Titus Pullo

Titus Pullo was one of the two Roman centurions of the 11th Legion (Legio XI Claudia) mentioned in the writings of Julius Caesar. The other soldier mentioned was Lucius Vorenus; they appear in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Book 5, Chapter 44. Pullo and Vorenus were fierce rivals for promotion to primus pilus, the most senior centurion in a legion. Both distinguished themselves in 54 BC when the Nervii attacked the legion under Quintus Cicero in their winter quarters in Nervian territory. In an effort to outdo Vorenus, Pullo charged out of the fortified camp and attacked the enemy, but was soon wounded and surrounded. Vorenus followed and engaged his attackers in hand-to-hand combat, killing one and driving the rest back, but lost his footing and was himself soon surrounded. Pullo in turn rescued Vorenus, and after killing several of the enemy, the pair returned to camp amid applause from their comrades.

In the Civil War of 49 BC, Pullo was assigned to the XXIV Victrix Rapax, a new Italian legion commanded by the legate Gaius Antonius. In 48 BC, Antonius was blockaded on an island and forced to surrender; Pullo was apparently responsible for most of his soldiers switching sides to fight for Pompey. Later that year, he is recorded bravely defending Pompey's camp in Greece from Caesar's attack shortly before the Battle of Pharsalus.

Titus Pullo (Rome character)

Titus Pullo is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC original television series Rome, played by Ray Stevenson. He is depicted as a hedonistic, devil-may-care soldier who discovers hidden ideals and integrity within himself. The basis for this character is the historical Roman soldier of the same name, who is briefly mentioned in Julius Caesar's books De Bello Gallico and Commentarii de Bello Civili.

Personality

Titus Pullo's mother was a slave who died when he was young, and he never knew his father, though he assumes his father was an Ubian. The legion is the only family Pullo has really known; his friend Lucius Vorenus, with his strict discipline and uncompromising moral code, comes to represent something like an older brother to him, if not quite a father. Later on down the line, their roles are reversed when Vorenus becomes listless with grief then irrational with anger, and Pullo must take on the more responsible role in order to care for and protect his closest friend.