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| Octavia Flavia Hadriana | |
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| In office February 9, 3848 – April 1, 3849 | |
Preceded by
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| In office December 1, 3838 – January 14, 3842 | |
Serving with
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Preceded by
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none, office created
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Succeeded by
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Caeso Cassius Sophus
and Lucius Dexsius |
Princeps Senatus
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| In office December 23, 3837 – December 1, 3838 | |
Preceded by
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Felix von Voralbergius
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Succeeded by
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Calpurnius Pyrrhus
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| In office April 15, 3827 – April 15, 3832 | |
Preceded by
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Eberhard von Voralbergius
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Succeeded by
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Eberhard von Voralbergius
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Imperatrix of Selucia
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| In office February 1, 3821 – February 1, 3826 | |
Preceded by
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Caesar III
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Succeeded by
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Born
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March 23, 3789
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Died
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April 1, 3849
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Political party
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Residence
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Alma Mater
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Universitas Studiorum Argonensis
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Occupation
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Activist, politician
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Religion
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Ethnicity
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Octavia Flavia Hadriana (b. March 23, 3789 - d. April 1, 3849), known between 3836 and 3837 as Octavius Flavius Hadrianus, was a Selucian politician and human rights campaigner, who gained prominence during the Barmenian Refugee Crisis by campaigning for the right of the refugees to settle in Selucia. Although of Patrician status, Hadriana is mostly known for her advocacy on behalf of various marginalized groups in Selucia, including Plebeians, Pagans, Felinists, or Jelbics. Starting her career as a human rights advocate, she was one of the founders of the Selucian Republic established in 3838. Ten years later, she was proclaimed Dictatrix after emerging victorious in the brief civil war between herself and forces loyal to the previous Dictator, Caius Cassius Sophus. While serving as Dictatrix Hadriana was assassinated by Consul Caeso Cassius Sophus.
Early life
Octavia was born on the 23rd of March 3789 in Argona, the capital of the Sadaria Argonensis province. Octavia was born into the Hadrianus clan of the Gens Flavia, one of the oldest and most established Patrician families in Selucia, whose lineage is claimed to go all the way back to the Selucian League in Antiquity, although the Gens was first mentioned in the 24th century. At the age of 18 she enrolled into the Universitas Studiorum Argonensis in her home town, at the time one of the only universities to accept female students in Selucia. The university was also known for its political liberalism in an otherwise very conservative city. Octavia obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in Gender Studies at the University of Argona. During her studies there, she was known for her political activism on campus, campaigning for feminist and LGBT issues throughout her years there. After graduating in 3812, due to Selucian laws banning women from seeking full-time employment, she was unable to obtain a job, having to rely on her parents for financial support. In 3815, together with several of her former university colleagues, she co-founded Gynaeceum, a women's rights NGO. While working for Gynaeceum she came to know many fellow campaigners against the Conservative Dundorfian government in power in Selucia at the time, allowing her to create a network of like-minded activists that would prove instrumental in her future political career.
Political career
Hadriana rose to the national spotlight as a result of the Barmenian Refugee Crisis. The crisis began in 3818 with the expulsion of Felinist refugees by Barmenia's theocratic government. A preferred destination of the refugees was Selucia, as a result of close religious and ethnic ties with the local Pagans. Because the Selucian government did everything in its power to prevent the refugees from entering Selucia, including by killing and forcefully deporting them, severl Selucian NGOs initiated a number of campaigns for the rights of the refugees to settle in Selucia. The most popular was the Nemo Illegitimus campaign started by Hadriana, in collaboration with her associates in the NGO world. Seeing that the government would not respond positively to the campaign after the declaration of emergency laws, Hadriana, having emerged as the unofficial leader of the opposition to the Dundorfian government, decided to found her own political party, creating the Action Party in 3819. In 3821 Hadriana was elected Imperatrix with a wide margin, gaining more than 92% of the vote, due to voter dissatisfaction of the government's handling of the refugee crisis and the marginalization of minority groups at the hand of the ultra-Hosian party in power at the time. During her term in office she converted to Paganism by being initiated in the Terekian mysteries, in solidarity with the Felinist refugees. Due to the ban on female employment being used against her while she was head of state, she did not stand for reelection in 3826, supporting instead the candidacy of controversial businessman Caius Cassius Sophus. Several months later she was appointed Princeps Senatus, and while holding that office she became involved in the Pontesian Crisis. The new alliance between herself and Sophus was narrowly defeated in the elections of 3832, which returned an ultra-Conservative majority. Following a controversial bill passed in 3836, women were banned from public office; in response Hadriana had her name legally changed to Octavius Flavius Hadrianus and had herself registered as a male. The bill was repealed within a year, and Hadriana had her name and gender legally restored.
Her collaboration with Sophus proved fruitful, as in 3838 the two politicians managed to overthrow the Imperium and establish the Selucian Republic in its stead, also putting an end to the refugee crisis. The two also became the first Consuls of Selucia under the new constitution, and for the following few years the political couple collaborated closely on a number of issues, settling down the constitutional structure of the young Republic. Disagreements between the two equally ambitious politicians soon began to emerge, however. The political division of power between the two Consuls was the result of a power-sharing agreement that would in theory have given each of the two leverage of the other. The growing tensions between the popular Hadriana and her aristocratic colleague would in time expose the inherent weakness behind their power sharing agreement.
