Familiae Martiales

The Familiae Martiales are the old military families whose members often occupy the highest-ranking tiers of the Turian Hierarchy. Each family within this prestigious social group has a proud history of military service, their lineages adorned with famous admirals, generals and primarchae. Many of the old military families can trace their lines back to the time of the Unification War, a decade-long war which culminated in the official unification of the Turian Empire, nearly 3000 years ago. Some lines are even older than that, with a few even claiming descent from semi-mythical figures from Palaven's distant past. Familiae Martiales roughly translates from High Cipritine as "Families of Martixus". Martixus was the Titan of War from the ancient turian religion of Titanism.
== Structure ==
=== Parriarch ===
Each house is led by a Parriarch, who is the highest-ranking member of the family. Parriarchae, as their gender-neutral title suggests, can be male or female. A Parriarch's main function is to ensure the survival of the family's bloodline and name. They decide whom their kin will marry, what their role in the hierarchy will be, and even where they will be buried after death. Parriarchs also reserve the right to name the children of their relatives and can claim custody of any child of their bloodline, should they feel the need to. They can also forcefully disown any member of their bloodline if the individual in question has brought dishonour to the house. A family is beholden to its Parriarch's decisions in all matters; their word is law.
=== Praesumptivus(a) Heredus(a) ===
The Praesumptivus(a) Heredus(a) is the designated heir of the ruling Parriarch. Heirs can be male or female; a male heir is addressed as Praesumptivus Heredus and female a heir as Praesumptiva Hereda. As turian society practices meritocratic succession, the heir to a house is always the second highest-ranking member of their bloodline, meaning that they are most often the collateral relative of a Parriarch rather than their direct descendant. Because of the fluid nature of the turian meritocracy, a Parriarch can have many heirs during their lifetime; each time a member of the house obtains a higher rank than the current heir, they automatically displace them to become the new heir. Likewise, if the heir is demoted below the rank of another family member, they lose their status as heir. Only the individual that holds the official position of heir at the time of their Parriarch's death is permitted to inherit. The turians believe that system this encourages healthy competition by incentivising the self-improvement of individuals for the collective benefit of their family.
=== Conjux Domus ===
The Conjux Domus ("Consort of the House") is the spouse of a house's ruling Parriarch. Like Parriarchae, their title is gender nuetral; male Conjux Domus are addressed as Dominus and female Conjux Domus as Domina. Their primary role is to cement the alliance to between their natal and marital houses by producing strong, healthy children of both bloodlines. They are also expected to act as a role model for the younger members of the house, especially its children, whom they help to raise in familial crèches alongside their own children, and oversee the running of the house's domestic matters. While they hold no official power over their spouse's relatives, the Conjux Domus is still treated with the utmost respect and can be a major political player in the day-to-day running of the house; it is wise to endear oneself to a Conjux Domus if one wishes to become closer to a Parriarch. 
If a Parriarch remains unmarried or their spouse has pre-deceased them, the role of Conjux Domus passes to the spouse of the house's Praesumptivus(a) Heredus(a). However, they do not use the title of Conjux Domus, instead being referred to as the Domina/Dominus Domus ("Master/Mistress of the House").
=== Vox Maiorum ===
The Vox Maiorum ("Voice of the Ancestors") is a spirit priest who serves as a house's personal priest. These priests are sworn to serve the houses of their birth, despite having surrendered their house name upon swearing their holy vows. Their duties include attending to the needs of a house's honoured dead, acting as a conduit between the spirits of its ancestors and its living members, and presiding over spiritual ceremonies such as funerals and weddings. They are also responsible for chronicling the lives of each house member and documenting their precious bloodlines. They can be male or female. 
In Bostran culture, a Vox Maiorum is second only to their Parriarch, superseding their house's Praesumptivus(a) Heredus(a) and Conjux Domus in precedence. They are viewed as one of the two pillars that holds up a house, the other being the Parriarch; the Parriarch attends to matters temporal, while the Vox Maiorum attends to matters spiritual. Voces Maiorum are a relatively new concept outside of Bostra but some houses have adopted the traditional of having a spiritual official, albeit one that practises their own culture's version of the turian religion and does not supersede the established family hierarchy.
