ANTONIA VITELLIA
40 | 15 January 35 | Equite| Business-Woman| Bisexual| Original | Angelina Jolie
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Personality
Before all other things, Antonia’s goal in life is to protect Rome and safeguards its interests as well as her own. She is a woman who, despite her gender, has managed to scrape together a place for herself in Rome with her own two hands. Whether through the spilling of blood or poison, the way she used her body for promises she never intended to fulfill, or her marriages, Antonia managed to carve a place for herself in Roman society that left her father’s accomplishment with his trading empire a mere footnote in her life story.Antonia’s life is determination to serve her interests and those of her family. It was only later that she realized her love for Rome also contained her great desire to protect it. She views all things as potential assets and weighs and measures them accordingly. If they are useless or not bound to be a threat, they are ignored. If they can be used or held against another or to protect her and her kin, she uses them. At times, her use is ruthless and cold. Others, it is tempered by her compassion and her own inner desires, especially where children are concerned. Regardless, one can say that Antonia has never been one to shy from what needs to be done to her satisfaction and nor has she ever balked of the necessities to realize her desires.Antonia has very few soft spots in her life. One of those, perhaps the biggest one, is her children and those she views as her children. While the first is not of her bloodline (something that is not known to anyone but Antonia and her friend, Vanessa), her second is the reason that Antonia allows herself to, at times, believe there might actually be gods. Believing that she would never have children of her own, that her body was incapable, and fearing that she would succumb to death in childbirth like her mother, Antonia was hellbent on becoming content with that knowledge. Intending to focus solely on her son, Minor, she was shocked and dismayed when she discovered she was pregnant again. She was certain it would end in heartbreak, even through the first year of her daughter’s life, and now finds herself in awe that she managed to have a healthy child of her own. It shows in startling ways though she attempts to hide it so that her children do not become spoiled. Nonetheless, when push comes to shove, Antonia is one that will do anything to protect and save her children, even from themselves.Antonia is also a remarkably independent woman. During her first marriage, she was largely left to her own devices. Gifted with the intelligence and education that her father insisted upon, Antonia used it to raise her husband’s family and then, later, to tear it down in a fit on vengeance. In her second marriage, Antonia did not bother to raise the family’s fortunes up, believing they had enough for themselves and also not particularly being in love with her husband. However, she remained a faithful wife and companion until her second husband’s untimely death. Once she had fulfilled her Roman duty by marrying when possible, however, she stopped all attempts at feigning interest in the institution, returning to her family home to raise her son and daughter in peace.She now views marriage as unnecessary, something that will put her under another’s thumb and will likely involve her giving up her assets and independence. As someone who worked too hard to give it to a man who just happens to get her consent and nothing more, Antonia would rather die than give up her ability to run her life as she sees fit. Given her age, it is unlikely that anyone will ever approach her for marriage again, despite the wealth and honor she’s brought to her family and the Empire itself through her service.Her independence shows also in her covert operation of the Lovers of Eris. Antonia, upon discovering the Lovers, made her move hastily and quickly. She killed the Vulpina herself with trickery and acid, thinking it rather poetic that she should kill the Vulpina in the same method at which the Vulpina herself gained her power. However she came to power, Antonia now controls the Lovers and does so judiciously. She sees them as an extension of her neutrality, using their abilities and gifts solely to restore balance to Rome and never for a political faction in particular. Indeed, their use to back one Imperial power over another or to push a political agenda, assuming it would not be counter balanced by another or for Rome’s benefit, would be something that Antonia would never allow and would, in fact, force her to use the Lovers against the one who wished it otherwise. These days, the Lovers still conduct assassinations and train in their gifts and Antonia has a reputation amongst them as a harsh taskmaster with a compassionate side. “Our cold mother,” they call her, and they are not incorrect for some of them Antonia has raised and commanded since they were children.Finally, there is Antonia’s philosophies regarding Rome. Born and raised in Rome, having left its borders several times, Antonia loves Rome as much as she loves herself. She sees it as a delicate ecosystem that must be maintained and balanced for the welfare of its citizens and Imperial family. She will never allow harm to purposefully come to it unless she believes that, eventually, it will lead to Rome’s long term gain. Additionally, while she desires it to grow exponentially, she attempts to curtail or manipulate events when she can (however she can) if she believes that it will, in the long run, harm Rome’s interests and self. She can often be seen in the Imperial palace, speaking with the younger Imperials and offering advice as she did to Lucilla Augusta decades ago.Her loyalty, however, to these Imperials is not the same as to the Imperials of yesteryear. Rather, it is balanced, once more, by her philosophy regarding Rome’s continuous rise in strength and prosperity. Should, at any point, the Imperial family start working solely for their own interest rather than Rome’s, Antonia would be forced to take a side against them, as much as it would grieve her. She regards the majority of them as her own family, especially the youngest ones, and it would hurt her greatly to do so.
