Children of Tiber and Nile

by Deborah Davitt

  “And the gods keep you in their hands in Britannia.” Alexander shook his head. “You’ll need them looking out for you.” He paused. “Britannia’s home to the druids, after all. Them and all their circles of stone, and their words of power in the earth.”

  “We make our own luck,” Antyllus countered, smiling slightly. But his smile faded as he looked out to sea. “I’ll take all the luck I can make, and any fortune the gods see fit to offer me,” he finally added, and the two men clasped wrists. “The gods know, Caesarion couldn’t let the druids’ actions in Hispania pass unanswered. But I hope we can manage the war there this time better than the three times it’s been attempted before.”

  End of Book II

  Notes

  Edda-Earth's history diverged from that of Real-Earth thousands of years ago, both in and around the time of Akhenaten, and, most notably, in and around the failed assassination of Julius Caesar. All dates in Edda are presented as AC, after the ascension of Caesar, and are thus offset 44 years from the BCE/CE system we use in our world today. All dates are thus given as “AC,” or “after the Ascension of Caesar.”

  Glossary

  Accipiter, Accipitra, Accipitris — Accipiter is the term for a hawk; Accipitris is the plural. The female ending of Accipitra is non-standard.

  Aediles — Elected officials in charge of putting on games, festivals, and renovating public works.

  Alaude — The Larks. Nickname for the Fifth Legion.

  Annona — Measures of wheat and bread granted by the government to the poor of Rome. A dole, effectively.

  Armilustrium — October 19; the end of the war season, and the day on which weapons are ceremonially cleaned, anointed, and put up for the year.

  Aquilus — Eagle.

  Atrium — One of the two open-air sections of a Roman villa. Where the atrium was the formal area, and more traditional, being officially the ‘bedroom of the mother of the house,’ (not that any woman slept there) the peristylium was seen by some as a Hellene affectation. The atrium was generally located closer to the entrance, it’s the more formal of the two areas. Think of it as an outdoor parlor with fountains, possibly open-air, possibly with only a small oculus open to the sky, and the peristylium was the outdoor living room, and you’ll be close.

  Ballistae – Siege weapons that hurled carefully-shaped stone bullets. Specialized siege weapons that could hurl arrows also existed, but ballistae far more commonly used stones.

  Bona Dea — The “Good Goddess,” whose secret name was never spoken to men. Her ritual, held in early December of each year, was the only day on which patrician women could leave their houses unattended, conduct blood sacrifices on their own, and drink unwatered wine. These observances were eyed with some anxiety by Roman men, who felt their wives and daughters required their constant supervision and control. Only one man every entered into their ceremonies, in disguise as a woman; at which point the ceremonies of that year were considered completely desecrated.

  Bulla — hollow golden amulet worn by boys until adulthood; contains many small charms, including phallic images, meant to tie the boy to his household lares and ward off bad luck, jealousy, and magic. Set aside when the toga virilis is given, such amulets are kept in the house so that the amulet can be worn during adulthood during times of magical danger, or to ward off jealousy.

  Caligae — Boots made up of dozens of straps of leather, with iron nails in the soles, worn by legionnaires. These boots were almost as much a symbol of citizenship as the toga, though not quite. Many men serving as auxiliaries affiliated with the legions, in order to attain citizenship and its rights and privileges (including immunity to torture) wore caligae in the course of normal duty before earning their togas.

  Carruca — an early closed carriage used by Roman noblewomen, the invalids, and the infirm who could not ride, or who were prohibited from doing so by cultural reasons.

  Circumvallation – a line of fortifications built around a besieged location, to block the defenders in, and protect a field camp against sorties from the defenders. Romans saw little point in pitched battles when they could let their engineering defeat the enemy for them.

  Clementia — Clemency. Mercy, but in a sense that says “You live, but only because I, in my power, have permitted you to do so.”

  Collegia — Groups of colleagues, usually men of equivalent rank or profession, or those who lived in the same neighborhood. Collegia served a number of purposes, including, but not limited to: providing a social circle of drinking brothers/lodge brothers; providing a neighborhood watch; providing a place where money could be held in trust for religious observances; overseeing civic/religious duties on holidays.

  Conditum paradoxum — Heavily sweetened and spiced wine, served at major events such as funerals, homecomings, welcomes, and holy days. Almost all wine was served watered, and was frequently flavored with condensed fruit syrups, effectively making the favorite beverage of ancient Rome a wine cooler. Unwatered wine was generally reserved for sacrifice to the gods, and men could drink it unwatered if they chose, but usually did not. Women could only drink wine unwatered on Bona Dea.

