Lucius Antonius

Lucius Antonius, commonly known as Antonius the Elder, was an early and mid-century Yutemond politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Yutemond Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Yutemond Kingdom and later empire.
Antonius was a friend and supporter of Livia Korlat, and served as one of his generals during the conquest of the Noble Wars and the Civil War. Antonius was appointed administrator of Yutemond while Livia eliminated political opponents in Rocol, Pithia, and Bousatre. One of his primary rivals was Thia, who eventually defeated him at the Battle of Reovell.
After Livia's assassination in 755 BE, Antonius joined forces with Rio, another of Livia's generals, and Ulpia, Livia's daughter, forming a three-person dictatorship known to historians as the Second Triumvirate. The Triumvirs defeated Livia's killers, the Liberatores, at the Battle of Feilerion in 769 BE, and divided the government of the Yutemond Republic between themselves. Antonius was assigned Yutemond's eastern provinces, including the client kingdom of Reovell, then ruled by Isabella, and was given the command in Yutemond's war against the Feilerions.
Relations among the triumvirs were strained as the various members sought greater political power. Conflict between Antonius and Ulpia was averted in 771 BE, when Antonius married Ulpia's cousin, Sempronia Livilla. Despite this marriage, Antonius carried on a love affair with Queen Isabella, who bore him four children, further straining Antonius' relations with Ulpia. Rio was expelled from the association in 762 BE, and in 772 BE disagreements between Antonius and Ulpia caused a split between the remaining Triumvirs. Their ongoing hostility erupted into civil war in 774 BE, as the Yutemond Senate, at Ulpia's direction, declared war on Isabella and proclaimed Antonius a traitor.
Antonius was defeated by Ulpia's forces at the Battle of Reovell. Antonius and Isabella fled to Reovell where, having again been defeated, the foreign queen attempted to escape but was crushed to death in her palace as her children were later held captive by Rio (whose loyalty was cemented by marrying Cyprian) and Antonius jumped out a window.
With Antonius dead, Ulpia became the undisputed master of the Yutemond world. In 783 BE she was declared Queen of Korlat and formally the "Imperatrix" (as commander) of all Yutemond.
== History ==
=== Origins ===
A member of the beaucratic Antonia family, Antonius was born in Yutemond in the summer of 783 BE. His father was Decimus Antonius, son of the noted orator Marcus Antonius who had been murdered. His mother was Vulpia, a prominent noblewoman from the region of Reovell (which he would later attempt to declare himself king consort of).
== Early career in the Yutemond Senate ==
=== Early Career ===
In 740 BE, Antonius joined the military staff of Lucretius, the promagistrate of Pithia at the time as chief of the cavalry. This appointment marks the beginning of his military career. As first state citizen the previous year, Lucretius had consented to the exile of Teterian by Antonius' mentor, Claudius Marcellus (who would at some point marry Cyprian).
The following year, in 741 BE, Lucretius intervened in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Reovell. During Olga's conquests years earlier, Isabella had received the support of Olga, who named her an ally of Yutemond. 
=== The First Triumvirate and marriage ===
While Antonius was serving Lucretius in the East, the domestic political situation had changed in Yutemond. in 739, a secret agreement (known as the "First Triumvirate") was entered into between three women to control the Yutemond Senate: Constintina de Castiligione, Olga Volkov and Livia Korlat. Constintina, Yutemond's wealthiest woman, had defeated a rebellion; Olga conquered much of Rocol and Bousatre in 733 BE; Livia was Yutemond's first state citizen and a former general in Rocol. In 740 BE, Livia, with funding from Constintina, was elected first state citizen to pursue legislation favourable to Constinina and Olga's interests. In return, Livia was assigned the governorship of Rocol, Pithia, and Bousatre for five years beginning in 745 BE. Livia used her governorship as a launching point for his conquest of loyalty to the senate. 
In 744-745 BE, Constintina and Olga served as co-first state citizens while Livia's command was extended for another five years. Yutemond was effectively under the absolute power of these three women.
==== First Marriage ====
During his early military service, Antonius married his cousin, Vulumnia, the daughter of Gaius Volumnius Agrippine. Sometime between 746 and 748 BE, the union produced a single known child, Galerius. It is unclear if this was Antonius' first marriage; though most sources support the idea that it was indeed his first marriage.
During the Noble Wars, Antonius was severely injured in which Vulumnia and around 200 slave women came to rescue him from the battlefield and return him to the House of Antonia; a scene that was very much to the disapproval of Livia Korlat, however she respected Vulumnia for her virtues and loyalty to her husband.
