Table of Contents
The Caesariad
- By Ed Thomas (EdT)
Setting
- The late Roman Republic, concentrating on the political manouvering and plotting after the ahistorical death of Julius Caesar.
- The action is split between narrative concerning what actually happened, and the events retold in “The Caesariad”, a historical epic composed an unpecified time after the events of the TL.
POD
In the summer of 54BC, Julius Caesar's daughter Julia, the wife of Pompeius Magnus, dies in childbirth. Unlike in OTL however, her child, a boy, survives and remains a tangible link between the two factions, preventing the war between Pompey and Caesar and ennabling him to have an illustrious later career…
Plot
The narrative opens sixteen years after the PoD, on the death of Julius Caesar, who has just completed a successful campaign against the Parthians.
Characters
- Julius Caesar, whose death sparks off a frenzy of political manouvering and chcanery.
The Pompeians
- Gnaeus Pompeius the Younger, the corpulent and supremely self-confident paterfamilias of the Pompeian faction.
- Sextus Pompeius, his younger, and more talented brother.
- Quintus Pompeius, whose survival was the Point of Departure, a military prodigy but unfortunately also a spoiled brat.
The Caesarians
- Marcus Antonius, Caesar's cousin and (at least as far as he is concerned) successor, with a worrying fondness for drink.
- Decimus Brutus, Antonius' friend and rival, a talented general and potential successor in his own right.
- Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the smug, but well connected, Pontifex Maximus.
- Titus Labienus, a very dangerous man indeed.
- Marcus Junius Brutus, a shy and retiring businessman who may be less of a cringeing fool than he seems…
The Senatorial Faction
- Gaius Octavianus, Ceaesar's legal successor and plotter extraordinaire.
- Marcus Agrippa, Octavianus' right hand man.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Aeging statesman and self-styled saviour of the Republic.
The others
- Publius Cornelius Dolabella, whose debt is going to get him into serious trouble.
- Gaius Asinius Pollio, the historian who is lucky enough to be there whenever history happens.
- Queen Cleopatra, who will play a role in one of history's greatest love stories.
- The False Caesar, who may well be more dangerous to Rome than all of the other characters put together…