Appearance
Like her mother before her, Antonia was gifted with a slender waist, broad shoulders, and wide hip. Standing at 5’5”, she is as tall as most average men and finds it a rare delight when she discovers a woman of her own stature. Her lips are often colored with red or a darkened pink, to accentuate their fullness and their curve. Her hair is auburn though now threaded with gray and her eyes are a light blue that is rarely seen in Vitellii children. Her hair is usually pulled back from her face and any wisps that escape reveal themselves in a ringlet fashion. When she is surrounded by more comfortable company, Antonia lets her hair be dressed much loosely, with her locks surrounding her features and falling down her back.Her body has changed little since childbirth. Her breasts are heavier, the nipples darker from nursing years ago, and her waistline has returned to its previous slenderness. Her hips are wider and have some stretchmarks.She used to wear her hair in a chignon with a palla over her head to suggest modesty. However, since her marriages, she has allowed her palla to drape lower and lower until it is more of a shawl than anything else. In place of the palla over her hair, she has taken to putting various ornaments in instead. Sometimes she might wrap it elaborately with strands of pearls or sapphires but, more often than not, she had clasps of butterflies, jeweled and gleaming, pulling back of certain strands for dramatic effect.Her feet are blessed (unlike those poor, poor plebeians) with sandals of high quality wood and leather. On her ankles, bangles chime and swirl together, the intent to make noise without seeing exactly where the noise is coming from. This is a trick she learned from her Egyptian lover at one point and has continued since. Another trick that she learned to do perfectly was the darkening of the lids of her eyes so that they seem to pop from her head in a pleasing manner. Furthermore, she has learned to dress richly and in a fine, pleasing manner to draw the eyes of men and make sure they realize her assets: her wide hips and her matronly breasts. After all, a woman's duty is to provide sons and honor to the family.Antonia adores jewelry. As a result, she wears rings, ornate hair ornaments, bracelets, armlets, and anklets. She also enjoys wearing clothing that shows her in the best possible manner. Dark, rich colors adorn her frame and drape over her shoulders. As a woman in love with the idea of draping cloths, she wears chitons and pallas with as much possibility of a drape as possible.
Family
Father: Marcus Vitellius, deceased 56 A.D. when Antonia slowly poisoned him over time to mimic illness.
Mother: Antonia Vitellia, deceased 35 A.D. from childbirth
Siblings:
Titus Vitellius, deceased 63 A.D. from illness, though in truth, murdered during a party Antonia was throwing by a guest. She and the guest hid the body in the house until she could "discover" his body later in a far more fitting and dignified manner of death ("illness").
Vitellia Livia, deceased 35 A.D., stillborn. Technically Antonia's twin.
Spouse:
Renius Suetonius Metellus, married 56 A.D., divorced 59 A.D. after his disgrace in Judaea and affair with a Judaean princess. Eventually died on the front lines in Gaul.
Gaius Livius Lucretinus Aemilianus, married 63 A.D., widowed 65 A.D in a horseback riding accident where he broke his neck.
