Paulus Annius Faventinus
45 | 15th February 29CE | Plebeian | Auctioneer | Straight | Original | Jared Harris
Personality.
An auctioneer, trader, dealer in bric-a-brac, art and 'antiques' of doubtful provenance, Paulus is an easy-going man with an eye for a bargain. He trades, along with many others of his ilk, from premises in the Saepta Julia. He is friendly, but shrewd, taking no nonsense from anyone. He knows most people on the Aventine and can tell you who is best to deal with and who to steer clear from. He won't deal in ill-gotten gains nor act as a fence, but equally, he won't tell the vigiles who's been asking for such a person. He is a family man (well, with a wife and several children, it's hard to insist he's anything else!). He has a dry sense of humour, and enjoys the finer things in life - and a man in his trade can get his hands on those easily enough, even if they're not quite up to the standard the patricians surround themselves with.
He should not be mistaken for a pushover, though; among the staff he employs are two ex-gladiators, there to keep an eye on the stock and deter people from trying anything untoward.
Appearance
Paulus is of average height but carries himself upright, a trait inherited from his late ex-legionary father which may lead to people assuming that he is taller than he actually is. He has sandy coloured hair which is thinning on top, although he has not actually developed a bald patch yet! He prefers to dress comfortably than fashionably, wearing even a pallium only when necessary and a toga only when absolutely forced into it by his wife and long-suffering body-slave. His usual expression is a serious one, but the tell-tale crows'-feet at the corners of his eyes give away his tendency towards optimism. His tendency towards comfort rather than fashion shows itself in that he prefers to grow a beard rather than submit to the regular routine and discomfort of seeing a barber (or even of trusting his stubble to a razor wielded by his slave). He does, however, keep it neatly trimmed - he's not a barbarian! He has the fair skin which usually accompanies ginger hair, and tries to stay out of the direct sun as much as he can because of it - thankfully, Rome has numerous porticoes and colonnades to aid in this endeavour!
Family
Father: Lucius Annius Faventinus
Mother: Junilla Salvia
Siblings: (surviving) Annia Rufilla (age 40), Annia Faventina (age 37), Septimus Annius Faventinus (age 35)
Spouse: Vipsania Petra
Children: Lucius (16), Annia Salvia (14), Annia Flavia (10)
Extended family: Uncle: Aulus Junius Salvius (d. 60CE) (a member of the plebeian branch of the Junii)
Other: Numerous nieces and nephews
History
Born to a legionary and his, ahem, faithful camp follower, Paulus' first memories are of living in the vicus outside a Roman fort somewhere in the wilds of, probably Gaul. His father decided on the unusual praenomen of 'Paulus' (little, small) because he was a small baby and not expected to survive, though with care and his mother's determination not lose her first child - and a boy! - he pulled through the first winter, growing rapidly and putting the lie to the meaning of the name.
It was an easy enough childhood, interspersed with watching the soldiers drilling and training. His two younger sisters and younger brother were born at various intervals and various camps as his father's legion moved around. He was taught to read at an informal school set up by an enterprising Greek freedman, easily learning his letters and memorising whatever work was set.
In 41CE, his father's legion is involved in the Germania conflict and his father is killed in a skirmish, leading his mother to struggle back to Rome where her family live with four children in tow. At twelve years old, the change in circumstances and the journey made an impression on Paulus and even as he tried to ease the burden on his mother by assuming the mantle of the paterfamilias of the small group, he knew that he did not want to follow in his father's footsteps, even for the glory of Rome and the sake of following the Eagles - not even for the splendid armour and the red cloak that the legionaries wore.
Returning to the bosom of his mother's family, people he had never met, was another discomfiting milestone in Paulus' life, eased by the fact that his uncle, his mother's sister, had no children of his own and took Paulus under his wing in teaching him the ins and outs of his small business in dealing in 'antiques' (better described as bric-a-brac). Paulus developed an eye for a good piece and a sense for how much the punters would pay for it.
Paulus assumed the toga virilis in 44CE, marking his official entry into the ranks of adult male citizens. Nothing really changed, except that he was now able to close deal himself, which led his uncle to taking more of a backseat in running the business. When news reached him that his paterfamilias had died, he merely shrugged and assumed that mantle as well - he followed the prescribed period of mourning for the man, despite not mourning in the least a man he had never met.
He did all the things a paterfamilias was supposed to do, although his sisters did not require his help in finding husbands, and barely required his services at their weddings. He found a wife of his own, the daughter and only child of a man involved in a similar trade and naturally the marriage meant bringing the two businesses together, with Paulus moving his uncle's former business into the premises in the Saepta Julia that his father-in-law had been using.
His son has now reached his own majority and is eager to join the Legions. His father is cautious, knowing what he does about that life, but he knows full well that if he forbids it (as is his right), then Lucius is headstrong enough to circumvent him somehow and join anyway. Salvia is nearing marriageable age, and Flavia is ten, and without a care in the world, announcing one day that she wants to be a Vestal Virgin and the next that she wants to join the Legions with Lucius. His wife is growing accustomed to the life of a businessman's wife, especially one who has raised her standard of living enough that the family now has their own house rather than living in the cramped quarters of an insula somewhere.
Sharpie | GMT | PM/Discord (#4424)
@Gothic
