Legionary: Viper of the North (Legionary 2)

by Doherty, Gordon

  Buccina; The ancestor of the trumpet and the trombone, this instrument was used for the announcement of night watches and various other purposes in the legionary camp.

  Candidatus; The candidati were the hand-chosen, personal bodyguard of the Roman Emperor and successors to the old Praetorian Guard.

  Capsarius; A legionary medic. His main function on the battlefield would be to tend to the wounded and to recover arms and equipment from the fallen.

  Castrum; A defensive Roman military structure. Could be used to describe a permanent fort, a marching camp, a palisade on a natural choke point of terrain or a fortified bridgehead.

  Caldarium; The room in a Roman bath complex containing a hot plunge pool.

  Cataphractus; Roman heavy cavalry who would employ shock tactics, charging into enemy lines and flanks. The riders and horses would wear iron scale and mail armour, leaving little vulnerability to attack, and their primary weapon was a lengthy lancing spear. In the fourth century, many cataphractii in the Roman army were of eastern origin.

  Chi-Rho; The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, and was used by the early Christian Roman Empire. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ, chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the following monogram;

  Classis Moesica; The imperial fleet that controlled the waters from the Lower Danube to the northwestern Pontus Euxinus as far as the Bosporus (modern-day Crimea) peninsula.

  Classis Pontica; The imperial fleet that controlled the mid and eastern Pontus Euxinus.

  Comes; Commander of a field army of comitatenses legions.

  Comitatenses; The Roman field armies. A ‘floating’ central reserve of legions, ready to move swiftly to tackle border breaches. These legions were considered the cream of the late Roman army.

  Contubernium; A grouping of eight legionaries within a century (ten contubernia per century). These soldiers would share a tent and would receive disciplinary action or reward as a unit.

  Cursus Publicus; The imperial courier system facilitated by state-funded roads, waystations, stables and dedicated riders. The riders were tasked with carrying messages all over the empire.

  Decurion; Leader of a turma of Roman cavalry.

  Dux; Regional commander of limitanei legions.

  Equite; Roman light cavalry, used for scouting ahead and covering the flanks of a marching legionary column.

  Equites Sagittarius; Roman horse archers.

  Fabrica; The workshop of a Roman legion located within the legionary fort or camp. Skilled artisans and craftsmen such as engineers, carpenters, masons, wagon-makers, blacksmiths, painters and other artificers worked in the fabrica, using devices such as smelting furnaces and water cisterns to produce arms and equipment for the legionaries.

  Foederati; Broad term for the variety of ‘barbarian’ tribes subsidised from imperial coffers to fight for the Roman Empire.

  Follis; A large bronze coin introduced in about 294 AD with the coinage reform of Diocletian.

  Funditores; Roman slingers who would wear little or no armour and be involved in the initial skirmishing before a battle.

  Hasta; The Roman legionary spear, over six feet in length and used primarily for thrusting as opposed to throwing.

  Horreum; The Roman granary and storehouse for other consumables such as wine and olive oil.

  Hunnoi; The nomadic horsemen known as the Huns, who migrated west from the eastern steppes in the 4th century.

  Intercisa; Iron helmet constructed of two halves with a distinctive fin-like ridge joining them together and large cheek guards offering good protection to the face.

  Iudex; The fourth century Goths did not have kings as such. Instead, each tribe would elect a ‘judge’ or ‘iudex’ who would steer them through a period of migration or conflict.

  Lancea; Short throwing javelin and successor to the pilum of the principate but with a far inferior range than the plumbata. Late legionaries sometimes carried a pair of these.

  Limes; The Roman frontiers. These borderlands would be manned by the limitanei legions.

  Limitanei; Literally, meaning ‘frontier soldiers’, the limitanei were light infantry spearmen who would serve in the legions posted along the empire’s borders.

  Magister Militum; Literally, ‘Master of Soldiers’. The man in this role would report directly to the emperor and command each regional dux and floating comes situated within the broad geographical grouping of provinces he presided over.

  Mithras; Mithras was the Persian god of light and wisdom and many Romans worshipped this deity, particularly soldiers. Followers of Mithras believed that he was born with a sword in his hand.

  Onager; Roman catapult that could throw rocks or clay balls filled with an incendiary fluid.

  Optio; Second-in-command in a Roman century. Hand-chosen by the centurion.

  Phalera; A gold, silver or bronze sculpted disk worn on the breastplate during parades by Roman soldiers who had been awarded it as a kind of medal.

  Plumbata; Lead weighted throwing dart carried by Roman legionaries, approximately half a metre in length. Each legionary would carry three of these and would launch them, overhand or underhand, at their enemy prior to sword or spear engagement. They required some skill to throw accurately, but had a tremendous range of nearly ninety feet.

  Pontus Euxinus; The modern Black Sea.

  Primus Pilus; The chief centurion of a legion. So called, as his own century would line up in the first file (pilus) of the first cohort (primus).

  Propontus; The modern Sea of Marmara.

  Principia; Situated in the centre a Roman fort or marching camp, the principia served as the headquarters. In a standing fort, the principia would be laid out as a square, with three wings enclosing a parade area. The legionary standards, wage chest and religious shrines were housed inside the wings along with various administrative offices.

  Sagittarius; Roman foot archer.

  Spatha; A straight sword up to one metre long, favoured by the Roman infantry and cavalry.

  Speculatores; A shadowy secret police employed throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. They tended to focus on internal affairs and domestic threats, carrying coded messages, spying, and assassinating on command.

  Strategos; Greek word meaning military general or ‘master of strategy’.

  Tepidarium; The warm room in a Roman bathhouse, heated by an underfloor hypocaust.

  Tesserarius; Each legionary century had a tesserarius. They would be answerable to the optio and their chief responsibilities were organising night watch and protecting watchwords.

  Testudo; Roman infantry formation where the legionaries in a cohort place their shields around all sides and overhead of their unit, thus providing thorough protection from missile hail.

  Tribunus; Senior legionary officer. In the late 4th century AD, a tribunus was usually in charge of one or more legions of limitanei or comitatenses.

  Turma; The smallest unit of Roman cavalry, numbering thirty riders.

  Vexillatio; A detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force.

  Via Egnatia; The highway constructed in the 2nd century BC running from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea, all the way through Thrace to Constantinople.

  Wodin; The chief god of the Norse pantheon. Analogous to the Roman Jupiter or the Greek Zeus.