Children:
Renius Suetonius Metellus Minor, son, born 58 A.D. in her first marriage. A true, good hearted gentleman as she raised him to be, and untouched by his mother’s more heinous deeds. Simply put, he is “good.”
Livia Caelia, daughter, born 64 A.D. in her second marriage. Caelia has naive, romantic daydreams and aspirations that her mother finds distasteful and is trying to curb as much as possible.
Extended family: None
Other: None.
History
CHILDHOOD (35 A.D – 48 A.D.):
To understand Antonia, one must go back farther and touch upon her parents. Her father was originally a simple merchant, arising from humble stock. In 25 A.D, he was raised from a citizen to an Equestrian noble due to his immense wealth. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that he greased the wheels of success with gold. Indeed, such a practice in his life had guaranteed his survival in many aspects of life. It even helped him earn the marriage to an already established Equestrian noble family, the Antonii (descendants of Antony from his first marriage to Fabia).
Marcus had heard of Antonia's beauty from speaking with other families in order to further raise his status. Knowing he must take a wife and seeing it in his best interest to take a woman already known for her ladylike qualities, he quickly concocted a social event at his house, a simple party to celebrate his achievements at trading with some Egyptians and making a hefty amount of money. He made quite certain to invite the Antonii and various other families connected to them. Once he met with the patriarch, he quickly began dropping comments on his own personal wealth and how he was aging quicker than he believed. Furthermore, he mentioned, it was in his best interest to soon take a wife with impeccable honor and mannerisms. Such a woman, he suggested, might be found within the walls of the Antonii house. The father of Antonia quickly caught on and suggested that such beauty and honor was without parallel in Rome and could not be handed away so easily. Within moments, gold was exchanged, an agreement made, and Antonia's fate was sealed.
Antonia herself was beautiful, yes, but not near the beauty that she had been renowned to be. Her lips were too big, her breasts smaller than Marcus preferred and her hips barely existing. No one had mentioned her age to Marcus and so he received for his wife a thirteen year old girl in 30 A.D. If Marcus was disappointed, he failed to show it for he simply recited the vows, took her to the bedchamber, and tested her virginity and purity himself.
However, it did not become long for their marriage to be strained. Antonia disliked her older husband so much so that she continually descended into tears and her body froze during consummation of their marriage. Frustrated, Marcus instead took interest in courtesans (expensive but he could pay, he reasoned) and in their serving girls. Ashamed and filled with a strange desire to somehow make things right between them despite a rocky start, Antonia tried harder than ever to please her husband by 32 A.D. It did not help that because of one of her female cousin's actions in Egypt her family was scandalized and did not have as much impact as it once did. She could, in Marcus's eyes, afford to be dismissed on a whim.
Things hit the bottom of the amphorae when Marcus told Antonia in private that because their marriage was yet sterile and relations between them were too strained for him to perform his marital duties, he was considering a divorce. Antonia collapsed, her honor shattered, her worst fears realized. She begged one more chance, one pitiful chance to prove herself an honorable and good wife for was not her honor already slightly tainted by Justinia Antonia's actions in Egypt? One more attempt in their marriage would go unnoticed by all for their problems were between only them.
Marcus was never one to be cold against a sobbing woman and so allowed her another chance. That night, Antonia did not freeze or sob. She did as well as a woman in love and lust with her husband, even fooling herself that night. Nine months later, her faith was restored in herself and Marcus when she gave birth to their son, Titus Vitellius. Marcus had never been so pleased in his life and hastily ordered another house party to celebrate the birth of his son. There, he met all questions concerning Antonia's health with glee and unabashed pride. Antonia, for her own part, kept quiet, offering smiles and polite nods to each guest.
It took her until the end of next year to conceive once more and she had no doubt that this pregnancy, like the last, would be easy and the labor smooth. However, fate had decided otherwise for while Antonia had been lucky during Titus's birth, her small hips had come to destroy her completely. During pregnancy, she found herself constantly nauseated so that she was unable to keep down food in proper amounts until her seventh month in. Afterwards, she was confined to bed to rest, eat, and drink plenty without exerting herself. None of this helped when the time came. Even Marcus retreating to a temple to pray for his wife did not help.