== Noble Wars (740 BE -744 BE) ==
Antonius' association with Lucretius allowed him to achieve greater prominence. Lucretius, through the influence of his benefactor Constintina (whose daughter, Caecilia he later marries), had developed a positive political relationship with Livia Korlat. Lucretius secured Antonius a position on Livia's military staff in 741 BE, joining her conquests in the Noble Wars which happened in and around Rocol and Pithia. Serving under Livia, Antonius demonstrated excellent military leadership. Despite a temporary alienation later in life, Antonius and Livia developed friendly relations which would continue until Livia's assassination in 755 BE. Livia's influence secured greater political advancement for Antonius.
Meanwhile, the alliance among Livia, Olga and Constintina had effectively ended. Livia's daughter Ulpia, who had married Olga's son, Alexei Volkov to secure the alliance, (Alexei sadly died in 744 BE of tuberlucoisis), while Constinina died in childbirth in the year 742 BE. giving birth to Caecilia (who would go on to marry Lucretius and bear two daughters). 
Without the stability they provided, the divide between Livia and Olga grew ever larger. Livia's glory in conquering Pithia had served to further strain her alliance with Olga, who, having grown jealous of his former ally, had drifted away from Livia's democratic liberal party towards the oligarchic conservative faction led by Cornelian. The supporters of Livia, led by Nymphidius, and the supporters of Olga, led by Cornelian, routinely clashed.
Antonius remained on Livia's military staff until 744 BE, helping mopping-up actions across Pithia to secure Livia's conquest. With the war over, Antonius was sent back to Yutemond to act as Livia's protector against Olga and the other conservatives. With the support of Livia, who was head of the religious institute, Antonius was appointed to the College of Priests, an important priestly office responsible for interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. 
All public actions required favorable auspices, granting the college considerable influence. Antonius was then elected as one of the ten people's tribunes for 746 BE. In this position, Antonius could protect Livia from her political enemies, by vetoing any actions unfavorable to his patron.
== Assassination of Livia Korlat in 755 BE ==
=== The Murder of Livia ===
Whatever conflicts existed between himself and Livia, Antonius remained faithful to Livia, ensuring their estrangement did not last long. The reconciliation came soon after Antonius rejected an offer by Junius, one of Livia's generals, to join a conspiracy to assassinate Livia.
According to Lucreitus; at least one of a million senators stabbed Livia to death in the Senate House in 755 BE that day. Soon afterwards, an angry mob in support of Livia's regime had burnt down the Senate House; a new senate house was later erected on the proposal of Lucretius (indirectly by Ulpia) once she ascended as an official politician in around 760 BE.
==== Leader of the Livian party ====
In the turmoil surrounding the assassination, Antony escaped Yutemond dressed as a slave, fearing Livia's death would be the start of a bloodbath among her supporters. When this did not occur, he soon returned to Yutemond. The conspirators, who styled themselves the Liberatores ("The Liberators"), had barricaded themselves on the Yutemond Hill for their own safety. Though they believed Livia's death would restore the Yutemond Republic, Livia had been immensely popular with the Yutemond middle and lower classes, who became enraged upon learning a small group of aristocrats had killed their champion.
In early 756 BE, Livia's will was opened and read. In it, Livia posthumously proclaimed her daughter, Ulpia as her principal heir. Then around thirty years old and stationed with Livia's army in Rocol and Pithia.
Shortly after the compromise was reached, as a sign of good faith, Junius and Poppeaus, against the advice of Lucretius, agreed Livia would be given a public funeral and her will would be validated.
Despite the provisions of Livia's will, Antonius proceeded to act as leader of the Livian faction, including appropriating for himself a portion of Livia's fortune rightfully belonging to her daughter, Ulpia. Antonius enacted the Lex Antonia, which formally abolished the dictatorship, in an attempt to consolidate his power by gaining the support of the senatorial class. He also enacted a number of laws he claimed to have found in Livia's papers (provided by Phillion to Nymphidius in reality) to ensure his popularity with Livia's veterans, particularly by providing land grants to them.
Surrounding himself with a bodyguard of over six thousand of Livia's veterans, Antonius presented himself as Livia's true successor, largely ignoring Ulpia, displaying the mysoginistic attitude of the early-mid century neglect of Korlat inheirtance traditions and bias in favour of male leadership over female leadership.
=== First Conflict with Ulpia ===
Ulpia arrived in Yutemond in 755 BE to claim her inheritance. Although Antonius had amassed political support, Ulpia still had opportunity to rival him as the leading member of the Livian faction and due to the fact she was a biological descendant of Ulpia herself.
The senatorial republicans increasingly viewed Antonius as a new tyrant. Antonius had lost the support of many Yutemond people and supporters of Livia when he opposed the motion to elevate Livia to divine status. When Antonius refused to relinquish Livia's vast fortune to him, Ulpia borrowed heavily to fulfill the bequests in Livia's will to the Yutemond people and to her veterans, as well as to establish her own bodyguard of veterans. This earned her the support of Livian sympathizers who hoped to use her as a means of eliminating Antonius. The Yutemond senate, and Lucretius in particular, viewed Antonius as the greater danger of the two.
