Book I
Among the Roman elite, there is a certain idealization of the idea of the novus homo, that man who brings himself up from nothing to rise to the top of the socio-political pyramid and join them as the ruling class of the res publica. This is the triumph of the Roman system, a meritocracy that allowed them to conquer rule over the whole of the Mare Internum and best the Hellenistic monarchies of the east and the primitive tribal societies of Galja and Ispanja. The great reformer Caio Mario, who saved Romanja from destruction at the hands of the Cimbri and Teutones, was, depending on which man you ask, born to either a lowly laborer or an eques of Arpino, and rose to attain seven consulships. The famed orator Marco Tuljo Cicerone also came from outside this ruling senatorial class, as did numerous other famous figures; Marco Antonjo,* Gneo Pompeo Magno, and Cato Major are only some of the new men that rose to high status from comparatively humble beginnings.

Despite their veneration of this ideal, all these men faced scorn and derision from their more aristocratic peers, who basked in their illustrious lineages and established pedigrees. These were the men who were taught that the highest offices in the res publica were their birth-right, and shunned those who were not born with the same privilege of them. Cicerone’s father may have been a wealthy eques, but to the optimates, his lineage was little better than the yeoman farmer or the urban laborer. If he had been born with the name Corneljo, respect and acceptance by the senatorial would have been given; instead he was born a Tuljo, and had to work hard to earn the respect of the aristocracy which he so craved.

Imagine then how these same aristocrats, who viewed a son of a wealthy eques as deserving little more respect than the poor farmer who worked their great latifundia, would react to someone who truly originated from nothing. A man born to a poor laborer in Judea had risen to not only command their armies, but to become the princeps senatus, the first among equals, and the heir to the great Agosto. No doubt many would have viewed these positions, much as they viewed the consulship in centuries past, as theirs by right, or at least a position too prestigious of being debauched by someone who was no better than a barbarian.

It is no surprise then that the name of Jesus Volusjo has been tarnished in death by the same people who sabotaged him in life. Read any of the contemporary accounts of his reign and the reader might leave believing this man was a tyrant of the worst order, Tarquinjo Prisco reborn. The reality, of a thoughtful man out to do his best for the res publica he served despite opposition, is deeply at odds with the narrative that has emerged. It is my job, as a man who knew him well and was intimately familiar with his mind, to correct this narrative. The great writer
Thucydides, in his epic History of the Peloponnesian War, claimed that he wrote the his famous work to provide an, “exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future.”** Unlike those who have written before me, I wish to only report the events as they happened, as I and others remember, and as documents attest. I have no desire to embellish or romanticize; my only desire is to relate what was, to the best of my ability. In this, my writing may not garner as much interest as the most salacious histories written; I am not writing this for the masses, but for those who desire an accurate recounting of events, and, as Thucydides says, as “a possession for all time.”



*Paolo is referring to the orator who died in the year 666 AVC (87 BCE), not his more famous relative.

**The exact quote from Thucydides in the first book of his History of the Peloponnesian War is, “The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest; but if it be judged useful by those inquirers who desire an exact knowledge of the past as an aid to the interpretation of the future, which in the course of human things must resemble if it does not reflect it, I shall be content.” Paolo does not always abide by this creed, and often cannot resist the moralistic tradition of Herodotus and many others.
 
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Looking good!

(if you're referring to the roman elite in general, "novo om" would be a good transliteration. If you're only referring to the classical elite though, then your Latin is fine :))
 
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