A hundred years of the Punic Curse,
And Rome shall be slave to a hairy man.
He shall give Rome marble in place of clay
And fetter her fast with unseen chains.
13 BC
At long last, there is peace in Rome.
Rome, the unchallenged master of the western world, has spent the past century locked in war with itself, as her finest sons struggled for mastery of the Republic. The Civil Wars that spanned the last hundred years have claimed the lives of many of Rome's brightest and best, names that will live on long after their deaths: Cicero, Cato, Pompey, and Caesar, to name but a few. But a victor has emerged from amid the chaos of the civil wars, and for the first time in a generation, there is peace -- at a price. Triumphant in Egypt over his rival Mark Antony, Caesar's adopted son Octavian has seized control of the Republic, ending the civil wars and becoming the unquestioned master of Rome. Acclaimed by the Senate, he has renamed himself Augustus -- the majestic one.
Over the course of the last half-century, Augustus has ruled Rome with an iron fist. He has abolished the corrupt bureaucracies, rebuilt the decaying armies, and restored a city on the brink of destruction. Rome's grip on her colonies and subjects, frayed by a lifetime of civil war, has been restored, and from one end of the known world to another, Rome reigns supreme. Rome is master of all the Earth, and Augustus is master in Rome. Though officially only the Princeps, or 'first citizen', Augustus sits atop a massive web of favors, debts, secrets, and spies that stretches from the slums of Rome to the highest of her hills. Senators, generals, aediles and kings: men who kneel to none kneel to him. The lie of the Republic is maintained, but none question who truly rules in Rome. He is the legion's lord and the Senate's master, the people's hero and the voice of the gods, a god himself in new flesh, the king of Rome in all but name.
But even gods -and kings- are mortal. The divine Augustus wanes in years, and his eyes have turned in recent times to the future, a future where his iron will no longer guides the shape of state. The foundations he has built run deep, but will they outlive him? Augustus has sired no natural sons, and so, in his search for an heir who will preserve his legacy, must turn elsewhere. He is not wanting in options, however. The Princeps sits at the head of a massive family tree which is the result of years of careful planning and tactical marriage. He has joined his own adopted dynasty, the Julii, with that of one of Rome's most powerful and influential houses, the Claudians. The resulting imperial House, the Julio-Claudians, is perhaps the mightiest family that Rome has ever seen, consisting of Augustus' many stepchildren, nephews and grand-nephews, grandchildren, and various adopted heirs. It is from among these many branches that he must select one to rule after he is gone, one to sit at the head of empire -- one to rule the world.
You are a newly-born male child of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, a prince of Rome and one of the most blessed and damned children in the history of the Republic. You are born to a house of snakes, to a family of deceivers and betrayers and madmen. Your brothers will be heroes, and your uncles will be tyrants. Your bloodline will live centuries in infamy.
Trust no one.
You will be raised to be one who could someday be emperor. You will have the finest tutors and the finest education. You shall be tested and tried and trained, You will live every day in fear and suspicion. There will be knives in the dark and swords in the smoke, foes on every corner and false friends at every turn. To fail is to be lost to time and memory in the eternal shadow of Augustus, to survive forever as a bynote of a bynote in history's pages. To succeed is to become greater than mere men could imagine. It is to hold the world in your hands, to be master of the Romans and lord of the legions. It is to become greater than a god.
It is to be Emperor.
Your name is Tiberius Claudius Antonius, called Antonius, or Antony Claudius.
13 BC
741 Years After The Founding Of Rome
The Year of Nero and Varus Augustus
Your name is Tiberius Claudius Antonius.
You are born on a cool spring morning in the city of Rome, like your father and your grandfather before you. Your father is Nero Claudius Drusus, a Roman general and an adopted son of the divine Augustus. Your mother is Antonia Minor, Augustus' niece and the daughter of the great general Mark Antony, slain in Egypt a lifetime ago. You are named partly after this last, for on the day you are born your mother mourns the father she never knew.
This is unfortunate, as Mark Antony was an enemy -perhaps the greatest- of your grandfather Augustus in his youth. He does not attend your birth, and your grandmother Livia is instead present in his place. Your grandfather, the most powerful man alive, dislikes you from the day you are born.
You are your mother's favorite, however, so that's a plus.
