The First Man in Rome

by Colleen McCullough

  Vienne, Vienna Modern Vienne. The proper name of this trading post town on the Rhodanus River was Vienna, but it is usually called by its modern name, to save confusing it with Vienna, the capital of Austria.

  villa A country residence, completely self-contained, and originally having an agricultural purpose—in other words, a farmstead. It was built around a peristyle or courtyard, had stables or farm buildings at the front, and the main dwelling at the back, of the courtyard. By the time of Cornelia the Mother of the Gracchi, wealthy Romans were building villas as vacation homes rather than as farmsteads, and the architecture of the villa had changed correspondingly. Many of these holiday villas were on the seashore.

  Villa Publica The parklike piece of land on the Campus Martius, fronted by the Vicus Pallacinae, in which the participants of a triumphal parade were gathered together before the parade set off.

  vir militaris See Military Man.

  Visurgis River The modern Weser, in Germany.

  Vocontii A Celtic confederation of tribes dwelling along the Druentia River in Gaul-across-the-Alps; their lands bordered those of the Allobroges, who were to their north. They took great delight in preying upon Roman travelers on the Via Domitia as it crossed the Alps and wound down the Druentia toward the Rhodanus Valley.

  Volcae Tectosages A Celtic confederation of tribes occupying Mediterranean Gaul beyond the Rhodanus River, and extending all the way to Narbo and Tolosa (see also Brennus [2], Tolosa).

  Volsci One of the ancient peoples of central Italy. They had occupied eastern Latium, and were centered around the settlements of Sora, Atina, Antium, Circei, Tarracina, and Arpinum; their allies were the Aequi. By the end of the fourth century B.C., the Volsci had been so completely absorbed into the Roman system that their cultural and social identities had largely disappeared. They did not speak Latin, but a language of their own, akin to Umbrian.

  wine, vintage wine Wine was an intrinsic part of the life of both Romans and Greeks; in the absence of brewing or distillation apparatus, wine was the only beverage available that contained alcohol. This made it the object of great reverence (hence the gods of wine, Bacchus and Dionysos), and—usually—great respect. Many different varieties of grapes were grown to make wine, of the white and the purple kinds, and wines came in white and red. By the time of Gaius Marius, Roman viticulture in particular was a highly educated business, and had outstripped Greek viticulture decisively. The Romans were always good with plants and planting, with gardens, and with growing; from the time her privileged citizens began to travel abroad, Rome was gifted with many imported plants, both new varieties of old friends and completely new friends. This could be said of the grapevine, certainly, always being added to with foreign importations. Roman viticulture was expert at grafting, and knowledgeable about pest prevention. Asphalt, for instance, dredged out of the Palus Asphaltites (the Dead Sea) in Palestine, was smeared on the woody parts of grapevines to prevent the growth of smuts and moulds. When exactly ready, the grapes were picked, placed in vats, and trodden; the juice which oozed out of the vat at this time was reserved to make the best wine of all. Then, after treading, the grapes were pressed in presses similar to those known today in vineyards where mass-production techniques have not been introduced; this juice was made into ordinary wine. Then the grapes were pressed again, to produce a thin, sour, third-class beverage which retailed so cheaply it was drunk in large quantities by the lowly, and was also given to slaves; this was sometimes fortified to increase its alcohol content, by the addition of boiled-down must after the fermentation process. Fermentation took place with more or less care, depending upon the class of juice and the intent of the vigneron. Vats coated inside with wax (for the best wines) or pitch (which is a resin obtained from pines, so these wines took up some of the resin, and emerged tasting like a modern Greek retsina) held the juices for several months, during which they were skimmed frequently. After fermentation, wines to be drunk at once were put into amphorae or (occasionally) skins. But those wines intended for additional maturation were first strained rigorously through sieves and cloths, then “bottled” in amphorae which were scrupulously stoppered and sealed from the air with melted wax; they were labeled with the year, the vineyard, the type of grape, and the name of the vigneron, and were stored in cool cellars. Wooden casks were also used to store some of these-better wines. Most wines were intended to be drunk within four years, but those wines carefully sealed did not continue to ferment, only to mature, and some could take twenty years to reach their peak drinking moment. These of course were vintage wines. Then, as now, the oenologist reared his head and came out with his stock vocabulary of adjectives and adverbs; of connoisseurs there were many. One such was the great legal advocate Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, who when he died in 50 B.C. bequeathed the staggering number of 10,000 amphorae of wine to some unknown beneficiary; the amphora held 25 liters, or 6 American gallons, which means Hortensius had 60,000 U.S. gallons of wine in his cellar. It was not normal practice to drink wine neat—water was added, in varying proportions. Roman women of Gaius Marius’s time drank little wine; during the early Republic, if a paterfamilias so much as smelled wine on the breath of one of his womenfolk, he was considered fully justified in having her executed immediately. Despite the apparent continence of Roman wine drinkers, watering their intake as they did, alcoholism was as real a problem in antiquity as it is today.

