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|reorganized =c. 476 CE
|reorganized =c. 476 CE
|collapsed =  
|collapsed =  
|successor=}}
|successor=|subsidiaries=[[Liberalis Circulum]]<ref name="AC3A">''[[Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter]]''</ref>}}
The '''Roman Hidden Ones''' were a group of [[Hidden Ones]] who operated throughout the territory controlled by [[Rome]] during the era of the [[Roman Republic]] and the [[Roman Empire]].
The '''Roman Hidden Ones''' were a group of [[Hidden Ones]] who operated throughout the territory controlled by [[Rome]] during the era of the [[Roman Republic]] and the [[Roman Empire]].


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After the assassination, the Senate passed an amnesty on the Hidden Ones, which was proposed by Caesar's friend and co-consul [[Marcus Antonius]]. Nonetheless, an uproar among the population forced Brutus and Cassius to flee from Rome, and a civil war ensued.<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' – [[Holidays: Chapter 1 – Ghosts of Christmas Past]]</ref>
After the assassination, the Senate passed an amnesty on the Hidden Ones, which was proposed by Caesar's friend and co-consul [[Marcus Antonius]]. Nonetheless, an uproar among the population forced Brutus and Cassius to flee from Rome, and a civil war ensued.<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' – [[Holidays: Chapter 1 – Ghosts of Christmas Past]]</ref>


In 42 BCE, armies under the command of Marcus Antonius and [[Augustus|Octavian]] clashed with those of Brutus and Cassius at the [[Battle of Philippi|Battle]] of [[Philippi]] in [[Macedonia]]. Faced with inevitable defeat, both Cassius<ref>{{WP|Battle of Philippi}}</ref> and Brutus committed suicide shortly thereafter.<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past" />
In 42 BCE, armies under the command of Marcus Antonius and Caesar's adopted son [[Augustus|Octavian]] clashed with those of Brutus and Cassius at the [[Battle of Philippi|Battle]] of [[Philippi]] in [[Macedonia]]. Faced with inevitable defeat, both Cassius<ref>{{WP|Battle of Philippi}}</ref> and Brutus committed suicide shortly thereafter.<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past" />


