Born during the 1st century in ancient Rome. When 40 years old, Marius is made into a vampire by the druid's god, the "God of the Grove."
Marius was the illegitimate son of a Roman senator. Mother was Celtic slave. Apparently, he had several half-brothers. Armand and Pandora are his two vampire fledglings. First of all, Marius is a scholar. His favorite subject of study is humanity, for he has an undying interest in humans' behavior and thoughts. He also shows great appreciation of artwork, which he realizes can only be produced by humans, perhaps because of their mortality. He enjoys blending in among unsuspecting mortals and living as one of them (at least until he is attacked in the 15th century by the Roman "Children of Darkness"). Of course, being quite old a vampire, he has lost all his humanness; it is only through conscious effort that he moves more like mortals, which not only gives him pleasure but also has the effect of not frightening the younger vampires, of which Marius is quite conscious. Marius is generally a magnanimous being and looks upon not only Armand, but the "Brat Prince" Lestat and Louis with great affection. He is at heart an ancient Roman who believes in a rational world, which means he believes there is an absolute logic. He prides himself greatly in his reasoning powers and therefore has the tendency to believe his logic is always correct; whenever this belief is shattered and Marius's pride is wounded, he quickly loses his magnanimity. Otherwise, he is a stately, well-respected and well-liked vampire of wisdom.