From birth, you are not like other children. For many centuries, youths in Rome who performed with great skill and excellence were said to be gifted by the gods themselves. But you are one of the Julio-Claudians, of great ancestry, descended from men who awed the world and were greater than the gods themselves. You need not the blessings of Venus or Mars, for you are blessed by your ancestors:
Pick One.
[] The Gift of Augustus: Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the man now known as Augustus is the greatest administrator and ruler that Rome has ever known. When he points, men follow. When he speaks, armies quiet. When he shouts, Rome trembles. When he whispers, men die. There is something of this about you, it has been said. It is in the way you walk, the way you turn your voice at your playmates, the way your mind snaps to command and mastery. Of old, it would have been said that the goddess Minerva, lady of Wisdom, walked at your side. Now it is said there is something of Augustus about you. (Large bonus to Subterfuge, Administration, Oratory, and Intelligence. Bonus to all Administration/Intelligence/Subterfuge rolls. Gain Trait: Augustulus)
[] The Gift of Antony: It is said in hushed whispers from the very day of your birth that there is too much of your grandfather Mark Antony in you. You are fair to look upon, with a high nose and sharp cheekbones, and as you mature these features only become more prominent. When you smile, others smile, and when you laugh, others laugh. Your voice is easy and kind, and there is an air about your words that makes men bend their ears to listen. In the Rome of your fathers, they might have said you were a new Dionysus. In the Rome of Augustus, they say you are a new Antony. (Large bonus to Charisma, Diplomacy, Stewardship, and Command. Bonus to all Charisma/Diplo rolls. Gain Trait: Antonius)
[] The Gift of Caesar: Gaius Julius Caesar has been dead sixty years, but his shadow looms large over the Roman people. Conqueror and consul, commander and tyrant -- Caesar was many things, but now he is a god. His name is still loved among the legions he led, and his military ideas are utilized a half-century after his death by the armies he trained and the men he taught. There is something of him in you, your father boasts, in your love of the sword and your mind for battle. There was never any doubt you were born to be a soldier -- and Caesar, above all else, was a soldier. Long ago it might have been said that Mars and Victoria walked at your side. But now Caesar is war, and Caesar is victory. (Large bonus to Command, Military, Logistics, and Engineering. Increased Military XP gain. Gain Trait: Caesarion)
[] The Gift of the Julio-Claudians: You are one of the Julio-Claudians. Your father's fathers fathers fought the Gaul and the Carthaginian. Your ancestors were consuls and tyrants, generals and heroes. A blood divine flows in your veins twice over. You were born to better things, and are skilled -not excellent, but skilled- at nearly everything which you try your hand. It is only right that success should come this easily to you -- you are born of the best men Rome has ever known. Lesser men might call you over-proud, but what are they, compared to you? (Moderate bonus to all skills and stats, and slightly increased XP gain. Gain the trait Superbus.)
When you are four years old, your father, a hero of the Republic, dies in Germania after falling from his horse. In honor of him, Augustus bestows your family with the honorific Germanicus, which your older brother, Nero, may now use as head of the family. Your mother returns from the German provinces with a deaf crippled babe, the last child sired by your father before his death -- a boy named Claudius, your little brother.
As you grow older, your brothers grow apart. Germanicus, your older brother, throws himself into the legacy he has inherited from his father -- the sword and the pilum, the warrior way of your ancestors. Your younger brother, Claudius, is shy and quiet, a limping boy who is often berated by your mother for his simpleness. You have noticed, however, that he likes to read. Your sister Livilla is often kept apart, reared by a clade of tutors and teachers to be the ideal of a Roman matron, and you see little of her in these years. You are all four of you often tutored by your grandmother, one of the most powerful and iron-willed women in Rome, the Augusta Livia Drusilla. If Augustus rules Rome, it is often said, then Livia rules Augustus. She teaches you etiquette, poise, the ways of the Roman aristocracy -- and sometimes, she teaches you less polite secrets.
Which of your family members do you grow closest to in your youth?
