Fire and Sword

by Harry Sidebottom

  Praetor: Roman magistrate in charge of justice, senatorial office second in rank to the Consuls.

  Praetorian camp: Barracks of the Praetorian Guard, encircled by massive brick walls, located in north-eastern Rome.

  Praetorian Guard: Unit of elite soldiers, organised into ten Cohorts, each with a thousand troops; the Emperor’s personal guard in Rome, though detachments also served alongside the Emperor with the field armies campaigning along the frontiers.

  Praetorian Prefect: Commander of the Praetorians, an equestrian; one of the most prestigious and powerful positions in the empire.

  Praetorians: Soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, the Emperor’s bodyguard and the most prestigious and highly paid unit in the empire. Unfortunately for the Emperors, their loyalty could be bought with surprising ease.

  Prefect: Flexible Latin title for many officials and officers.

  Prefect of Egypt: Governor of Egypt; because of the strategic importance of the province, this post was never trusted to Senators (who might be inspired to challenge the Emperor) but was always filled by equestrians.

  Prefect of the Camp: Officer in charge of equipment, supply, and billeting.

  Prefect of the City: In Latin, Praefectus Urbi. Senior senatorial post in the city of Rome.

  Prefect of the Fleet: Equestrian officer commanding one of the Roman fleets at Ravenna or Misenum.

  Prefect of the Grain Supply: See Praefectus Annonae.

  Prefect of the Horse Guards: Officer commanding the Equites Singulares.

  Prefect of the Watch: Equestrian officer in charge of Rome’s vigiles.

  Priapic: Like Priapus, a Roman rustic god usually depicted with giant genitalia.

  Primus Pilus: The most senior Centurion in a Roman Legion.

  Princeps Peregrinorum: Officer in command of the frumentarii; the Emperor’s spymaster.

  Procurator: Latin title for a range of officials, under the Principate typically appointed by the Emperor to oversee the collection of taxes in the provinces and keep an eye on their senatorial governors.

  Prometheus: Divine figure, one of the Titans; variously believed to have created mankind out of clay, tricked the gods into accepting only the bones and fat of sacrifices, and stolen fire from Olympus for mortals.

  Proskynesis: Greek, ‘adoration’; given to the gods and during the course of the third century AD, increasingly demanded by Emperors. There were two types: full prostration on the ground, or bowing and blowing a kiss with the finger tips.

  Providentia: Latin, ‘providence, foresight’; an abstract deity playing an important part in imperial propaganda, guiding the actions of the Emperor for the benefit of his subjects.

  Puteoli: Coastal city in Campania; modern Pozzuoli.

  Quaestor: Roman magistrate originally in charge of financial affairs, senatorial office second in rank to the Praetors.

  Quantum libet, Imperator: Latin, ‘whatever pleases, Emperor’.

  Quies: Latin, ‘peace’, ‘lethargy’.

  Quirites: Archaic way of referring to the citizens of Rome; sometimes used by those keen to evoke the Republican past.

  Ragnarok: In Norse paganism the death of gods and men, the end of time.

  Ravenna: Base of the Roman fleet on the Adriatic Sea in north-eastern Italy.

  Reiks: A Gothic chief or warlord.

  Res Publica: Latin, ‘the Roman Republic’, the free state usurped by the Emperors, under whom it continued to mean the Roman empire.

  Retiarius: Type of lightly armoured gladiator armed with a net and trident.

  Rex: Latin, ‘king’.

  Rhetorician: Professional public speaker from the Greek ‘rhetor’; equivalent to an orator in Latin.

  Rider God: A provincial deity worshipped in Pannonia and Moesia, based on elements of Roman and local religious traditions.

  Romae Aeternae: ‘To eternal Rome’; a political slogan found on coins of the Gordiani.

  Romanitas: Roman-ness; increasingly important concept by the third century, with connotations of culture and civilization.

  Rostra: Speaking platform at the western end of the Roman Forum; took its name from the beaks (rostra) of enemy warship with which it was decorated.