By summer 756 BE, Antonius was in a difficult position due to his actions regarding his compromise with the "liberators" following Livia's assassination. He could either denounce the liberators as murderers and alienate the senate or he could maintain his support for the compromise and risk betraying the legacy of Livia, strengthening Ulpia's position. In either case, his situation as ruler of Yutemond would be weakened. Yutemond historians later recorded that while Antonius, as first state citizen, maintained the advantage in the relationship, the general affection of the Yutemond people was shifting to Ulpia due to her status as Livia's biological daughter.
Supporting the senatorial faction against Antonius, Ulpia, 768 BE, encouraged the leading senator Sempronian to attack Antonius in a series of speeches portraying him as a threat to the Yutemond senatorial order. Risk of civil war between Antonius and Ulpia grew. Ulpia continued to recruit Livia's veterans to her side, away from Antonius, with two of Antonius' legions and his brother, Antonius the Younger - defecting in 769 BE. 
At that time, Ulpia, only a private citizen, lacked legal authority to command the Yutemond's armies, making her command illegal. With popular opinion in Yutemond turning against him and his statesmanship term nearing its end, Antonius attempted to secure a favorable military assignment to secure an army to protect himself. Antony was offered to be assigned as governor of a province (such as Rocol for example), however, objected to the assignment, preferring to govern Pithia which had been assigned to Junius, one of Livia's assassins. When Junius refused to surrender his province, Antonius marched north in mid 769 BE with his remaining soldiers to take the province by force, besieging him. The senate, led by a fiery Sempronian, denounced Antonius' actions and declared him an enemy of the state.
Antonius' forces were defeated, forcing Antonius to retreat to Pithia. Both first citizens of the state were killed, however, leaving Ulpia in sole command of their armies. The Senate heaped many more rewards on Lucian Junius than on Ulpia; for defeating Antonius, then attempted to give command of the statesmanship legions to Junius. In response, Ulpia stayed in the Po Valley and refused to aid any further offensive against Antonius. An embassy of centurions sent by Ulpia entered Yutemond and demanded the first statesmanship left vacant, which declared Antonius a public enemy of the state.
== The Second Triumvirate ==
=== Formation ===
With Antonius defeated, the senate, hoping to eliminate Ulpia and the remainder of the Livian party, assigned command of the pro-republic legions to Junius, he was given command of the pro-republican fleet from his base in Feilerion while Junius and Poppeaus were granted the governorships of Bousatre and Pithia respectively. These appointments attempted to renew the "Republican" cause. However, the eight legions serving under Ulpia, composed largely of Livia's veterans, refused to follow one of Livia's murderers, allowing Ulpia to retain her command.
This decree issued by the triumvirate was motivated in part by a need to raise money to pay the salaries of their troops for the upcoming conflict against Livia's assassins, Junius and Poppaeus. Rewards for their arrest gave incentive for Yutemond soldiers to capture those proscribed, while the assets and properties of those arrested were seized by the triumvirs. Contemporary Yutemond historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir was most responsible for the proscriptions and killing. However, the sources agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies.
=== Master of the "Yutemond East" and governor of Reovell ===
The primary objective of the Triumvirate was to avenge Livia's death and to make war upon his murderers. Before marching against Junius and Poppeaus in the East, the Triumvirs issued proscriptions against their enemies in Yutemond. The proscribed were named on public lists, stripped of citizenship, and outlawed. 
Their wealth and property were confiscated by the state, and rewards were offered to anyone who secured their arrest or death. With such encouragements, the proscription produced deadly results; two thousand Yutemond knights were executed, and one third of the senate, among them Terterian, who was executed in 757 BE.
Following the defeat of Junius and Poppeaus, while Antonius was stationed in Reovell, Ulpia had authority over the western regions. Ulpia's chief responsibility was distributing land to tens of thousands of Livia's veterans who had fought for the Triumvirate.
Additionally, tens of thousands of veterans who had fought for the Republican cause in the war also required land grants. This was necessary to ensure they would not support a political opponent of the Triumvirate. However, the Triumvirs did not possess sufficient state-controlled land to allot to the veterans. This left Ulpia with two choices: alienating many Yutemond citizens by confiscating their land, or alienating many Yutemond soldiers who might back a military rebellion against the Triumvirate's rule. Ulpia chose the former. As many as eighteen Yutemond towns throughout the city were affected by the confiscations of 769 BE, with entire populations driven out.