[] The Princes of Rome: You spend all of your free time with your older brother Germanicus. Head of your family since the age of six, and fourth in line to rule the Roman Republic, there has been a certain weight on his shoulders for as long as you can remember -- and it is a weight you now divide with him. You spar together, study together, and run through the fields of your estate together. For a few brief years, your brother is a boy again, at least with you. He has someone to share his troubles and his griefs, and you become brothers in more than name. Your skill with the sword and the arts of command grows in this time, as your brother, budding though he is, is well on his way to being one of Rome's finest young military minds.
[] Your Brother's Keeper: Your younger brother, Claudius, is hated by all as a dotard and a dunce, a drooling stuttering wreck of a youth who will never amount to anything of use. Your mother, Antonia, rarely pays for tutors for him, choosing instead to use the boy as a servant or (more often) a target for her drunken rages -- that is, when she is not foisting him off on your grandmother Livia. But you know Claudius better than anyone else in the world save perhaps Germanicus. You have seen the glimmers of intelligence in his eyes, and you know that no matter how deformed the body, your brother has a mind the equal of any man in Rome. You sneak him scrolls from the libraries when you can, and even go over some of the harder ones with him. You start small, but by the time you are both teenagers, you are reading through the works of Cicero and Plato. He is quiet, and does not speak often, even to you. But you know from his eyes that he is more thankful than words could ever say.
[] The Augusta: Liva Drusilla, Augustus' wife and your grandmother, is the most powerful woman in Rome. She may be the most powerful woman in the world. The archetype of the Roman matron, she has raised two generations of Julio-Claudians to her exacting standards, producing generals and consuls and heroes. Side-by-side with Augustus, she has bent the Roman Senate, once the bane of kings, to the will of her family. Every bit as revered and feared as your grandfather, Livia is unquestionably the equal -or more- of any of Rome's great men. She has, for some inscrutable reason, taken you under her wing. To many, your grandmother is a figure of fear and terror, one who ends lives with a whispered word to her husband. To you, she is your grandmother, and she loves you.
[] The Last Antony: Your mother was the daughter of Mark Antony, the triumvir of Egyptian fame, who died across the sea long ago. Heir to his massive fortune and Egyptian wealth, she has long been one of the richest women in Rome. But her life has frayed in recent times. With the death of her husband Germanicus, her status in the emperor's eyes has fallen: she is a living reminder of his old rival, and so she has been shunned from the halls of power by all save her adopted mother Livia, who dotes upon her and her children. Immensely wealthy, deeply sad, and violently scorned, your mother dotes all her time upon you. When you are not training or learning, you are with her. Seeing you smile, she often remarks, is the only thing that still brings her joy.
[X] The Gift of Augustus: Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the man now known as Augustus is the greatest administrator and ruler that Rome has ever known. When he points, men follow. When he speaks, armies quiet. When he shouts, Rome trembles. When he whispers, men die. There is something of this about you, it has been said. It is in the way you walk, the way you turn your voice at your playmates, the way your mind snaps to command and mastery. Of old, it would have been said that the goddess Minerva, lady of Wisdom, walked at your side. Now it is said there is something of Augustus about you. (Large bonus to Subterfuge, Administration, Oratory, and Intelligence. Bonus to all Administration/Intelligence/Subterfuge rolls. Gain Trait: Augustulus)
[X] Your Brother's Keeper: Your younger brother, Claudius, is hated by all as a dotard and a dunce, a drooling stuttering wreck of a youth who will never amount to anything of use. Your mother, Antonia, rarely pays for tutors for him, choosing instead to use the boy as a servant or (more often) a target for her drunken rages -- that is, when she is not foisting him off on your grandmother Livia. But you know Claudius better than anyone else in the world save perhaps Germanicus. You have seen the glimmers of intelligence in his eyes, and you know that no matter how deformed the body, your brother has a mind the equal of any man in Rome. You sneak him scrolls from the libraries when you can, and even go over some of the harder ones with him. You start small, but by the time you are both teenagers, you are reading through the works of Cicero and Plato. He is quiet, and does not speak often, even to you. But you know from his eyes that he is more thankful than words could ever say.
