Argos is one of the Hyborian kingdoms that rose out of the ashes of Acheron when it fell three thousand years ago. Situated on a coastline with natural sea-ports, the people of Argos have become master sailors, crafty pirates and powerful merchants. Argos is a smaller nation with a population of just over seven million people.
The sea-ports, especially Messentia, are cosmopolitan and liberal. In contrast, the inland provinces of Argos are peopled with more traditional, conservative farmers, craftsmen and labourers. The roads of Argos, lined with trees, fields and villages, are generally peaceful and the inland folk are friendly toward strangers. Nearly every village has an inn for travellers, most of whom are making their way to Messantia or one of the other port cities or toward Zingara, Ophir or Aquilonia laden with trade-goods.
Short and stocky, the Argosseans share traits with Zingarans and Shemites, whom the original Hyborian inhabitants have spent centuries marrying and breeding with.
Most Argosseans dress in linen, cotton or light wool in deference to the warm climate and they tend to prefer white or muted colours. The style for Argossean men is a type of robe that is knotted in the front with a cape slung over the shoulders. The cape is wide and, if one can afford it, heavily embroidered. It is called a tebenna.
Though the clothing of common Argosseans is generally simple and cycles through a small number of minor style changes, the clothing of the wealthy is another story. Fashions can change dramatically almost overnight, particularly among the ladies of the merchant houses in the coastal cities. This is the bread and butter of the city’s clothiers and they actively prey on this habit. It only takes the right clothier or a house lady to see a Vendhyan woman in a brightly patterned sari or a Khitan woman in a tightly fitted silk dress before every woman of every merchant house begins wearing something similar.
Argosseans do not believe in judging themselves; they always look to others to determine the opinion they should hold about themselves. Thus reputation is important to the Argosseans and most hold – or pretend to hold – a civilised code of honour. Further, the Argosseans make sure others see them upholding the code. When there are no witnesses, Argosseans do not feel compelled to hold to the code at all.
In rural and inland areas of Argos, Allegiance is a necessity of life. The feudal framework of the government demands it; anyone who has not declared an allegiance is automatically suspect, for that person has no protector, no one to vouch for him. Written contracts are not typically used away from the coastal cities, so only oaths taken before one’s peers are considered valuable or believable. A person without an Allegiance has either not taken any oaths or his word is so suspect that no one wants his oath.
A characteristic of Argossean medicinal theory is cleanliness. Virtually all Argossean cities have thermal baths, both public and private, for this reason. Most Argossean healers recommend cleanliness, as well as a moderation in diet and wine. They believe that overdoing amorous activities, reading by candlelight and overindulging in wine are some of the best ways to get sick. The treatment is usually based on diet. Essentially, their medical theory is that behaviour can lead to illness or wellness.
Sickness is caused by three things according to the Argosseans. The first cause of illness is the body’s natural degeneration as a person ages. The second cause is natural redisposition to illness; the Argosseans have noticed that a son with a certain illness often has a father and a grandfather and so on with the same illness. The third cause of illness is immoderate behaviour and lifestyle excesses; certain sins against Mitra can cause certain illnesses.
Argosseans, like most Hyborians, revile sorcery. Their legends are replete with stories about degenerate rituals of demonic debauchery, horrifying plagues and worse. Sorcerers in Argos hide their talents from the people for fear of mobs with pitchforks, torches and nooses.
Argos is famed for its gladiatorial games. Slaves and prisoners are forced to serve as gladiators and fight other slaves or animals. Condemned men do not even get the opportunity to fight – they are simply slaughtered by butchers or fed to savage animals. The site of countless atrocities, exhibitions in the arena serve as rituals to express man’s otherwise repressed savagery. Landowners, lords and barons use gladiatorial bouts to settle land disputes; instead of going to war with a neighbouring lord for land, they host a game between them to settle the dispute. While this saves the peasants from the ravages of war it does require a steady stream of slaves.
Argos is a Hyborian kingdom and Argosseans worship Mitra primarily. However, Argos is a trading nation and people from many nations go there, live there, work there and worship there. This has bred a certain amount of tolerance for foreign gods, particularly Shemite and Kothic gods. Bel, especially, is held in regard by many Argossean freebooters and fences.
Mitra is regarded as the one true god to those that worship him in Argos. Unlike Aquilonians, however, Mitra’s urban Argossean followers are apt to tolerate other cults, although the worship of Set is still viewed with extreme suspicion and anger. Rural Argosseans are more intolerant of foreign religions. The biggest difference between Argossean worship and typical Hyborian worship of Mitra is that women are allowed to learn the first two inner mysteries of the cult, whereas the other Hyborian nations do not allow women to learn any of the inner mysteries.
Bel, god of thieves and commerce imported from the Shemite pantheon, is another god found in Argos, particularly among the privateers, freebooters and fences. He is often depicted as an eagle carrying a forked bolt of lightning, hinting that he can steal the powers of the heavens if he so desires, including the powers of the other gods. Bel’s priests hold a certain prestige among the thieves and pirates of Argos. In order to serve society, each member of the priesthood must have at least lived as one with the society.