The gods had abandoned Antonia with laughing cruelty.
She struggled, as any woman would, against the tide that pulled her from life. Her hips were too narrow, the midwives said in hushed tones, it was impossible for her to birth the two. When Antonia was told it was twins, not a single child she was birthing, she paled, knowing now it was against any hope for survival. The two, the midwives said, were practically battling at the mouth to arrive first, each determined to get their way. Hours later, she finally gave birth to one and then, soon after, the other. Two girls were delivered to Antonia, who rested her eyes upon them, feeling disappointed and fearing her husband's anger. Before the midwives' eyes, though, Antonia, who was at first sobbing hysterically with fear, started laughing. "Take the cloths from my womb, midwives," she said, laughing hard, "I'm going to die today. I see it clearly now! I won't have to fear my husband's wrath for I am dying. I will not be alive when he passes over the threshold to see my final failure!" The midwives, startled, believed Antonia was going mad and kept packing her womb with cloth to stem the blood.
It failed and as Antonia foretold, she was dead before Marcus passed the threshold to see her final shame.
When he beheld his daughters, he blanched. Upon hearing of his wife's death, he fumbled out of his house, seeking out the nearest tavern. Truth be told, in the last two years, he had come to love Antonia. The revival of their marriage bed had been a revival of her charming nature that had never unveiled itself to him during the first year. So charming was she when she was unfettered with fear that she had pulled him in without knowing and saved herself from shame and uncertain future. Now, without her, he felt himself stunned by her death and hardened by it as well. He spent that night in the depths of alcohol and awoke the next morning with a renewed sense of purpose.
Within a week, the younger twin, the weaker of the two, died. Antonia Vitellia, however, lived, and grew close to her mother's image, but for the hips and breasts which grew far more than her mother ever had. Instead of shunning his daughter, Marcus tolerated her. He realized that his children had to provide a stunning legacy for both him and his wife and so had them educated in the best way available considering his wealth. As a result, Antonia was able to read, write, dance, play instruments, speak several languages, and think clearly to see the way to her goals. It did not take long for her to realize how she could apply these to get whatever she wanted.
It also didn't take her long to realize she could use her knowledge to see faults in others and exploit those. For example: her father's Achilles heel was discussion and memory of her mother. Though he tried to hold out on any and all information on Antonia and, to some extent, Titus, the servants talked and to them, Antonia listened. It didn't take long for her to realize that, at ten, she was the spitting image of her mother upon her marriage to Marcus. So, at age ten, when she wanted to skip her lessons one day, she went to her father and, knowing what it would do, began weeping. Marcus was struck by the image of his dead wife, sitting before him, weeping as she had as she begged him for one more chance. Guilt swept over him and he gave in to Antonia's demands, letting her skip that day of lessons.
Smirking, she went from him and approached her brother next, twining her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek, and showing him all the affection in the world. Within moments, he was tied around her finger, waiting for her word or order. A rush went through her young body and Antonia demanded that, should she ever marry after their father died, Titus must back her decision on her marriage and listen to her rather than himself. Titus, confused, agreed. Antonia left him as well and went to her rooms for the day.
TEENAGE TO EARLY ADULT (48 A.D. – 55 A.D.):
At age fourteen, a marriage was arranged between Antonia and an older senator. This, she saw, was the most crucial moment of learning to manipulate others. This was the time when it all hinged on her performance to her brother and her father. Weeping, howling, tearing at hair and clothes, Antonia approached them both, saying that she had been speaking with her friends and learned something awful about her beloved husband-to-be. Startled and, no doubt, a little frightened by her behavior, her brother and father stopped to hear her. At first, she protested saying that she would not openly speak of such shameful things. Her father grew irritated, demanding that she tell him. Hesitating a bit, Antonia opened her mouth and spewed the vile acidic poison that would dissolve any potential union for her and the senator.
