Horatii Massacre

The remains of the Horatii Estate

The **Horatii Massacre** was part of a coup staged by the Calradic Senate following the death of Emperor Arenicos in an attempt to retain power. The massacre would play a large part in the events leading up to the Calradia Civil War.

The massacre entailed the dissolvement of the patrician gens Horatius through the means of political sabotage and murder, resulting in the deaths of all but one member of the family, Marcus Horatius Arenicos. The Horatii Massacre was brought about due to Publius Horatius Gaulicus (as well as the Praetor Civilis at the time) declaring support for Emperor Arenicos' widow, Rhagaea Pethros.

## Timeline

### Winter 20, 308

* The Praetor Praetorii, Publius Horatius Gaulicus, is called to the Curia (Senate house) in Roma for a "meeting"; upon arrival, he is surrounded and stabbed 27 times by the members of the Senate (excluding the Praetor Urbanae and Praetor Civilis, who were not in attendance)

* The Praetorian guards stationed in Roma at the time get into a conflict with the Legio XIX, who are under the command of the Senate; the Praetorians are outnumbered and flee after 2 hours of fighting

### Winter 21

* The Praetor's wife, Manaria Horatii, having heard of her husband's demise at the hands of the Senate attempts to flee Roma, however she is caught and killed by Legio XIX on the roads south-east of the city

### Winter 23

* A letter makes it to the hands of the Primus Pilus of the Legio XXI Rapax sent by the Calradic Senate, this letter declared the young Centurion Ericus Horatius a traitor of the empire, leading the Primus to successfully order his legionaries to kill the Horatii

### Winter 25

* Mercenaries employed by the Calradic Senate reach the Horatii Estate east of Napoli, finding Sicelica Horatius inside, they would then bar the doors from the outside and set fire to the estate, killing the young Horatii in the process

### Winter 26

* The youngest child of gens Horatius, Marcus Horatius, is found under the care of a tutor in Ancona who is killed by members of Legio XIX. The boy is taken back to the Calradic Senate, as the murder of a child under the age of 10 is shunned by Calradia tradition, thus the boy is instead sold into slavery and any evidence of his existence erased from Calradic archives (up until this point)

## Aftermath

Following the Horatii Massacre, along with other smaller events as part of the Senate's coup, the Calradic Senators would cease power across the southern territories of what was once the Calradic Empire, establishing the Northern Empire. Rhagaea Pethros, widow of the late Emperor Arenicos, accompanied by the Praetor Civilis, retains any territories she can to the south, thus establishing the Southern Empire and retaining Roma. Lastly, Primus Pilus Gaeretix, who had been campaigning to the east (seperated from the rest of the empire by the Vlandians) would declare himself Rex of the new Western Empire in the absence of any "*true claimant to the throne*" (as he put it).

The Horatii Massacre would eventually, in the long run, lead to the establishment of the reformed Calradic Empire under the rule of Marcus Horatius Arenicos, as it is this event which later drove him towards revenge, which in turn led to the reestablishment of the empire.