  Wooden Bridge The name given universally to the Pons Sublicius, built of wood.

  yoke The yoke was the beam or crosstie which rested upon the necks of a pair of oxen or other animals when harnessed to draw a load. In human terms, it came to mean the mark of servility, of submission to the domination of others. There was a yoke for the young of both sexes to pass beneath inside the city of Rome, located somewhere on the Carinae; it was called the Tigillum, and perhaps symbolized submission to the seriousness of adult life. However, it was in military terms that the yoke came to have its greatest metaphorical significance. Very early Roman (or perhaps Etruscan) armies forced a defeated enemy to pass beneath the yoke; two spears were planted upright in the ground, and a third spear was placed across their tops to form a crosstie—the whole was too low for a man to pass beneath walking upright; he had to bend over. Unfortunately enemy armies adopted the idea, with the result that from time to time a Roman army was compelled to pass beneath the yoke. To do this was an intolerable humiliation; so much so that the Senate usually preferred to see a Roman army stand and fight until the last man was dead, rather than sacrifice Roman honor and dignitas by surrendering and passing beneath the yoke. Even the ordinary people of Rome, including those as lowly as the Head Count, deemed passing beneath the yoke an utter humiliation, and clamored too to know why the defeated army hadn’t fought until its last man lay dead.

  PRONUNCIATION GUIDE TO ROMAN MASCULINE NAMES

  To some extent, the pronunciation of classical Latin is still debated, but there are definite conventions among scholars. Liturgical Latin and medieval Latin are pronounced somewhat differently than classical Latin. None of which need worry the reader unduly. The aim of this little section is simply to offer guidelines for those readers without Latin.

  One convention adhered to in pronouncing classical Latin is to sound the consonantal v like our English w: thus, the word veritas is properly pronounced weritas. But the rule is not hard and fast, even among scholars, so in the interests of reader comfort, I shall proceed to ignore it.

  The diphthong ae should not be pronounced as in “say,” but rather as in “eye”; this convention I have adhered to.

  We have several more consonants in English than the Latin language did. The one which concerns the reader most is j. It has been customary in the English language for centuries to spell those Latin words commencing in consonantal i with a j. Thus, Julius should really be lulius, and pronounced Yoo-lee-uss, not Joo-lee-uss. However, I have elected to go with English j.

  The Latin g has only one sound, which I shall call guh, as in “gai
n”—”get”—”give”—”gone”—”gun.” The other g sound in English, which I shall call juh, as in “ginger,” is never used in pronouncing Latin.

  Rather than adopt one of the current lexicographic systems of pronunciation, I have elected to use a phonetic system of my own, rhyming the Latin with some ordinary English word pronounced identically on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in the Antipodes—where possible!

  And, last but by no means least, none of it really matters save to the purist. The most important thing is that the reader discover and enjoy the world of Republican Rome. Do not feel uncomfortable with the names. Latin is a major root of the English language, and that is a major help in itself. (Note: in some cases I have given the standard English pronunciation first, and put the more correct pronunciation in parentheses, in the lists below.)

  The Praenomen (the First Name)

  Appius

  Ah-pee-uss (ah as in “pa,” “ma”—uss as in “puss”)

  Aulus

  Ow-luss (ow as in “cow”)

  Gaius

  Gye-uss (gye as in “eye”)

  Gnaeus

  Nye-uss (nye as in “eye”)

  Lucius

  Loo-shuss (more correctly, Loo-kee-uss)

  Mamercus

  Mah-mer-kuss (mah as in “pa”—mer as in “her”)

  Manius

  Mah-nee-uss (mah as in “pa”)

  Marcus

  Mar-kuss

  Publius

  Pub-lee-uss (pub has the same u sound as “put”)

  Quintus

  Kwin-tuss (kwin as in “twin”)

  Servius

  Ser-vee-uss (ser as in “her”)

  Sextus

  Sex-tuss (sex as in “sex”)

  Spurius

  Spoo-ree-uss (spoo as in “too”)

  Tiberius

  Tye-beer-ee-uss (more correctly, Tee-bear-ee-uss)

  Titus

  Tye-tuss (more correctly, Tee-tuss)

  The Nomen (the Family or Gentilicial Name, Indicating the Gens)

  Aelius

  Eye-lee-uss (eye as in “eye”—uss as in “puss”)

  Aemilius

  Eye-mil-ee-uss (mil as in “will”)

  Annius

  An-nee-uss (an as in “tan”)

  Antistius

  Ahn-tist-ee-uss (ahn as in “gone”—list as in “fist”)

  Antonius

  An-toh-nee-uss (an as in “tan”—toh as in “so”)

  Appuleius

  Ah-poo-lay-ee-uss (poo as in “too”—lay as in “say”)

  Aquillius

  Ah-kwill-ee-uss (kwill as in “will”)

  Atilius

  Ah-tee-lee-uss

  Aurelius

  Or-ree-lee-uss (more correctly, Ow-ray-lee-uss)

  Baebius

  Bye-bee-uss (bye as in “eye”)

  Billienus

  Bill-ee-ay-nuss (bill as in “will”—ay as in “say”)

  Caecilius

  Kye-kill-ee-uss (kye as in “eye”—kill as in “will”)

