The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

  Gemini (jem-in-ee)

  Latin for ‘twins’; often refers to the mythological twins Castor and Pollux or to their constellation in the night sky or to someone born under this sign

  gladiator

  man trained to fight other men in the arena, sometimes to the death

  gustatio (goo-stat-yo)

  first course or ‘starter’ of a Roman banquet; the main course was called prima mensa, ‘the first table’, and dessert was called secunda mensa, ‘the second table’

  Hades (hay-deez)

  the Underworld, the place where the spirits of the dead were believed to go

  Halicarnassus (hal-ee-car-nass-uss)

  (modern Bodrum) ancient city in the region of Caria (now part of Turkey)

  helpis (hel-piss)

  Greek for ‘hope’

  Heracleia (h’-rak-lay-uh)

  Ancient port on the southern slopes of Mount Latmus in Caria; Endymion was said to have slept in the caves above it

  Hercules (her-kyoo-leez)

  very popular Roman demi-god, the equivalent of Greek Herakles

  Herodotus (huh-rod-a-tuss)

  (c.484–425 BC) Greek historian from Halicarnassus; he was called ‘the Father of History’ because he was one of the first to collect material systematically

  Hierapolis (hee-air-rap-oh-liss)

  ancient city built above the amazing mineral cascades of modern Pamukkale; the disciple Philip is said to have been martyred there in AD 80

  hospitium (hoss-pit-ee-um)

  Latin for ‘hotel’ or ‘guesthouse’; often very luxurious with baths and dining rooms

  icterus (ik-tur-uss)

  from Greek ikteros: the Latin word for jaundice, a disease that makes the skin and eyes appear yellow

  Ides (eyedz)

  thirteenth day of most months in the Roman calendar (including August); in March, May, July and October the Ides occur on the fifteenth day of the month

  impluvium (im-ploo-vee-um)

  a rectangular rainwater pool under a skylight (compluvium) in the atrium

  insula (in-soo-la)

  lit. ‘island’ but also the common word for a city block in Roman times

  Ioannes (yo-ah-naze)

  Greek for ‘John’

  Ionia (eye-oh-nee-uh)

  ancient region of Turkey on the Aegean coast around Izmir (ancient Smyrna)

  Ionian (eye-oh-nee-un)

  member of an ancient Hellenic people from the region around Athens; they colonized part of Asia which became known as ‘Ionia’

  Ionic (eye-on-ik)

  an order of architecture with columns whose capitals look like scrolls

  Italia (it-al-ya)

  the Latin word for Italy

  Jerusalem (j’-roo-sa-lem)

  capital city of Judea, until AD 70, when it was ransacked and destroyed by Roman legions commanded by Titus

  Jesus AKA Jesus Christ

  (c.3 BC–c.AD 30); Jewish carpenter and teacher who became the central figure of the Christian faith; his followers considered him to be the Christ or Messiah (‘anointed one’) and also the Son of God who was resurrected from the dead

  Josephus (jo-see-fuss)

  (AD 37–c.100) a Jewish commander during the famous Jewish revolt of AD 65; he surrendered to Vespasian, became Titus’s freedman and lived in Rome, writing histories and other works, particularly about the Jews of that time

  Juno (joo-no)

  queen of the Roman gods and wife of the god Jupiter

  Jupiter (joo-pit-er)

  king of the Roman gods, husband of Juno and brother of Pluto and Neptune

  Kalends (kal-ends)

  the first day of any month in the Roman calendar

  Laodicea (lay-oh-diss-yuh)

  town a few miles below Hierapolis, by the time the hot waters from Hierapolis reached Laodicea, they were lukewarm; it had one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation

  lararium (lar-ar-ee-um)

  household shrine, often a chest with a miniature temple on top, sometimes a niche

  Latmus (lat-muss)

  dramatically rocky ridge which used to be on the coast of Caria in Ionia; because of silting it is now inland, on the shore of Lake Bafa in southwest Turkey

  Leo (lee-oh)

  sign of the Zodiac of the lion

  Lucifer (loo-s’-fur)

