Tribune of the People

by Dan Wallace

  palaestra – a large enclosed arena where bath patrons would exercise (wrestling, running, and other activities) before bathing.

  Palatine Hill – One of the most prominent of the seven hills of Rome, the Palatine stood opposite the Capitoline Hill and the Forum. The wealthiest and most influential Romans lived in homes on the Palatine.

  Pannonia – Scipio Nasica Serapio during his year as consul commanded an army against the Pannonian people, who defeated him.

  papilio – a tent for Roman soldiers on campaign.

  Pergamum – a wealthy Greek city on the Aegean Sea near the modern Turkish city of Bergama.

  peristylum – an open-air, rectangular, contained garden attached to a house (domus), usually landscaped with plants and other amenities surrounding an artificial pond.

  Phidias – a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect whose statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

  Pyrrhus – king of Hellenistic Epirus in the 3rd century BCE, whose costly military successes against Macedonia and Rome gave rise to the phrase “Pyrrhic victory,” meaning that the cost of winning was greater than the victories.

  pilum, pila (plural) – the standard throwing spear of a Roman legionary, made of a wooden haft with a slender iron shaft topped by a barbed point designed to stick and bend in shields so as to be difficult to remove.

  poet seers – revered figures in Celtiberian religion who served as priests, priestesses, and warriors and who offered prophetic, spiritual, and inspirational leadership to the people.

  Pontifex Maximus – the highest priest in Rome who lived in the same

  residence as the Vestal Virgins.

  praetor – the commander of a Roman army on campaign; the praetor had all the same powers as a consul except for the title.

  Praxiteles – Greece's most famous sculptor whose greatest works were appropriated or copied by Romans for many years.

  princeps senatus – the first name on the list of members of the Roman Senate, an honorary office that brought enormous prestige and privilege to the senator bestowed.

  pulla – a drab gray toga worn by mourners at funerals.

  Punic Wars – Rome fought three wars against the city of Carthage, its most powerful rival for hegemony over the Mediterranean Sea. The first Punic War (264-241 B.C.E.) was closely contested due to Carthage's superiority at sea. The Romans defeated them decisively with the invention of a ramp that allowed them to board the Carthaginian ships. In the second Punic War (218-201 B.C.E.), Hannibal Barca nearly defeated Rome by crossing the Alps and laying waste to Italy for 18 years. Unable to breach Rome's walls, he eventually fell to Scipio Africanus. The third Punic War 9140-146 B.C.E.) was initiated by Rome, though Carthage’s power had ebbed significantly. Tiberius Gracchus fought with the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus in Northern Africa. Scipio Amelianus also was married to Tiberius's sister Sempronia

  quaestionarius – a Roman interrogator who used torture.

  Quinctilis – the Roman month of July.

  rostra – also called a rostrum, the raised stage at the head of a comitia in a city forum where political speeches took place. The main Rostrum in Rome stood at one end of the Comitia in the Forum.

  Salacia – Roman goddess of the sea married to Neptune; mother of three children, including Triton, half-man and half-fish.

  Salassi – a campaign commanded by Appius Claudius Pulcher, who was repulsed at first, but later won victory using overwhelming forces.

  Salli – a religious group in ancient Rome known as the leaping priests of Mars, twelve patrician youths who each year in March conducted a procession around the city, dancing and singing dressed as archaic warriors.

  Salus Valetudo – known as Valetudo earlier in Roman history, Salus was the Roman goddess of welfare, health, and prosperity of both the individual and the state.

  sesterce – a silver coin rarely minted in ancient Rome weighing just under an ounce and equal in value to a quarter of a denarius.

  subligaculum – Roman underwear.

  tablinum – the office in a Roman house where the father would receive his business clients. It often was situated on one side of the atrium, opposite the entrance to the house.

  Tarraco – the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula; it became the capital of the Roman province of Hispania Criterior (Eastern Spain), situated just above the mouth of the Iberus River.

  Tartarus – in Roman mythology, the place where sinners were sent; it was surrounded by a flaming river and triple walls, with a many-headed hydra guarding the entrance to prevent sinners from escaping.

  tepidarium – a room in the public baths with warm-water pools and tables for oiling and scraping the body to remove dirt after exercising. Bathers would ease into the warm water pools, after which they would go to the hot pools in the caldarium.

  testudo – a Roman military formation in which shields are held around and above a troop of men, encasing them in a protective shell against flights of arrows and spears; also, the Latin word for tortoise.