After Brutus' death, his fellow Hidden Ones gathered in Philippi, Macedonia and tried to reanimate him using a [[Shroud of Eden 1|Shroud]] of [[Eden]]. Since they had never used it before, the Hidden Ones feared its effects but nevertheless wrapped Brutus in the cloth. Though the corpse opened its eyes and moved its arms, it neither breathed nor reacted to any touch, and eventually fell still in a seeming "second death".<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past" />
After Brutus' death, his fellow Hidden Ones gathered in Philippi, Macedonia and tried to reanimate him using a [[Shroud of Eden 1|Shroud]] of [[Eden]]. Since they had never used it before, the Hidden Ones feared its effects but nevertheless wrapped Brutus in the cloth. Though the corpse opened its eyes and moved its arms, it neither breathed nor reacted to any touch, and eventually fell still in a seeming "second death".<ref name="ACPL - Ghosts of Christmas Past" />
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===Roman Empire===
===Roman Empire===
==== Assassination of Caligula ====
In 27 BCE, the Roman Republic was transformed into the [[Roman Empire]] by Octavian, who became the first Roman Emperor under the title Augustus. The third emperor, [[Caligula]], was a tyrant whose reign was supported and influenced by the Ancients. This turned him into a target for the Hidden One [[Leonius]], who assassinated him with a dagger in an underground corridor beneath [[Palatine Hill]] on 24 January 41 CE.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>
As the Roman Empire expanded through [[Europe]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]], the Hidden Ones established many bureaus across the empire.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' - [[Database: The Hidden Ones]]</ref>
==== Roman Britain and Gaul ====
In the early 1st century, the Hidden Ones expanded north into the Roman {{Wiki|Roman Britain|provinces}} of [[Great Britain|Britannia]], establishing bureaus in the towns of [[Leicestershire|Ratae]], [[London|Londiunum]], [[Winchester|Venta Belgarum]], [[York|Eboracum]], [[Colchester|Camulodunum]], as well as a [[Temple of Ceres bureau|temple]] dedicated to [[Demeter|Ceres]].<ref name="History">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[A Brief History of the Hidden Ones]]</ref> The Hidden Ones also established bureaus in the province of {{Wiki|Gallia Lugdunensis}} around [[Paris]].<ref name="Siege of Paris">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – ''[[The Siege of Paris]]'' – [[Hidden]]</ref>
In the 90s CE, the Hidden Ones sent requests and pleas to Emperor [[Domitian]] and his governor [[Verus]] to accord Roman citizenship to the {{Wiki|Iceni}}. When they ignored the request, the ''[[Acolyte|Acolytus]]'' Anicius killed Verus in public at Camulodunum to send a message to the Senate.<ref name="History" />
In 122, as Emperor [[Hadrian]] planned a war against the northern native people of England, the Hidden Ones decided to assassinate him. The ''Acolytus'' [[Caius (Hidden One)|Caius]] infiltrated his villa in Londinium but was discovered and killed before he could accomplish his mission.<ref name="History" />
Shortly after [[Marcus Aurelius]] came to power, the Hidden Ones made motions towards him to broker peace in the region. Aurelius agreed to cease hostilities and retreat south from [[Antonine Wall]] to the more easily defensible [[Hadrian's Wall]]. Although the Hidden Ones trusted Aurelius to abide by the deal, they sent ''[[Master|magister]]'' [[Eghan]] to oversee the retreat in order to verify that Aurelius kept his word.<ref name="History" />
However, a few decades later, the Roman Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] disregarded Aurelius' established treaty and resumed the fortification and reoccupation of the Antonine wall. The Hidden Ones in Eboracum thus sent ''magister'' [[Khloe]] to poison the emperor during his stay in the city in 211.<ref name="History" />{{AmbCanon Start}}
====Securing the Ankh====
{{Quote|The power of this artifact has yet to be uncovered, but the object itself possesses a strong symbolic value for our circle...|Lucius to his son Aquilus about the Ankh, in a message recorded by the artifact, 259.|Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter}}
{{Quote|The power of this artifact has yet to be uncovered, but the object itself possesses a strong symbolic value for our circle...|Lucius to his son Aquilus about the Ankh, in a message recorded by the artifact, 259.|Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter}}
In 27 BCE, the Roman Republic had been transformed into the [[Roman Empire]] by Octavian. The third Emperor who reigned over this new empire, [[Caligula]], was influenced by the Ancients. This turned him into a target for the Hidden One [[Leonius]], who stabbed him in 41 AD.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>
At some point during the 2nd century, the Hidden One [[Lugos]] etablished his own brotherhood known as the [[Liberalis Circulum]], which operated throughout the territories of the Roman Empire. Lugos later traveled to Egypt to recover two Pieces of Eden, the [[Ankh]] and the [[Scepter of Aset]], which had been found in a pyramid by Roman plunderers. However, while carrying the two artifacts aboard his ship back to Rome across the [[Mediterranean Sea]] a terrible storm opened an enormous waterway within the ship, causing it to sink. Before his demise, Lugos recorded a message with the Ankh, detailing the ongoing events and lamenting the failure of his mission.<ref name="AC3A">''[[Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter]]''</ref>
 
By the mid-3rd century, the Liberalis Circulum had grown to include members from the various provinces of the Empire, having agents operating in Gallia, Germania and Iberia. However, the group was primarily based within the city of [[Lugdunum]], where they were led by the Gallo-Roman [[Lucius]].<ref name="AC2A">''[[Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus]]''</ref>
[[File:AC1D Aquilus Gracchus.png|thumb|left|250px|Aquilus in General Gracchus' tent]]In 259, Lucius' nephew, the [[Alemanni|Aleman]] general and Hidden One [[Accipiter]], found the Ankh after it had resurfaced in Germania, and Lucius arranged for the artifact to be given to his son, [[Aquilus]]. Aquilus was also tasked to assassinate three targets who held high positions within the Empire: Senator [[Caius]] and Generals [[Titus (general)|Titus]] and [[Gracchus]].<ref name="AC2A" /> However, Gracchus learned about Aquilus' intentions after being informed of Caius' and Titus' deaths, and so when the Hidden One confronted him in his tent, he stabbed and left him for dead.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed 1: Desmond]]''</ref>
 