  Latin for ‘bringer of light’; a name for the morning star and also for Satan

  Lydia (lid-ee-uh)

  ancient region in Turkey north of Caria; its last king was Croesus

  Lysimachus (lie-sim-a-kuss)

  (C 355–281 BC) one of the successors of Alexander the Great; he rebuilt the defensive walls of Ephesus in the third century BC

  Maeander (mee-and-ur)

  ancient name for the Menderes, a river in Turkey which winds sinuously back and forth on its way to the sea; we get the word ‘meander’ from this river

  Magnesia (aka Magnesia on the Meander)

  ancient town on the Maeander River a few miles southeast of Ephesus, northwest of the present town of Magnesia

  Magnesian Gate three-arched southeastern gate of

  Ephesus, leading to Magnesia and beyond

  maquis (mak-ee)

  French word for the dense and fragrant green scrub vegetation found in regions all over the Mediterranean, especially those near the coast

  Marnas (mar-nass)

  brook which provided one of the major water supplies for the city of Ephesus

  Mauretania (more-uh-tane-ya)

  (modern Morocco) one of the North African provinces of the Roman Empire

  Mausoleum (maw-zo-lee-um)

  The Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus was one of the ‘Seven Sights’ of the ancient world; it was a giant tomb to a ruler named Mausolus, who lived in the fourth century BC; we get the word ‘mausoleum’ from the tomb named after him

  Messiah (m’-sigh-uh)

  Hebrew for ‘anointed’ or ‘chosen’ one; the Greek word is ‘Christ’

  metanoia (met-an-oy-uh)

  lit. ‘change of mind’, the Greek word is often translated as ‘repentance’

  Midas (my-duss)

  mythical king of Phrygia with several legends attached to him; in one, everything he touches turns to gold; in another, he gets ears like a satyr

  mikvah (mik-vuh)

  Hebrew for ‘collection’ (usually of waters); a bath in which Jewish ritual purifications were performed

  Mindius (min-dee-uss)

  name of a Jewish benefactor of the synagogue of Ostia mite (might)

  tiny bronze coin; the smallest denomination possible

  Moriah (AKA Mount Moriah)

  mountain upon which Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, according to the account in Genesis 22

  Mount Latmus (lat-muss)

  dramatically rocky ridge which used to be on the coast of Caria in Ionia; because of silting it is now inland, on the shore of Lake Bafa in southwest Turkey

  Myndus (min-duss)

  Ancient Greek city in Caria on the coast a few miles west of Halicarnassus

  Naucratis (now-kra-tiss)

  important Roman town on the Canopic branch of the Nile in the Nile Delta

  Neptune (nep-tyoon)

  god of the sea; his Greek equivalent is Poseidon

  Nero (neer-oh)

  Emperor who ruled Rome from AD 54–68

  Nisyrus (niss-ee-russ)

  small, round volcanic island near the coast of Asia Minor (Turkey)

  Nones (nonz)

  seventh day of March, May, July, October; fifth day of all the other months, including August

  nymphaeum (nim-fay-um)

  a monument consecrated to the nymphs, most usually a fountain; therefore nymphaeum became a synonym for ‘fountain’

  odi et amo (oh-dee et ah-mo)

  ‘I hate and I love’; first line of a famous poem by Catullus

  Ombos (om-boss)

  (modern Kom Ombo) town on the east ban
k of the Nile in Egypt

  Orpheus (or-fee-uss)

  mythological lyre-player who charmed men, animals and rocks with his music, and who tried to bring back his wife from the land of the dead

  oscilla (ah-sill-uh)

  Latin for ‘little faces’; these were discs of marble, wood or clay hung from trees or between columns to keep away birds and bad luck

  Ostia (oss-tee-uh)

  port about sixteen miles southwest of Rome; Ostia is Flavia’s home town

  Ourania (oo-ran-yuh)

  Greek spelling of Urania, one of the nine muses, her discipline was astronomy

  palla (pal-uh)

  a woman’s cloak, could also be wrapped round the waist or worn over the head

  pantomime (pan-toe-mime)