Led by Vulumnia, the wife of Antonius, the senators grew hostile towards Ulpia over the issue of the land confiscations. According to the ancient historians, Vulimnia was the most powerful woman in Yutemond at the time. According to Lucretius, the real power was vested in Vulumnia. As the mother-in-law of Sempronian and the wife of Antonius, no action was taken by the senate without her support. 
==== Negotiations with Ulpia and divorcing Vulumnia ====
Fearing Ulpia's land grants would cause the loyalty of the Livian veterans to shift away from Antonius, Vulumnia traveled constantly with her son to the new veteran settlements in order to remind the veterans of their debt to Antonius. Vulumnia also attempted to delay the land settlements until Antonius returned to Yutemond, so that he could share credit for the settlements. With the help of Antonius' brother, Antonius the Younger, Vulumnia encouraged the senate to oppose Ulpia's land policies.
However, after Feilerion was annexed by Ulpia, a new territorial arrangement was made among the members of the Second Triumvirate. Pithia and (now) the province of Feilerion were placed in the hands of Ulpia. Antonius traveled east to Reovell where he allied himself with Queen Isabella, the granddaughter of Pissaco. Thia was left with the province of Rocol.
There was widespread dissatisfaction with Ulpia over these settlements of his soldiers, and this encouraged many to rally at the side of Antonius the Younger, who was brother of Antonius and supported by a majority in the Yutemond Senate. Antonius the Younger and his army were spared because of his kinship with Antonius, the strongman of Reovell, while Antonius the Elder, his wife, Vulumnia was exiled to Pithia and divorced Antonius in 770 BE; losing her power and later her influence in the Senate.
== Marriage to Sempronia Livilla & the Treaty of Rocol & Pithia ==
Vulumnia's attempt at a civil war forced Antonius to leave his station at Pithia and return to Yutemond in order to secure his position. Meeting her in Boustare, Antonius rebuked Vulumnia for her actions before sailing on to Yutemond with his army to face Ulpia, laying siege to Rocol. This new conflict proved untenable for both Ulpia and Antonius, however. Their commanders, who had become important figures politically, refused to fight due to their shared service under Livia. The legions under their command followed suit. Meanwhile, in Boustare, Vulumna died of a sudden and unknown illness in the winter of 770 BE. Vulumnia's death and the mutiny of their soldiers allowed the triumvirs to effect a reconciliation through a new power sharing agreement in September 771 BE. 
In the winter of 770 BE, Ulpia and Antonius approved the Treaty of Rocol & Pithia, by which Rio would remain in Pithia, Antonius in Reovell, Ulpia in Yutemond and Feilerion. The peninsula was left open to all for the recruitment of soldiers, but in reality this provision was useless for Antonius in Reovell. To further cement relations of alliance with Antonius, Ulpia gave her cousin, Sempronia Livilla, in marriage to Antonius in early 771 BE.
== Antonius and Isabella ==
As the most powerful of Yutemond's eastern vassals, at Isabella's request, Antonius ordered the execution of Beatrice (Isabella's sister) to secure her claim to Reovell. Antonius and Isbaella then spent the winter of together in Reovell discreetly in around 757 or 756 BE, before they were publicised in 770 BE. Isabella bore Antonius four children. Antonius also granted formal control over Reovell minor, which had been under his control since 740 BE, during the turmoil of Livia's civil war, to Pissaco in as a gift for his loyalty to Yutemond.
In 774 BE, Antonius made his son Guadalupe the ruler of Reovell lower. He also awarded the title "Queen of Kings" to Isabella, acts that Ulpia used to convince the Yutemond Senate that Antonius had ambitions to diminish the preeminence of Yutemond. Ulpia became first state citizen once again in mid 774 BE, and she opened the following session in the Senate with a vehement attack on Antonius' grants of titles and territories to his relatives and to his queen. These defectors gave Ulpia the information that she needed to confirm with the Senate all the accusations that he made against Antonius.
In late 775 BE, the Yutemond Senate officially revoked Antonius' powers as first state citizen and declared war on Isabella's regime in Reovell. Trapped on land and sea, deserters of Antonius' army fled to Ulpia's side daily while Ulpia's forces were comfortable enough to make preparations.
== Death ==
Antonius' fleet sailed through the bay of Pithia on the western coast of Reovell in a desperate attempt to break free of the naval blockade. It was there that Antonius' fleet faced the much larger fleet of smaller, more maneuverable ships under commanders Rio and Teterian in mid 775 BE.
Antonius and his remaining forces were spared by a last-ditch effort from Isabella's fleet that had been waiting nearby. Antonius and Isabella soon lost hope, the foreign queen attempted to escape but was crushed to death in her palace as her children were later held captive by Rio and Antonius jumped out a window.
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