== Septem et Unus ==
Of all the great houses of the Turian Hierarchy, there are eight which stand above the rest. Known simply as Septem et Unus, "The Seven and One", this select group of families can each trace their lineages back to one of the seven original primarchae chosen by Aurelion Imperator to represent the needs of his colonial subjects, with the exception of House Aurelos. House Aurelos instead claims shared ancestry with Aurelion himself. While no different from any other house de jure, these families are the true de facto power within the Hierarchy. They are historically loyal to Palaven, often to the point of fanaticism. 
HOUSE 	PLANET 	PARRIARCH 	CONJUX DOMUS 	PRAESUMPTIVUS(A) HEREDUS(A)	VOX MAIORUM
House Victus 	Bostra 	Fidellion Victus 	Marcia Abrudas	Aritaea Victus 	Justinien Victus
House Abrudas 	Carthaan	Aurelia Abrudas 	Tyran Tavus 	Irisian Abrudas 	N/A
House Mehrkuri	Digeris 	Astraeus Mehrkuri 	Valexa Victus 	Fideia Mehrkuri 	N/A
House Fedorian	Epyrus 	Regnaltus Fedorian II	Eudokia Orinia	Melaira Fedorian 	N/A
House Caelax 	Macedyn 	Menelus Caelax 	 	 	N/A
House Aurelos 	Palaven 	Aureia Aurelos 	 	 	N/A
House Aventen 	Parthia 	Nasira Aventen 	 	 	N/A
House Kandros 	Thracia 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
After the extinction of House Kandros in the Milky Way, House Arterius became the de facto leading great house of Thracia and the newest member of the Seven and One, led by Sairus Arterius.
HOUSE 	PLANET 	PARRIARCH 	CONJUX DOMUS	PRAESUMPTIVUS(A) HEREDUS(A)	VOX MAIORUM
House Arterius	Thracia	Sairus Arterius	N/A 	Desola Arterius 	Achaea Arterius
== Notable Families ==
HOUSE 	PLANET 	PARRIARCH 	CONJUX DOMUS 	PRAESUMPTIVUS(A) HEREDUS(A)	VOX MAIORUM
House Aurix 	Palaven 	Bartus Aurix 	 	 	N/A
House Barro 	Digeris 	Sidereus Barro 	 	 	N/A
House Carteia (now extinct)	Taetrus 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A 	N/A
House Corinthus 	Bostra 	Achaeus Corinthus	Melaira Mehrkuri	Tarquin Corinthus 	Messaena Corinthus
House Coronati 	Digeris 	Polema Coronati 	 	 	
House Darikun 	Parthia 	 	 	 	
House Dorian 	Bostra 	 	 	 	
House Emperus 	Invictus 	 	 	 	
House Enterus 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Erax 	Altakiril	 	 	 	
House Halabrian 	Macedyn 	 	 	 	
House Haut 	 	 	 	 	
House Impera 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Invectus 	Bostra 	 	 	 	
House Jacobus 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Kindrax 	Digeris 	 	 	 	
House Korilius 	 	Claudia Korilius 	 	 	
House Lokarion 	Thracia 	 	 	 	
House Marnek 	Bostra 	 	 	 	
House Narkkin 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Natanus 	Digeris 	 	 	 	
House Oraka 	Bostra 	 	 	 	
House Orinia 	Epyrus 	 	 	 	
House Pallin 	Aephus 	 	 	 	
House Partinax 	Uchalda 	Cahaerix Partinax	 	 	
House Praeton 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Quentius 	Oma Ker 	Cadmus Quentius 	 	 	
House Resverix 	 	 	 	 	
House Saneraxis 	Taetrus 	 	 	 	
House Septinas 	Oma Ker 	 	 	 	
House Septimax 	Taetrus 	 	 	 	
House Sparatus 	Bostra 	Domitia Sparatus 	Nikeos Lascaris 	Jaeson Sparatus 	Sibella Sparatus
House Tatum 	Aephus 	 	 	 	
House Tavus 	Carthaan 	 	 	 	
House Tiervian 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
House Tinos 	Epyrus 	 	 	 	
House Vakarian 	Thracia 	Garrus Vakarian 	 	Solana Vakarian 	
House Valen 	Taetrus 	Idus Valen 	 	 	
House Valterus 	Taetrus 	 	 	 	
House Verrikan 	Palaven 	 	 	 	
Category:Turian Culture
Category:Turian Houses