Pontesian War
In October 3840 the Senate passed a bill authorizing Consul Hadriana to intervene in the Pontesian Civil War, a conflict that had been raging between the Sun's Sons militia and other religious and ethnic paramilitaries since the collapse of Free Pontesi in 3829. The Consul was sent to Pontesi with the goal of protecting the rights of Seluco-Pontesians there, who were targeted for execution by the Sun's Suns. Hadriana had hoped to regain some of her lost popularity by emerging victorious in the Pontesian war, and Sophus was eager to expand his control over Selucia in his colleague's absence. Hadriana's invasion was far more successful than initially expected. Organized opposition collapsed within a month, and by April the next year she managed to install a friendly government that could lay claim over the entire Pontesian territory.
Selucian Civil War and Dictatorship
As the Selucian invasion was progressing faster than expected, Hadriana's co-consul introduced a Consular motion to the Senate recalling Hadriana from Pontesi, with the argument that she had overstepped her boundaries by not limiting her intervention solely to Selucian-populated areas. Bribery, threats, and persuasion convinced the Senate to vote for the motion in April 3841, giving her two weeks to bring all her legions back to Selucia or be branded a traitor. Due to the very limited time frame for Hadriana's return, she elected to ignore the warning and continued her invasion of Pontesi. In response she was removed from office, and Caius Cassius Sophus was elected Dictator by the Senate, legally granting him supreme and absolute authority over the Repulic. As Sophus was consolidating his rule over Selucia, so was Hadriana over Pontesi. In March 3846 she felt confident enough in the stability of the Pontesian government, and returned with her legions to Selucia, occupying the island of Oleria with the assistance of anti-Dictatorship Anarchist riots on the island. The Selucian armed forces retreated to the other islands, leaving Hadriana under blockade but in full control over Oleria. In March 3847, after a disastrous and ill-planned invasion of Oleria by Sophus's forces, Hadriana emerged triumphant, and in February 3848 the Senate confirmed her control over Selucia by appointing her Dictatrix.
One of Hadriana's first actions as Dictatrix was a thorough reform of the Constitution so that future ambitious politicians would not be able to follow the same path to power as she herself did. The election process for the Dictatorship was ammended, as was the power ballance between the two Consuls and the Senate. In addition to these reforms, Hadriana also implemented the murder of most of her political opponents in an action known as the proscriptions. Hadriana had the Senate draft a list of persons believed to continue opposing her rule, whose citizenship and legal rights she then had revoked, allowing anyone to murder them with impunity. An estimated 5,000 people were killed as a result of the proscriptions, most of them wealthy Selucians and political opponents who had failed to pledge their loyalty to her.
Assassination
On the Kalends of April 3849 the Dictatrix was killed in a shootout between her lictors and those of Consul Caeso Cassius Sophus. According to eyewitness accounts the Consul had called the Dictatrix for a private meeting in one of the Senate's conference rooms, and after her refusal to meet his demand that she renounce her dictatorship and put an end to the proscriptions, the Consul's lictors, several of whom had been replaced by veterans of the Scutum private security company, were ordered to apprehend Hadriana. The resulting shootout led to Hadriana's being shot in the head and chest, dying instantly; several of her lictors also died on the spot. The Consul announced her death to a shocked Senate, and a number of reforms were introduced curbing the power of the Dictator under the Selucian constitution.
In time numerous legends emerged concerning Hadriana's assassination. Many Selucians believe that the Dictatrix was placed under a curse by the gods after a Feminist anti-Dictatorship activist, Rufina Caecilia, threw herself in front of one of Hadriana's chariots at the annual chariot-racing competition in Auroria. There are also rumours that Hadriana's death was foreseen by a Barmenian Felinist soothsayer, who informed the Dictatrix that she would not live longer than the Kalends of April, a mere week before her assassination.
Personal life and legacy
Hadriana was never married or had any children. She did however have a large number of suitors, most prominent among them Lucius Aquilinus. She was also accused of leading a very promiscuous lifestyle, allegations that she never denied. During her triumph after her victory against Dictator Sophus her soldiers included allegations of promiscuity in their chants, as part of Selucian triumphal tradition.
Her legacy and her public perception is very mixed. At first hailed a hero of the struggle for human rights, the years spent in central politics irreversibly affected her reputation. Immediately after the first electoral victory of the alliance between herself and Caius Cassius Sophus she took advantage of the strict emergency laws to establish a dictatorial regime and declare her opponents enemies of the Selucian people. Her support for Felinist immigration to Selucia too, while at first seen as a humanitarian venture, soon tainted her image when she spearheaded the arming of Felinist refugees in Selucia, effectively creating her personal army. Hadriana's reputation was further damaged as a result of the invasion of Pontesi and her subsequent civil war and dictatorship, believed to be more a tool for her establishing political and military control over Selucia rater than a disinterested pursuit of peace and democracy in the two nations as her official propaganda claimed. Hadriana nonetheless exerted significant influence over the Selucian political system, as she was one of the founders of the Republic of 3838 and the reforms she introduced as Dictatrix were never abolished. The controversial and contradictory nature of her political career is expressed in a quote from one of her followers: "She became a Pagan in the name of Secularism, a man in the name of women's rights, a warrior in the name of peace, and a dictator in the name of democracy".