Oct. 28th, 2016
The Cause of the Fall . . .
In the year 218 B. C. E the Roman Empire had completely taken over Italy. Eighteen years afterward, a child, by the name of Ottovian Velius, was born. Though his name would never be known throughout history, Ottovian would forever be a forgotten hero. . . and the downfall of the Roman Empire!
The clouds seemed to ripple above. In the heat of the midsummer sun, Ottovian forced his weak legs to go on. Many chariots passed him by, but no one stopped to ask the dehydrated man if he desired a ride. Except for one lone traveler.
“You look ill,” the woman murmured. “Do you perhaps need help?”
Ottovian licked his dry lips in agony. “Yes, maiden. ‘Tis a blistering heat today. My feet are sore and I need water and cloth to dress my wounds. Would you perhaps be of any help?”
With the woman's help, Ottovian was pushed into a carriage. His blisters and cuts were covered in oils and dressed with soft cloth. The young man was presented with an urn of water, which he drank so forcibly that water dribbled down his chin. As the woman watched him, she spoke to him in her soft, gentle tones.
“I am Messalina Claudius. My husband is the Emperor; I am sure you know of him. You are an Italian, yes?”
Ottovian nodded. “Yes, Empress. I thank you for your kindness.”
Empress Messalina smiled. “Of course. I will take you to my palace. To thank me you shall serve my husband, and become a soldier. Is this not fair, dear Ottovian?”
“It is.” And thus Ottovian became a soldier of the Empire’s army.
It was many years later that Ottovian was appointed a general. He was driven by curiosity of other lands, and the influence of the promiscuous Empress Messalina. Whenever he would return, he would be greeted by the smile of his surreptitious lover.
“You would love it there,” Ottovian said. “The grass is so lush and the way the trees bend in the wind is unlike anything here.”
Messalina listened to Ottovian, childish wonderment filling her alluring eyes. She lifted a finger to his chin and gazed deeply into his eyes. “I wish I could leave, Otto,” she whispered sadly.
“But you can!” Ottovian exclaimed. “You could leave the Roman Republic - away from all the aristocratic ruling and Senate, and travel with me!”
The silence was pregnant.
“Messalina?” Ottovian raked his fingers through the Empress’s hair - pulling away when he saw the melancholy expression lining her lashes like a veil. His lips thinned, he watched as she struggled to speak.
“I am pregnant.” Silence once again filled the air.
“Whose child?”
With a deep breath, Messalina looked away from Ottovian. “It is yours, Ottovian.”
Ottovian was banished from the palace from then on, by Messalina. The Emperor was unaware of his wife's affair, and thus was still the general. As he traveled throughout the world, he did not return for many years. With his heart broken by his first love, he left the Roman Principate and continued to spread Roman culture through the conquered areas. More years of Romanization, and he had finally returned - home at last. Or so he believed.
A gala was thrown in honor of General Ottovian Velius and his group of followers. The emperor hosted this event, and in turn the queen and her two children were there - the only remaining piece of the love Ottovian shared with his Messalina. As he sullenly watched people dance and eat and have fun, he only wished he were out fighting. Anything to turn his mind from the horrible memories.
“Thank you.”
Ottovian was greeted by a young woman. She was beautiful; hair like woven gold, and eyes like the blue water flowing through aqueducts. With a graceful bow, she thanked Ottovian once again.
“For what?” he asked, awed by her beauty.
“Pax Romana,” she said. “You and your soldiers have returned and brought peace and stability to our Empire. And for that, I thank you General Velius.”
Ottovian frowned, but nodded his head in welcome. “Would you care to dance, fair maiden?”
She giggled. “Octavia Minor,” she announced, and then pulled the General to dance. It was apparent from the way she spoke, to her eyes and nose, that she was the child of Ottovian - daughter of Messalina. He was dancing with his daughter of whom he was sent away from more than twenty years ago. He was only twenty himself when Messalina announced her pregnancy.
But he finally was able to meet his daughter. Octavia! Octavia!
“Octavian is my brother - twin to be specific. He recently became a patron to plebeians. . .father is so against it, but I don’t mind . . .” Octavia went on and on. She spoke of her life to Ottovian, and he couldn't help but fall in love with his daughter from the way she opened up to him.
They danced all night, until the party dispersed and she was whisked away by her husband, Marc Antony. He was a general like Ottovian, and was part of the reason the precipitate was transformed into a beautiful, urbanized, autocracy. Ottovian worked with Marc at some points, administering towns and cities to which urban areas benefitted the most. Manufacturing and trade, commerce, transport, and the stability of the empire was all done by those two men and more - under the rule of Julius Caesar.
After the death of Caesar, Ottovian’s son, Octavian became Emperor. He became Augustus, a great warrior! Ottovian had long since retired, settling into his life as a part of the church of Christianity. He worshipped their God and Jesus, the messiah. Faith had turned him from a sad, bitter man, to a holy spirit. It was later Ottovian who converted the Emperor Constantine I to Christianity. From there, the capital was then Byzantine, later called Constantinople. It was said that the priest who urged the ruler to convert began the ending of the Empire. It was said as well that they relied on slave labor too much, or maybe it was the invasion of foreign tribes.
Either way, Ottovian both created the rise of the Empire and began the fall of a world that condemned his first love, Messalina Claudius. Though his name will never be known, Ottovian will always be a hero in the heart of his Empress.
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HeRo (Sⓗort Stⓞrⓘⓔs)
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