Marius de Romanus from The Vampire Chronicles
Marius de Romanus, a secondary character in The Vampire Chronicles like Armand, but, like Armand, one of the most important.
His surname is not de Romanus, it is a name he gives himself, we will see how later on.
The Vampire Lestat (1984);
The Queen of the Damned (1988);
The Vampire Armand (1998);
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016);
Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018)
Unfortunately, his biography is the one that has been subject to the most minor changes made by Rice, so I might get confused too; I’ll try to stick as closely as possible to what is said in Blood and Gold (rather than The Vampire Lestat and Pandora, and to a lesser extent The Vampire Armand), given that it is the most recent publication and does not rely on the ‘voice’ of other characters and above all, it is presented as a confession to a vampire, Thorne, whom Marius (and the reader) have only just met, rather than as something intended for a wider audience.
Son of a Celtic slave and a Roman senator. His appearance is more like his mother’s, whom the Romans viewed with disdain.
Marius is a free spirit and not very Roman when one considers the way he wanted to live: travelling, discovering new places, studying history and recording it. Marius pays little attention to the social obligations to which the Romans attached such importance, in fact, simply to rid himself of the burden of marriage, he plans to ask for the hand of Pandora, still a young girl, so that he can go about his business without pressure (as expressed by Pandora’s father, who was still known as Lydia at the time).
It is during one of these trips, in Gaul, that he is abducted by Mael, a druid. He is taken prisoner and then turned into a vampire by Teskhamen (whose name is revealed in Prince Lestat), who is regarded as a god by the group of druids to which Mael belongs.
Marius is supposed to take the place of this skeletal, scorched-looking vampire, but Teskhamen tells him he must flee and go to Egypt to save the Parents.
From this moment onwards, Marius is the guardian of Those-Who-Must-Be-Kept, the Mother and the Father, Akasha and Enkil. The primary source of the vampires (just Akasha), who had been exposed to the sun by the previous guardian, causing the death of many young vampires and the burning of the older ones.
All of Marius’s actions over the centuries have been driven by the need to keep the existence of the Parents a secret, and because of this he is forced into solitude and a life of constant travel.
In Antioch, he meets Pandora again, now a woman, who has been led there by Akasha, as if it were she who had wanted the two of them to be together, and Marius agrees to transform her.
Marius and Pandora’s love story is one of ups and downs, arguments and misunderstandings, all of which are constantly linked to the figure of the Parents.
Santino and other vampires like him, who want to see the Parents and cannot tolerate Marius living amongst humans, will also be a constant presence.
He will also spend time with Mael, who has become a vampire, and Avicus, another ‘god’ like Teskhamen, amongst the humans in Italian and Turkish cities.
He then spends a long time asleep. He skips the entire Middle Ages, only to awaken at the end of the 15th century.
Marius sees the culture and history he loves so dearly come back to life, he is captivated by Renaissance art, and this passion is expressed through his own desire to paint and his deep admiration for Sandro Botticelli. His love is so deep that he considers turning Botticelli, but he gives up on the idea, knowing that he could not deprive humanity of such an artist, given that vampires are capable of creating perfect replicas of art, yet these are empty in their own eyes.
The reason he’s called de Romanus is Botticelli. One day he knocked on the door of his workshop and, to introduce himself, the first name that sprang to mind was literally the most banal thing in the world. Talking to crush has that effect.
Marius subsequently settled in Venice and became a well-known figure amongst the townspeople, a wealthy gentleman who acted as a patron to many young boys whom he had rescued from dire circumstances and poverty, with the aim of educating them and giving them a future. Many of them went on to university after leaving his home.
He meets Bianca Solderini, a woman who reminds him of Botticelli’s Venus. He would like to make her his companion, after centuries of solitude, but he knows her mind and thinks she would not be able to cope with the transformation into a monstrous creature.
And here we are, when he hears prayers in the night, whilst alone on a gondola, and rescues a young boy who longs for death.
Marius breathes new life into this angel by Botticelli (a crush is forever) and names him Amadeo, having sensed that, although the boy is at odds with his past, he is deeply devoted to the Christian faith.
