Caesar

by Colleen McCullough

  noncombatants There were sixteen hundred of these military servants in a legion. They were not slaves; they were free men of mostly Roman citizenship. It would seem likely that serving as a noncombatant acquitted a Roman citizen of his obligatory military duty if perhaps he felt himself ill equipped to be a soldier. One imagines they had to be fit men rather than physically handicapped, as they were required to keep up with the soldiers on the march and could (sometimes actually did) take up a sword and shield and fight. They seem to have been rural people in origin.

  Nones The second of the three named days of the month which represented the fixed points of the month. The Nones occurred on the seventh day of the long months (March, May, July and October), and on the fifth day of the other months.

  Noviodunum of the Bituriges An oppidum belonging to the Bituriges. Modern Neuvy.

  Noviodunum Nevirnum An oppidum which seems to have belonged to the Aedui, though it bordered the lands of the Senones. It lay at the confluence of the Liger (Loire) and Elaver (Allier) rivers. Modern Nevers.

  Novum Comum A full Roman citizen colony established by Caesar at the western tip of Lake Larius (now Lake Como); whether its inhabitants were citizens was moot, as magistrates like the senior Gaius Claudius Marcellus felt free to flog a citizen of Novum Comum. Modern Como. nundinus, nundinae, nundinum The nundinus was the market day which came around every eight days, though it was almost always referred to in the plural, nundinae. The eight days which constituted the Roman week were called the nundinum.

  October Horse On the Ides of October (which was the time the old campaigning season finished), the best warhorses of that year were picked out and harnessed in pairs to chariots. They then raced not in the Circus but on the sward of the Campus Martius. The right-hand horse of the winning team became the October Horse. It was sacrificed to Mars on a specially erected altar adjacent to the course of the race. The animal was ritually killed with a spear, after which its head was severed and piled over with little cakes, the mold salsa, while its tail and genitalia were rushed to the Regia in the Forum Romanum, and the blood dripped onto the altar within. The tail and genitalia were then given to the Vestal Virgins, who dripped some blood on Vesta's altar before mincing everything up and burning it; the ashes were then reserved for another annual festival, the Parilia.

  The head of the horse was tossed into a crowd composed of two competing peoples, the residents of the Subura and of the Sacra Via. The crowd then fought for possession of the head. If the Sacra Via people won, the head was nailed to the outside of the Regia; if the Subura people won, the head was nailed to the Turris Mamilia, the highest building in the Subura.

  What reason lay behind this very ancient rite is not known, even perhaps to the Romans of the late Republic themselves, save that it was in some way connected to the close of the campaigning season. We do not know if the competing horses were Public Horses, but might be pardoned for presuming they were.

  Octodurum Modern Martigny in Switzerland.

  Oltis River The Lot River.

  oppidum, oppida The oppidum was the Gallic stronghold. With few exceptions it was not designed to be lived in, so was not a town. It contained the tribe's treasures and stockpiled foods in granaries and warehouses, also a meeting hall. Some oppida accommodated the king or chief thane. A few, like Avaricum, were real cities.

  Oricum Modern Oriku in Albania.

  Padus River The Po River.

  palisade The fortified section of a wall above the level of the fighting platform inside it. It was usually divided into breastworks for fighting over and battlements for dodging behind.

  paludamentum The bright scarlet cloak worn by a full general.

  paterfamilias The head of a Roman family unit. His right to do as he pleased with the various members of his family was rigidly protected at law.

  patrician, Patriciate The Patriciate was the original Roman aristocracy. To an ancestor-revering, birth-conscious people like the Romans, the importance of belonging to patrician stock can hardly be overestimated. The older among the patrician families were aristocrats before Rome existed, the youngest among them (the Claudii) apparently emerging at the very beginning of the Republic. All through the Republic they kept the title of patrician, as well as a degree of prestige unattainable by any plebeian, no matter how noble and august his line. However, by the last century of the Republic a patrician owned little special distinction apart from his blood; the wealth and energy of the great plebeian families had steadily eroded away patrician rights. Even in the late Republic, the importance of patrician blood can hardly be exaggerated, which is why men like Sulla and Caesar, of the oldest, most patrician blood, were seen as potentially able to make themselves King of Rome, whereas men like Gaius Marius and Pompey the Great, heroes supreme though they were, could not even dream of making themselves King of Rome. Blood was all.

