The Great Fire of Aurelia

The Great Fire of Aurelia, or simply the great fire, was an event in the suburbs of the imperial capital of the Trepan Empire. The fire proved to be a great upheaval for the empire. Aside from the widespread destruction, it led to considerable political and social changes.

Causes of the Fire

The exact causes of the fire were unknown as many conflicting accounts exist about the events. A common myth was that it resulted from a drunk citizen who accidentally consumed the contents of a lantern instead of his ale. Others claim that it resulted from a meteor that fell from the sky and set several houses alight. Many followers of the Church of the New Goddess claim that it was divine punishment from Navotas to the pagans of the city who struck at a grove temple.
The commonly accepted story was that it was a combination of factors. Many houses in that part of Aurelia were dilapidated wooden homes which made for easy kindling. They were built close to one another to accommodate the city’s massive population—lastly, the lack of proper organizations to prevent and control the fire.

The Fire

Whatever the cause, the effects were universally agreed upon by all historians. A fire began somewhere around the Pleb, the city's poorest district in an area that surrounded one of the five hills of Aurelia, Beggar’s Rest. Here many of the homes were dilapidated wooden structures made for easy kindling. This allowed the fire to spread quickly beyond the district's borders and towards the surrounding streets and squares. The understaffed bucket brigade could not do much to stop the flames, which engulfed many homes and shops.
Private merchants and citizens who owned their teams of firefighters deployed their crews to focus on protecting their property while letting the Pleb burn. An emergency meeting was called among the Senate, with Emperor Honarius attending. A majority of the Senate ordered their bucket brigades to simply contain the fire, believing that they could not stop the existing inferno. They reasoned that it was better to simply let the fire die out naturally while protecting other parts of the city.
Many Senators made their homes on the eastern bank of the Hulma River, where they were relatively safe and were happy to leave it. Many of the Hundred Reformers were disgusted at the callus abandonment of their poorer citizens in the city and demanded that the Senate perform proactive measures. Emperor Honarius agreed and declared that if no action were taken, any senator's property not damaged by the fire would be confiscated and handed over to the poor as compensation.
The threat spurred on the senators, who immediately ordered that all merchant guilds offer support to combat the fire, from men to fight it to water and sand to douse the flames. Many senators even provided their servants to help, while Emperor Honarius even deployed his Praetorian guard to support the efforts. Yet even with these combined efforts, the damages were still considerable. Nearly a sixth of the city, including almost the entire Pleb, was destroyed in the blaze.

Aftermath

Once the fire had died down, a massive rebuilding effort commenced. Emperor Honarius poured wealth and resources to rebuild his capital and many other senators, merchants, and nobles. In contrast with their earlier laxity, the wealthy acted with astounding speed. However, many reformers suspect that it was simply an attempt to clean up their image from their earlier callousness.
The Hundred Reformers proposed a series of reform bills to prevent another fire of this scale in the Senate. This was a relatively straightforward process compared to many of their fights, as few had reason to oppose it seriously. A series of laws, such as making stone and whitewashing more available or doubling the size of the bucket brigade, was enacted.

Gnaeus Cencinus

Probably the biggest beneficiary of the Great Fire was the entrepreneur Gnaeus Cencinus. With the damage, he could buy up much of the property in the Pleb at a considerable discount. He then rebuilt many homes in full compliance with the law, though now as their landowner, charging rent for their former tenants. He was the second-biggest source of donations to rebuilding the city, next to the emperor himself.
Although widely considered the wealthiest man in the city, Cencinus was excluded from the nobility due to his low birth. The profit he made from this fire made him the richest man in the empire. Even the oldest senators could choose to ignore him, with many coming to him searching for political and financial support. None of the nobility befriended him was more prominent than Emperor Honarius himself, who took note of the resources he mustered. The emperor took Cencinus as an ally and companion.

Pagans of Aurelia

Shortly after the Great Fire, rumors circulated that the fires started in a pagan grove temple after a ritual had gone wrong. Stories like that caused tensions between followers of the New Goddess and Pagans to rise. Many preachers further inflamed the issue as they insisted it was divine punishment for their blasphemy. Such words soon erupted into violence as fights between pagans and followers happened all over the city. Dozens of casualties soon joined the already considerable death count.
Emperor Honarius acted quickly and ordered the killings to stop. He went as far as to deploy the Praetorian legion into the city streets to quell violence. His defense of the pagans won him widespread support among provincials and non-human citizens. However, he was forced to make concessions to the church, forbidding any other pagan temples to be constructed in Aurelia.

Manii Family

Although their family was the founders of Aurelia, the family has long fallen into decline. From being emperors themselves, the Manii were reduced to mere nobles, proud and wealthy, but with relatively little influence. By Emperor Honarius’ rule, many believed that the decline had become terminal.
Although Honorius chose to marry Iecina Sidonia Manius, their marriage was neither happy nor fruitful, with his wife allegedly being barren. Meanwhile, the same was true with her father, Ritulus Manius, who had only her daughter. However, with the great fire came an opportunity in the form of an infant boy named Luscious Pullo.
The boy was a commoner, living in the Pleb when the fire broke out. He was the sole survivor of his family, a miraculous event given how close they were to the fire. Yet somehow, the boy survived miraculously unharmed. The Manii insist it was divine protection and adopted the boy for themselves.
In reality, though, his entire family survived the ordeal and loved him dearly. However, Ritulus offered to rebuild their home and shop in exchange for the boy, ensuring he had an heir to his house.