As the Roman Empire expanded through [[Europe]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]], the Hidden Ones settled many bureaus in the empire.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' - [[Database: The Hidden Ones]]</ref>
Aquilus was saved by a timely attack on Gracchus' camp by Accipiter's Alemmani forces, who defeated the Romans and found Aquilus' unconscious body. After being nursed back to health by Accipiter, Aquilus was given the Ankh by cousin and returned to Lugdunum, where he gave the artifact to his father for safekeeping.<ref name="AC2A" />


{{AmbCanon Start}}
At Lucius' villa, Aquilus met Senator [[Caïus Fulvus Vultur]], an old friend of the family, and told his father about his failed assassination of General Gracchus. Lucius suspected that [[Faustinus]], the bishop of Lugdunum, had betrayed them by revealing their plans to their enemies, and so Aquilus decided to interrogate him. Before Aquilus' departure, he was informed by his father about the Ankh's powers, which he described as a "temporary resurrection".<ref name="AC2A" />
====Finding the Ankh====
[[File:AC2A - Aquilus Faustin interrogation.png|thumb|250px|Aquilus interrogating Faustinus]]
Some time before 59 CE, [[Lugos]], who would create a group of Roman Assassins known as the [[Liberalis Circulum]] (Circle of Liberals), traveled to Egypt to recover two [[Pieces of Eden]], the [[Ankh]] and the [[Scepter of Aset]], which had been found in a pyramid by Roman plunderers. However, while carrying the two artifacts aboard his ship back to Rome across the Mediterranean Sea, a terrible storm opened an enormous waterway within the ship, causing it to sink. Before his demise, Lugos recorded a message with the Ankh, detailing the ongoing events and lamenting the failure of his mission.<ref name="AC3A">''[[Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter]]''</ref>
Making his way to Faustinus' home, Aquilus woke him up in the middle of the night and threatened to kill him for his treachery. After Faustinus stated that he had no choice and that Emperor [[Gallienus]] had forced him to expose the Liberalis Circulum's plans, Aquilus demanded to know who his collaborators were. Faustinus initially claimed that he had acted alone, but upon being beaten up by the Hidden One, he betrayed the identity of his accomplice: Vultur. Taking advantage of Aquilus' surprise, Faustinus attempted to flee, but was promptly killed by the Hidden One with a [[throwing knife]] to the back.<ref name="AC2A" />


By 259 CE, the Liberalis Circulum operated from the city of [[Lugdunum]]. The Roman [[Lucius]] tasked the [[Alemanni|Aleman]] [[Accipiter]] with obtaining a Precursor artifact known as the [[Ankh]]. Lucius' son [[Aquilus]], who was also a cousin of Accipiter, was tasked with assassinating two Generals and a Senator, and then ordered to retrieve the artifact in Accipiter's possession.<ref name="AC2A">''[[Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus]]''</ref> However, as Aquilus reached his third target, the General [[Gracchus]], his intent was discovered and he was stabbed by his own target.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed 1: Desmond]]''</ref> Fortunately for the Aquilus, he was saved by his cousin, who gave him the Ankh, which had been finally recovered, centuries after Lugos' death. The Gaul took back the artifact to his father in Lugdunum, but it was then stolen by the Liberalis Circulum's ancestral enemies, with [[Caïus Fulvus Vultur]] killing Aquilus' father, Lucius.<ref name="AC2A" />
Aquilus subsequently rushed back to Lucius' home to inform him about Vultur's treachery, but arrived too late, as he found his father dead and the Ankh missing. Upon further inspection, Aquilus found his father's servant [[Weke]], who had been mortally wounded and only managed to utter a few words before passing away. Just then, a maid came up and revealed that Vultur had killed both Lucius and Weke and stolen the Ankh, causing Aquilus to vow revenge.<ref name="AC2A" />


