Original Character: Captain Titus Romulus

My first original character on Deviantart: Titus Romulus of the Roman Empire! Titus is basically the Roman version of Captain America: a super-soldier bred for a historical conflict, who gets frozen and preserved until the modern day, where he struggles to fit in, as his “old” values clash with those of the modern world…

CHARACTER PROFILE:

Real Name: TITVS ROMVLVS LEONINVS PRIMVS MAXIMVS
Alias: “First And Greatest Of Men”; “The Lion of the Thirteenth”; "Last Of The Romans"
Age: born in 673 Ab Urbe Condita (81 B.C.)
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Occupation: Centurion in the Legio XIII of the Roman Army (previously served as a Legionary in the Legio X)
Culture: Ancient Roman
Epoch: The Late Roman Republic; and The Modern Day

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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Height: 5’2”, or 157cm (pre-serum); 6’4”, or 193cm (post-serum)
Weight: 120lb, or 54kg (pre-serum); 248lb, or 112kg (post-serum)
Hair: dark brown
Eyes: steel grey
Skin: olive
Ethnicity: Mediterranean – Latin (from the region of Latium)

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POWERS/STRENGTHS:

Blood of Mars: thanks to the mysterious super-soldier serum known as “Blood Of Mars”, Titus’ strength, stamina, and reflexes are all greatly enhanced to superhuman levels. He can run a Roman mile in 49 seconds (a speed of 30 m/s, or 108 km/h), can lift up to 1200 lb, and his metabolism allows him to operate at peak capacity for over an hour before showing any signs of fatigue. Furthermore, he possesses incredible healing abilities, and his enhancements account for why Titus was able to survive two millennia in suspended animation. Titus is basically the Ancient Roman version of Captain America!

Blessing of Aesculapius: Titus’ healing abilities are greatly enhanced by the “Blood of Mars”, enabling him to recover rapidly from cuts, slashes, burns, and broken bones. Titus’ abilities are limited, however, as he cannot regenerate missing limbs, and can still die from blood loss or infection if his battle wounds are severe enough.

First And Greatest Among Men: Titus is proud to uphold the ideals of the model Roman soldier - courage, honor, determination, and iron discipline. Even in the toughest battles, like when battling other super-humans or fighting monsters, Titus will never waver in his resolve, and would sooner die standing on his feet than suffer a slight to his personal honor. Titus’ personal discipline also makes him a fast and dedicated learner. For these reasons, Titus earned the epithet Primus Maximusque Inter Viris - "First And Greatest Among Men".

Multi-Skilled Combatant: Titus is trained in a variety of fighting techniques, most notably, with the short sword (gladius) and shield (scutum) combination of a Roman Legionary. He is also trained in the pilum (javelin), the funda (sling), and the arcus (bow), all of which he can throw much further than any regular human being. Fighting in Germania and in Gaul, Titus also has extensive exposure to Gallic and Germanic weapons, such as longswords, axes, maces, warhammers, flails, and hunting daggers. In order to survive in the modern age, Titus has also had to learn the basics of firearms, though he generally dislikes these weapons.

Commanding Persona: Titus’ imposing 6’4” height was especially impressive back in Ancient Rome, where the average height was only 5’5”. Even today, Titus’ stature, his stern, cold, disciplined aura, and his deep, commanding voice give one the impression that this man just has to be obeyed!

Skilled Horseman: although he is primarily a foot infantryman, Titus is also trained in horsemanship, and can match almost any living horseman in ability – which is especially impressive, as Titus doesn’t even use stirrups! (Stirrups weren’t invented until after the Roman Empire).

Multi-Lingual: Titus is fluent in his native Latin, as well as Greek (the de facto lingua francia of the ancient world), and some dialects of Gallic and Germanic that he’s picked up while on campaign. In the modern age, Titus has had to learn other languages as well, such as Italian and Spanish (which are related to Latin), as well as English and German (both related to Old Germanic).

