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Caivs Avrelivs Cotta

Caivs Avrelivs Cotta for me please, Navarro. I'd like to be currently serving as a young officer in the garrison of Capua. Eager to impress and prove my worth to my Father and to Rome, I plan to apply to join the army as a low officer.

Ever since I was entered into the officer class by the wealth of my father, I have been ridiculed by my peers for my Plebivs standing. From a very young age, I faced hardships and often got into fights with a young aristocratic boy and his thug-like mates. However I learnt quickly that this would soon be the end of me in an environment such as mine. I began to sneak into the local school, where I hid while the aristocratic boy who I had had a few run ins with took his lessons. Over the year, I learnt to read and write Latin and Greek. The tutor also taught the boys oratorry lessons, and I practiced what I had learnt in the safety of my home.

When my father was awarded for his ingeniality with the Saturnalia feast, he finaly had enough money to buy in to the lowest senatorial class. He entered me, as a young child of twelve, into the officer training classes in the Capuan Academy. I spent four years there, anxious to prove myself to my teachers and my fellow pupils, but I have yet to acquire the respect I hope for.

My father died earlier this year in a illness. In consolation for his loss, I was awarded his senate seat. However, being so young and with so little experience, I realise I am vulnerable and need a patron and mentor inside the senate house. I am, however, determined not to be simply used for my vote, or to be manipulated by more powerful men.

And now, the southern legion is reborn. The might of Rome marches to capture the city of Taras in the south. I have just graduated from the Academy, and now is the perfect time to make my father proud. I have applied to join the Legion heading for Taras. But sometimes, I wonder. What's the point? They're never going to let me lead men-veterens-to war. A boy, they will see me as. I guess I will probably spend the rest of my life in Capua, or Arpi, or Arimium, the most exciting parts of my life being thieves in the market, or a fire in the Greek quarter. I dream of great things. Yet they are only dreams.