Arcturus Benedict Cicero II

"... the borders of our lands and identity of our character is not dictated by the lines of a starmap, nor the consequences of a war; but by the boundaries of our own hearts. "

        - Senator Benedict Cicero, to the Galactic Senate.

Benedict Cicero, (born Arcturus Benedict Cicero II, 38 ABY) was a Serennian Senator in the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and a member of the Royal House of Cicero.

His election to the Galactic Senate marked the end of an eighty year convention of the planet being represented by the Head of the Royal Families, and sparked revolt when the Planetary Parliament attempted to veto this break in tradition. As such, Cicero was a populist politician of sound repute as an orator. Due to his ceremonial position as third-in-line to the sovereignty of the House of Cicero, he had gathered a number of titles throughout his life, including Chancellor of the Academy of Fiyarro, Honorary President of the Charity for the Serennian Homeless and Honorary Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Guard of Fiyarro.

Generally regarded as a liberal socialist, he was most notably recognised for his skepticism over the constitutional role of the Jedi Order in the GFFA, and ran for office for a short time for Chief of State in the 70 ABY Elections, before endorsing Senator Meyuu of Celegia.

Early Life
Born in Fiyarro, Serenno to Senator Count Arcturus Cicero and Countess Urda Cicero in 38 ABY, Viscount Arcturus Benedict Cicero II (known as Benedict Cicero) is the second in line to the seat of the House of Cicero, one of the Great Houses of Serenno, behind his older brother Count Rydel Cicero and his brother's son, Viscount Foryd Cicero. Since his birth, the brothers have been the fixation of the local media of Serenno, so much so that Benedict is affectionately known amongst his fellow Serennians as Čitiri Džaoš, meaning Younger Brother in Serennian (Čitiri meaning less or young and Džaoš meaning brother). Whilst never fully beholding the limelight and media attention that his brother was adorned with, this never extended to jealousy as he quickly understood that a modern monarchy is not run by a single figure, but a close support network holding up a figurehead.

Schooled primarily at the Royal Academy of Fiyarro, he studied broad subjects, mainly the humanities such as history, geography and politics, and went further into his studies by eventually graduating from the academy at the age of 21 with a degree in Intersystem Relations, his eyes firmly set on a position of political power. From a young age, Benedict realised that whereas his brother would assume political control of the planet, Ben himself would, in order to serve his people as had been the tradition of the Cicero family by hereditary and political means, have to seek it democratically. This put him at odds with his brother. Historically, the Head of the House of Cicero stood for Galactic Senatorial Election unchallenged, yet Benedict knew that in order to serve his people to the fullest extent, he needed to take that election, whether or not it contravened socio-political convention.

Adulthood
Once he did graduate, Cicero began his election campaign (unofficially, naturally) by actively involving himself with charities for the homeless and veterans, using his position of authority to prioritize the issue of poverty in the Planetary Parliament through his influence in the leadership of parties and his good light in the media. Whereas some may criticise Cicero for his perceptive corruption in dominating parliamentary affairs, to him, if his position in society could help his planet, let alone city, in any way, to him there was no moral argument. At the age of 25, after years of campaigning in the public eye, the seemingly idealistic guardian of peace in Serenno was exposed at his most vulnerable. As his father died and Rydel assumed the seat of the House of Cicero, the brothers were pitted against each other prematurely by the media over whether or not the politically active younger brother would contest the now vacant senatorial seat over the Count.

The Riots and Path towards Election to the Senate
In the following election, as it had been seventy years since somebody last challenged the status quo of granting the Count the senatorial seat, understandably, the Planetary Parliament intervened and passed a law delegating the right of election to the Parliament only. Through the argument of representative democracy, the law was passed with a majority of 588 to 579, a majority of merely 9 members, with 12 choosing to abstain. The populist Cicero's supporters henceforth rose up, particularly in the streets of Fiyarro, much against the constitution of Benedict's personal agenda, and as the protests on the streets of his home city turned quickly to violence, Cicero was keen to show solidarity to his brother, Senator-elect Count Rydel, and often, the two appeared at state ceremonial events together. The media continued to compare and contrast the two, often with the conclusion that the young, popular Benedict was in more in touch with the general public than the older, cynical Rydel, and despite Cicero's objection, the riots of Fiyarro waged into their eighth month.

