King of Kings

by Unknown

  Dracontarius: A Roman standard bearer who carried a draco.

  Drafsh-i-Kavyan: ‘The Standard of Kaveh’, thought to have been made by the mythical dwarf Kaveh, who liberated the Aryans from the evil oppressor Zahak; the battle standard of the Sassanid royal house.

  Dux Ripae: The Commander, or Duke, of the River Banks; a Roman military officer in charge of the defences along the Euphrates river in the third century AD; historically based at Dura-Europos.

  Ecclesia: Greek, political assembly of the people, used as an expression for a Christian meetings and the Church in general.

  Eirenarch: Title of chief of police in many Greek cities, including Ephesus.

  Elagabalus: Patron god of the town of Emesa in Syria, a sun god, also name often given to one of his priests who became the Roman emperor formally known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (AD218–222).

  Eleutheria: Greek, ‘freedom’.

  Embolos: The Sacred Way, main street of Ephesus.

  Ephebes: Greek, ‘teenage boys’; at Ephesus, a formal society of upper-class young men.

  Epimeletai ton Phylon: the Superintendants of the Tribes at Antioch, elected officials of the watch, police chiefs.

  Epiphania: A district of Antioch.

  Equestrian: The second rank down in the Roman social pyramid, the elite order just below the senators.

  Equites Primi Catafractarii Parthi: A unit of heavy cavalry in Ballista’s army at Circesium.

  Equites Singulares: Cavalry bodyguards; in Rome, one of the permanent units protecting the emperors; in the provinces, ad hoc units set up by military commanders.

  Equites Tertii Catafractarii Palmirenorum: A unit of heavy cavalry in Ballista’s army at Circesium.

  Eupatrid: From the Greek, meaning ‘well-born’, an aristocrat.

  Factiones: Latin, ‘factions’. In this novel, applied to theatre factions, organized and often riotous supporters of pantomime dancers, in Ephesus.

  Familia: Latin term for ‘family’, and by extension the entire household, including slaves.

  Fasces: Bundles of wooden rods tied around a single-bladed axe, symbols of power of Roman magistrates carried by lictors.

  Fides: Latin for ‘faith’, as in ‘Good Faith’, keeping one’s word to men and the gods.

  Franks: A confederation of German tribes.

  Frumentarii, singular frumentarius: They were a military unit based on the Caelian Hill in Rome; while the name suggests something to do with grain or rations, in fact they were the emperor’s secret police, messengers, spies and assassins.

  Gallia Narbonensis: Roman provincia in southern Gaul, sometimes referred to as just ‘the province’, roughly, modern Provence.

  Galli: Eastern eunuch priests.

  Genius: Divine part of man, some ambiguity whether it is external (like guardian angel) or internal (divine spark); that of head of household worshipped as part of household gods, that of the emperor publicly worshipped.

  Germania: The lands where the German tribes lived.

  Gladius: A Roman military short sword; generally superseded by the spatha by the mid-third century AD, also slang for penis.

  Gloria: Latin, ‘glory’.

  Glykismos: Greek, a sweet aperitif.

  Goths: A confederation of Germanic tribes.

  Harii: A German tribe, renowned night fighters.

  Haruspex, plural haruspices: A priest who divines the will of the gods; one would be part of the official staff of a Roman governor.

  Helkesaites: A sect of Christian ‘heretics’ who held one could say one thing with one’s mouth and another in one’s heart, a useful doctrine to have during persecution.

  Heruli: Germanic people from Black Sea.

  Hibernia: modern Ireland.

  Hippodrome: Greek, course for chariot racing.

  Honestiores: Latin for the upper classes, a social distinction turning into a legal one in this period.

  Hoplites: A general Ancient Greek term for ‘heavily armoured men’; in modern usage more narrowly refers to type of heavy infantry in Archaic and Classical Greece.

  Hubris: Greek concept of pride, which expresses itself in the demeaning of others.

  Humanitas: Latin, ‘humanity’ or ‘civilization’, the opposite of ‘barbaritas’. Romans thought themselves and Greeks (at least upper-class ones), and occasionally other peoples (usually very remote) had it, while the majority of mankind did not.

