Leonardo da Vinci (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
howexciting) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
synopsychic2016-05-11 04:51 pm
howexciting) wrote in synopsychic2016-05-11 04:51 pm
[Jaunt-Locked] Where's Gregory Peck when you need him
[The first part of Leonardo's broadcast seems to be a misfire, in only that it is quiet and almost disbelieving.]
Non รจ possible... this is... home? Italia...?
We are in the Kingdom of Naples... no, that is back in my time, this is Campania felix... Dio mio, we're in Stabiae--
[There is silence for a good fifteen minutes, as Leonardo prepares and questions the populace. Then, he finally comes on the Network.]
For anyone who is listening, I have some good news. And some bad news. The good news is that I have located our exact location in space and time. We are in Stabiae, an ancient Roman resort which Pliny the Elder described in detail in his records. The year, at least according to the gossip of Emperor Nero's daughter, Claudia Augusta, and her recent death, and the recent appointment of Titus Vespasian as the governor of Africa Proconsularis, indicate that this is the Year of Our Lord 63.
The bad news is that in sixteen years, this place will be completely destroyed with ash, much like the city just five miles north of here, Pompeii. In fact this entire region will be flooded with molten earth and ash, and be consumed entirely. Further, Emperor Nero is on the throne, according to The Natural History, as written by Pliny the Elder... and I am sure you have heard of the stories of Emperor Nero.
I will be referring to myself during this Jaunt as Leontius Florentinus Vincio. Just Leontius will do, if you see me, but it is the best translation of my name I could come up with on short notice. If you require names to blend in, please, let me know and I will do my best to translate... or transliterate your names, should it be impossible. They usually come in three names, though sometimes two in women's cases, that being her name and the name of her husband. But it can be more or less depending on one's epic deeds or acts of heroism, or simply their fame throughout the Empire.
Further, a few points of advice on etiquette. Men are expected to wear togas. [He briefly livestreams a picture of himself in a toga and traditional sandals.] Ladies, do not wear a toga, like the men, unless you would like to be mistaken for a prostitute. Instead, find or make a stola. [He briefly livestreams a random gaggle of women walking past, each one wearing pretty stolas and giggling amongst themselves.]
Secondly, if you are to claim family ties, keep in mind which one is the eldest male in your "family". If you are a father, grandfather, or sometimes an elder brother or elder cousin - you are in charge, and you are expected to be obeyed no matter what. Younger brothers might or might not, depending upon the will of the deceased father, but... it is best if you choose your family ties wisely. If you argue in public, people will grow suspicious, or they will believe you are uncivilized and will try not to speak to you. Obviously, this would be difficult to further our investigation.
It is probably best to claim that you are from distant parts of the Empire if your native homeland is from outside Ancient Rome's bounds. Perhaps you can claim you are traders from distant lands, but you will not be treated as Roman citizens, that way. Many of the outer provinces were treated lesser than the inner provinces. Still, it is worth a try, to maintain appearances and keep our illusion going.
If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask me, but try not to come to me in person. I wish to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
Non รจ possible... this is... home? Italia...?
We are in the Kingdom of Naples... no, that is back in my time, this is Campania felix... Dio mio, we're in Stabiae--
[There is silence for a good fifteen minutes, as Leonardo prepares and questions the populace. Then, he finally comes on the Network.]
For anyone who is listening, I have some good news. And some bad news. The good news is that I have located our exact location in space and time. We are in Stabiae, an ancient Roman resort which Pliny the Elder described in detail in his records. The year, at least according to the gossip of Emperor Nero's daughter, Claudia Augusta, and her recent death, and the recent appointment of Titus Vespasian as the governor of Africa Proconsularis, indicate that this is the Year of Our Lord 63.
The bad news is that in sixteen years, this place will be completely destroyed with ash, much like the city just five miles north of here, Pompeii. In fact this entire region will be flooded with molten earth and ash, and be consumed entirely. Further, Emperor Nero is on the throne, according to The Natural History, as written by Pliny the Elder... and I am sure you have heard of the stories of Emperor Nero.
I will be referring to myself during this Jaunt as Leontius Florentinus Vincio. Just Leontius will do, if you see me, but it is the best translation of my name I could come up with on short notice. If you require names to blend in, please, let me know and I will do my best to translate... or transliterate your names, should it be impossible. They usually come in three names, though sometimes two in women's cases, that being her name and the name of her husband. But it can be more or less depending on one's epic deeds or acts of heroism, or simply their fame throughout the Empire.
Further, a few points of advice on etiquette. Men are expected to wear togas. [He briefly livestreams a picture of himself in a toga and traditional sandals.] Ladies, do not wear a toga, like the men, unless you would like to be mistaken for a prostitute. Instead, find or make a stola. [He briefly livestreams a random gaggle of women walking past, each one wearing pretty stolas and giggling amongst themselves.]
Secondly, if you are to claim family ties, keep in mind which one is the eldest male in your "family". If you are a father, grandfather, or sometimes an elder brother or elder cousin - you are in charge, and you are expected to be obeyed no matter what. Younger brothers might or might not, depending upon the will of the deceased father, but... it is best if you choose your family ties wisely. If you argue in public, people will grow suspicious, or they will believe you are uncivilized and will try not to speak to you. Obviously, this would be difficult to further our investigation.
It is probably best to claim that you are from distant parts of the Empire if your native homeland is from outside Ancient Rome's bounds. Perhaps you can claim you are traders from distant lands, but you will not be treated as Roman citizens, that way. Many of the outer provinces were treated lesser than the inner provinces. Still, it is worth a try, to maintain appearances and keep our illusion going.