  Roxolani: Nomadic barbarian tribe living on the Steppe north of the Danube and west of the Black Sea.

  Sabine: From Sabinium, an ancient region in the central Apennines north-east of Rome, famed for its agriculture.

  Sacramentum: Roman military oath, taken extremely seriously.

  Sacred Way: At Rome, a processional route running below the northern flank of the Palatine and passing south of the Temple of Venus and Rome, ending at the Roman Forum to the west; at Ephesus, main road paved with marble passing the Library of Celsus and leading down to the major shrine of the city.

  Saecular Games: Games notionally held once every hundred years, marking the passing of one age (measured by the supposed maximum length of a human life) and the beginning of a new one; the Emperor Claudius wished to have the honour of holding the games despite an interval of barely sixty years having passed since the last celebration, and two competing cycles were thus adopted; most recently celebrated by Antoninus Pius in AD148 and Septimius Severus in AD204.

  Saldis: A small town in the Salvus valley, located in modern Croatia.

  Salona: Roman capital of the province of Dalmatia, sited near modern Solin in Croatia.

  Salus: Roman god of safety and health.

  Salutatio: An important Roman social custom; friends and clients of the wealthy and influential were expected to wait on their patrons at daybreak, being admitted into the atrium to greet them and see if they could be of any service in the day’s business.

  Samnite: Type of gladiator, who fought with a short sword and large rectangular shield. In addition to a closed, high-crested helmet, only the left leg and right arm were armoured.

  Samosata: City on the right bank of the Euphrates in south-eastern Turkey protecting an important crossing point; now flooded by the Atatürk Dam.

  Sarcophagus: From Greek, literally ‘flesh eater’; a stone chest containing a corpse and displayed above ground, often highly decorated.

  Sarmatian: Nomadic peoples living north of the Danube.

  Sassanid: Name for the Persians, from the dynasty that overthrew the Parthians in the 220sAD and was Rome’s great eastern rival until the seventh century AD.

  Satyr: In Greek and Roman mythology, half-goat half-man creatures with excessive sexual appetites.

  Scamander: River flowing across the plain of Troy, personified as a god in the epic poetry of Homer.

  Sciron: In Greek mythology, a divine-born bandit living on the Isthmus of Corinth, who enslaved travellers and disposed of those he tired of by throwing them into the sea. Fittingly, he met his own end in the same manner.

  Scythian: Term used by the Greeks and Romans for peoples living to the north and east of the Black Sea.

  Selene: Moon goddess of Greek religion.

  Senate: The council of Rome, under the Emperors composed of about six hundred men, the vast majority ex-magistrates, with some imperial favourites. The richest and most prestigious group in the empire and once the governing body of the Roman Republic; increasingly side-lined by the Emperors.

  Senate House: See Curia.

  Senator: Member of the Senate, the council of Rome. The semi-hereditary senatorial order was the richest and most prestigious group in the empire.

  Septizodium: Purely decorative monument built by Septimius Severus at the foot of the Palatine Hill, fronting the Via Appia.

  Servitium: Roman town whose name literally means servitude, slavery. Modern Gradiška on the northern border of Bosnia Herzegovina.

  Sesterces: Roman coin denomination; used as standard in ancient accounts.

  Seven hills: Metonym for Rome, from the seven hills on which the city was said to have been built; ancient lists, however, do not agree on their identity.

  Shahba: Village on the border of Syria Phoenice and Arabia; some mile
s north of the modern town of Bosra on the southern Syrian border.

  Shrine of Abundance: Minor temple situated on the Capitol; sacred to Ops, the goddess of abundant harvests.

  Sicilia: Monumental courtyard in the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill, named after Sicily, decorated with panels of reflective stone, surrounding a lake with an island at the centre.

  Silenus: In Greek mythology, the chief satyr.

  Silentarii: Roman officials who, as their title indicates, were employed to maintain silence and decorum at the imperial court.

  Simulacrum: Latin, ‘imitation’.

  Singara: Highly fortified eastern outpost of the Roman empire in northern Iraq; modern Balad Sinjar.