Aquilus tracked Vultur to Rome, where he eliminated him and his fellow conspirators and retrieved the artifact. Later, the arrest and execution of Aquilus was ordered by the [[Prefect of Lugdunum|prefect of his home city]], but even after Aquilus' death, the artifact was successfully hidden. It was this same Prefect with whom [[Cuervo]], an Iberian Hidden One sent to preserve the Circle's interests in Lugdunum from the Germanic armies raiding the Empire, and Accipiter were negotiating the spare of the Roman city in exchange for a significant tribute to the Alemanni.<ref name="AC3A"/>
Aquilus tracked Vultur to Rome, where he eliminated him and his fellow conspirators and retrieved the Ankh, taking it back to his home in Lugdunum. During this time, the Alemanni planned to ransack the city, but the Iberian Hidden One [[Cuervo]] convinced Accipiter to negotiate a deal with the [[Prefect of Lugdunum]] instead, in order to preserve the Liberalis Circulum's interests. The prefect agreed to pay Accipiter a significant tribute in exchange for sparing the city, but later ordered the arrest and execution of Aquilus and his wife [[Valeria]].<ref name="AC3A" />


After Accipiter negotiated a truce with the Prefect of Lugdunum on behalf of the Alemanni, he attempted to rescue Aquilus, who was killed by Roman guards during Accipiter's ambush. Accipiter left the Ankh in the care of Aquilus' wife [[Valeria]].<ref name="AC3A"/>
After learning about his cousin's plight, Accipiter attempted to save Aquilus and Valeria, but only managed to rescue the latter, as Aquilus was executed by Roman soldiers. With the Ankh now in Valeria's possession, Accipiter requested that she hide it in a safe place, claiming that he was too busy with his conquests to do so himself. Valeria ultimately hid the artifact within an altar erected to the memory of her late husband.<ref name="AC3A" />
{{AmbCanon End}}
{{AmbCanon End}}
====Later activities====
====Later activities====
In the 4th century, an unidentified [[Roman Assassin|Roman Hidden One]] operated in the Roman Empire during the rise of [[Constantine I]] as emperor, witnessing the foundation of [[Constantinople]].<ref>{{Twitter|DarbyMcDevitt|status/694275921604407296|[[Darby McDevitt]]|quote=Random AC fact: the fake Helix title in ACU, "The Bladed Cross" refers to the rise of Constantine I. I'm not sure most people get this one.|image=File:ACU - Darby McDevitt - Twitter - The Bladed Cross.png}}</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment – Employee Handbook]]''</ref>
In the 4th century, an unidentified [[Roman Assassin|Roman Hidden One]] operated in the Roman Empire during the rise of [[Constantine I]] as emperor, witnessing the foundation of [[Constantinople]].<ref>{{Twitter|DarbyMcDevitt|status/694275921604407296|[[Darby McDevitt]]|quote=Random AC fact: the fake Helix title in ACU, "The Bladed Cross" refers to the rise of Constantine I. I'm not sure most people get this one.|image=File:ACU - Darby McDevitt - Twitter - The Bladed Cross.png}}</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment – Employee Handbook]]''</ref>
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*[[Amunet|Aya]] {{c|[[Egyptian Brotherhood of Assassins|Egyptian Brotherhood]]}}
*[[Amunet|Aya]] {{c|[[Egyptian Brotherhood of Assassins|Egyptian Brotherhood]]}}
*[[Caesarion]]
*[[Caesarion]]
*[[Lugos]]
*[[Servilius Casca]]
*[[Servilius Casca]]
*[[Gaius Cassius Longinus]]
*[[Gaius Cassius Longinus]]
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*[[Leonius]]
*[[Leonius]]
*[[Lucius]] {{C|Gaul}}
*[[Lucius]] {{C|Gaul}}
*[[Lugos]]
*[[Publius Volumnius]]
*[[Publius Volumnius]]
*[[Marcellus]]
*[[Marcellus]]

Revision as of 04:15, 19 November 2023

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This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given.
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"Bayek, Caesar has been assassinated. Septimius is also dead. I have founded a bureau in the middle of Rome, yet no one knows of our existence. Like Amun, we are... the Hidden Ones."
―Aya detailing the successful formation of the Roman bureau in her letter to Bayek, 43 BCE.[src]-[m]

The Roman Hidden Ones were a group of Hidden Ones who operated throughout the territory controlled by Rome during the era of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.