  Compitalia — Festival beginning in early Ianuarius honoring the lares of each household with offerings of cakes at crossroads. And in every household, slaves and masters alike left representations of themselves outside the doors—small poppets, identical to the masters, hanging from nooses, and small balls of cotton or wool for the slaves—in a bid to keep Mania (the underworld goddess who wasn’t Proserpina) from taking any of their lives in sacrifice. Any resemblance to Halloween isn’t strictly in the eye of the beholder.

  Cubicula — The small rooms of a Roman villa, including bedrooms. Singular: cubiculum.

  Devotio — Root of the word devotion. This meant both the willingness of the ordinary soldier to die in battle, and was also a specialized term for a ritual in which a leader of a group of soldiers would pledge his life to Pluto, Proserpina, Jupiter, and Quirinus, offering himself in sacrifice in battle, for the lives of his men and the victory of his army. This sacrifice was almost inevitably accepted.

  Divalia — Festival held on December 21 of each year, dedicated to Angerona and Voluptia, goddesses of peace, plenty, and joy.

  Domina, dominus — Lady or lord.

  Equestris — Horseman; nickname for the Tenth Legion, an infantry division, is a homage to some of them having mounted up to accompany Caesar as his bodyguards. Otherwise, used in mild irony for that legion.

  Ferrata — Ironclad. Nom de guerre of the Sixth Legion

  Frontem allargate — Form staggered formation!

  Galli — Castrated priests of Cybele, who dressed as women after mutilating themselves in her rites. No Roman-born man was permitted to be castrated, or to join her cult.

  Garum — Fish sauce.

  Imperator — Technically, the leader of an army invested with imperium by the Senate. By this point in time, the dictator-for-life position taken by Caesar and by Caesarion has become solidly associated with this term.

  Imperium — the legal authority of leadership invested in consuls or imperators by the Senate (in theory), which enabled them to recruit armies. Someone without sufficient imperium could not command armies.

  Infamio — The condition of infamy. An infamis (male singular) or infames (plural) were people who had put themselves beyond the social pale, sunk themselves below the condition of slaves. A male on the receiving end of penetrative sexual relations was an infamis; a freeborn or noble-born male who became a gladiator—effectively willingly becoming a slave, giving someone else the right to order him to die—was an infamis. Actors, who by custom handled the masks of dead ancestors, and wore those masks in a bid to allow the ghosts, the penates, to enter into them, were also considered unclean—almost as unclean as, say, mortuary workers or Untouchables in the Indian caste system.

  Infamio had serious social repercussions, including being stripped of citizenship and potentially even property. But with that in mind, gladi
ators enjoyed a certain amount of panache. And even they had their pride, and limits to what they considered acceptable behavior.

  Accusations of behavior that was infamous was rife in the rhetoric of the Senate, with Senators almost constantly accusing one another of terrible misdeeds and peccadillos. And given that duels were not a thing in their culture, the only recourse for such accusations were libel lawsuits, or crushing the house of the accused in some fashion.

  Landica — Obscene term for the clitoris.

  Lares — House-spirits, or small gods.

  Libra/librae — A Roman measure of weight, equivalent to .725 modern pounds, or 328.9 g

  Lorica hamata — Lorica means body armor; the hamata was a chain shirt, commonly worn by many legionnaires and their Gallic adversaries.

  Lorica plumata — The plumata was a type of scaled armor designed to look like bird feathers and often gilded. Due to the expense of crafting it, this armor was generally only owned by high-ranking officers.

  Lorica segmentata — This is the prototypical Hollywood legionnaire armor, similar to a plate hauberk for the torso and shoulders. It would not be developed in Real-Earth until the mid-Augustan period, and only saw a couple of centuries of use.

  Lorica squamata — armor of heavy, overlapping scales favored by legionnaires who didn’t affect a flashy muscle cuirass. This is Caesarion’s personal armor choice through the first several books.

  Ludes/ludi — Games offered for ritual reasons or for purposes of public entertainment. Could include gladiatorial combat, horse or chariot races, or other activities.

  Lunula — Amulet worn by girls before becoming women. Burned, along with all their other possessions, on becoming women/wives for the first time, and being permitted to wear a stola. Intended to bind them to their household lares and offer the protection of the spirits, the burning symbolically cuts their ties to their original family in the tradition of female exogamy common to Rome.

  Lustration — Ritual in which an infant is made known to the spirits and people of the city to which it will belong as a resident; generally involves circling the city several times, and the child’s name being made known after anointment.

  Malleolus — A hammer, or maul.

  Mappae — Napkins.

