Duke of Charsanon and head of House Menenia (Gazetteer) — fiftyish, the party’s host at Castromar, and the man who suggested to Gnaeus that Opia might be a better match than Silvia. (S8)
What We Know
- Head of House Menenia, leaders of the Expansionists; Duke of Charsanon, lands in the southwest. (Gazetteer)
- Fiftyish. In residence at Castromar when the party arrived. (S8)
- His wife Festinia is in her late thirties and pregnant; they have no other children. (S8)
- On the fourth day he hinted to Gnaeus that Opia might be a better match — and she does seem to like Gnaeus more than Silvia does. (S8)
Relationships
- Festinia Titiana — wife
- Aulus Sabucius Menenius — 1st brother (father of Silvia and Opia); Drusus Sornatius — 2nd brother; Herius Cluntius — 3rd brother (Gazetteer; not seen)
- Gnaeus Clodius Ulpius — prospective in-law, one niece or another
Speculation
Speculation
Why switch nieces? The readings: he has watched Silvia treat the match as a duty and Gnaeus as old, and is steering toward the girl who actually likes him; or Opia at 19 is simply the more marriageable daughter and Silvia at 15 was always the opening bid; or the house wants the Ulpia alliance more than it wants any particular bride. All three say the same thing: House Menenia wants this match to happen.
Speculation
A Duke with no children and a pregnant wife. Per the Gazetteer, inheritance is primogeniture with male relatives ahead of females — so absent a son, the duchy presumably passes along his brothers’ line (Aulus, then Aulus’s son Herius Rufius). A boy would change that. Inference from the Gazetteer; nobody at Castromar discussed it.
Appearances
- Session 8 — hosts the party at Castromar; floats Opia.