Life with Amadeo is happy, Marius struggles with himself not to turn him into a vampire, because the boy is young and, after everything he has been through, he needs to experience life. Marius even comes to accept the possibility that, once he has grown up, he might want to remain human and move on, but Amadeo does not share his view (see the analysis of Armand).
Their relationship is characterised by mutual domination and submission, which is more evident in Armand’s narrative than in Marius’s (to avoid narrative repetition). But here we can see Marius’s inner struggle as a vampire plagued by loneliness and longing for a companion, and Amadeo would be his perfect match.
Santino returns to torment Marius, who miraculously manages to escape this attack and is forced to transform Bianca, but whilst doing so, he thinks back to Pandora and wonders where she might be. (My personal suspicion is that Akasha may also have been manipulating Marius’s thoughts and the events surrounding him here, but this isn’t the right place to discuss it.)
When the he gets better (and many, many years have passed), Marius discovers where Amadeo, now known as Armand, is. Armand has become a ruthless leader of the very same cult that destroyed his home and killed his pupils, going against everything Marius had taught him.
He decides not to approach him, knowing that Amadeo would be capable of freeing himself whenever he chose.
He arrives in Dresden with Bianca, where he knew Pandora was staying with Arjun.
Things don’t go very well, he betrays Bianca’s trust, and Pandora is unable to join him, so he remains alone until Lestat arrives some time later.
The events that follow are linked to Akasha’s reawakening in the 1980s, which was partly due to Lestat and partly to Marius, who, like a father proud of his son, showed the Queen the music videos of Lestat singing about her.
In the end, Marius finds himself without the purpose that had kept him alive for millennia.
And just as with Armand, it’s Daniel who comes to his rescue.
Marius looks after Daniel, who isn’t feeling very well and risks accidentally killing himself if left alone.
The two have a very peaceful (partly because nothing much happens during that period) and tender relationship. They are the support each other needs, and they’ll live together for a long time, until it’s revealed in Atlantis that Daniel decides to leave him.
In Blood Communion, Marius has finally been reunited with his Amadeo (see Armand’s analysis).
And he is the Prime Minister of the great coven they have created, with Lestat as its ‘leader’.
Marius is the wise, ancient vampire whom the protagonist, Lestat, turns to whenever he has a problem. Everyone respects him, except Pandora, though she has her reasons (my favourite divorced couple), but Marius commands respect not by instilling fear, but simply by being wise, except when it comes to himself.
He has a apparently mild-mannered nature, shies away from confrontation and hates himself when he lets his anger get the better of him, which is why, like all people who suppress their feelings, he ends up exploding and overreacting: for example, the fight with Pandora in which Marius impulsively storms off, never to return;,of course, he later regrets it, but it is too late.
His personality is also typically Roman: dutiful, rational, a bit rigid, but also deeply passionate. His narrative highlights a profound self-loathing and a deep-seated hatred of his vampire nature, which he always tries to keep under control and when he gives in to his (always vampire-related) desires, he berates himself harshly.
He is an atheist, but he never does anything to impose his “non-belief” on others; he rejects any form of idolatry towards the gods, even towards the Parents. Marius feels respect for them and knows they are important, but he does not regard them as gods and cannot tolerate the idea that a cult might be built up around them. The fact that he was also “killed” because of a cult worshipping a god in a tree certainly didn’t help.
But with Amadeo, we see that there is respect for his religion, so much so, in fact, that the boy allows himself to be easily swayed by Santino’s religious dictates, because he had never abandoned them, despite Marius having tried to make him forget that more unhealthy aspect which would have led to his premature death had he remained with the monks.
Marius is also the one who will tell a female vampire in clear terms that she can be whatever she wants: a man, a woman, neither, or both.
Vampirism allows them to be free from everything that society imposes, especially on women. (A theme which, if I get this far, will be explored with Queen Gabrielle.)
Unlike Louis, who has remained human at heart, Marius loves humans. He loves to be surrounded by them, to be amongst them, and to take part in human life. Despite the long periods he has spent alone, Marius has always tried to fight loneliness, at least by drawing closer to humans, and this is the advice he gives to Lestat before the latter sets off for New Orleans.
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