Marcellus stood in his vi dressed in nothing but a subligoria, as two of his many ves slowly equipped his clothing and armor onto his body. Like any other morning, the first thing he did was get dressed. However, In these treacherous times, it was better to be safe than sorry and because of this; he treated his daily life as if he were in an active war zone. Which meant he war his armor from the second he got up in the morning, until the moment he went to bed.


    The two young ve women werepletely nude as they began to dress their master. Marcellus had always instructed his ves in a way that cemented his authority. That was what he referred to as the firstw of the household.


    Essentially, this meant that Marcellus, as the head of the house, was the first to bathe in the morning, the first to get dressed, and the first to eat. Thus, despite already being awake before him, the girls had yet to put on any clothes themselves.


    Their first task was to dress Marcellus in a pair of Tyrian purple trousers, along with matching socks. From there, they adorned his chiseled chest with a Tyrian purple tunic, which had golden embroidery across its length.


    Purple was the color of emperors, and though as a utilitarian Marcellus favored a practical approach to attire, he still needed to show off to his soldiers that he was the embodiment of imperial majesty. Thus, like many other emperors of the era, he dressed in mostly purple clothing.


    After the ve girls had finished dressing Marcellus in his baseyer of clothing, they first attached a bronze manica to his right arm. The Manica was a piece of arm armor made of ovepping segmented bands, which protected the wearer’s sword arm. It scaled from the height of the biceps, down to the wrist. Because it was segmented, it was highly flexible, despite providing near-te level protection.


    After equipping the manica on the right arm. The ve girls ced a padded and quilted linen vest over Marcellus’ chest. This vest was known as a subarmalis. It was akin to theter era Gambeson used by medieval knights as an additionalyer of defense.


    This Subarmalis had been dyed a Tyrian Purple color with golden embellishments. However, its most notable feature was the two sets of pteruges that hung from both the shoulders and the waist. The pteruges were rectangr leather straps, which acted as an additional barrier of protection for the thighs and biceps.


    These pteruges were made of brown leather, with golden tassels that dangled from the edges. Which, when paired with his belt and baldric, matched perfectly. Finally came the primary body armor, which in the past came in the form of a brass Lorica Squamata. However, for the sake of this campaign, Sigefrida hadmissioned a special piece of armor for Marcellus.


    Lorica Muscta, or the muscle cuirass as it was known inyman’s terms, was a piece of armor used by Roman Generals and emperors for centuries. Its design was made popr by Greek Hoplites, and though it was true that it was a type of armormonly associated with the ancient Greeks of the ssical, and Hellenistic era, its origins were actually in the Archaic Age of Greek history.


    The armor provided superior protection to all the other pieces that Marcellus had avable to him. The reason for this was simply because it was a solid bronze cuirass. Its design was not like other forms of armor which used ovepping scales, tes, or rings to protect the user. Thus, it was a lot more difficult to prate through.


    Sigefrida, who was deeply intimate with Marcellus’ body, hadmissioned this cuirass to match the appearance of his actual six-pack. It also had a pair of bronze tes attached to the shoulders to provide additional protection.


    Once the lorica muscta had been properly adorned, the ves wrapped a pair of Tyrian Purple leg-wraps over Marcellus’ shins, before adorning the intricately carved bronze greaves. Which disyed the might of Sol Invictus. After applying the shin wraps, they ced the brown leather shoes over his feet. Before topping off his outfit with a Tyrian Purple cloak that had golden embellishment on the edges.


    Finally, after the rest of the clothing and armor was finished being applied to Marcellus’ body, his ves brought forth the Helmet, which Marcellus denied wearing for the time being, instead he gazed upon it with his own eyes. The Helmet was a berkasovo helmet, or at least that is what it would beter known as in life.


    However, unlike the standard issue variation of the helmet, or even the heavily gilded version which generals like to wear. This helm was truly unique, as if partially inspired from the helmet worn by Aurelian, the vertical plume was reced with radiate spikes that formed a golden mohawk on the top of his gilded helmet. While the cheek tes ovepped a gilded face mask which obscured Marcellus’ true facial features, with a rather nd face carving.


    On the helmet itself were purple gemstones encrusted both sides below the mohawk. Marcellus wasn’t just going into this war as representative of the West, but as a Representative of the old religion which founded the Empire, and built it into what it was during its glory days.


    This helmet was a statement to the Christians in the east that he was not going to allow the ancient religion of Rome to fade away silently into the night. After ensuring that his entire armor was equipped, Marcellus dismissed the ves, where cidia and Sigefrida quickly entered the room to gaze upon their man, who was about to march to war.


    The two women were practically in tears, and why wouldn’t they be? They were both pregnant, and the father of their unborn children was about to march to war against an army was outnumbered his own by the tens of thousands. Sigefrida was the first toment on the man’s appearance as she rubbed her hand along the polished bronze muscles.


    “You look really good. If only we had time, I would strip you out of your armor, and make love to you right here and now!”


    Marcellus merely chuckled when he heard this, before grabbing hold of the Suebi beauty’s chin and kissing her passionately. By doing so, he immediately invoked feelings of envy within cidia’s heart, who approached the man, and stole his attention. cidia quickly dragged Marcellus’ lips away from Sigefrida’s and vited his mouth with a kiss of her own. In response to this, Marcellus merely chuckled before scolding the girl.


    “You always were a jealous one…”


    Rather thanugh at his joke, tears formed in the young woman’s hazel eyes as she nodded her head in agreement with the man’s words. Marcellus sighed heavily and hugged the two women tightly before releasing them. He said nothing as he walked to the exit of the mansion, where cidia and Sigefrida followed him like loyal hounds. Once he opened the door, he turned around onest time before saying his goodbyes.


    “You two behave yourselves while I’m away. I promise I will try to end this war as quickly as possible, and when I do, I will bring back that Persian bastard’s head on a te!”


    After saying this, Marcellus shut the door behind him, not waiting for the response from either of the two women, who only ended up weeping after he was gone. Marcellus quickly descended from his vi, and gazed up into the higher reaches of the city, where the Royal Pce was still being constructed.


    He could only sigh once more than he felt the rainfall from the heavens above. It was autumn, and he knew that meant that soon, the roads would be difficult to traverse. Nevertheless, he did not let that stop him. Sarus was waiting for the Imperator as he stepped outside his door, along with several other officers within Marcellus’ Army. When the man approached him, Sarus was quick to report the current status.


    “We have five legions ready to move out at a moment’s notice. What are your orders, Imperator?”


    Marcellus gazed into the distance where he nned to meet the enemy on an opposednding, and did not hesitate to speak his mind.


    “Forward March!”


    In response to these orders, Sarus called out to his troops, who yed the proper instruments which signalled to march. Marcellus used the stirrups to mount his horse, which was covered in brass scale barding, before adorning his helmet upon his head.


    Though the rain continued to fall, it merely pattered against the top of his helmet, along with every other soldier in his army, who was now marching to a battle against a numerically superior foe. Luckily Marcellus had spent thest year or so building his army, and equipping them with the best gear. Or else they would never stand a chance in this war.


    However, gazing upon his legionaries, who were all equipped with the best weapons and armor money could buy, he felt pretty good about his chances of winning this campaign. Hell, he might even be looking forward to the action if he was being honest with himself.