It was one of the first branches of the Hidden Ones, who would later become the Assassin Brotherhood, and was founded by the Greco-Egyptian Hidden One Aya, shortly after she had founded the organization in Egypt alongside her husband, the Medjay Bayek. Centuries later, the branch was revived as the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins.

History

Roman Republic

Foundation as the Hidden Ones

Aya: "I have assembled a group. This is Brutus and Cassius. Our Roman brothers."
Phoxidas: "We're going to cut these bastards down from across the seas. Septimius and Caesar."
—Aya and Phoxidas introducing Bayek to their Roman recruits, 47 BCE.[src]-[m]

In 47 BCE, the Medjay Bayek and his wife, Aya, who were on a quest of vengeance against the Order of the Ancients for the death of their son Khemu and had formed a network of people opposing the Ancients and supporting the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, were betrayed by the Roman general Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, who were influenced by the Order. While Bayek tracked down and killed the Order's leader, Flavius Metellus, Aya recruited the Roman Senators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, enemies of Caesar, to their cause, determined to leave for Rome to combat the Order there. Before leaving, Bayek and Aya named their new brotherhood the Hidden Ones, laying out the foundation of the Creed and their customs.[2]

While Bayek established a bureau in Memphis, Aya set sail across the Tyrrhenian Sea towards Rome, accompanied by Damastes and Phoxidas. In 46 BCE, their ship was attacked by a Roman fleet, but they successfully managed to sink the ships and made port in Antium shortly afterward. From there, Aya made her way to Rome and established a bureau there.[2]

Amunet and the newly recruited Roman Hidden Ones

Aya founded the Roman branch of the Hidden Ones, and aside from Brutus and Cassius, also recruited several other Roman Senators, as well as the Roman philosopher Publius Volumnius.[2][3] The Roman Senators that would take part in the conspiracy against Caesar referred to themselves as Liberatores.[4][5]

Assassination of Julius Caesar

"[Caesar] has created his own private senate, filled with deceivers, manipulators, people who have no business in Roman affairs. My brothers are eager for blood, but I am not certain I can spill it."
―Marcus Junius Brutus on Julius Caesar, c. 44 BCE.[src]
The Hidden Ones killing Julius Caesar

By 44 BCE, Julius Caesar had become the new head of the Order of the Ancients, with Lucius Septimius as his right hand, and even considering him the "Father of Understanding". With Aya as their leader,[2] Brutus and Cassius spearheaded a conspiracy with thirty-eight other Roman Senators, who were also all secretly Hidden Ones and opposed Caesar's imperialist ideals after he was appointed dictator for life. After being assigned by Cassius as the one to come up with the plan of assassinating Caesar, Brutus designated a Temple of Juno preceding a sealed Isu Vault as a meeting place for his co-conspirators.[6][5] Having received visions of Caesar's future assassination within the vault, Brutus was further motivated and scheduled their attack for the Ides of March.[6]

On 15 March 44 BCE, Aya, Brutus and Cassius went to the Theatre of Pompey where the Roman Senate was to convene. While Brutus and Cassius went to the curia, Aya fought and killed Septimius, before joining her brothers in the Senate. Aya was the first one to strike at Caesar, followed by the Roman Senators. Caesar resisted at first but resigned himself to his fate upon recognizing Brutus.[2][6] Shortly after, Aya adopted the name Amunet.[2]

Driven to severe guilt from his actions, Brutus later returned to the Colosseum, and abandoned the dagger he had used to strike down Caesar within the vault, along with his heirloom armor and the scrolls describing his dreams and discovery of the vault, as well as include drawings of the chamber and its pedestal.[6]

Attempted resurrection of Brutus

"Whatever power lies within this artifact, it has not returned our Brother to us."
―Publius Volumnius commenting on the failed resurrection of Brutus.[src]
The Shroud covering Brutus