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WEAKNESSES:

Only Human: Titus’ abilities, while greatly enhanced, have upper limits to them, and Titus can still be harmed by the same weapons that can kill an ordinary human – such as swords, spears, daggers, axes and arrows (and guns in the modern world).

Fish Out Of Temporal Water: Titus was born and raised in the Roman Republic, and his personal philosophy and outlook on life are two millennia out-of-date. Because of this, he has great difficulty adjusting to life in the modern world. For example, he still has trouble accepting and coming to terms with the fall of the Roman Empire. Also, his deeply ingrained conservative Roman values frequently clash with more liberal and “impious” modern values.

Suicidal Honor: Titus’ strong personal code of honor and duty is something he holds dear, often at the cost of pragmatism. Even in his own time, he had trouble living in the political viper’s nest of corruption, intrigue, and decadence that Rome had become by the first century BC. Jupiter knows how well he’ll survive in a modern world that’s just as corrupt and decadent, but far larger, deadlier, and more complex than the simple sword-and-sandal politics of Ancient Rome…

Bringing A Knife To A Gun Fight: Titus is an exceptional swordsman … unfortunately, his fighting styles and techniques evolved in a pre-gunpowder society, and one can just imagine his shock upon being exposed to modern firearms for the first time! Titus must adapt his tactics and skills to fit the modern age, or perish …

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PERSONALITY:

“Strength. Honor. Duty. Courage.” – motto of the Gens Romula, family of Titus Romulus

Titus Romulus Leoninus Primus Maximus is a relic from the past in every sense of the word. Born and raised in the Roman Republic to the ancient Patrician family of the Romuli (claimed to have descended from the legendary Romulus himself, the son of Mars and Founder of Rome), Titus was trained to be a tough, hard-as-nails, no-nonsense, soldier-for-life. When he joined the Roman Army at age 16, he was neither the toughest nor the strongest, and was actually considered weak, short, and frail by his comrades-in-arms. Nonetheless, he distinguished himself on the battlefield through his courage, determination, and his unwavering loyalty to Rome, and to his general Julius Caesar.

It is perhaps for these reasons that Titus was chosen to become the first of Caesar’s new generation of super soldier, the Praetorians. The creation of famed Greek scientist Telemachos of Athens, the fabled “Blood Of Mars” was a mysterious potion that could enhance not just the taker’s physical attributes, but their personality traits as well. Tragically, the program never got off the ground due to the untimely death of Telemachos (assassinated, it is believed, by Caesar's political enemies in the Senate), leaving Titus as the only one of his kind. Nevertheless, Titus continued to valiantly champion Caesar’s cause and uphold the ideals and virtues of the model Roman soldier – even when the outbreak of the Civil War forces Titus to choose between loyalty to Caesar or to the Republic.

Titus Romulus is a man of honor and duty, to the point that this sometimes adversely affects his decision-making and his interactions with others. Even an accomplished warrior and superhuman like Titus, who exemplifies Rome’s highest ideals, finds it hard to survive in the cesspit of corruption, dishonesty, and decadence of first century B.C. Rome.

Things get even worse for poor Titus when he arrives in the modern world, having been in hibernation for over two millennia. Like any good Roman, Titus is deeply conservative and suspicious of new or foreign ideas, so one can imagine just how much of a shock the modern world is to him. At the end of the day though, the ever stoic Titus accepts and takes these hardships in stride, believing that like the eternal glory of Rome, he too will survive and endure in one way or another ...

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WRITER'S NOTES:

The complete background notes and history for this character can be found at: jefffletcher.deviantart.com/ar…

Also, be sure to check out my series on Ancient Rome and the world of Titus Romulus at, the first of which can be found at: jefffletcher.deviantart.com/ar…

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RES LEGITIMAE:

Titus Romulus Leoninus Maximus is (c) me.

The Commentaries On The Gallic Wars are (c) Gaius Julius Caesar. However, given that Caesar lived over 2,000 years ago, I presume that the Commentaries are thus public domain by now.