As 64ABY dawned, and the now 26 year old's star began to fade, a political crisis that had been predicted as a worst scenario was realised. Fiyarro, engaged in tense now seemingly sectarian rioting, had been barricaded from the rest of society, with the demand that there be a free and fair election to the senate. The Planetary Parliament decreed that reactionary force was allowed by the military to quell the threat of uprising taking a hold of the planet, with, crucially, the support of Senator Count Rydel. The moral fibre that dictated the core of Benedict couldn't allow him to witness the people of his home city being subject to such misdemeanor and injustice, and so he tried to convince his brother to repeal the decree. After hours of tense, sometimes physical, debate in the Cicero Palace, Cicero himself fled to intercept the main line of government sponsored militias and the planetary militia to make a public statement of support for democracy, against his brother's wishes and actions - the first public display of discontent with the political situation the planet was enduring. Politically, this statement ensured Benedict's position as the people's choice and proved successful with the media, but personally, this act tore the Cicero family apart. Following the Battle for Fiyarro, which was majorly a cold war stand off with loyalists to Benedict, labelled Ciceronians by the media and themselves, and the self-immolation of a Ciceronian in protest in the middle of the central street, Benedict took a delegation of protesters to meet with Parliamentarians, headed by Rydel, to resolve the issues. After fierce debate, which was oft resolved by the brothers mediating the encounter, it was decided that the constitution of Serenno was to be ammended to separate the Head of State, which was assumed by the Head of the largest House, which had been for the previous eighty years by the Cicero family, and the Head of Government, which would be assigned to the democratically elected Senator. Whilst the foundations of this constitutional reform were set in place, it was decided that the Count would assume Senatorial role until the reform was passed through the Parliament.

Aftermath of the Riots and Election to the Senate
The city of Fiyarro was disarmed, and with that, Cicero felt obliged to address those who had fought and in some circumstances died in the name of democracy, and reluctantly for Cicero. In what is widely regarded as the beginning of the senatorial elections, Cicero made the first of his loyal addresses to the city to an audience of approximately 700,000 physical Ciceronians, as well as planetary coverage, resulting in an estimated total audience of three to five billion people, between a third and three quarters of the population. Famously, Cicero declared,


 * "We can be the land of opportunity, so long as the object of our desire is determined not by the self-aggrandising nature of the political turmoil we have been subject to, but by the necessity of freedom of democracy; a right afforded to all by the fore fathers of my House - our House. So long as this city stands tall, it serves as a reminder to those that oppose our movement that democracy knows no creed; a reminder that the riches of Serenno are bound by no political objective; a reminder that so long as this city stands tall, the full weight of democracy will be felt in the echelons of power that dictate all aspects of our lives. So long as this city stands tall, I pledge allegiance to the cause of our fight, and I pledge allegiance to you, the people of Serenno." 

The annual speech that he made to the city of Fiyarro received global attention and each time ratings increased. By the time 70ABY had arrived, and the Parliament had finally agreed on the amended constitution, the election was set for Nelona, and official campaigning began. In the first round, Count Rydel Cicero, Viscount Benedict Cicero, Count Tyron Malvern of a lesser house and Count Udin Dooku of the near-extinct Dooku faction were declared, a great change from the usual uncontested elections, thanks to the Fiyarro Revolution, and as expected, the first round was dominated by the Cicero boys, but with an unpredictable twist. Count Rydel Cicero took the lead by a margin of 2% over his brother. Pundits and psephologists alike predicted, due to the success and ever growing mania over Ben Cicero's loyal addresses and image in the media, that the Viscount would take over 50% in the first vote, and since he didn't, let alone lead the first round, the election was taken to a second round.

