[Roma Immortalis] Lucius and Pantherula

Lucius Julius Caesar was the biological son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Caesar Augustus’ right hand man and the governor of Atlantis. Shortly after his birth, Lucius and his older brother Gaius were adopted by Augustus as his sons and heirs. In the summer of that same year, Augustus held the fifth ever Ludi Saeculares (or Secular Games). The adoption of the boys coupled with the games served to introduce a new era of peace - the Pax Augusta.

Augustus played a very active role in Lucius and Gaius’ education, teaching them to read, swim, and the art of politics, as well as how to imitate his own handwriting. Lucius and his brother were initiated into administrative life as kids, and their adoptive father sent them to the provinces as consul-elects so that they could learn through direct experience.

When he turned 15, Augustus brought Lucius to the Forum Romanum to enroll him as a citizen, as was tradition when a young Roman man came of age. Lucius assumed the toga virilis ("toga of manhood"), marking the beginning of his adulthood, and like his brother he too was made princeps juventutis ("leader of the youth"). Like Gaius, he was elected consul designatus, with the intent that he assume the consulship at the age of nineteen. There was only one difference in his titles from those of Gaius—that he was made a member of the college of augurs whereas Gaius was made a pontifex ("pontiff"). Augustus distributed 60 denarii to each Roman citizen to mark the occasion. As it was the height of Chimaera Mania, Lucius decided to mark the occasion by commissioning a genoitor to create a chimaera that would serve as the perfect companion for him.

Upon returning to Rome at age 19 after completing his military training in Hispania, Lucius was presented with the beautiful cheetah woman that had been created and educated to his specifications, and he fell deeply in love with her. Naming her Pantherula (“little panther”), Lucius kept her with him at all times and showered her with affection. She became his closest confidant and the only woman he had eyes for, much to the disappointment of his adoptive father.

Lucius provided Pantherula with much greater freedoms, resources, and opportunities compared to other slaves, allowing her to pursue her own interests, such as philosophy and poetry. Eventually, Lucius manumitted Pantherula with the intent of marrying her. However, Augustus expressly forbade their union and threatened to have Pantherula killed should they go through with it. While Lucius had little choice but to obey his adoptive father, he secretly devoted himself to Pantherula and would never take a wife. As a freedwoman, Pantherula took the nomen of Lucius’ gens, her new name becoming ‘Julia Pantherula’, so despite not being able to marry him, she nevertheless became a part of his family under Roman law.

Although Lucius could not sire any children with her, Pantherula was able to have children asexually via parthenogenesis, and she ended up having seven daughters. Lucius raised them with her as if they were his own, providing them with an education that was above and beyond what women had access to at the time.

Six of their daughters eventually moved to the chimaera colonies in the provinces, utilizing their education, wealth, and connections to the imperial family to become prosperous traders and leaders of their communities. The seventh and youngest daughter, Septima, stayed in Rome to take care of her parents and to become an influential voice for the Chimaeras in the imperial capital.

For centuries to come, the Julii Pantheruli lineage was seen as the foremost bloodline among all chimaeras, representing nobility and deep ties with the Julian dynasty. Just as Julius Caesar had claimed to be a descendant of the gods, the Julii Pantheruli would claim to be the descendants of the great Caesars, not just in name but in blood. And their claim did hold some merit. After all, you need human genetic information to make a chimaera, and no one ever knew whose was used to make Pantherula.