Spotlight on:

“By Hercule's Blessing”

The Parthenese Borderlands of West Parthenon is a massive, economically powerful nation, remarkable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 3 billion are free to succeed or fail in life on their own merits; the successful tend to enjoy an opulent (but moralistic) lifestyle, while the failures can be seen crowding out most jails.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded, moralistic, pro-business individuals is mainly concerned with Law & Order, although Defence and Commerce are on the agenda. Income tax is unheard of. A large private sector is led by the Pizza Delivery, Trout Farming, and Arms Manufacturing industries.

Voting is voluntary, all tariffs have been abolished, Animal Liberationists are regularly jailed, and employers may fire workers without giving any reason. Crime is a serious problem. West Parthenon's national animal is the Serpent, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Penica.

West Parthenon is ranked 37th in the region and 17,715th in the world for Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector.