Game: Guess the (historical) character!

[trans]

Originally Posted by Michele

He's the aquilifer who jumped down the ship first, forcing the rest of the troops to follow him into the high water and under the Britons' arrows all the way to the beach, lest they incurred the dishonor of losing the eagle.

However, I think the signiferi were the accountants of their centuries; I don't know that the aquilifer was the accountant of his legion.

Right, that's who I had in mind, the aquilifer of Legio X in 55 BC.

I also don't know if aquilifers were accountants, but I figure that an aquilifer would probably have served as a signifer before being promoted.

Yes, this one was intentionally obscure, in the sense that I wanted a low-tech person with relatively low status and rank. Such people are rarely mentioned by name in historical accounts.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Landwalker

The aquilifer was the standard-bearer—that's literally what it means (aquili- being "Eagle", the Roman emblem, and -fer being "Bearer")—so it certainly makes sense that one would be at the fore of any action.

Yet Caesar thought to embellish his account of this situation by telling about an action that he obviously deemed worth mentioning.

I think the signiferi may have also been involved in the standard, based just on their names.

Based just on their names, they carried the signa, and not the aquilae.

[Michele]

Here's another one. Portrayed at the end of his life.

Male
TL5-6

High IQ, high DX
High Per

Ambidexterity
Charisma
Courtesy Rank 7
Reputation 4 (awards, medals and Fnord)
Status 4
Talent: Outdoorsman
Wealth: Wealthy

Code of Honor (Fnord)
Chronic Pain (Mild, unfrequent)
Pacifism (?)
Sense of Duty (to country and to members of the Fnord)

Artist
Intelligence Analysis
Observation
Performance
Public Speaking
Riding
Soldier
Survival
Teaching
Tracking
Writing
and many others.

[trans]

Is the Courtesy Rank military, administrative, or something else?

[Walrus]

Daniel Defoe?

[Michele]

Originally Posted by trans

Is the Courtesy Rank military, administrative, or something else?

Military Rank, sorry.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Walrus

Daniel Defoe?

Nice character. But he died way before TL6!

[Gadget]

Theodore Roosevelt?

[trans]

Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Sprouts?

[Michele]

Originally Posted by trans

Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Sprouts?

Yes, that's right! Robert Baden-Powell, Baron of Gilwell, the founder of the Boy Scout movement.