Post by Coconut on Mar 14, 2009 4:08:18 GMT -5
Name: Marcus Scipio Tiberius
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Affiliation/Race: Roman, with Roman citizenship.
Place of birth: Rome
Biography: I am a true Roman; a thoroughbred Roman, not just in beliefs, mindset and the way I work but in my heritage, my 'breeding' if you will, my parenthood. For I am no whelp of some whore of a foreign land, the work of some lusting legionary in a province such as Gaul! Oh, not by any means! I am a true Roman citizen, born in Rome to Roman citizens who were born to Roman citizens themselves. My lineage is not in question; indeed, I hold relations on my father's side to the late Emperor Severus - my claim to the throne has heriditary weight to it as well! I followed my father's proffession; I enrolled with the legions, with the army, my father's political power, for he was a Senator, linking me with a number of important contacts who allowed me to get under way. The town house where I grew up in was beautiful; I still remember it today. It's a pity it was destroyed in rioting, however I'm equally as happy where I live today!
Apparently, I had a natural ability and intuition for tactics and politics, two things which play a large bearing in the intrigue and threats of Rome. Many say that my marriage, to Cornelia Gemina Sulla, some long descendent of Cornelius Sulla, the old dictator of Rome, was based solely around rising in the political spectrum, yet I married Corenelia for love. We'd been courting since the age of seventeen, and so marriage at nineteen was no real big step. I always had time for her when I returned from my work as a soldier, in the short bouts of leave we legionaries got. Well, that much is obvious; she fathered my children, my two daughters and a son! Julia, my eldest daughter, will make a fine wife to a young man some day, she being at the age of sixteen currently, whilst Regulus, my second eldest, will follow in my footsteps. I'm sure of it. The Eastern provinces, with Spain and Gaul being relatively pacified, occupied my attention as a soldier. There were some dark years out there, however the spirit of comradeship pulled us through.
I was transferred not long after my wife fell pregnant with our first child, which gave rise to the accusations of marrying for political power. Cornelia's father, a Senator, was the son of an important Dux near the province of Germania. As the Germanic tribes began to rebel, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths, I was requested to be transferred, rising to a high position in terms of my age, which was, at the time, just twenty-two years of age. The wars out there were bitter, the Germanic tribes a hard people whose land we'd never really stepped in to colonise as we had done with Spain or Gaul, as we had with Caesar. My first return trip to Rome, the city of my birth, was a few months after my daughter had been born; she brought great love to me, she brought me great feelings of emotion that spurred me on in those dark years in Germania, gave me the knowledge that I had to return alive and successful to see them again. That was a great help, I know.
Cornelia's grandfather, Maximus, was killed in those conflicts, and his legions withdrawn from Germania to quieten the conflicts in the east I'd served in some years before. The Roman's in Gaul felt they could keep out the Germanic tribes, and so our absence was no major issue. I served, then, under General Gannys in the area around Syria, around Antioch and other such cities. A strong man, he gave impetus to my career, as I began to rise the ranks once more until I was one of his commanders, in his council and inner circle. The legions sent to settle the earlier problems, which almost seem mirrored now, included myself, and the battle of Antioch was where I gained distinction under Gannys, the General even going so far as to liken me to a young Julius Caesar, or Scipio Africanus! I was happy, then, as I returned to Rome in the wake of that bloody battle in time to witness the birth of my son, Regulus. Publius Regulus Tiberius, the man who would carry on my name after my death. My only son. He'll be in my legion, one day, yet my career didn't stop there; oh no. Into politics, I went, with my connections aiding me well.
As a Senator, I soon gained the sort of distinction which, if lucky, would have seen me rise to one of the higher positions - I even once dreamed of being a Consul, like those of old! Then I would have been even more like Caesar himself, no? As a Senator, I soon began to gain the distionctions I'd need to become a General myself and, as I travelled out with the military once more, in the war against such enemies as the Sassanids, I was elected a General myself, as I still am today. My pride at being made a Dux was overpowering, then, and the support of my wife was invaluable. It was a long time for me to be away from Rome, however, a long time for me to be away from my family. I sacrificed all this for Rome. My family visited me, however, and as peace began to fall again I saw them more and more; another child, our third and final, came our way, my second daughter. I hadn't seen Rome for many years when the Emperor was assassinated, my chance came. My position shall be Emperor; I have the strength, the bravery, the knowledge and the relations.