Eirene is the name given to a Germanic slave who is later freed by and marries Titus Pullo. Her name was "Adela" in her home country before being enslaved and renamed by her Roman captors.
Personality[]
When we first meet Eirene, she has already been enslaved for some time - Vorenus describes her as "trained up nice and docile" when Niobe is hesitant to accept her as one of her slaves. We see later that this is a very sound coping strategy that Eirene has developed over time; as when she is given more liberty, her demeanour is far more relaxed and natural. We first see this when she and Pullo ride into Rome on a litter - she is glowing and jubilant, but shuts down instantly upon seeing Vorenus' family threatened by Erastes Fulmen.
As a slave, Eirene makes herself as invisible as she possibly can. Given her freedom she is still reserved, but subtly and occasionally reveals a dry sense of humour and caring nature. Pragmatism governs her decision to allow Pullo back into her life, and eventually become his wife - though he murdered the man she originally intended to marry, she must know that even as a freedwoman she is otherwise alone in a foreign land, far from home, with no means of escape. Her practical decision to remain with Pullo slowly develops into a genuine affection between the two, and as they come to understand one another the odd couple share some genuinely touching moments together.
Season One[]
Much of Eirene's past remains a mystery, though she was born somewhere "beyond the Rhine". We first meet Eirene as she is captured and brutalized by a group of rogue soldiers who are fleeing Rome with Pompey's gold. She is tied by her wrists to the back of an ox-drawn wagon, which is how Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo first see her. After a quick skirmish with the soldiers, Vorenus continues on his way, ordering Pullo to leave the girl; he reluctantly obeys.
Several hours later, Pullo heads back to find the girl, and stumbles upon Eirene collapsed on the ground, still tied to the wagon. After freeing her, Pullo discovers the wagon is full of gold, and promptly heads back to Rome to spend it wildly on alcohol, taking his new slave Eirene with him. He uses some of the stolen gold to lavish fine clothes and jewels on her, and the pair later show up at Vorenus' home on a luxurious (but rather garish) litter. Later, after a night of drunken debauchery, Pullo loses Eirene and asks his friend Vorenus to help him find her. They find her in a seedy bar, kept under guard by the owner and his large, nasty dog until Pullo pays his tab. Pullo at first creates a scene and refuses to pay before Vorenus settles the matter and Eirene is returned. Vorenus wonders why Pullo makes such a fuss over a slave, but Pullo tells him that looking at her makes him calm.
After being forced to give up the gold and deciding to return to the Legion, Pullo asks if Vorenus - who has been made a magistrate by Caesar - will keep Eirene as his slave. Niobe, Vorenus' wife, is suspicious that she is a spy and is initially distrusting. After a night of drinking, Pullo stumbles back to Vorenus' home in the wee hours and bellows out for Eirene, who promptly appears. He miserably begins speaking of his parents, who were also slaves, and suddenly asks Eirene to take off her clothes, which she reluctantly does. He pulls her close and cries.
Upon Pullo's return from the military, he is surprised and happy to learn that Eirene has learned some Latin and the two can now communicate. He tells Vorenus that he plans to free her and marry her, and buys her a fine white dress to wear for the ceremony. After obtaining the correct papers, Pullo tells Eirene that he has freed her, which of course makes her ecstatic as he tells her to go and try on the dress. Moments after Eirene leaves, another of Niobe's slaves, Oedipus, runs over to thank Pullo as well. He tells Pullo that the two were in love and were trying to save up enough money to buy their freedom and get married. Jealous and enraged, Pullo grabs Oedipus and smashes his head repeatedly into a column. Eirene returns to find her lover dead in a pool of blood and brain matter on the ground, and shrieks in shock and grief. As Eirene wails over the body of Oedipus, Vorenus is furious at the disrespect Pullo has shown him and tells him to leave and never return.