  Matronalia — The day on which Mars was theoretically born to Juno, if you follow Roman mythology. If you follow Hellene myths, Ares is one of Hera’s brothers. In any event, this is Mother’s Day. On which sons and fathers recognize the efforts of their mothers and wives throughout the year with gifts. . . and on which day, the mother of the house must cook for and serve everyone, including the slaves. All women’s hair must be unbound, and not a single knot in their garments.

  Medicus — Physician

  Munera — Games that included gladiatorial combat.

  Munifex — A non-specialist soldier, or milites.

  Novendialis — The ninth and final required day of official mourning for a dead family member. For the wealthy, this involved sacrifices, actors hired to wear the masks of dead ancestors, and the offering of games in honor of the chthonic gods.

  Optimates — The “Best men,” otherwise known as the boni, or “good men,” these men were a political faction of traditionalists and conservatives in the late Roman Republic, who tried to limit the power of public assemblies and the Tribune of the Plebs.

  Oppidum — A walled city or hill fort, particularly used to describe the fortified cities of non-Romans.

  Panis — The round emmer-grain bread on which most of Rome lived.

  Parazonium — Long, leaf-bladed dagger carried by senior officers as a symbol of rank. Also almost always carried by Roma in images of the city personified as a goddess.

  Penates — The spirits of the dead.

  Peristylium — One of the two open-air areas of a Roman villa, the other being the atrium. This section was added to Roman houses after an influx of Hellene culture, and was a more informal garden, equivalent to an outdoor living room.

  Pes/pesi — A Roman foot, or .971 English feet/296 mm.

  Pilum; pl. Pila — Long spear carried by legionnaires.

  Proscription — Legal proceeding by which an otherwise sacrosanct, inviolate Roman citizen could be stripped of his citizenship and its protection from torture, etc., and could also be stripped of his lands and money. People who aided proscribed individuals who fled the state, could be proscribed themselves.

  Pugio — A short, wide-bladed dagger carried by every legionnaire.

  Quaestorium — The storehouse of a legion; it can double as a prison for slaves taken in battle, or important prisoners.

  Salii — The leaping priests of Mars. Limited to twelve in number, they were a rare life-time appointment to their positions, and technically barred from pursuing political office, but if they were appointed to a higher office, that office superseded that of the salii. They were in charge of opening and closing the war-season in March and October, and theoretically protected the sacred and magical shield of Numa, the first king of Rome. So long as that shield remained in Roman hands, it ensured that their civilization would remain the preeminent one on Earth.

  Sambucae — Shipboard siege ladders. Largely ineffective in combat in the pre-Imperial era.

  Saturnalia — Festival beginning on December 23, honoring Saturn. Like Matronalia, social inversions rule the festival, with the servants in charge of the house, and the father of the house serving them. During the Punic Wars, after a crushing defeat by the Carthaginians, a prophecy suggested that if the Romans adopted Hellene observances on this day, Rome would appease both the Hellene gods, and potentially Baal Hamon of Carthage, and win victory. Thus, the holiday was Hellenized, and eventually extended out to three days instead of one. People exchanged gifts, ate and drank too much, and masters served the slaves. Any resemblance to modern observances of Christmas and Boxing Day are entirely accurate.

  Subligaria — Loincloths worn by most men under their clothing, and by women on their menstrual flows, or by some male and female athletes.

  Tablinium — Room in a Roman villa located between the peristylium and the atrium. Quite often, only a window, curtain, or some manner of wooden screen separated this roofed-over room from these two open areas, allowing air circulation. Caesarion uses the tablinium as his study.

  Taraxacum — Dandelions

  Testudo — “Tortoise.” A slow-moving, defensive formation in which men of a legion move into a tight square and the men in the middle raise their shields overhead in an overlapping, scale-like pattern to hold off incoming missiles.

  Testudinem formate — Turtle formation!

  Tinnunculi — kestrels

  Triclinium — This word refers both to the formal dining room of a Roman villa and to the couches that occupied it. Reclining to eat was originally a Hellene custom adopted by Romans; significantly, however, most Romans did not separate the genders at meals, unless absolute sticklers for Hellene manners.

  Toga picta — The ‘colored’ or ‘painted’ toga, chiefly used by kings in ancient Roman history, now chiefly the purple-dyed one worn by Imperators.

  Toga virilis — The white toga given to a young boy when he becomes a man, officially. The toga may be presented by his family any time after the age of fourteen. Delaying it until the age of eighteen would indicate that his family didn’t think much of him.

  Vallum — a wooden palisade, part of the more elaborate circumvallation.

  Uncia — A “thumb.” Unit of measure equivalent to .971 inches/24.6 mm

  Via — by way of, through; also, highway or road.

 

 

 
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