Author's Notes: The general premise was borrowed from "Marcus Writes" by Robin, with an embellishment on one of the comments by Pottermaniac. May they and the immortal gods forgive me.
Quintus's nomen – family name, for any of those who are unsure of the term – is formed out of personal speculation; "Clarus", what I assume to be his cognomen, or personal name, has been of evidence in a lovely Quintus story I'd read once, as well as an early online draft of the Gladiator script.
I studied the roll of fine white paper Aurelius used in the movie, and it didn't appear to me to be either papyrus or parchment. Considerations either way seemed not to fit what I know about Roman writing materials – too white for papyrus, too thin to be parchment (? anyone else more knowledgeable on the subject, please contact me through either email or review) – so the choice here is entirely arbitrary. I engaged in a personal debate for a quite while before succumbing to parchment, or vellum.
This work, while sprinkled with actual historical facts, is based purely on the events and characters of the film.