  Sirmium: Strategic border town in Pannonia Inferior; modern Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia.

  Sophist: A high-status teacher, usually of rhetoric; the Sophists often travelled from city to city giving instruction and delivering speeches for entertainment.

  Speculatores: Roman army scouts and spies.

  Sporteoli: ‘Little buckets’; mocking name for the vigiles, who carried buckets of earth or water to put out fires.

  Stadium of Alexander: Monumental running track at Rome, originally built by the Emperor Domitian following Greek models; restored by the Emperor Alexander after a fire, it was subsequently known by his name.

  Statue of Victory: Statue of the goddess placed at the far end of the Curia; before each meeting of the Senate, rituals were performed at the accompanying altar.

  Stoic: Ancient school of philosophy; followers were instructed to believe that everything which does not affect one’s moral purpose is an irrelevance; so poverty, illness, bereavement and death cease to be things to fear and are treated with indifference.

  Street of Saturn: Thoroughfare in an upmarket residential quarter of Carthage.

  Street of the Sandal-makers: Street in ancient Rome running behind the Forum of Augustus and Temple of Peace.

  Stylus: Pointed implement of metal or bone, used for writing in wax.

  Styx: River marking the border of Hades in Greek mythology; impassable to the living, the dead were rowed across, but only if they had been buried, usually with coins to pay the ferryman (typically placed in the mouth).

  Subura: Poor quarter in the city of Rome.

  Succurrite: Latin, ‘help me, save me’.

  Suebian Sea: Ancient name for the Baltic.

  Symposium: Greek drinking party, adopted as social gathering of choice by the Roman elite.

  Syria Coele: Hollow Syria, Roman province.

  Syria Phoenice: Phoenician Syria, Roman province.

  Tartarus: In Greek mythology, a dungeon underneath Hades for the punishment of the wicked.

  Telamon: Modern Talamone on the north-west shore of Italy.

  Temple of Concordia Augusta: Also known as the Temple of Concordia or Temple of Augustan Concord; sited at the western end of the Forum in Rome, and dedicated to the deified abstraction of a harmonious Roman society under the Emperors. Its symbolic associations led to its occasional use for meetings of the Senate, particularly when agreement on a difficult issue was needed.

  Temple of Cybele: Sited on the south-western corner of the Palatine.

  Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus: Largest and most sacred temple in Rome, sited on the top of the Capitol; often used to hold the most important meetings of the Senate.

  Temple of Minerva: Dedicated to the Roman goddess of wisdom and the arts; located at the northern end of the Forum Transitorium.

  Temple of Peace: Monumental building with planted courtyard north-east of the Roman Forum.

  Temple of Venus and Rome: Temple designed by the Emperor Hadrian with back-to-back shrines for Venus, Roman goddess of love, and Rome, a deified personification of the city. In Latin, Roma (Rome) spelled backwards is amor, love. Situated east of the Roman Forum on the north side of the Sacred Way.

  Tepula aqueduct: Possibly given this name because its water was tepid. It ran across north-east Rome near the Praetorian camp; not usually considered fit for drinking, in calmer times it was used to fill baths and water gardens.

  Terpsichore: One of the nine muses; the goddess of dancing and choral poetry.

  Tervingi: Gothic tribe living between the Danube and Dnieper rivers.

  Testudo: Latin, literally ‘tortoise’; by analogy, a Roman infantry formation with overlapping shields, giving overhead protection.

  Thalia: One of the nine muses; the goddess of comedy and idyllic poetry.

  Theatre claques: Organised group of professional applauders; in the ancient world, these gangs were hired by performers or politicians to sway an audience in favour of themselves or against a rival.

  Thessalian persuasion: Ancient proverb of obscure origins.

  Thrace: Roman province to the north-east of Greece.

  Thracian: People from the ancient geographical region of Thrace, the south-eastern corner of the Balkans. Also name of a type of gladiator, armed with a small shield and curved sword.

  Thysdrus: Town in central Africa Proconsularis; modern El Djem in Tunisia.

  Tibur: Ancient town north-east of Rome popular as a hill resort; modern Tivoli.

