Aglaea

[Echo]

AGLAEA.

28 | spring 47 CE | Slave | Body Slave / Companion | Heterosexual | Wanted | Nazanin Boniadi

 

 

Personality.

Having been raised first in a Jewish family, Aglaea has cultivated a personality of kindness. Further, because of the memories of her poverty, she tends to take pity on those less fortunate than herself and tries to help those she can. From a young age, she distinguished herself as a quick wit, and her education from a young age has allowed her to read, write, and speak several languages, including her native Aramaic as well as Latin and Greek. Since she has lived in slavery most of her life, she has learned to be loyal to her mistress, though she has a deep yearning for her own freedom. Aglaea is also a recent convert to Christianity, so she is learning to live her life in a Christlike manner. This includes patience, humility, and kindness. 

Aglaea isn't without her flaws, though. Because she has been blessed with kind mistresses, she has never been abused and so she tends to test her limits, but usually only with what she says. If her mistress asks her opinion, she gives it honestly, but sometimes at the expense of crossing class boundaries. She also has a tendency to stubbornness when she believes she is right. But overall she's a pious, modest, and loyal woman. 

 

Appearance

Aglaea is a beautiful woman, clearly native of an eastern part of the Roman empire. She has smooth, slightly tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and wavy black hair. She is a small woman in stature, as well as petite. Her status as a body slave to a moderately wealthy woman allows her to wear nicer clothes than your average slave, but of course, she is constrained by her status. It wouldn't matter anyway, though; were she a freedwoman, she would dress modestly due to her faith as a Christian. 

 

Family

Father: Chileab

Mother: Hanna

Siblings: Isaiah, Jerusha, and Leah

Spouse: N/A

Children: N/A/

Other: Livia Justina (Mistress) 

Secundus Quinctilius Varus (Master) 

 

History

Aglaea was not always named after one of the Three Graces. Born into a poverty-stricken Jewish family in Judaea, she was given the name Zivah, meaning "brilliance" or "light of God." While, of course, she can't remember the first few years of her life, they were very difficult. Her family could not raise themselves out of poverty despite their best efforts, and their situation became worse with every passing year. Some of Zivah's earliest memories were of scrounging for food with her mother and siblings. She was blessed to be a beautiful child, though, and though her parents wanted her to stay with the family, it became clear that the family could not support as many children as they had. Zivah and her older sister, the two youngest daughters in the family, were sold into slavery to lessen the burden on the family. Zivah was seven years old when she entered the household of a wealthy Roman passing through Judaea. The Roman's wife desperately wanted a child but could not have one, so the Roman bought Zivah for a companion for the woman. She was blessed with a kind mistress and lived with her for several years in their home in Antioch, gaining a valuable education. Zivah already spoke Aramaic, but she was taught to speak Latin as well as Greek so that she could communicate with many people, and she distinguished herself as a quick learner and a bright mind. She was also taught how to apply makeup to her mistress, giving her a valuable skill. 

When Zivah turned thirteen years old, her master passed away suddenly, and her mistress had to move away, downsizing her staff. Therefore, Zivah had to be sold, though her mistress left her mournfully. Within a few weeks at the slave market in Antioch, Zivah was purchased by Marcus Horatius Justinus and her Hebrew name was changed to Aglaea, removing the last vestige of her old life. Aglaea was close in age to her new mistress, Livia Justina, and quickly became good friends with her. Aglaea helped her new mistress with many things, including makeup and clothes, as well as serving as a confidant. The pair grew into womanhood together, Livia becoming married to her first husband with Aglaea right by her side, faithful and loyal. Despite her loyalty, though, Aglaea had a persistent wish to return to Judaea to find her family. She missed the freedom of her childhood; was wealthy slavery better than poor freedom? 

Aglaea was also by her mistress's side as her children passed away and her husband died suddenly, by her side as she fell into a deep depression. Aglaea felt powerless to help her mistress. Her old techniques didn't seem to work all of a sudden. She hated that she was unable to help her friend through this difficult time. It didn't even seem to help when she was remarried to Secundus. It soon became clear that Secundus was cruel, prone to meanness and abusing Livia. A few times, Aglaea tried to get in between her mistress and her husband, but it only seemed to make his meanness worse. 

Livia and Aglaea's situation was growing steadily worse, and Aglaea looked for comfort in her Hebrew religion, attending temple whenever she could slip away to do so. But she soon met a man who was teaching a new religion based on the story of a man from Judea: Christ. Aglaea found comfort in the teachings of that man and soon converted to Christianity, despite the danger of doing so. Her newfound faith gave her the strength to carry on, and she tried to practice Christlike love and patience. Now, she is living her life with a measure of peace found in her faith. She still struggles between her loyalty to her mistress and her yearning for freedom, two wishes that seem to be incompatible but she feels all the same. 

 

 

Echo | EST | Discord or PM

Edited April 21, 2020 by Echo

[Anna]

Your application has been accepted.

Please make sure to update your necessary claims and feel free to make your plotter.