Classical Golden Age
The Classical Golden Age refers to the era of the Golden Age most closely associated with the specific practices and cultural aspects the era was known for. The exact terms of the era are not well-established. Many Golden Age traditions stem form aspects of Eieber's Long March and can be seen as having started along with the founding of Arindell. The exact end is largely disputed. The era is defined by customs and practices, some of which continued throughout the whole length of the Alliance. Others stopped much earlier.
Historians identify three distinct cultural touchstones which define the classical age: courtship and marriage customs, clubs and salons, and the lifespan of wealthy families. The more complicated aspects marriage and courtship lasted until around A.Y. 1350, with elements persisting for most of the Ages of the Alliance. The full spate of rites took around 90 years to form and persisted in their complete form for about 200 years, with truncated versions remaining in practice for another 150. Changes and variations occurred throughout the entire timeframe. The clubs and salons which pervaded the culture reached their zenith around A.Y. 1150 and largely petered out by 1250 with the rise of public education and universities. As social clubs these persisted until around 1400, and many formed the basis for fraternal organizations which lasted until the end of the Alliance. Probably the most effective measure of the classical Golden Age is the dynasties of Arindell's wealthy families. These began as Eieber's battling sorcerers, who's wealth derived from spoils plundered during the Mage Wars. While many of these families purchases buisnesses and land in Arindell that allowed them to retain status, many more simply lived off of this original wealth until it ran out. As each successive generation divided the family fortune, some of the richest and most influential families were reduced to nothing within a handful of centuries. By about A.Y. 1350 most of the original wealthy families were gone, and while the nouveau riche did maintain some of the same customs, the line was broken.
For the sake of simplicity, the historian Herbet Patric Galactis placed the bounds of the classical era as between A.Y. 150 and 1400, reasoning that these dates were "close enough" and that school children need not be hurt by the heated debates throughout academic circles.