  During the last century of the Republic the following patrician families were still producing senators, and some praetors and consuls: Aemilius, Claudius, Cornelius, Fabius (but through adoption only), Julius, Manlius, Pinarius, Postumius, Sergius, Servilius, Sulpicius and Valerius. pedarii See Senate.

  People of Rome This term embraced every single Roman citizen who was not a member of the Senate; it applied to patricians as well as to plebeians, and to the capite censi as much as to the knights of the Eighteen.

  peristyle Most affluent Roman houses, be they city or country, were built around an interior open court called the peristyle. It varied considerably in size, and usually contained a pool and fountain. For those who can get there, I strongly urge that they visit what will now be the old Getty Museum at Malibu, California; it is a replica of the villa at Herculaneum owned by Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso. I can never go to California without once again visiting it. Now there's a peristyle!

  phalerae These were round, chased, ornamented gold or silver discs about 3 to 4 inches (75 to 100mm) in diameter. Originally they were worn as insignia by Roman knights, and formed a major part of their horses' decorations. Gradually phalerae came to be military decorations awarded for exceptional bravery in battle. Normally they were given in sets of nine (three rows of three each) upon a decorated leather harness of straps designed to be worn over the mail shirt or cuirass. Centurions almost inevitably wore phalerae.

  Picenum The calf of the Italian leg. Its western boundary formed the crest of the Apennines; Umbria lay to the north, and Samnium to the south; the eastern boundary was the Adriatic Sea. The original inhabitants were of Italiote or Illyrian stock, but there was a tradition that Sabines had migrated east of the Apennine crest and settled in Picenum, bringing with them as their tutelary god Picus, the woodpecker, from which the region got its name. A tribe of Gauls, the Senones, also settled in the area at the time Italy was invaded by the first King Brennus of the Gauls in 390 b.c. Politically Picenum fell into two parts: northern Picenum was closely allied to southern Umbria and was under the sway of the great family Pompeius, whereas Picenum south of the Flosis or Flussor River was under the sway of peoples committed to the Samnites.

  pilum, pila The Roman infantry spear, especially as modified by Gaius Marius. It had a very small, wickedly barbed head of iron and an upper shaft of iron; this was joined to a shaped wooden stem which fitted the hand comfortably. Marius modified it by introducing a weakness into the junction between iron and wooden sections, so that when the pilum lodged in an enemy shield or body, it broke apart, and thus was rendered useless to the enemy as a missile. After a battle all the broken pila were collected from the field; they were easily mended by the legion's artificers.

  pilus prior See centurion.

  Pindenissus The whereabouts of this town have defeated me. Look though I will, I cannot find Pindenissus. Cicero informs us that it was in Cappadocia, and also that it took him fifty-seven days to besiege and take it. Which I interpret as a measure of the military ability of Cicero and his legate Gaius Pomptinus, rather than a measure of its might and power. Otherwise it wo
uld surely be better known.

  Placentia Modern Piacenza.

  plebeian, Plebs All Roman citizens who were not patricians were plebeians; that is, they belonged to the Plebs (the e is short: "Plebs" rhymes with "webs," not "glebes"). At the beginning of the Republic no plebeian could be a priest, a magistrate, or even a senator. This situation lasted only a very short while; one by one the exclusively patrician institutions crumbled before the onslaught of the Plebs, who far outnumbered the patricians—and several times threatened to secede. By the late Republic there was very little advantage to being a patrician—except that everyone knew patrician was better.

  Because a plebeian was not a patrician, the Plebs invented a new aristocracy which enabled them to call themselves noblemen if they possessed praetors or consuls in the family. This added an extra dimension to the concept of nobility in Rome.