Her betrothed, she had heard, was marrying her purely for the dowry and, like the other wives before her, she would perish soon after the marriage rites were performed. After all, she pointed out, he had sons already, three of them, from previous marriages. She had no worth in childbirth when considering no sons were further necessary. His other wives, she hissed, had died peculiarly and suddenly after marriage as well.
Her father and brother listened, too engrossed in the horror of it all to really turn away. Deciding that such horrible things could not come from such a virginal mouth without truth behind them, they decided she was telling the truth.
Later, Antonia hid her smile as they composed a missive to the senator telling him that, unfortunately, the betrothal with Antonia would have to be cancelled given some news that had just reached their ears. However, a bag of coins was given to them in an effort to bribe him from asking too many questions or taking up a dispute between the two families. Antonia was left alone for some time, making a show of grieving for her lost "opportunity."
Finally, Antonia began exploring her own relationships with others at the age of sixteen. Poised and graceful, her first run in was with Equestrian nobleman at a house party. All evening they had exchanged glances, whispered words in passing and, eventually, touched with a finger or a glancing touch of the foot to the other's foot. Later, they separated from the party and found themselves in the stables. She quickly kissed him, unsure exactly what to do, but sure that confidence would make up for any ungainly moments. The youth himself was completely sure in what he was doing and so her first kiss, first caress, and first experience of anything remotely close to lust was experienced in a lowly stable. When her father found her to take her from the party, she quickly wiped any excitement from her face and simply looked calm and shrewd, as usual.
However, Antonia was still a virgin after that night. She was not stupid enough to let some man have all of her. She knew the scandal that could arise from not being a virgin in Rome and an unwed one at that from a noble house. She would not risk it.
Afterwards, her next encounter was with an Egyptian slave girl that her brother had bought at the market. Antonia had watched her for days and, one morning, in the spirit of malice, had demanded the girl take off her clothes and dance for her like Antonia had heard they did for the Pharaoh's long ago. Though the girl had no idea what Antonia was talking about, she did as she was told for the only other option was twenty lashes. For some reason, the girl so enticed Antonia that she quickly dismissed the girl, only to summon her to serve her in her own chambers that night before bed. Once there, Antonia dismissed the other servants, requesting the Egyptian stay behind. She demanded the girl undress again and dance as before and the girl did. Antonia kissed the girl, caressed her, and then asked the Egyptian to teach her to dance as she did. Further confused and frightened, the Egyptian girl did and was rewarded with another kiss from her mistress.
A few months later, Antonia took the girl as a lover, knowing that the things that she would experience would not destroy her virginity. If Titus knew, he said not a word but when word did start circulating between the servants and slaves about the mistress placing too much favor upon the Egyptian girl. There was a reason, it was whispered, and everyone was shocked when, one day, Antonia slapped the Egyptian across the face before all assembled and shrieked that she was incompetent and foolish. She demanded that the girl be sold as she was found stealing her mistress’s things. Marcus, stunned once more by his daughter’s behavior, did as she requested and even conducted a small investigation. So cunning was Antonia that she put several pieces of her jewelry under the girl’s pallet so that it was found and the girl convicted. She was sold, promptly, to a traveling merchant so that she might never be seen again. After that, the rumors stopped and any potential scandal with Antonia was averted.
If any rumors did leak out, Antonia was unaware of them.
ADULTHOOD (55 A.D. – Present):
However, as she approached nineteen years of age, her father professed himself confused as to why she was yet unwed and, worse, unasked for. Her dowry was impeccable, her manner charming. Yes, she had her erratic behavior but he assumed it was from so much stress being placed upon her so often concerning her betrothal and the business with the slave girl.
All worries were eased when her marriage was finally arranged for her by her brother, Titus, who was recently placed in a political position over the city by her own doing. After discovering the talents of Renius Suetonius Metellus, a marriage was arranged between the two of them and they were married in late October of 56 A.D. The marriage proved to be a happy one until, one night after a slave had given birth to a healthy son, Renius revealed that it was his son the slave had had and, though he would not acknowledge it as his, Antonia saw it as a threat to her own unborn child.
