Except for Vix and a few minor players, every character in Empress of the Seven Hills is a real person. Emperors Trajan and Hadrian, their wives Plotina and Sabina, Vix’s friends Titus and Simon, even Vix’s adopted son Antinous all existed in real life. Vix’s life and career are based on those of several notable soldiers of the day, especially a cavalry officer named Tiberius Claudius Maximus, who captured the dying Dacian king Decebalus and brought his head and right hand back to the Emperor, and one Marcius Turbo, who was promoted through the ranks on grit and bravery to end up Hadrian’s Praetorian Prefect. Vix is therefore guilty of stealing the credit for other men’s deeds, which I doubt would bother him at all. Not many common legionaries pulled off the kind of meteoric rise through the ranks that Vix does, but it was possible: Trajan’s many active years of campaigning meant heavy casualties among his officers and swift promotion for those who managed to stay alive. Battlefield promotions were frequently handed out for acts of bravery, and patronage was all: With the backing of the Emperor or some other powerful Roman, even a common legionary like Vix could dream of command.