Council of Excellence

The Council of Excellence was an ancient semi-democratic set of 12 Roman nobles serving under Emperor Claudius in 50AD. The group advised the Emperor and oversaw the running of the empire's further afield ventures, such as in Britannia, including appointing regional rulers.
== History ==
Following the death of Centurion Quan in the Battle of Marchlyn, the Council was sent to Britannia to ensure that his replacement met the standards of Claudius. They chose Magnus Maximus, a legionary and Optio to Quan, at Claudius's recommendation, and ceremonially 'crowned' him with the centurion's helmet.
When Maximus put his plans into action, he called the Council to a secret, secluded forest near Segontium for a 'meeting'. When the members arrived, however, it was revealed to be a trap, and the group was surrounded by Gelden tribe assassins and brutally slaughtered. Maximus explained away their deaths to Legion XIV as having been done by barbarians and introduced his own, hand-picked replacements. The Emperor himself set off in the wake of the tragedy to meet with Maxiumus.
The new Council head, Rhiannon, was the first to meet the Emperor when he arrived in Britannia, and was met with arrogance and hostility as she wasn't a 'true Roman' nor even what he saw as nobility. Rhiannon and the rest of the Council, however, immediately betrayed Claudius and held him hostage as Magnus Maximus freed the dragon.
Following the Battle of the Drosgl Mountains, Claudius reformed the council to be loyal to him once again and returned to Rome, where it continued to function more or less as normal until his death.
== Members ==
The Council of Excellence's board members came from all corners of the empire, but mostly Rome. By 50AD, most members were elderly and hadn't been involved in a fight in years, making them easy targets for assassins. The traitorous new members installed by Maximus were a mixture of supporters and Gelden's tribe members.
* Rhiannon, new head of the Gelden tribe
* Grey, Rhiannon's closest ally and chief assassin
== Trivia ==
* All the council members were played by actors who had also played the roles of other Romans in the film.
* Like the name of the film, Council of Excellence was a silly name for the group that unfortunately stuck.
Category:Character Groupings
Category:Roman Times
Category:Roman Film