If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask me, but try not to come to me in person. I wish to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
CALIGULA AND NERO WERE PURPORTEDLY GIANT FUCKWADS: THE POST
Agrippina the Elder, his mother, was entrenched in a bitter feud with Caligula's great uncle Tiberius over the throne when the emperor before him, Germanicus, died in the Year of Our Lord 19. This resulted in Caligula being the only surviving male heir. He became close with Tiberius, then, and when he died, Caligula became emperor of Rome. For the first half-year of his reign, he was noble and moderate, kind to his people, providing aqueducts and public services. Then after this, something... changed, according to historical record.
He became known for his cruelty, his sadistic and perverse sexual tendencies, and utter hedonistic, extravagant lifestyle. He built not one, but two lavish palaces for himself. Seneca the Younger famously described him as one who killed on a whim, a braggart when it came to sleeping with other men's wives, and wishing to erect a statue of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem so he might be worshiped as a god. He wasted money on a temporary bridge merely to snub a soothsayer who said he had no chance of becoming emperor "than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae", which he then did. At one point during a gladitorial game on which he was presiding, he ordered his guards to force an entire section of the crowd into the arena, to be eaten alive by animals, because there were no more criminals to be prosecuted. He has been accused of incest with his three sisters, of prostituting them, of turning his palace into a brothel... and he appointed his favorite horse, Incitatus, as a priest, and almost made him a consul of Rome. Furthermore, he did his utmost to grasp as much power as he could, so that he might have absolute control over Rome, and mostly ignored the ideals of the principate, that being, a continuation of the Roman Republic, though there was clearly an Emperor.
... Caligula might have been Cesare Borgia's inspiration for political scandals, come to think of it. [What with the incest, and the orgiastic parties in brothels, and the power-hungry grip on Rome, and the spontaneous murderous tendencies...]
Of course, you can see why many thought Caligula needed to be assassinated. He was, early in the Year of Our Lord 41. Caligula's uncle Claudius became the next emperor. Now, before this, Caligula had exiled Nero's mother and Claudius' niece, Agrippina the Younger, and Claudius let her return. He then married her, and adopted Nero. Nero then married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. A year after their marriage, Nero's mother poisoned Claudius in the Year of Our Lord 54, thus making Nero the new Emperor. Unsatisfied with his wife, Nero began an affair with a former slave, Claudia Acte. Further, he began severing his ties with his mother, whom he began to see as distrustful.
Perhaps to get revenge, or perhaps merely to regain her power behind the scenes, Agrippina then pushed for Nero's stepbrother, Brittanicus, to become the next Emperor, being the blood of the former emperor. Just before he was legally to be declared an adult, Nero had him poisoned. He then banished his mother and began removing her allies from court. He then ordered her death five years later. He divorced his wife and married the wife of his friend Otho, Poppaea Sabina, and when she died, married another married woman, Statilia Messalina, by driving her husband to suicide first. Then a year later, he met a young man named Sporus who bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppaea Sabina, and ordered him castrated, then marrying him. He supposedly called Sporus by Poppaea Sabina's name instead of his true name. He also had earlier married a freedman known only as Pythagoras, playing the role of the bride. None of those four - Sabina, Messalina, Sporus, or Pythagoras - have been Nero's courtiers yet.
Speaking of things yet to occur - next year in this Jaunt, in the Year of Our Lord 64, Rome was set ablaze, though by accident or arson it is unknown. Nero was rumored to have started the fire so that he could build a palace on the ashes. It is also rumored that Nero played his lyre and sang while Rome burned. When the public blamed him for the fire, he instead focused the blame on Christians, and had them thrown to the dogs, or crucified and burned. During all of this, his reign was plagued by many, many wars. He began a war with the Parthian Empire, suppressed the rebellion of Queen Boudica in Britannia, evaded a conspiracy directed against him, suppressed a revolt in Judea where they sacked the second temple of Jerusalem, and many more minor episodes besides.
Finally, there was a revolt over Nero's tax policies, led by Gaius Julius Vindex and Servius Sulpicius Galba. Vindex committed suicide after a crushing defeat by Lucius Verginius Rufus, Nero's ally, but Galba continued to fight against the Empire. Nero fled Rome as support for Galba grew, and as the Senate declared him a public enemy. The Senate wished to depose him, but not kill him, though it was rumored that they were intending on executing him by beating him to death. He fled to a loyal freedman's home with Sporus, and committed suicide with assistance. He died on June 9th, in the Year of Our Lord 68.
Hopefully that is enough information, madonna Sabetha? Unless you have further questions.
no subject
[She falls silent for the recitation, however, and remains so for a long moment afterward.]
Were it a year later, I might wonder if the propensity for the incendiary shared by some of our fellow Travelers might be behind that fire. As it is, I suppose we'll simply have to hope no one burns down the coast.
I've many questions, but have no worries, I'll restrict myself to those relevant to our current game. Is there anyone of historical import currently in the region?
no subject
I will happily answer any questions, even if they are not relevant.
It is difficult to say, other than I can confirm that both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were near Vesuvius when it erupted. The historian Tacitus was still a young lad at this point in history, I believe... he and Pliny the Elder are the reasons I know anything about this time period. I doubt he would be anywhere near Stabiae, but if you run into any young lads named Gaius Caecilius, leave him be.
As for others... I can list off important names, but there is no indication or proof that they were anywhere near Stabiae at this point in history.
no subject
If nothing springs to mind, it's unlikely that we'll set the world as you remember it on its head by what we do here - assuming this is the world as you remember it, and not merely one with a similar cast and features.
no subject
[Because if that's the case, all of the people he loves here existed in his world, hundreds and hundreds of years before he did... and probably died terribly sixteen years from the present moment.]
no subject
For what it's worth, I'm sorry.
no subject