  Toga: Voluminous garment, reserved for Roman citizens, worn on formal occasions.

  Toga virilis: Garment given to mark a Roman’s coming of age; usually at about fourteen.

  Togate: Wearing a toga.

  Tomis: Roman port on the Black Sea; modern Constanta in Romania.

  Tresviri Monetales: Literally, ‘Three men of the mint’’ board of junior magistrates responsible for the coinage.

  Tribune: Title of a junior senatorial post at Rome and of various military officers; some commanded auxiliary units, while others were mid-ranking officers in the legions.

  Trierarch: The commander of a trireme, in the Roman forces equivalent to a Centurion.

  Trireme: An ancient warship, a galley rowed by about two hundred men on three levels.

  Triumvirate: ‘Three men’; term made notorious by two pacts to share control of the Roman government between three leading citizens that precipitated the end of the Roman Republic and ushered in the Principate.

  Tropaeum Traiani: Roman town named after a triumphal monument built by the Emperor Trajan; modern Adamclisi in Romania.

  Troy: City on the southern shore of the Dardanelles, scene of the legendary siege recounted in Homer’s epic poem.

  Tutor: Guardian legally necessary for a child, imbecile or woman.

  Ultio: Latin, ‘revenge’, ‘vengeance’.

  Urban Cohort: Military units stationed in major cities to act as a police force; at Rome, they also counterbalanced the Praetorian Guard.

  Valhalla: In Norse mythology, the hall in which selected heroes killed in battle would feast until Ragnarok.

  Venus: Roman goddess of love; also name for rolling sixes in a game of dice.

  Vesta: Roman goddess of the hearth.

  Vestalia: Festival sacred to Vesta, celebrated by the baking of special bread cakes to give as offerings to the goddess.

  Via Appia: Ancient road linking Rome to the south of Italy.

  Via Flavia: Roman road running east–west across the Istrian coast to Dalmatia.

  Via Gemina: Ancient road linking Aquileia and Emona.

  Via Julia Augusta: Ancient road leading north from Aquileia to Noricum.

  Via Tiburtina: Ancient road leading from Rome to Tibur, exiting the city near the Praetorian camp.

  Via Triumphalis: Named from the route taken by triumphal processions; ancient road running along the eastern flank of the Palatine towards the Flavian Amphitheatre.

  Victimarii: Attendants who conducted Roman animal sacrifices, usually slaves or freemen.

  Vigiles: Paramilitary unit stationed at Rome for police and firefighting duties.

  Villa Praenestina: Lavish country residence of the Gordiani, situated on the Via Praenestina three miles outside the city of Rome.

  Vindabona: Ancient city and legionary fortress in th
e Roman province of Pannonia Superior; modern Vienna in Austria.

  Volaterrae: Ancient name for Volterra, a town north-west of Rome.

  XXviri Reipublicae Curandae: Commission of twenty men selected for the care of the State.

  Zacynthos: Or Zante, an island off the western coast of Greece.

  Zeugma: Greek city named after a bridge of boats crossing the Euphrates; now mostly submerged by the Birecik Dam in southern Turkey.

  Zeus: Greek king of the gods.

  About the Author

  Dr Harry Sidebottom teaches classical history at the University of Oxford, where he is a lecturer at Lincoln College.

  He has an international reputation as a scholar, having published widely on ancient warfare, classical art and the cultural history of the Roman Empire.

  Fire & Sword is the third book in his acclaimed series, Throne of the Caesars, and follows his acclaimed and bestselling series, Warrior of Rome. He divides his time between Oxford and Newmarket in Suffolk, where he lives which his wife and two sons.

  www.harrysidebottom.co.uk

  ALSO BY HARRY SIDEBOTTOM

  FICTION

  The Warrior of Rome Series

  Fire in the East

  King of Kings

  Lion of the Sun

  The Caspian Gates

  The Wolves of the North

  The Amber Road

  The Throne of the Caesars Series

  Iron & Rust

  Blood & Steel

  NON-FICTION

  Ancient Warfare

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