  Humiliores: Latin for the lower classes, opposite to the honestiores.

  Hyrcania: Region to east of Caspian Sea.

  Ides: The thirteenth day of the month in short months, the fifteenth in long months.

  Imperium: The power to issue orders and exact obedience; official military command.

  Imperium Romanum: The power of the Romans, i.e. the Roman empire, often referred to simply as the imperium.

  Interamna: Town in northern Italy, in 253AD scene of battle which saw the death of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus at the hands of the pretender Aemilianus. Marching down from the north, Valerian was not in time to save Gallus.

  Invictus: Latin, Invincible; by the third century AD a title of the Roman emperor.

  Isauria: Ill-defined region of southern Asia Minor, notorious for wildness of countryside and inhabitants.

  Iuthungi: Barbarian people who live beyond the headwaters of the Rhine and Danube.

  Kalends: The first day of the month.

  Kerateion: Jewish quarter of Antioch, near the Daphne Gate.

  King of the Saturnalia: Elected King of the Revels, whose whims must be obeyed.

  Kontos: Greek, long cavalry spear.

  Kyrios: Greek for ‘Lord’, ‘Master’, ‘Sir’; a title of respect.

  Latrunculi: A Roman board game called ‘Robbers’.

  Lectisternium: A feast offered to the gods, where couches are placed for them to recline.

  Legio III Felix: A legion only mentioned in the Historia Augusta (Aur. 11.4), and thus most likely fictional. In this novel it is a unit formed of detachments from the historical Legio III Gallica and Legio IV Flavia Felix.

  Legio IIII Scythica: A Roman legion from the second half of the first century AD based at Zeugma in Syria; in King of Kings a detachment, vexillatio, of this legion forms part of the army which Ballista leads to Circesium.

  Legion: A unit of heavy infantry, usually about five thousand men strong; from mythical times the backbone of the Roman army; the numbers in a legion and the legion’s dominance in the army declined during the third century AD as more and more detachments, vexillationes, served away from the parent unit and became more or less independent units.

  Lemuria: Days (9th, 11th and 13th of May) when dangerous ghosts walked and needed propitiating.

  Libertas: Latin for ‘liberty’ or ‘freedom’, its meaning was contingent on when said and who by.

  Libitinarii: The Funerary Men, the carriers out of the dead; they had to reside beyond the town limits, and had to ring a bell when they came into town to perform their duties.

  Lictors: Ceremonial attendants of a Roman magistrate.

  Lupercalia: Roman festival (15th February) where the upper-class priests, naked except for a girdle cut from the skin of a freshly sacrificed goat, ran through the streets striking women with thongs also cut from the goat skin.

  Magi: Name given by Greeks and Romans to Persian priests, often thought of as sorcerers.

  Maiestas: Latin, ‘majesty’; offences against the majesty of the Roman people, under the principate as embodied in the person of the emperor, were treason; a charge of maiestas was a grave fear among the elite of the imperium.

  Maiuma: The May festival held in many cities of the eastern empire, including Antioch and Edessa, nocturnal and orgiastic.

  Mandata: Instructions issued by the emperors to their governors and officials.

  Mazda: (Also Ahuramazda) ‘The Wise Lord’, the supreme god of Zoroastrianism.

  Meridiatio: Siesta time.

  Middle Earth: In Norse religion, the world below
Asgard and above Hel, the world of men.

  Miles, plural milites: Latin for soldier.

  Ministrae: Slave women holding some sort of position in the early Christian church.

  Moors: In Latin, Mauri; indigenous people of western North Africa; much employed as light cavalry by Roman armies in the third century AD.

  Mos Maiorum: Important Roman concept, traditional customs, the way of the ancestors.

  Mundus: Gate to the underworld, portal between the living and the dead.

  Munera: Roman gladiatorial games: a full day would comprise beast fights in the morning, spectacular executions at lunchtime, and gladiators in the afternoon.

  Negotium: Latin, ‘business time’, time devoted to the service of the Res Publica; the opposite of otium.

