Julian / Julius Cerialis

Ventrue -x- York -x- Talk:Lineage of Mithras

Sobriquet: As Julian was the first vampire to live in Eborcum (York), he had no specific title. Later he was posthumously referred to as the original Baron of York, even though that term wouldn't be coined for centuries after his final death.

Appearance: At the time of his Embrace, Julian was a boy of no more than fifteen summers. Being of typical Latin descent, with black hair and eyes, much like his father General Quintus Petillius Cerialis, the first commander of the castrum at Eboracum. Although it is likely that he was a tan youth during his mortal years, by that time that John de York met him in the mid 11th century, his skin was the color of fresh milk. In any case, he was tall for those of his era, as it is believed that he was about 5 foot, 6 inches tall or there about. His form was athletic without being bulky and he was without blemish. The only oddity mentioned in the stories of those vampires who met him, were his eyes which were pale amber like champagne. From the few stories that circulate, he found no difficulty in adopting the clothing styles of each era that he passed through, but it is said he was especially fond of cloth dyed a particular shade of purple.

Behavior: Other than the stories told by Baron John to his childer and grand-childer, few direct accounts of Julian's behavior remain to give us another point of view from which to judge his character. While John spoke reverently of his ancient sire, he claimed that while Julian was originally a paragon of vampiric potential, that with the passing centuries he descended into depravity, paranoia and eventually complete insanity. As there are no other Cainite survivors of the Long Night to claim intimacy with Julian, John de York's description of him remains all that is left to us.

History: For a Roman boy whose father had attained great rank and authority, there are virtually no references to Julian in life. From his name and the stories of Baron John we know that Julian was the son of the Roman general Quintus Petillius Cerialis who was appointed governor of Britannia by the Emperor Vespasian in A.D. 71, waged a successful three year war against the Brigantes in the north of England and was appointed suffect consul upon his return to Rome in 74 A.D. It is a matter of historical fact that Qhintus Cerialis was married to Flavia Domitilla, the daughter of the Emperor Vespasian and that officially, they had only two sons: Gaius Petillius Firmus, an officer in the Fourth legion Flavia in Dalmatia, and Quintus Petillius Rufus, appointed consul in A.D. 83. No mention of Julian appears in any correspondences of the time, nor was he officially acknowledged by his father or mother's family. The most likely possibility is that he was of illegitimate birth, perhaps by a female slave or a free woman of low station. Regardless, we know from the stories of Baron John that when General Cerialis returned to Rome in A.D. 74, that Julian remained behind and that he had already fallen under the curse of Caine by that time. John maintained up to the time of his final death in the late 19th century that Julian never revealed the identity of his own sire, thus depriving John of the certainty of linage.

Rest in Peace: Baron John of York was never willing to discuss the circumstances of his sire's final death, only that it occurred sometime during the close of the 12th century. Perhaps because of this reluctance on the part of Baron John to divulge the fate of Julian, dark rumors have always circulated about John's likely complicity in his sire's destruction at the hands of the Triumvirate.