  Titius – Tiberius’s senior immune. [move to cast of characters?]

  Trebia – located between modern Genoa and Piacenza in northern Italy, the site of the first major battle of the Second Punic War fought in 218 BCE between the Carthaginian army of Hannibal Barca and Rome. The Roman army suffered a disastrous defeat in which only 10,000 troops out of 40,000 survived.

  triarii – heavily armored troops, usually the most experienced veterans who made up the third line of the legion.

  velites – lightly armed infantry used for skirmishes and scouting.

  Venti – the Roman gods of the four cardinal directions of wind: Aquilo

  for the north, Favonius for the west, Auster for the south, and Eurus

  for the east.

  Venus Knidos, Kos – two statues of Venus by Praxiteles, one naked on the island of Knidos, the other fully dressed on the island of Kos.

  Vestilium Maxima – high priest of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, the Roman state, and the sacred fire.

  Via Aurelia – the road along the west coast of Italy, leading from Rome north to Pisa.

  Via Principalis – the main thoroughfare in the middle of a Roman camp.

  vias – the roads of Rome, famous for their precision and durability.

  Vicus/vici (pl) – a region of Rome dating back to the concept of individual settlements near to each other. Vici had their own local magistrates and governing groups, similar to today’s municipalities and counties.

  vigiles – Ancient Roman police officers, night watchmen, and firefighters.

  Viriathus – chieftain of the Lusitanes in Hispania who defeated the Romans commanded by Servillanius and later Caepio. After his defeat, Caepio bribed Viriathus's officers to assassinate him.

  vitus – a supple, wooden baton used by centurions and optios to whip soldiers into battle.

  Vulcanal – an ancient shrine to the God Vulcan, dating back before the Roman Republic.

  Acknowledgments

  Writing is mostly a solitary act, but those who pursue it seldom succeed without a great deal of help from others. In this respect, I am far from an exception. First, though, I must offer my apology to aficionados of ancient history for any errors that might be found in this book. Some were deliberate, such as the possibly anachronistic introduction of the scorpion crossbow as Titius’s wasp, and the great liberties I took in describing the warfare in Numantia. For these, I plead literary license. For those inaccuracies unknown to me, I accept full responsibility, and again, I apologize.

  Any success of this story stems from the generosity of those who took the time to read the manuscript: my brothers George and Pat, my other brothers James P. O’Donnell and Robert Hickey, my sisters Lucie, Anne, and Ellen, and dear friend Ray Schandelmeir. I also appreciate enormously the support of my daughter Molly, my son Conor, and the extensive professional expertise of my lovely wife Ivey. I would like to thank especially my dear friend and fell
ow writer Ceil Lucas, and my warm and unstinting publisher Adolph Caso.

  Finally, I must give credit to Wikipedia for the plethora of articles and references I used to supplement information mined from core texts by Plutarch, Appian, and Livy.

  About the Author

  Dan Wallace worked in book publishing for 37 years, most of them at Gallaudet University Press. In 2014, he turned to writing full time. He has written five novels including Tribune of the People: A Novel of Ancient Rome. He also writes short stories, essays, and poetry that can be read online at his writing exchange In the Wallace Manner (inthewallacemanner.com). He lives in the Washington, DC, area with his wife Ivey.

  New by Dan Wallace

  In the winter of 1861, East Tennessee mountain boy Billy McKinney finds himself marching with the Rebels to engage the Yankees at the Cumberland Gap. He never wanted to fight for the South because his preacher taught him that slavery was wrong. Mostly, though, Billy fears getting killed. In his first battle, he charges through a storm of gunfire and cannon shot amid a driving, icy rain. All around him his friends fall, their mouths bubbling bloody webs of agony. Terrified, Billy decides to run. In his mad dash, he meets up with four runaway slaves led by Bev Bowman. They take him along on their flight, though as prisoner or partner remains to be seen.

  Run West is a compelling story of survival in a time of anguish and conflict that no one could escape.

  Run West: A Novel of the Civil War

  By Dan Wallace

  ISBN 978-1-7335725-2-1 467 pp trade pb.

  ISBN 978-1-7335725-3-8 Kindle edition

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