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 Name:  Tiberius Proditus

 Age:  29

 Height:  166 cm (Just over 5' 5")

 Weight:  170 lbs.

 Physical Description:  Dark-skinned Roman soldier as result of heavy sun exposure. Brown, shifty eyes. Receding dark hairline. Stereotypical prominent nose, pointed chin, high cheekbones. Not excessively muscular, but well-built, as to be expected of a soldier. No notable scars/physical deformities.

 Bio:  Tiberius Proditus was born to a Roman soldier and a North African woman, and spent his early childhood on the march across Rome's many colonies, as part of the legion's civilian baggage train. He learned harsh desert survival at a young age. He was fascinated with other cultures, and identified far more strongly with his North African heritage than with his Roman heritage. These sympathies remained undetected by his father. As he traveled from place to place, Tiberius became a petty thief and scoundrel, stealing from merchants before disappearing into the crowds and leaving with the Romans. He was not a spoiled child, but was quite certainly a mischievous boy.

Once he was of age, Tiberius was recognized as a citizen, where he returned to Rome and became a soldier in the legion. He was by no means an exceptional recruit, but he did his job well enough. There he received standard training and drilling and was stationed in Germania, under the command of Publis Quinctilius Varus. Most importantly, he learned to feign loyalty.

His auxiliary officer, Arminius, defected to the Germanic tribesmen in the area and was in the process of preparing an ambush when he was discovered by Tiberius. Having no strong loyalty to the legion, and ever the self-serving opportunist, he quickly pleged his support to Arminius. He participated in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, which was a resounding success for the soldiers of the Germanic tribes. Arminius, sensing Tiberius' opportunist nature, attempted to assassinate him. Tiberius fled.

Having betrayed his army and now hunted by the locals, Tiberius was forced to rely on trickery and cunning to survive. Not well-conditioned to survival in the forest environment of central Europe, at least not by himself, Tiberius made his way from village to village. No hunter and no gatherer, he relied on barter and thievery to provide for himself, and as the weeks went on he eventually learned of a nearby Roman outpost from the locals. By this time, the Germanic assassins had pursued him to his limit. They knew the terrain and he didn't--it was nothing short of a miracle he had evaded them as long as he had.

Only a day's way out from the outpost, Tiberius once again played his shifty personality to his advantage. Publicly buying off a messenger, he sent for help. A group of Germanic ghost warriors descended upon his camp that night. Approaching the campfire, they killed the figure hunched over for warmth. It was the messenger, dressed in Tiberius' armor. Now with half a day's lead over his pursuers, Tiberius made it to the safety of the outpost. Since the legion at Teutoburg had been annihilated, Tiberius was the first to bring news of the attack to Roman ears--and as the sole survivor, he was well aware that his word was now the truth.

 Close Range:  Spatha sword. It was something of a modified gladius that was used heavily in border areas as the gladius was influenced by the native longswords. 90.8 cm overall length (35.7 in), 69.9 cm blade length (27.5 in.), 4.1 cm blade width (1.61 in.), 1.85 lbs. All-wood (walnut oak) hilt with reinforcing guard plate of bronze inleted into the forward end of the guard, and a mushroom-shpaed rivet block. Disc-shaped pommel. Iron blade. Primarily a thrusting weapon.

Used in conjunction with the scutum shield. Curved oval shield (two sheets of laminated birch wood glued together, covered with canvas and leather, with a spindle-shaped boss along the vertical length of the shield). Considerably heavy (~22 lbs or ~10 kg). 1.28 m long (50.39 in.), 63.5 cm wide (25 in.). The shield is the thickest in the center (1.2 cm), and is slightly less than a cm thick at the edges.

 Mid Range:  Pilum javelin. Hard pyramidal tip with iron shank--the shank is meant to bend on impact, rendering the weapon useless if an enemy were to throw it back. More importantly, it is designed to embed itself into an enemy's shield, rendering the defense useless due to the cumbersome weight of the bent pilum. The shank was joined to the shaft by a socket. 2 meters (6 ft 7 in.) long overall, hardwood shaft; 60 cm shank (24 in), 7 mm in diameter (0.28 in). Tiberius carried one with him.

 Long Range:  Plumbata darts. Overall length 20 cm (7.87 in.), iron dart heads 15 cm (5.90 in) long, 2 cm (0.78 in.) wide. Lead weight attached to anterior end. Tiberius only carried three with him.

 Special Weapon:  Pugio dagger. Large, leaf-shaped iron blade 28 cm (11 in.) in length, 5 cm (2 in.) in width. Grip is riveted through a wide, flat tang.

 Armor:  Lorica hamata. 1/8"-diameter iron rings comprise the mail shirt. Reaches to mid-thigh, 5-inch sleeves, shoulder doublings. Montefortino helmet. Conical, with raised central knob, cheek plates, and protruding neck guard. "Pinecone" patterning on the crest knob. Wool and felt helmet padding glued inside to help absorb blows. Caligae heavy-soled, hobnailed leather boots.