Erastes Fulmen

Erastes Fulmen
Rome character
First appearance	"Stealing from Saturn"
Last appearance	"Passover"
Portrayed by	Lorcan Cranitch
Information
Gender	Male
Title	Plebeian
Spouse(s)	Phillis (wife)

Erastes Fulmen is a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actor Lorcan Cranitch. He is depicted as a ruthless businessman, who over the course of the first season becomes one of the leading figures in the Roman underworld. Erastes means "lover" and Fulmen means "lightning".

While wearing the façade of a businessman, Fulmen in fact oversees an organized group of thieves, assassins, and thugs. Due to the lack of an organized police force in Rome, he has free rein to terrorize the population for his own gain. He is a brutal man who torments with intimidation and violence those who are less fortunate for his further gain. Fulmen has a traditional Roman mentality and is disgusted by the looting following Caesar's death, ordering a proper mourning in his territory.

Erastes is introduced as a businessman who tries to help Lucius Vorenus, a Roman centurion returning from Caesar's successful Gallic campaigns, build a new business as a slave trader. Vorenus, weary of military life and lengthy separations from his family, had decided to use slaves he'd been awarded in the campaign to start a new business and thus leave military life. It is during a social event held to launch this new career Erastes first meets Vorenus. The two seem to get along well at first; Erastes even offers to aid Vorenus if the need should arise.

Unfortunately, Vorenus' ambitions as a slave trader are cut short when takes his allotted slaves and his life outside the military is threatened. Vorenus is thus compelled to take Erastes up on his offer of assistance and enlist his aid in arranging a meeting with a money lender. Erastes, sensing an opportunity for himself, cites problems with arranging such a meeting and instead offers Vorenus a job as a bodyguard. Reluctantly, Vorenus agrees but ends up walking away from the position when, during a "collection" exercise, Vorenus is asked to kill a man whose indebtedness to Erastes is dubious.

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Wikipedia