  Plebeian Assembly See Assembly.

  podex An impolite word for the posterior fundamental orifice: an arsehole or asshole rather than an anus.

  pomerium The sacred boundary enclosing the city of Rome. Marked by white stones called cippi, it was reputedly inaugurated by King Servius Tullus, and remained without change until Sulla's dictatorship. The pomerium, however, did not follow the line of Servius Tullus's walls, which indicates that he did not determine the sacred boundary. The whole of the ancient Palatine city of Romulus was inside the pomerium, whereas the Capitol and the Aventine were not. Custom and tradition permitted a man to extend the pomerium, but only if he had added significantly to Roman territory. In religious terms, Roma herself existed only within the pomerium; all outside it was merely Roman territory.

  pontifex Many Latin etymologists think that in ancient times the pontifex was a maker of bridges (pons means bridge), and that this was regarded as a mystical art which put the maker in very close touch with the Gods. Be that as it may, by the time Rome of the kings came into being, the pontifex was definitely a priest. Incorporated into a special college, he served as an adviser to the magistrates and comitia in all religious matters—and would become a magistrate himself (election to the pontificate meant a man was capable of winning almost every public office). At first all the pontifices had to be patrician, but a lex Ogulnia of 300 b.c. stipulated that half the members of the College of Pontifices had to be plebeian. Until 104 B.C. new priests were co-opted by the College; in that year, however, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus brought in a law requiring all priests and augurs to be elected at an assembly comprising seventeen of the thirty-five tribes chosen by lot. Sulla tried to restore co-optation, but the process was returned to election in 63 B.C. Priests could be well below senatorial age when co-opted or elected. They served for life.

  Pontifex Maximus The head of Rome's State-administered religion, and most senior of all priests. He had always been elected, though there is strong reason to believe that Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, the Pontifex Maximus before Caesar's election, was not elected. A passage in Pliny the Elder suggests he stammered—not desirable in a role which had to be word-perfect. The lex Labiena which returned the priestly and augural colleges to election in 63 b.c. was very convenient for Caesar if, as I believe, Pontifex Maximus too had been removed from election. He stood and won shortly after the lex Labiena came into force.

  Pontifex Maximus was bestowed for life. At first he had to be a patrician, but soon could as easily be a plebeian. The State gave him its most imposing house as his residence, the Domus Publica in the middle of the Forum Romanum. In Republican times he shared the Domus Publica with the Vestal Virgins on a half-and-half basis. His official headquarters were inside the Regia, but this tiny archaic building held no space for offices, so he worked next door.

  popa A public servant attached to religious duties. His only job appears to have been to wield the stunning hammer at sacrifices, but no doubt he helped clean and tidy afterward.

  Portus Gesoriacus A village on the Fretum Britannicum (the Straits of Dover). Modern Boulogne.

  Portus Itius A village on the Fretum Britannicum (the Straits of Dover) some miles to the north of Portus Gesoriacus. Both these villages lay in the territory of the Belgic Morini. It is still debated as to whether Portus Itius is now Wissant or Calais.

  praefectus fabrum One of the most important men in a Roman army, though technically the praefectus fabrum was not a part of the army. He was a civilian appointed to the post by the general, and was responsible for equipping and supplying the army in all respects, from its animals and their fodder to its men and their food. Because he let out contracts to businessmen and manufacturers for equipment and supplies, he was a very powerful person—and unless he was a man of superior integrity, in a perfect position to enrich himself at the expense of the army. That men as powerful and important as Caesar's first praefectus fabrum, the banker Lucius Cornelius Balbus, were willing to accept the post was indication of its profitability. And he, like his successor Mamurra, seems not to have foisted inferior equipment and gear on Caesar's army. praenomen A Roman man's first name. There were very few praenomina in use—perhaps twenty in all—and half of these were uncommon, or else confined to the men of one particular family, as with Mamercus, a praenomen of the Aemilii Lepidi only. Each gens or family or clan favored certain praenomina, usually two or three out of the twenty. A modern scholar can often tell from a man's praenomen whether he was a genuine member of the Famous Family whose gentilicial name he bore. The Julii, for example, favored Sextus, Gaius and Lucius only; therefore a man called Marcus Julius is almost certainly not a patrician Julian, but rather the descendant of a freed Julian slave. The Licinii favored Publius, Marcus and Lucius; the Cornelii favored Publius, Lucius and Gnaeus; the Servilii of the patrician family of Servilians favored Quintus and Gnaeus. Appius belonged exclusively to the Claudii Pulchri.