After the assassination, the Senate passed an amnesty on the Hidden Ones, which was proposed by Caesar's friend and co-consul Marcus Antonius. Nonetheless, an uproar among the population forced Brutus and Cassius to flee from Rome, and a civil war ensued.[7]

In 42 BCE, armies under the command of Marcus Antonius and Caesar's adopted son Octavian clashed with those of Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in Macedonia. Faced with inevitable defeat, both Cassius[8] and Brutus committed suicide shortly thereafter.[7]

After Brutus' death, his fellow Hidden Ones gathered in Philippi, Macedonia and tried to reanimate him using a Shroud of Eden. Since they had never used it before, the Hidden Ones feared its effects but nevertheless wrapped Brutus in the cloth. Though the corpse opened its eyes and moved its arms, it neither breathed nor reacted to any touch, and eventually fell still in a seeming "second death".[7]

As some of the Hidden Ones wept, Brutus was wrapped instead in a burial mantle, and the Shroud was returned to its wooden storage box.[7]

Roman Empire

Assassination of Caligula

In 27 BCE, the Roman Republic was transformed into the Roman Empire by Octavian, who became the first Roman Emperor under the title Augustus. The third emperor, Caligula, was a tyrant whose reign was supported and influenced by the Ancients. This turned him into a target for the Hidden One Leonius, who assassinated him with a dagger in an underground corridor beneath Palatine Hill on 24 January 41 CE.[9]

As the Roman Empire expanded through Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, the Hidden Ones established many bureaus across the empire.[10]

Roman Britain and Gaul

In the early 1st century, the Hidden Ones expanded north into the Roman provinces of Britannia, establishing bureaus in the towns of Ratae, Londiunum, Venta Belgarum, Eboracum, Camulodunum, as well as a temple dedicated to Ceres.[11] The Hidden Ones also established bureaus in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis around Paris.[12]

In the 90s CE, the Hidden Ones sent requests and pleas to Emperor Domitian and his governor Verus to accord Roman citizenship to the Iceni. When they ignored the request, the Acolytus Anicius killed Verus in public at Camulodunum to send a message to the Senate.[11]

In 122, as Emperor Hadrian planned a war against the northern native people of England, the Hidden Ones decided to assassinate him. The Acolytus Caius infiltrated his villa in Londinium but was discovered and killed before he could accomplish his mission.[11]

Shortly after Marcus Aurelius came to power, the Hidden Ones made motions towards him to broker peace in the region. Aurelius agreed to cease hostilities and retreat south from Antonine Wall to the more easily defensible Hadrian's Wall. Although the Hidden Ones trusted Aurelius to abide by the deal, they sent magister Eghan to oversee the retreat in order to verify that Aurelius kept his word.[11]

However, a few decades later, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus disregarded Aurelius' established treaty and resumed the fortification and reoccupation of the Antonine wall. The Hidden Ones in Eboracum thus sent magister Khloe to poison the emperor during his stay in the city in 211.[11]

The enclosed content is of ambiguous canonicity.

Securing the Ankh

"The power of this artifact has yet to be uncovered, but the object itself possesses a strong symbolic value for our circle..."
―Lucius to his son Aquilus about the Ankh, in a message recorded by the artifact, 259.[src]

At some point during the 2nd century, the Hidden One Lugos etablished his own brotherhood known as the Liberalis Circulum, which operated throughout the territories of the Roman Empire. Lugos later traveled to Egypt to recover two Pieces of Eden, the Ankh and the Scepter of Aset, which had been found in a pyramid by Roman plunderers. However, while carrying the two artifacts aboard his ship back to Rome across the Mediterranean Sea a terrible storm opened an enormous waterway within the ship, causing it to sink. Before his demise, Lugos recorded a message with the Ankh, detailing the ongoing events and lamenting the failure of his mission.[1]

By the mid-3rd century, the Liberalis Circulum had grown to include members from the various provinces of the Empire, having agents operating in Gallia, Germania and Iberia. However, the group was primarily based within the city of Lugdunum, where they were led by the Gallo-Roman Lucius.[13]

