Owner: L. Iulia Aquila
Chariot: Ignis Natus
Factio: Albata
Tactics Quarter and Semifinals: Favors a steady constant pace but is fiercely competitive and has been known to push rivals to the walls of circus and will wield his whip if necessary. He has no qualms about closely passing the spina of the circus if it means eliminating a rival.
Tactics Finals: Similar to the Quarters and Semifinals, but for the win in final laps may incorporate high pace and unusual and finite tactics when his survival instincts kick in.
When Vitus Herminius Aquilinus of Liguria was a young Master his servants spotted the boy collapsed from exhaustion atop a great roan steed one early dawn as they prepared to put their horse stock through their morning exercises. Believed to be a Massiliot the boy, Aetius, appeared Romanized and when he finally spoke it was a dialect of Masillia heavily inflected with Latin. He wore a silver bulla around his neck inscribed with the initials “IVN” and his birth date which put him at just over 5 years old, even at this age it was soon clear he was an accomplished horseman. Vitus, after hearing of how he escaped his blazing village, called him Aetius Canius (Eagle born of fire)
It appears his seaside village was under a fiery siege and his mother hid him in a cave while all the other children were seized and taken away. His mother told him to remain hidden and bid him, when it got dark, to take the well packed horse she had used to escape. She held his tender face in her hands, his long curling sun kissed locks flowing over her hands, kissed him and walked away saying she must go back to find out the whereabouts of her other children and that she would find him. He never saw her again and found sanctuary in Vitus’ household and horses near Portus Veneris and trained at the Herminii Stables.
He is no longer that tender child, his hair is a deep rich brown with sun bleached flaxen streaks; his form is hardened, muscular and dexterous, his storm cloud grey eyes striking in contrast to his sun bronzed complexion. To those he trusts he appears mostly brooding and serious, to others he withdraws into solitude, not avoiding company, just not needing it. His enemies and competitors take heed when his lips curl into a deceptive and comely smile whilst his eyes pierce the toughest of hides signaling danger - but it is when he lacks any expression at all is when he is most deadly.
The chariot, Ignis Natus: The body is painted in ivory with flames of Helios on each side and a slightly burnished gold trim on the felly so glare will not impede the driver’s vision. The temo is ivory as well with burnished accents but there is a back strip of a bright shining gold metal where the charioteer will step into the chariot itself. As with most chariots it has a dense oak axle and the body is of tightly woven wicker but there are a few special reinforcements added to strengthen it and adjustments made to lighten it for speed. The side part of the canthus is likewise painted with burnished gold matching the reinforced metal of the business part that appears to be of a golden bronze - but the eight spokes are layered in the most gleaming gold color and in the center of spokes is a depiction of a head of a shining golden eagle; its wings spread.
The horses chosen are a matched set sporting bloodlines of Iberian Bay champions with Black manes and tails. Their names are Aiolus, Gennadius, Eolus and Anicetus.