  praetor This magistracy ranked second in seniority in the Roman magisterial hierarchy. At the very beginning of the Republic, the two highest magistrates of all were known as praetors. By the end of the fourth century B.C., however, the highest magistrates were being called consuls; praetors were relegated to second best. One praetor was the sole representative of this position for many decades thereafter; he was obviously the praetor urbanus, as his duties were confined to the city of Rome, thus freeing up the two consuls for duties as war leaders outside the city. In 242 b.c. a second praetor, the praetor peregrinus, was created to deal with matters relating to foreign nationals and Italia rather than Rome. As Rome acquired her overseas provinces, more praetors were created to govern them, going out to do so in their year of office rather than after their year of office as propraetors. By the last century B.C. most years saw six praetors elected, but sometimes eight; Sulla brought the number up to eight during his dictatorship, but limited praetorian duty during the year of office to presiding over his new standing courts. From this time on, praetors were judges.

  praetor peregrinus I have chosen to translate this as the foreign praetor because he dealt with non-citizens. By the time of Sulla his duties were confined to litigation and the dispensation of legal decisions; he traveled all over Italia as well as hearing cases involving non-citizens within the city of Rome.

  praetor urbanus The urban praetor. After Sulla, his duties were almost all to do with litigation, but civil rather than criminal. His imperium did not extend beyond the sixth milestone from Rome, and he was not allowed to leave Rome for more than ten days at a time. If both the consuls were absent from Rome, he became the city's chief magistrate. He was empowered to summon the Senate, execute government policies, and could even marshal and organize the city's defenses under threat of attack.

  Priapus Originally an important Greek fertility deity, in Rome he seems to have been a symbol of luck. Represented as an ugly and grotesque man, his emblem was his penis, which was always huge and erect; so much so, in fact, that quite often the phallus was bigger than Priapus himself. A very great many of the cheap little pottery lamps were made in the form of Priapus, with the flame emerging from the penis tip. I
would interpret the Roman attitude to Priapus as more one of affection than veneration.

  primipilus, primus pilus See centurion.

  privatus A man who was a member of the Senate but not in office as a magistrate.

  pro: proconsul, promagistrate, propraetor, proquaestor The prefix "pro" was an indication that a man filling the duties of a magistrate was not a magistrate actually in office. Normally the promagistrate had served his term in office already, and was sent to do some kind of duty—mostly provincial—on behalf of the consuls, praetors or quaestors of the year. He held imperium of the same degree as those in office.

  proletarii People so poor that the only thing they could give Rome were children—proles. See capite censi.

  prorogue In the context used in these books, to prorogue was to extend a man's promagisterial position beyond its usual duration of one year.

  proscription The Roman name for a practice not confined to Roman times: namely, the entering of a man's name on a list which stripped him of everything, often including his life. There was no process of law involved, nor did the proscribed man have the right to trial, presentation of exonerating evidence, or any kind of hearing to protest his innocence. Sulla first made proscription infamous when Dictator; he proscribed some forty senators and sixteen hundred senior knights, most of whom were killed, all of whom served to enrich an empty Treasury. After Sulla, the very mention of the word "proscription" in Rome created absolute panic.

  pteryges A Greek word used to describe the arrangement of leather straps which composed a high-ranking Roman military man's kilt or skirt; the pteryges were arranged in two overlapping layers and afforded good protection for the loins.

  publicani The tax-farmers. These were men organized into commercial companies which contracted to the Treasury to collect taxes and tithes in the provinces.