Afterwards, she went to the Palace to see her new lover, Lucilla, also the Augusta of Rome, and told her all that had happened, asking for advice. Renius's omission had hurt her deeply, for all that she would not admit her affection for him, and she still felt the infant to be a threat despite what he said. This feeling of pain only deepened when she gave birth to an already dead son she called Julius.
Upon Renius's arrival in Rome, she quickly reestablished their relationship and became pregnant a second time. All her work was tossed out the window when he left to be a governor in the East and subsequently became the lover of an aging Judean princess named Julia Berenice. Despite the fact that many Roman women would have just turned her face away, Antonia decided to do something about it.
She hastily wrote to the King of Judea, whose marriage she had arranged to her own sister-in-law Emilia, and told him of the scandalous behavior and what it might bring about for all parties involved. Furthermore, she alerted the Augusta and also gave her her own opinions of what might transpire if it continued. Finally, she set about creating a network of spies within Judea, most of them old confidences of her father's, and having them plant the seeds of the rumor within the Judean masses. Knowing that they would not stand for it, she bided her time until she was able to arrive in Judea herself to play the role of the spurned, obedient wife.
Before she could make her sweeping entrance on to the stage of Judaean politics, however, Antonia found herself crushed with tragedy once more. Unfortunately, her second pregnancy, like her first, was not to bear fruit. One night, Antonia felt contractions and cramping deep in her womb. Upset with the foreshadowing, she took to her bed, summoning a midwife who had earlier been contracted to work for Antonia throughout her pregnancy. Hoping that perhaps the situation might be redeemed, the circumstances went as undesired as Antonia gave birth to a perfectly formed, but dead, child. She wept over the body before consigning it to the flames of the nearby fireplace and taking to her bed to rest. As if the gods’ mocked her, Antonia’s body rebounded quickly enough in healing though her heart didn’t. Then, as if offering atonement, she was given an opportunity.
A woman who had been Herod’s lover during his stay in Rome had fallen pregnant and, months ago, Antonia had befriended her and offered her advice. Their deep friendship and trust continued and Antonia found herself met by the woman’s servant shortly after her stillbirth with news to come quickly. Long ago, it had been decided, due to the woman’s marriage to an abusive man, that Antonia would adopt the child and raise it as her own when the time came. However, neither party had thought Antonia would be utterly childless at the time, thinking instead that Antonia would pass the child off as one of her servant’s offspring.
Believing that her husband would no longer love her if he saw her as “tainted goods,” Antonia took the child as the mother died in childbirth and instead raised him as her own. It was this child that Antonia approached the Judaean stage with, even lowering the child to the ground and silently insisting that Renius pick up the boy when they met on the docks. That Renius did, and acknowledged the child as his own, was a small victory that soothed some of the vengeful storm in Antonia’s heart, but overall did nothing to stem the coming tide of her anger when she found that her presence could not prevent the affair between her husband and the Judaean princess.
Spurned into attack by wounded pride, Antonia then triggered the events in Judaean leading to an uprising. She swirled the rumors, did her best to look the utter Roman matron of sympathy, and then waited until she more aggressively pressed the attack through her planted spies and actors. Before night had fallen on another day in Judaea, Antonia had managed to get the Judaean princess nearly stoned to death and her husband called back from his station there, in disgrace. The royal family had fled in fear and Judaea was a cesspool of violence and fear. She regretted nothing except that Julia Berenice had survived the revolt.
Upon her return to Rome, Antonia divorced her now-disgraced husband and set about raising her son, despite the attempts of Julia Berenice to blacken her name and cast her into shame. She provided the best for her son possible while managing to escape matrimony a second time. Meanwhile, she aided her brother in his growth of their family's trading empire.
