The Will of the Many

Quintus Ulciscor Telimus is the novel’s main antagonist, creating many narrative hurdles that Vis must negotiate and overcome. Quintus is a senator and member of the Military pyramid. He adopts Vis for the purpose of sending him to the Academy as a pawn, hoping to prove that his younger brother Caeror’s death was not suicide but part of a conspiracy perpetrated by Veridius to help Religion gain power over Military. Only his friend and second-in-command Lanistia is aware of his plans.

As a Quintus who receives Will from hundreds of lower-ranked citizens, Ulciscor is very powerful. He is assured of his position and power, and ruthlessly threatens Vis with punishment or death if he does not keep up his end of their bargain. As such, he is one of the several forces manipulating and using Vis to his own ends, with no regard for Vis’s safety or wishes.

“Ulciscor” means “revenge” or “punishment” in Latin; in combination with “Telimus,” it suggests a meaning of “we will win.”

Lanistia is a Sextus who works as Ulciscor’s second-in-command. She is a complex character through whom the novel demonstrates the realities and effects of the Republic’s regime. Morally ambiguous, she does what she must to survive but also shows compassion at times. She is in a mentor role to Vis. “Lanistia” means “care” in Latin.

Lanistia was friends, possibly lovers, with Caeror at the Academy. According to Veridius, Lanistia was nearly killed in an accident caused by Caeror, leading to Caeror’s death by suicide. Though Lanistia survived, she lost her eyes and uses Will to help herself see. She also lost large sections of her memory in the incident. 

Lanistia is a skilled fighter and a merciless tutor during Vis’s time at the Telimus villa. She, like Ulciscor, is convinced that Veridius is responsible for Caeror’s death. Together they obsessively plot to expose Veridius. However, she demonstrates slightly more care for Vis’s well-being, objecting to some of Ulciscor’s demands and asking Vis not to die when he plans to run the Labyrinth.

Veridius is the Principalis of the Academy. In Latin, his name means “most truthful.” Another mentor to Vis, he is also morally ambiguous and complex, and his character develops over the novel. He is a contrast to Lanistia: Whereas she seems ruthless at first but eventually displays sympathetic depths, Veridius is charming, and easily puts people at ease with his engaging conversation, often leading people to reveal more than they meant to. However, he is increasingly revealed as a villain.

Veridius is secretly training students to run the deadly Labyrinth in the ruins, hoping to reach the other end. His most recent protege is Belli, whom Vis finds dead in the Labyrinth when he runs it. Veridius knows the truth about the ruins, the meaning of the chamber within, and Caeror’s disappearance. He tries to force Vis’s cooperation in exchange for a full explanation, which Vis refuses.

Relucia is a Sextus and Ulciscor’s wife. She travels abroad for some kind of undisclosed work and is rarely at home. However, Relucia is also secretly, Sedotia: the Anguis member who attempts to recruit Vis. She is part of the group responsible for the deadly attack at the naumachia and is one of only three Anguis members who know Vis’s real identity.

Relucia appears to be a loving, loyal wife and member of the Telimus family. In Latin, “Relucia” means “shine.” In her role as Sedotia, however, she is calculating, cold-blooded, and manipulative. “Sedotia” means “sedition” in Latin. She plans to replace the senators as the new ruling power of the Republic. She, like Ulciscor, intends to use Vis as a pawn in her own schemes, making her one of the major antagonists of the novel.

Callidus is the first student Vis meets when he officially enrolls at the Academy in Class Seven. He fills the loyal friend paradigm in the narrative; his death as a result of loyalty acts as an example for Vis and becomes a loss that deepens the protagonist’s character development.

“Callidus” translates from Latin as “clever.” He is slight and studious and ostracized from the other students because his father’s recent actions in the Senate have made him many enemies. His father is a high-ranked senator in Governance, who works with the Census. Though Callidus began the year in Class Three, he quickly dropped down to the lowest Class despite his obvious intelligence and skill. Only later does Vis learn that he intentionally failed in part because he knows Class Three students have been mysteriously dying and because Belli blackmailed him.

Callidus and Vis become fast friends, bonding over their love of reading and their philosophical discussions, as well as both being outsiders within the school. He realizes that Vis is not who he says he is but fails to discover the truth. He is too trusting, giving stolen documents to Belli, the girl he liked, who then blackmails him with those documents. Callidus is also exceptionally loyal. This loyalty ultimately leads to Callidus’s death during the Anguis attack at the Iudicium.

Eidhin is large and blond, coming from a Cymrian tribe rather than being a Catenan native. He and Vis bond over their shared disdain for the Republic and the Sixth Praeceptor Dultatis. Eidhin catches Vis on his first foray sneaking off school grounds but agrees to keep the secret if Vis will tutor him in the Catenan language. From there, they begin to train together and become friends.

Eidhin is a powerful fighter. When his tribe was attacked, he killed three Praetorians before his father, the tribal leader, surrendered and Eidhin was sent to a Sapper for a year. He attends the Academy under threat of harm to the remaining members of his tribe, though the precise terms of his deal remain vague to Vis. Eidhin is an Irish name; in diverging from his usual Latin naming derivations, Islington highlights Eidhin’s Cymrian culture, which is modeled on the ancient Celtic tribes or Britons under Roman rule.