil one of the biggest exporters of basic food items, including grain and meat. With both a luxuries trade and a basic trade, the Imperial province was able to quickly grow its economic power. An important factor in the quick rise of the Imperial economical hegemony was the rather protective stance the Empire took for the Imperial trade, as the Empire was still the Empire of Cyrodiil above the Empire of Tamriel. With the agricultural trade secured, the Third Empire set its sights on different fronts. The port cities of Anvil and Leyawiin quickly grew in size. While Anvil mostly focussed on the trade with the Western Provinces and the remains of Yokuda, and was a port city in its own right, the ports of Leyawiin and the Imperial City worked closely together, due to their position at various lengths of the Niben. The trade on the Niben was also important as it was the heart of the East Empire Company, that had a strong monopoly on any trade surrounding Morrowind and Skyrim.
With the inclusion of Morrowind into the Empire, the long isolationist Dunmer were forced to open their borders to Imperial traders. Due to their past seclusion from Tamriel-wide trade, the Imperials found a land with almost endless possibility. This quickly led to the establishment of the East Empire Company, which held a monopoly on any trade from Morrowind, which is a rich source of not only primary goods as Ebony and Glass, but was also renowned for its richness in Dwemer artefacts (wanted by many a collector and scholar, and praised for their everlasting quality) and local products, such as Shin, Salt rice, and Kwama eggs, as well as luxury goods as the famous Telvanni bug musk perfume.

The hegemony in trade collapsed with the Empire as a whole. With the secession of many provinces, in some cases taken over by the Aldmeri Dominion, and the destruction of parts of Morrowind, and the disbandment of its infrastructure, the Imperials were unable to keep their monopolies, losing one of their main sources of income. The final blow was delivered with the Great War, which saw much of the Cyrodiilic farmland destroyed (especially in Colovia, which entered another time of poverty), caused Cyrodiil to lose its position as the grain shed of Tamriel.

The Imperial economy was quick to rise due to its peoples focus on trade. With the luxury trade safe, and their climate changed, the Imperials could create the biggest trade imperium in the history of Tamriel. This changed with the final collapse of the Empire, causing the economical hegemony in the balance.