However, such peace was not to last. After the death of her lover, Lucilla, from an unknown disease, Antonia watched as Rome plunged into chaos yet again. As she had promised Lucilla, Antonia approached the Imperial palace and took Claudia, Lucilla’s last daughter, to safety. Not knowing who in the city was friend or foe, she stayed there with her, giving her all the love and attention she could while trying to provide stability and ascertain the situation. Once the pieces had fallen into place, Antonia used her Lovers to smuggle Claudia to Antioch and into the safe arms of their uncle, Quintus, and their grandmother, Annthea. Though Antonia wanted to fight it as much as possible, ultimately, she settled for trying to diminish the damage such chaos had wrought in Rome with as delicate a touch as possible.
Soon before her smuggling of Claudia, Antonia discovered the Lovers of Eris. For months, she eyed them and weighed their use. Finally, fearful of the new regime and what it might do to Imperial loyalists such as herself, Antonia contacted the Vulpina. She had done her homework and concocted a special poison for the event. Knowing that the Lovers would never respect someone who took power without murdering the Vulpina, Antonia knew that, for one of the few times in her life, she would have to take direct action to end the life of another. When she met with the Vulpina, however, Antonia did not hesitate, acting as if she had murdered her victims herself her whole life. She burned the Vulpina’s face with acid before ending the woman’s torment herself. The moment the Lovers stepped in to see what was going on, they realized that power, as per Lover tradition, had passed over to Antonia.
With that, she became the Vulpina of the Lovers until such time as another ended her life.
Soon afterward, Antonia found herself fulfilling her deathbed promise to Lucilla in other ways. Hungry for vengeance on those that had brought the downfall of what she saw, essentially, as an extension of her own family, Antonia actively aided the remnants of the Imperial family. This included, once they were secured and rendered safe, Livia and Claudia. Though she could not find Tiberius, Antonia sent whatever aid she could to Claudia, Quintus, and Livia while Clemens ran amok. Whether in the form of information, money, Antonia finally became more proactive when she managed to smuggle a poisoned blade to Flavia. With this blade, Flavia struck down Clemens and managed to say it was merely assassins that performed the deed.
In 63 A.D., with the return of the Imperial family and the placing of Quintus Alexander as the new Emperor, Antonia felt Rome stabilize once more. In true Vitellii fashion, Antonia held a party during which things came to a head behind closed doors in a way she never would have foretold.
The party’s purpose had been to merely present Antonia (and her availability for matrimony) to the public and to the eyes of the prominent families. As a masquerade and costume sort of event, Antonia had everyone’s wines (barring her own, of course) touched with a drug to lower inhibitions. Unfortunately, her brother drank one too many and, knowing Antonia’s costume, finally found himself alone with her in the closed off corridors of their home. There, he sought to take advantage of Antonia and he almost succeeded until a random guest came onto the scene. Seeing the trouble, the guest killed Titus, an action that had Antonia shocked and reeling before her own predilection towards solutions took control.
The two worked to hide the body, sliding it into her personal office space where her poisons were kept. There, she kept the body for a week, using a variety of unguents and perfumes to cover the smell, thankful for the cooler weather in Rome’s winter for helping keep the worst of decomposition at bay. Furthermore, she laced the rumor mill of Rome with news that Titus was ill before finally, a week later, saying that he had died of an unknown but swift illness that left the body covered in boils and lesions. The illness, she stated, meant his body needed to be shrouded and burned hastily. Her word was taken without doubt and her maiden, Vanessa, aided her mistress in cleaning, shrouding, and burning the body. A sizable portion of their clients and family were present, all watching the burning while Antonia looked on, knowing that they would spread the word of Titus’s demise by illness and subsequent pyre.
Later, it was discovered that Titus had left his fortune, the family domus, and the trading empire to her son, Renius Suetonius Metellus Minor. Minor, being around five years old at the time, was far too young to run such a thing or even know what to do with the finances. Antonia hastily freed one of their slaves, a male who had been raised in the Vitellius household and always turned down the opportunity for freedom. This time, knowing that he’d still be in the Vitellii business and under their watchful eye, he accepted the freedom and salary offered to essentially be the book keep and frontman while Antonia did the work from behind closed doors.