  Nemausus: City in Gallia Narbonensis, modern Nimes.

  Nobilis: Latin, a nobleman, plural nobiles: a man from a patrician family or a plebeian family one of whose ancestors had been consul.

  Nones: The ninth day of a month before the ides, i.e. the fifth day of a short month, the seventh of a long month.

  Numerus, plural numeri: Latin name given to a Roman army unit, especially to ad hoc units outside the regular army structure, often units raised from semi- or non-Romanized peoples which retained their indigenous fighting techniques; thus in King of Kings the titles of the units of Armenian, Saracen, Mesopotamian and Iturean archers, and the slingers in the army of the Dux Ripae.

  Ochlocracy: Greek, mob rule, or rule by the poor; depending on viewpoint, either democracy gone wrong or the opposite of democracy.

  Ordinarius: A pawn in a game of Latrunculi.

  Osrhoene: Roman province in northern Mesopotamia.

  Otium: Latin, ‘leisure time’, the opposite of negotium; it was thought important to get the balance right between the two for a civilized life.

  Paludamentum: Roman officer’s military cloak usually worn over one shoulder.

  Parthians: Rulers of the eastern empire centred on modern Iraq and Iran overthrown by the Sassanid Persians in the 220s AD.

  Pater Patriae: Latin, Father of the Fatherland; a title of the Roman emperors.

  Patrician: The highest social status in Rome; originally descendants of those men who sat in the very first meeting of the free senate after the expulsion of the last of the mythical Kings of Rome in 509BC, under the principate, emperors awarded other families patrician status.

  Pax Deorum: Very important Roman concept of the peace between the Roman Res Publica and the gods.

  Peroz: Persian for ‘victory’.

  Pharos: Greek, ‘lighthouse’; the most famous was at Alexandria.

  Philanthropia: Greek, ‘love of mankind’; a crucial virtue in Greek, and Roman, thinking.

  Pietas: Latin, ‘piety’; the human side of the Pax Deorum.

  Polis: Greek, a city state; living in one was a key marker in being considered Greek and/or civilized.

  Porta Sanavivaria: Latin, ‘the Gate of Life’, out of which spared gladiators were led from the arena.

  Portunalia: Roman festival (17th August), holiday for stevedores.

  Praeco, plural praecones: Latin, a herald.

  Praefectus: ‘Prefect’, a flexible Latin title for many officials and officers, typically the commander of an Auxiliary unit.

  Praefectus Annonae: title of official in charge of the grain supply of Rome and of imperial expeditions.

  Praefectus Castrorum: Roman officer in charge of the baggage train and camp; normally an ex-centurion.

  Praetorian Prefect: The commander of the Praetorian Guard, an equestrian.

  Prandium: Midday meal, lunch.

  Princeps: Latin, ‘leading man’; thus a polite way to refer to the emperor (see Principatus), in the plural, principes, often meant the senators or the great men of the imperium.

  Princeps Peregrinorum: Latin, literally, ‘The Leader of the Strangers’; the commander of the frumentarii, a senior centurion.

  Principatus: (In English, the ‘principate’) Rule of the Princeps, the rule of the Roman imperium by the emperors.

  Proskynesis: Greek, ‘adoration’; given to the gods and in some periods to some rulers, including emperors in the third century AD. There were two types: full prostration on the ground, or bowing and blowing a kiss with the fingertips.

  Prytaneion: Building which was the symbolic centre of a Greek city (see polis); contained the sacred hearth and a state dining room.

  Pulvinar: Latin, a cushioned seat, especially for the gods.

  Quirites: Formal Latin word for citizens of Rome in civilian context.

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

  Res Publica: Latin, ‘the Roman Republic’; under the emperors, continued to mean the Roman empire.

  Restitutor Orbis: Latin, ‘Restorer of the World’; by the third century AD, a title of the Roman emperors.

  Rhodion: Greek, literally, ‘the rose garden’, a district of Antioch.

  Sacramentum: Roman military oath, taken extremely seriously.