[X] The Gift of Augustus: Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the man now known as Augustus is the greatest administrator and ruler that Rome has ever known. When he points, men follow. When he speaks, armies quiet. When he shouts, Rome trembles. When he whispers, men die. There is something of this about you, it has been said. It is in the way you walk, the way you turn your voice at your playmates, the way your mind snaps to command and mastery. Of old, it would have been said that the goddess Minerva, lady of Wisdom, walked at your side. Now it is said there is something of Augustus about you. (Large bonus to Subterfuge, Administration, Oratory, and Intelligence. Bonus to all Administration/Intelligence/Subterfuge rolls. Gain Trait: Augustulus)
[X] The Princes of Rome: You spend all of your free time with your older brother Germanicus. Head of your family since the age of six, and fourth in line to rule the Roman Republic, there has been a certain weight on his shoulders for as long as you can remember -- and it is a weight you now divide with him. You spar together, study together, and run through the fields of your estate together. For a few brief years, your brother is a boy again, at least with you. He has someone to share his troubles and his griefs, and you become brothers in more than name. Your skill with the sword and the arts of command grows in this time, as your brother, budding though he is, is well on his way to being one of Rome's finest young military minds
[X] The Gift of Antony: It is said in hushed whispers from the very day of your birth that there is too much of your grandfather Mark Antony in you. You are fair to look upon, with a high nose and sharp cheekbones, and as you mature these features only become more prominent. When you smile, others smile, and when you laugh, others laugh. Your voice is easy and kind, and there is an air about your words that makes men bend their ears to listen. In the Rome of your fathers, they might have said you were a new Dionysus. In the Rome of Augustus, they say you are a new Antony. (Large bonus to Charisma, Diplomacy, Stewardship, and Command. Bonus to all Charisma/Diplo rolls. Gain Trait: Antonius)
Anyways being the new Antony works for me. What's Augustus gonna do? Have us assassinated? Ahahahahaha *poisoned*
[X] Your Brother's Keeper: Your younger brother, Claudius, is hated by all as a dotard and a dunce, a drooling stuttering wreck of a youth who will never amount to anything of use. Your mother, Antonia, rarely pays for tutors for him, choosing instead to use the boy as a servant or (more often) a target for her drunken rages -- that is, when she is not foisting him off on your grandmother Livia. But you know Claudius better than anyone else in the world save perhaps Germanicus. You have seen the glimmers of intelligence in his eyes, and you know that no matter how deformed the body, your brother has a mind the equal of any man in Rome. You sneak him scrolls from the libraries when you can, and even go over some of the harder ones with him. You start small, but by the time you are both teenagers, you are reading through the works of Cicero and Plato. He is quiet, and does not speak often, even to you. But you know from his eyes that he is more thankful than words could ever say.
This is actually a really tough vote. Initially I was leaning to Augustus as the trait. After all, external enemies are a rare thing now for Rome and it's the dagger in your back within Rome itself that's most likely to kill you these days. But there are enough threats that some skill in Command would be hugely useful, not to mention that the Praetorian Guard are now a real power and Charlisma + Command would be a nice combo to have to deal with them.
Moreover, if Germanicus bites the bullet as he does historically it will serve our family very well to have another competent commander around.
Plus, Charisma is somewhat of a defence against intrigue. Not a huge one, but with Livia and a good wife it's enough.
And... I kinda want someone a bit different from Atellus.
As for the family member we're close to, as incredible as it is even the description Telamon has given her doesn't quite hammer home just how powerful Livia is. Historically she doesn't die for another 40 odd years so she'll be around (probably) for a long time still, and having her watching out for us is literally invaluable.
I think Livia is objectively the best family member to choose but bonding with Claudius seems like it'll be more interesting. If we don't choose him, he would never get the attention needed to overcome his deformities and might prove an obstacle because of this later on. I imagine it would be very difficult to turn him against us after this which could be life-saving in Rome. Hopefully he'll pursue some form of higher education but I think he'll show his worth either way.
We gonna have to kill that boy, either with the hidden knife or the soldier's sword. This gets us good skill with both and gives us a admin background for later rule.
We gonna have to kill that boy, either with the hidden knife or the soldier's sword. This gets us good skill with both and gives us a admin background for later rule.
Just a small thing, but I find irony in the fact that the gift that gives us a stewardship bonus is connected to Mark Antony, not a man known for his fiscal sensibilities.
So, are our gifts gonna have some hidden drawbacks? Would we also emulate the flaws of the person people say we are like? If we go with Antony, are we gonna be a hedonistic gambler like he was? If we go with Augustus, are we gonna be cold and slightly sociopathic?