To all official and legal eyes, the Vitellii Trading Company was managed by a man, though anyone with eyes and brains in their heads knew that Antonia was the true decision maker, the true Empress of the Trading Company. Running both the trading company and the Lovers, Antonia worked tirelessly for her family’s benefit and the benefit of the Empire. But now, without a male benefactor of age, Antonia found herself hounded by numerous proposals and attempts at betrothal.
Finally, only a month after her brother’s demise, Antonia met with Gaius Livius Lucretinus Aemilianus. Within the first meeting, Antonia knew Livius was a pushover compared to her power. While it was nothing that she was attracted to, she could see herself acquiring some manner of happiness under his thumb. After clarifying to him that Vitellii family matters would never be Livii family matters and acquiring his agreement, Antonia had the betrothal and marriage papers drawn up. Within a week, the two wed. A month later, Antonia knew she was pregnant.
Believing that the child would perish as all the others had, she set no sights on its birth and nor did she slow down her operations. Furthermore, she failed to notify her husband of the pregnancy until she was visibly showing. Though she had attempted to hide it with flowing clothing to escape potential gossip, eventually the bulge became obvious and Antonia was finally forced to admit, to eyes that probably had already guessed, that she was pregnant. Livius, who already several children, was impressed by his wife’s fecundity, certain that only good things would happen. Antonia, for her part, reserved any joy or sense of accomplishment, positive that she would be holding a corpse by the end of it.
Her reservation, while prudent, turned out to be for naught. That year, the same year of her marriage, Antonia gave birth to a healthy, glowing girl. Pushing her husband over once more, Antonia gave the girl the name of “Caelia” meaning heavenly and further eschewed Roman naming conventions in the process. She was aware it was rather a conscientious flirtation in telling people that her husband, despite his name’s antiquity and honor, was not in charge of their marriage; that, instead, it was she herself in charge.
She did not care and flouted Roman tradition with little thought at all. She had finally given birth to a living child, one of her own, and nothing could stop what she felt, more than business, more than politics, was the moment of her greatest glory.
Her victory, and daydreams of other children to follow, was to be left unrealized. No less than two years later, Livius was coming home from the countryside when his horse caught sight of a snake in the road. Panicking, the horse reared and fled, knocking loose his rider and casting him upon the ground. Livius’s neck snapped instantly and though he did not die immediately, he soon suffocated on the road, his slaves and accompanying fellows unable to help him. His body was brought back to his family’s home and his wife and children greeted the men at the door. For Antonia, who had no great love for Livius but appreciated the attention and companionship he gave her, it came as a slight blow though not a great or distracting one.
Instead, she merely moved her children back to the Vitellii domus, a place where she had lived off and on during her marriage to Livius and never stopped using completely. Moving back was simple: she merely gathered up several of her clothes and her daughter, Minor following dutifully behind, and went back to the domus. With her came Livius’s children from his previous marriage that were too young to strike out on their own or even yet claim their father’s fortune independently. In honor of her marriage to Livius, Antonia did the honorable thing. She appointed a separate man that the Livii trusted to guard the children’s fortune and made sure the rest was divided as according to Roman law and Livius’s will. For herself, there was little change. Antonia only had her own fortune and home. Through her children, she had established independence and she wielded it to do as she pleased and whom she pleased.
Antonia took no lovers nor any new husbands. Rather, she ran her businesses, advised those in the Imperial family who desired her advice, raised the children accordingly, and raised the fortunes of the Vitellii accordingly. Though others came to try to woo and marry her, Antonia turned them down, instead performing the same rigorous training process with her children as her father had with her. Her days were full and her nights, chilled and haunted by the memories of her brother roaming the halls, sleepless. Though her beauty has cooled and the rumors swirling her faded with her youth, Antonia remains strong and proud, loyal to her true mother: Rome.
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