  Salvum Lotum: Latin, traditional greeting at the baths: ‘well washed’; used ironically by pagan crowds at the spectacles to tortured Christians covered in blood.

  Salutatio: Roman social ritual where clients and inferiors pay their respects in the morning at the house of an important man.

  Sarmatians: Nomadic barbarian peoples living north of the Danube.

  Sassanids: The Persian dynasty that overthrew the Parthians in the 220s AD and were Rome’s great eastern rivals until the seventh century AD.

  Saturnalia: Roman festival which started on 17th December and at this period lasted for seven days. It was a time of licence and the inversion of the norms of society.

  Saxons: Barbarian tribe living in northern Germania.

  Scribae: Latin, ‘scribes’.

  Scythians: Greek and Latin name for various northern and often nomadic barbarian peoples.

  Senate: The council of Rome, under the emperors composed of about six hundred men, the vast majority ex-magistrates, with some imperial favourites, the senatorial order was the richest and most prestigious group in the empire, but suspicious emperors were beginning to exclude them from military commands in the mid-third century AD.

  Seres: The Chinese.

  Severitas: Latin, ‘severity’, usually considered a virtue.

  Signum: Roman military standard.

  Silentarius: Roman official who, as his title indicates, was to keep silence and decorum at the imperial court.

  Skoll: In Norse paganism, the wolf who chases, and at the end of time catches, the sun.

  Sol Invictus: Latin, ‘the Unconquered Sun’; widely worshipped at this period as a god.

  Spatha: A long Roman sword, the normal type of sword carried by all troops by the mid-third century AD.

  Speculator: A scout in the Roman army.

  Spina: The central barrier of a circus or hippodrome.

  Spoletium: Town in Italy which saw the battle which in 253AD brought Valerian and Gallienus to the throne.

  Stipendium: Latin, ‘stipend’ or ‘pay’.

  Superbia: Latin, ‘pride’; a vice often thought inherent in barbarians and tyrants.

  Synodiarch: Greek term for a ‘caravan protector’, the unusual group of rich and powerful men historically known in Palmyra and in these novels in the city of Arete.

  Tadmor: The name for the city of Palmyra used by the locals.

  Telones: Greek name for a customs official.

  Tepidarium: Warm room of a Roman bath.

  Testudo: Literally, Latin for ‘tortoise’; by analogy, both a Roman infantry formation with overlapping shields, similar to a northern ‘shieldburg’, and a mobile shed protecting a siege engine.

  Tetrapylon: An ornamental arrangement of four columns. Imperial pronouncements were posted on the one at Antioch.

  Tribunus Laticlavius: Literally, a tribune with a broad stripe (of purple on his toga); a young Roman of senatorial rank doing military service a
s an officer in a legion; there was one per legion.

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

  Tyche: Greek, the goddess Fortune; each polis was thought to have its own Tyche; e.g. the Tyche of Antioch.

  Ultio: Latin, ‘revenge’; usually considered an honourable motive, hot or cold.

  Valhalla: In Norse paganism, the hall in which selected heroes who had fallen in battle would feast until Ragnarok.

  Vandals: A German tribe.

  Venationes: Beast hunts in the Roman arena.

  Vexillatio: A sub-unit of Roman troops detached from its parent unit.

  Vexillium: A Roman military standard.

  Viatores: Roman messengers.

  Vicarius: Latin, ‘deputy’; as in deputy governor; origin of English ‘vicar’.

  Vir Egregius: Knight of Rome, a man of the Equestrian order.

  Virtus: Latin, ‘courage’, ‘manliness’, and/or ‘virtue’; far stronger and more active than English ‘virtue’.

  List of Roman Emperors of the time of King of Kings

  AD193–211

  Septimius Severus

  AD198–217

  Caracalla

  AD210–211

  Geta

  AD217–218

  Macrinus

  AD218–222

  Elagabalus

  AD222–235

  Alexander Severus

  AD235–238

  Maximinus Thrax

  AD238

  Gordian I

  AD238

  Gordian II

  AD238

  Pupienus

  AD238

  Balbinus

  AD238–244

  Gordian III