Culture of Ultramar

[tiberium40k]

I`ve been wondering about what kind of culture Macragge has. Now obviously it`s very heavily inspired by Graeco-Roman culture (more of the latter than of the former), but I`ve been trying to find some specifics. Myths, legends, language, pre-Imperial religion, customs, the lot, from the Great Crusade era until, well, Guilliman gets up again. Any scrap mentioned in the fluff will do. Thanks in advance!

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Also interested. I believe not much is revealed in Unremembered Empire, but I do remember a line in Betrayer saying (and I paraphrase, heavily) that the World Eaters had the most diverse array of cultures represented in their Legion after the Ultramarines. So presumably, there was a fairly dramatic degree of cultural variance in the Five Hundred Worlds, with the Greco-Roman influence possibly being Macraggian in origin and spreading to other worlds through osmosis? I always figured worlds like Espandor and Prandium would have cultures noticeably different to Macragge, for some reason. Love to hear more if someone has a source!

[DogWelder]

Storm of Iron had a nice convo between members of the Ultramar auxilia and from what I gather, its a very...modern day society with Roman inspiration. One of the officers said she completed her schola education and went straight into the auxilia because she greatly admired the Ultramarines and wanted to aid them in their fights. Another one said he joined the auxilia because his parents did not have the money to send him to an institute of higher learning (university) after the schola. Another one said that he tried out for the Ultramarines initiation but failed one of the tests. He tried to get a job as an accountant but felt to ashamed to continue with civilian life after his failure and joined the auxilia.

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Storm of Iron had a nice convo between members of the Ultramar auxilia and from what I gather, its a very...modern day society with Roman inspiration. One of the officers said she completed her schola education and went straight into the auxilia because she greatly admired the Ultramarines and wanted to aid them in their fights. Another one said he joined the auxilia because his parents did not have the money to send him to an institute of higher learning (university) after the schola. Another one said that he tried out for the Ultramarines initiation but failed one of the tests. He tried to get a job as an accountant but felt to ashamed to continue with civilian life after his failure and joined the auxilia.

 

Do you mean one of the Ultramarines novels by McNeil? Don't think there was anything about Ultramar on Hydra Cordatus.

[Grim Dog Studios]

I've always imagined the core of the 500 Worlds to have the Graeco-Roman influences, and then the other worlds to have their own cultures, but with some of the Graeco-Roman influence "seeping" in. A bit how the actual Roman Empire was with regards to the Germanic tribes etc that they actually allied with and took auxiliary troops from. 

I was originally going to base my 30k ultras around a company of marines from one of these "less roman" worlds, having them a bit more germanic looking but eventually decided against it.

All of the heresy Ultramarine books are good to read as they all include little bits explaining the culture. Angels of Caliban is actually a good one because it talks about the tensions on macragge between Guilliman and the Illyrians (I think its the Illyrians without checking?) and how Guilliman dealt with them when he first came to power.