Petronius the Arbiter
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| Character: Petronius the Arbiter] | Nature: Celebrant | Clan: Toreador |
| Player: NPC | Demeanor: Loner | Generation 5th |
| Chronicle: [[]] | Concept: [] | Sire: Michael the Patriarch |
| Allegiance: The Michaelites | --- | Coterie: [] |
| Birth: 50 AD | Weakness: [] | Embrace: 67 AD |
| --- | Cameo: [] | Progeny: Paris of Rome |
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History: Gaius Petronius Arbiter[1] (/pɪˈtroʊniəs/; Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs pɛˈt̪roː.ni.ʊs ˈar.bɪ.t̪ɛr]; c. AD 27 – 66; sometimes Titus Petronius Niger)[1] was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian era (54–68 AD).
A reference to Petronius by Sidonius Apollinaris places him and/or his Satyricon in Massalia (ancient Marseille). He might have been born and educated there. Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter (also phrased arbiter elegantiarum), "judge of elegance", in the court of the emperor Nero. He served as suffect consul in 62. Later, he became a member of the senatorial class who devoted himself to a life of pleasure. His relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion advisor.
Tacitus gives this account of Petronius in his historical work the Annals (XVI.18):
He spent his days in sleep, his nights in attending to his official duties or in amusement, that by his dissolute life he had become as famous as other men by a life of energy, and that he was regarded as no ordinary profligate, but as an accomplished voluptuary. His reckless freedom of speech, being regarded as frankness, procured him popularity. Yet during his provincial government, and later when he held the office of consul, he had shown vigour and capacity for affairs. Afterwards returning to his life of vicious indulgence, he became one of the chosen circle of Nero's intimates, and was looked upon as an absolute authority on questions of taste [elegantiae arbiter; note the pun on Petronius' cognomen] in connection with the science of luxurious living.
None of the ancient sources give any further detail about his life, or mention that he was a writer. However, a medieval manuscript written around 1450 of the Satyricon credited a "Titus Petronius" as the author of the original work. Traditionally, this reference is linked with Petronius Arbiter, since the novel appears to have been written or at least set during his lifetime. The link, however, remains speculative and disputed.
Petronius was born in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero. A satirist known for his extravagant lifestyle, Petronius found himself favored by the Emperor for a short time – a time period in which he penned the Satyricon, a collection of short stories that included the story of a werewolf and a vampire.
His work in the Satyricon fetched the interest of his future sire, and when Petronius tried to commit suicide to avoid the grisly death Nero had in mind for him, the methuselah Mi-ka-il approached him and offered him eternal life. Through undeath, Petronius abandoned his hedonistic tendencies and became a loyal subordinate of his sire, leaving Rome for Constantinople at his behest.
Petronius became the longest serving member of the Quaesitor Tribunal, and worked well with the late Septima Dominica of the Antonians and Symeon of the Obertus to keep order in the city. For more than five hundred years, despite adversity, infighting and the treacherous nature of the Childer of Caine, the Dream prospered. It was when the Iconoclast Movement had been beaten down and Antonius killed that things grew out of control.
When his sire became more and more unstable, Petronius became his majordomo, trying to retain control of the city. Although he was fully convinced of the divinity of his sire, he believed that the adulations of the archangel had to be reigned in, if the Michaelites should remain in power. To this end, he relied more and more on the Lasombra under Magnus, delegating more and more power to them.
His fate following the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 and the end of the Dream is unknown, but it is likely that he faced Final Death in the chaotic events that followed.
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