The General (new bio)

Caius was born the fifth and only surviving child of Drusus and Ovidia Ramulus, a family of military nobles and womanly scholars, who originated from Italy in West Rome but moved to East Rome for its more lax practices. East Rome was the more secular side of the Rome that valued hands-on work more than praying to the divines; magic was considered a tool more than something sacred, so it was employed in everyday use (by soldiers and the privileged). This led to tension between the two sides of the Roman Empire, especially with enforcing the state religion used to control the population, but they set aside their differences to continue running the nation as smoothly as possible.

Caius’ father was the patriarch of the Ramulus family household, so all family gatherings were done in their villa in the countryside of Constantinople, the capitol of East Rome, while they lived within the city. It was up until the age of 4 Caius only lived with their immediate family, when one of their paternal uncles Marcius requested to move into their home because their wife Euthalia was chronically ill and needed easier access to the city’s healers. Caius would then be raised alongside their cousin Columbanus, also known as Callum (a name his father found striking and exotic at the time), who was 4 years older than them. They bonded very well with each other, and were constantly mistaken for siblings due to how close they were especially in appearance. Since both of them were being prepared for conscription to follow in their fathers’ footsteps as high-ranking soldiers, they sometimes trained together, but Caius quickly proved to be a prodigy at the age of 9. Many steps were taken to foster their talents, and their skills blossomed immensely.

However, Drusus was a strict, short-tempered, and self-absorbed father who applied tough love to Caius, which meant all deviation from becoming the perfect soldier was beaten out of them. Ovidia was able to lessen the blows of the abuse since she was a headstrong woman who spoke her mind and resented her husband for the death of their son prior to Caius, Gnaeus Quartus, who was killed in a hunting accident at the age of 8. He clearly had a guilty conscious over this accidental death, and would spare Caius from his wrath when reminded of it. However, Ovidia, while more gentle towards them, was coddling and overbearing due to the trauma of her previous miscarriages and Gnaeus’ death, which led to a guessing game of when they could make their own decisions. Ovidia was also plagued with “insanity”, known as Bipolar Disorder today, making strange impulsive decisions and having erratic mood swings. Everyone believed this may have been passed onto Caius since they also exhibited such behaviors, including a violent temper, but this was kept a secret within the family.

One of Caius’ greatest loves in life was horses, and they spent many hours in the family pasture tending to their several horses, training, grooming and playing with them while their esteemed stable hand taught them everything she knew. Being so skilled in horse riding at such a young age proved to be useful in their future. Caius was originally set on a path to become a foot soldier in the newer units like their father, but that changed when they once attended a parade. There, during the parade, they saw the cataphracts of Constantinople, mounted on their armored warhorses in their own shining armor, and ever since then Caius was enamored by them. They sought out what it took to prepare for the life of a cataphract, and their father admired this ambition, but their mother was terrified of the prospect of their child being at the frontlines. Nonetheless, Caius saw this opportunity to take control of their fate a little, and was given the best trainers to prepare them for this knightly future.

Not only was Caius a progidy, they were very confident and charismatic, having many friends and peers, but they were still a spoiled rich child, so sometimes they were a bully who had violent outbursts when their ego was bruised. So, they were feared and respected by their friends and peers, and their intelligence would sometimes go unquestioned. The only people who regularly challenged them was their childhood friend and right-hand man Flavius, an effeminate, heavily opinionated boy who was also a noble that was luckily shielded from conscription, and then there was Callum, who challenged them in a way that was no different than siblings antagonizing each other… although there may have been a hint of jealousy from Callum, since Caius always had the attention of the family even though both of them were gifted in many of the same areas except magic (Callum’s expertise). Callum avoided being the center of attention, however, because it was hard not to notice his gigantic stature at such a young age, but he also seemed to be avoiding most people altogether for some reason…

It was in Caius’ teens that not only were they prodigious and charismatic, they also became the ideal Roman male beauty, having unblemished skin, deep black curls, a handsome face, and a strong, slim figure. It drew in the attention of many people, both men and women, and they had many crushes and lovers since the age of 12. Unfortunately, this beauty drew in the wrong kind of attention, starting with someone they once trusted. Uncle Marcius was one of Caius’ teachers for their training, teaching them the bureaucratic side of the military since he successfully transitioned from the military to a well-renowned politician, however he secretly practiced pederasty, a taboo practice that had been vehemently outlawed for centuries. Caius would be groomed into a secret relationship with him, and as his obsession over Caius’ beauty grew, so did the sexual abuse until they were regularly raped whenever they spent time with him. Caius felt trapped in this situation, fearful to tell anyone due to his influence, and so the situation spiraled deep into a mood-fluctuating codependency.

People found it strange that Marcius spent more time with his nephew than his own son, and thought that Callum becoming very standoffish was a result of that. The truth, however, was found out when Caius finally confided in Callum about the abuse. Callum comforted Caius, and admitted that Marcius had also sexually abused him; he seemed to have moved on from Callum once Callum had “lost his youth”. Callum fiercely protected them from being left alone with Marcius as much as they could but Caius couldn’t always be there for them due to being in the military. Eventually however, he and Caius revealed to the rest of the family about the abuse, and Marcius was arrested, his name erased from the family line. Unfortunately, neither of them were given the righteous justice they deserved, and Marcius ended up living for a few more years until he died from a heart attack (that Callum witnessed and alerted no one about).

There was no proper recourse since the family, while giving Caius and Callum more preferential treatment, chose to forbid all talk about it. This unfortunately led to Caius coping by getting into relationships with adults under the pretense of if they were the one seeking these people out, they would be in control of the relationship. They kept this a secret, but Callum had a feeling something was amiss, and unfortunately was unable to do anything about it since any interrogation was met with hostile denial.

One of the few lovers left that was their age was Flavius, who they had fallen in love with at 15. He knew about the sexual abuse Caius endured at the hands of their uncle, but he was unaware Caius was dating adults now since they had become so secretive. Outwardly they seemed the same, but inwardly they were dependent on the approval [tk]

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