Aquilus in General Gracchus' tent
In 259, Lucius' nephew, the Aleman general and Hidden One Accipiter, found the Ankh after it had resurfaced in Germania, and Lucius arranged for the artifact to be given to his son, Aquilus. Aquilus was also tasked to assassinate three targets who held high positions within the Empire: Senator Caius and Generals Titus and Gracchus.[13] However, Gracchus learned about Aquilus' intentions after being informed of Caius' and Titus' deaths, and so when the Hidden One confronted him in his tent, he stabbed and left him for dead.[14]


Aquilus was saved by a timely attack on Gracchus' camp by Accipiter's Alemmani forces, who defeated the Romans and found Aquilus' unconscious body. After being nursed back to health by Accipiter, Aquilus was given the Ankh by cousin and returned to Lugdunum, where he gave the artifact to his father for safekeeping.[13]

At Lucius' villa, Aquilus met Senator Caïus Fulvus Vultur, an old friend of the family, and told his father about his failed assassination of General Gracchus. Lucius suspected that Faustinus, the bishop of Lugdunum, had betrayed them by revealing their plans to their enemies, and so Aquilus decided to interrogate him. Before Aquilus' departure, he was informed by his father about the Ankh's powers, which he described as a "temporary resurrection".[13]

Aquilus interrogating Faustinus

Making his way to Faustinus' home, Aquilus woke him up in the middle of the night and threatened to kill him for his treachery. After Faustinus stated that he had no choice and that Emperor Gallienus had forced him to expose the Liberalis Circulum's plans, Aquilus demanded to know who his collaborators were. Faustinus initially claimed that he had acted alone, but upon being beaten up by the Hidden One, he betrayed the identity of his accomplice: Vultur. Taking advantage of Aquilus' surprise, Faustinus attempted to flee, but was promptly killed by the Hidden One with a throwing knife to the back.[13]

Aquilus subsequently rushed back to Lucius' home to inform him about Vultur's treachery, but arrived too late, as he found his father dead and the Ankh missing. Upon further inspection, Aquilus found his father's servant Weke, who had been mortally wounded and only managed to utter a few words before passing away. Just then, a maid came up and revealed that Vultur had killed both Lucius and Weke and stolen the Ankh, causing Aquilus to vow revenge.[13]

Aquilus tracked Vultur to Rome, where he eliminated him and his fellow conspirators and retrieved the Ankh, taking it back to his home in Lugdunum. During this time, the Alemanni planned to ransack the city, but the Iberian Hidden One Cuervo convinced Accipiter to negotiate a deal with the Prefect of Lugdunum instead, in order to preserve the Liberalis Circulum's interests. The prefect agreed to pay Accipiter a significant tribute in exchange for sparing the city, but later ordered the arrest and execution of Aquilus and his wife Valeria.[1]

After learning about his cousin's plight, Accipiter attempted to save Aquilus and Valeria, but only managed to rescue the latter, as Aquilus was executed by Roman soldiers. With the Ankh now in Valeria's possession, Accipiter requested that she hide it in a safe place, claiming that he was too busy with his conquests to do so himself. Valeria ultimately hid the artifact within an altar erected to the memory of her late husband.[1]

Later activities

In the 4th century, an unidentified Roman Hidden One operated in the Roman Empire during the rise of Constantine I as emperor, witnessing the foundation of Constantinople.[15][16]

Members

Roman Republic

Roman Empire

Allies and puppets

Appearances

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Assassin's Creed: Origins
  3. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Database: Reconstructed Data 011
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Scrolls of Romulus
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Rome: Chapter 2 – Giovanni Borgia
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Holidays: Chapter 1 – Ghosts of Christmas Past
  8. ↑ Battle of Philippi on Wikipedia
  9. ↑ Assassin's Creed II
  10. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla - Database: The Hidden Ones
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – A Brief History of the Hidden Ones
  12. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Siege of Paris – Hidden
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus
  14. ↑ Assassin's Creed 1: Desmond
  15. ↑ Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) on Twitter "Random AC fact: the fake Helix title in ACU, "The Bladed Cross" refers to the rise of Constantine I. I'm not sure most people get this one." (screenshot)
  16. ↑ Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment – Employee Handbook

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