After the first round shock, Cicero took his campaign back to his roots, and rekindled the reason that he sought office. His work with the homeless and veterans took the media by storm when he spent a day feeding the poor and homeless in one of the Fiyarro underground shelter. After this, a tour of the planet followed, and after a better performance in the second round, his loyal address, this time broadcast live from the Cicero flagship in orbit of Serenno to the entirety of the planet to appeal to more than the Fiyarro hardcore, allowed him to offer a display of perfect rhetoric that sealed him the senatorial position, defeating his brother by 34%. And thus, Viscount Arcturus Benedict Cicero II became the first democratically, and fairly contested, elected Senator for Serenno in over 80 years, and he has made it his lifelong ambition to recover the galaxy from the fallout of tense cold-war scenes and unite the people for the benefit of all.

Chief of State Elections - 70ABY

 * "Today, irrevocably, will be regarded as the pivotal moment in which our Alliance is fundamentally renovated, of that I have little doubt. And today, the renovators of our future will be decided, and it shall be their duty to uphold the core principles of democracy, in elevating our People from a state of despondence, to prosperity. My friends, the weight placed on our shoulders on behalf of the citizens we represent is greater than we comprehend; it is of paramount importance that our conclusion be, not tainted by the rhetorical arsenic of politics, but rather the product of rational debate. "

  - Senator Benedict Cicero, to the Galactic Senate in the Election Session.

Albeit a relatively new Senator, the reputation he had built in the Chamber as an outspoken, charismatic socialist went before him; so much so that as the election was called, some pundits oft placed bets in Cicero's favour. After some amiguity, not aided by Benedict's careful speech in the session prior to the election, Cicero withdrew suspicion of running for office in favour of his contemporary, Senator Meyuu.

In the final session that the Senate sat without a Chief of State, the Senator for Serenno used his allotted time to, more than anything, warn the House of the gravitas of their decision on that day and, despite a personal conflict over the Celegian Senator's stance on the fusion of the Jedi with the legislature via a constitution, he voted for his friend; the victor.

Personality
Benedict, first and foremost, is a perpetual idealist, that is, his character and personal identity is shaped by a clear moral code rather than the love of riches or glory; a trait attributed to his want-not upbringing, surrounded by grandeur and falsehood. Contrastingly, his idealism often leads his hand into turbulence amongst his peers in both his home-city of Fiyarro and the Galactic Senate; on occasion he has been prone to thinking with his heart over his head, often appearing to ignore facts in the hope of the existence of a, "greater good."

Cicero, as he is often known by the media, is an influential and eloquent speaker, and through a combination of empathetic disposition and his education, he has the instinct of uniting passion with rational arguments, and has a tendency to analyse situations and investigations in more emotional depth than most, which can serve to his advantage, yet understandably, to his disadvantage also. Benedict instinctively knows how to attract and keep his peers' attention, which plays to his strengths particularly in his position as a representative of his people and a de facto leader, where charisma is a proven benefit. This feat of character allows Cicero to understand, or at least appear to, what drives, motivates and worries certain individuals by noting their reactions and instinctively is able to adjust his manner, ambience and arguments accordingly. The Viscount is willing to consider competing ideas that challenge his perspective on issues, so long as they do not contravene his inner principles, and often gives the charity of his hard work and dedication because of his altruistic nature. As such, the role of a Senator, he believes, suits perfectly his caring character, who strives to serve his electorate on a political, financial and personal level.

However, Cicero falls victim to his idealism, and often finds himself in a difficult situation as a result of his adamant core principles and natural belief that everybody shares his values. As an inevitable consequence of the strict, liberal principles he abides by, Benedict finds it difficult to transpose criticism into action, and to some, he may come across as partially ignorant to the harsh reality of life, particularly in the turbulent times that envelop the galaxy. Cicero's self-esteem, as a by-product of his altruism and sensitivity, is forged around the expectations that he sets for himself, as well as his attainment in reaching targets that he has set, not necessarily for himself, but for his peers, colleagues and constituents. If he does not meet the expectation of his constituents, or even worse, fails to uphold a promise made to one, his self-esteem fluctuates in retaliation, weakening his resolve and proving to the detriment of his identity.