With nothing left, Pullo becomes a mercenary for Erastes Fulmen and kills people with no regard as to who sees him do it. After murdering a man in broad daylight, Pullo is thrown in jail and sentenced to die in the arena. With a little help from Vorenus, who had originally come to watch Pullo die, all the gladiators are killed and Pullo is saved, the two becoming heroes in the process. Badly injured, Pullo is sent to a hospital outside of Rome, but stubbornly returns upon hearing the rumours that he has become the talk of the town. Near death, he winds up back at Vorenus's home, much to Eirene's shock and anger. While recovering on bed rest, Eirene waits until the dead of night, then sneaks up to Pullo's bedside with a knife, with the intention of killing him. Waking, Pullo smiles upon seeing her. He contains his inevitable fear once he spies the knife in Eirene's hand and realises her intentions, and indicates that he understands her need for revenge. Eirene hesitates before Niobe catches her and sends her on her way.
After recovering, Pullo invites Eirene to the country to visit the shrine of Rusina to ask forgiveness. While Caesar dies in Rome, Eirene and Pullo reconcile as Eirene forgives him of his past transgressions and they leave the shrine hand in hand.
Season Two[]
While still in the country, Eirene agrees to marry Pullo and he ecstatically remarks that she "won't regret it". When they reach a nearby town to eat, a messenger approaches bearing news of Caesar's death. Pullo steals the messenger's horse and races back to Rome with Eirene only to find Vorenus covered in blood, cradling the body of his wife Niobe, who had committed suicide after Vorenus was told the truth about his "grandson" - that he was actually Niobe's son by another man. With his children missing and presumed dead, Vorenus falls into a deep depression while Eirene and Pullo take over the household.
With some stern words from Mark Anthony, Vorenus is finally motivated to get out of bed and take over the Collegium in an attempt to restore law and order on the Aventine. Eirene and Pullo follow, but Vorenus' behavior grows increasingly unstable and violent, leading to a fight between the two men. After the fight, in which both men are hurt, Eirene supports Pullo as he limps from the Collegium, both wondering aloud where they will go now.
Three months later, they return to the Aventine, only to find the area in shambles and Vorenus gone. When Pullo learns from Lyde that Vorenus' children are still alive and in captivity, he races north to find him and save the children, leaving Eirene behind with Mascius, an old comrade who runs the Collegium in Vorenus' absence.
The two men return and successfully rescue the children from slavery. Pullo and Eirene are reunited, and she falls pregnant shortly thereafter. Eirene is constantly disrespected and ignored by Gaia, a former brothel supervisor who is interested in Pullo but out of jealousy despises his wife.
When Eirene tells Gaia to fetch some wood, Gaia refuses outright, and Eirene attempts to beat her with a stick. She tells Pullo of Gaia's insubordination, and he agrees to beat her for it. Unfortunately, the beating turns into rough sex as Gaia fights back and then seduces him. Gaia then becomes a "model" slave and is polite to Eirene; she tells her husband to beat her the "same way" every month to keep her in line.
To get rid of Eirene, Gaia buys an abortion-inducing herb at the market and later administers it surreptitiously in Eirene's tea. The outcome is exactly what Gaia had intended: Eirene miscarries the child and dies from severe postpartum blood loss. Before dying, Eirene asks to be wrapped in a black shroud along with her stillborn son and buried in an open field, not cremated in the Roman way.
Years later, Pullo and Gaia have developed a relationship. When Gaia is mortally wounded saving Pullo from an attack by the now-deranged Memmio, she tells him the truth about Eirene's death. Grief-stricken and enraged, Pullo strangles her and tosses her body unceremoniously into the Aventine cesspool. This is in stark contrast to his prolonged grief over Eirene's loss and his respect for her final wishes.
Quotes[]
- "I'm preglant!" - Eirene trying to tell Pullo she is pregnant.
- "Dear Vorenus, I don't fuck your wife." - her suggestion for Pullo's apology letter to Vorenus.
- "Please, no burning. In my country we are buried. No burning." - some of her last words to Pullo.
- "Put me in a black shroud and bury me in an open field." - her dying words to Pullo.