  Caelius

  Kye-lee-uss

  Calpurnius

  Kahl-purr-nee-uss (kahl as in “doll”)

  Cassius

  Kass-ee-uss (kass as in “lass”)

  Claudius

  Klaw-dee-uss (klaw as in “paw”)—the English way; Klow-dee-uss (klow as in “cow”)—the correct Latin way

  Clodius

  Kloh-dee-uss (kloh as in “so”)

  Coelius

  Koy-lee-uss (koy as in “boy”)

  Cornelius

  Kor-nee-lee-uss (strictly, Kor-nay-lee-uss)

  Curtius

  Koor-tee-uss (koor as in “poor”)

  Decius

  Deck-ee-uss (deck as in “peck”)

  Decumius

  Deck-oo-mee-uss (oo as in “too”)

  Didius

  Did-ee-uss (did as in “bid”)

  Domitius

  Dom-it-ee-uss (dom as in “torn”—it as in “fit”)

  Equitius

  Ay-kwit-ee-uss (ay as in “say”—kwit as in “fit”)

  Fabius

  Fay-bee-uss (strictly, Fab-ee-uss, fab as in “cab”)

  Fabricius

  Fab-rick-ee-uss (fab as in “cab”—rick as in “kick”)

  Fannius

  Fan-nee-uss (fan as in “tan”)

  Flavius

  Flay-vee-uss (strictly, Flah-vee-uss)

  Fraucus

  Frow-kuss (frow as in “cow”)

  Fulvius

  Full-vee-uss (strictly, Fool-vee-uss)

  Furius

  Few-ree-uss (strictly, Foo-ree-uss)

  Gavius

  Gah-vee-uss (gah as in “pa”)

  Granius

  Grah-nee-uss (grah as in “pa”)

  Gratidius

  Grah-tid-ee-uss (tid as in “bid”)

  Herennius

  Her-en-ee-uss

  Hortensius

  Hor-ten-see-uss (hor as in “or”—ten as in “ten”)

  Julius

  Joo-lee-uss (joo as in “too”)

  Junius

  Joo-nee-uss

  Labienus

  Lab-ee-ay-nuss (lab as in “cab”—ay as in “say”)

  Licinius

  Lick-in-ee-uss (lick as in “kick”—in as in “sin”)

  Livius

  Liv-ee-uss (liv as in “spiv”)

  Lucilius

  Loo-kill-ee-uss

  Lusius

  Loo-see-uss

  Lutatius

  Loo-tah-tee-uss (tah as in “pa”)

  Macrinus

  Mah-kree-nuss (mah as in “pa”)

  Maelius

  Mye-lee-uss (mye as in “eye”)

  Magius

  Mah-gee-uss (the g as in “gear”)

  Mallius

  Mah-lee-uss

  Mamilius

  Mah-mill-ee-uss (mill as in “will”)

  Manlius

  Mahn-lee-uss

  Marcius

  Mar-shuss (more correctly, Mar-kee-uss)

  Marius

  Mah-ree-uss

  Matius

  Mat-ee-uss (mat as in “pat”)

  Memmius

  Mem-ee-uss (mem as in “them”)

  Minucius

  Min-oo-kee-uss (min as in “sin”—oo as in “too”)

  Mucius

  Mew-shuss (more correctly, Moo-kee-uss)

  Nonius

  Noh-nee-uss (noh as in “so”)

  Norbanus

  Nor-bah-nuss (nor as in “or”—bah as in “pa”)

  Octavius

  Ock-tay-vee-uss (more correctly, Ock-tah-vee-uss)

  Opimius

  Oh-pee-mee-uss

  Oppius

  Op-ee-uss (op as in “top”)

  Papirius

  Pah-pee-ree-uss

  Perquitienus

  Pair-kwit-ee-ay-nuss (pair as in “air”)

  Petreius

  Pet-ray-uss (pet as in “yet”)

  Plautius

  Plow-tee-uss (plow as in “cow”)

  Plotius

  Ploh-tee-uss (ploh as in “so”)

  Pompeius

  Pom-pay-ee-uss (pom as in “torn”—-pay as in “say”)

  Pomponius

  Pom-poh-nee-uss (poh as in “so”)

  Popillius

  Pop-ill-ee-uss (pop as in “top”—ill as in “will”)

  Poppaedius

  Pop-eye-dee-uss (pop as in “top”)

  Porcius

  Por-shuss (more correctly, Por-kee-uss)

  Postumius

  Poh-stoo-mee-uss (poh as in “so”—stoo as in “too”)

  Rutilius

  Roo-tee-lee-uss

  Saufeius

  Sow-fay-ee-uss (sow as in “cow”—fay as in “say”)

  Sempronius

  Sem-proh-nee-uss (sem as in “hem”—proh as in “so”)

  Sergius

  Sair-gee-uss (sair as in “air”—the g as in
“gear”)

  Sertorius

  Sair-tor-ee-uss (tor as in “or”)

  Servilius

  Sair-vee-lee-uss

  Siccius

  Sick-ee-uss (sick as in “kick”)

  Sosius

  Soh-see-uss (soh as in “so”)