  Roman theatrical performance in which a man (or sometimes woman) illustrated a sung story through dance; the dancer could also be called a ‘pantomime’

  papyrus (puh-pie-russ)

  papery material made of pounded Egyptian reeds, used as writing paper and also for parasols and fans

  pater (pa-tare)

  Latin for ‘father’

  patrician (pa-trish-un)

  a person from the highest Roman social class

  Paul of Tarsus

  AKA St Paul, an early Christian who took the gospel to Greece and Asia; he lived in Ephesus for at least two years around AD 50

  peristyle (perry-style)

  a columned walkway around an inner garden or courtyard

  Persephone (purr-sef-uh-nee)

  beautiful young daughter of Demeter, she was abducted by Pluto while gathering flowers and had to spend six months of the year in the underworld

  Pharos (far-oss)

  name of an island off the coast of Alexandria on which a massive lighthouse was built; for this reason, people began to call the lighthouse ‘pharos’ too

  Philadelphus (fill-a-del-fuss)

  Lit. ‘loves his brother’; popular male name in the Greek-speaking parts of the Roman empire

  Phoenician (fuh-neesh-un)

  Semitic sea-people who established trading posts in coastal positions all over the Mediterranean; they were renowned sailors

  Phrygia (frij-ee-uh)

  Part of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) to the east of Caria and Ionia; it was also sometimes used for the whole province of Asia

  Pion (pee-on)

  one of the mountains upon which Ephesus was built, also the name of the god of that mountain

  Pliny (plin-ee)

  (AD 23–79) Gaius Plinius Secundus was a famous Roman admiral and scholar who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79; his Natural History still survives

  Pluto (ploo-toe)

  Roman god of the underworld; his Greek equivalent is Hades

  Pollux (pol-luks)

  one of the famous twins of Greek mythology (Castor being the other)

  posca (poss-kuh)

  well-watered vinegar; a non-alcoholic drink particularly favoured by soldiers on duty

  prima mensa (pree-ma men-sa)

  Latin for ‘the first table’ or main course of a meal, the starter was called gustatio; and dessert was called secunda mensa, ‘the second table’

  province (pra-vince)

  a division of the Roman Empire; in the first century AD senatorial provinces were governed by a proconsul appointed by the senate, imperial provinces were governed by a propraetor appointed by the Emperor

  quadrans (kwad-ranz)

  tiny bronze coin worth one sixteenth of a sestertius or quarter of an as (hence quadrans); in the first century it was the lowest value Roman coin in production

  Rhakotis (rah-ko-tiss)

  western suburb of Alexandria; may have been the original fishing settlement

  Rhodes (roads)

  large island in the Aegean Sea near Turkey, its capital was Rhodes Town

  Sabratha (sah-brah-tah)

  (modern Tripoli Vecchia/Zouagha) one of the ‘three cities’ of Tripolitania in the North African province of Africa Proconsularis (now northern Libya)

  satyr (sat-tur)

  mythical woodland creature which is half man, half animal; in Roman times they were shown with goat’s ears, tail, legs and horns

  scroll (skrole)

  a papyrus or parchment ‘book’, unrolled from side to side as it was read

  secunda mensa (sek-oon-da men-sa)

  Latin for ‘the second table’ or dessert course of a meal, the starter was called gustatio; and the main course was called prima mensa, ‘the first table’

  Selene (sel-ee-nee)

  titaness who drove the chariot of the moon; she loved Endymion and Zeus put him in a perpetual sleep so that she could gaze upon him at night

  Seneca (sen-eh-kuh)

  (c. BC–AD 65) Roman philosopher who wrote about how to die a good death

  sesterces (sess-tur-seez)

  more than one sestertius, a brass coin; about a day’s wage for a labourer

  Smyrna (smeer-nuh)

  (modern Izmir) ancient port city in Ionia, one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation was located here

  Soter (so-tare)

  Lit. ‘saviour’; popular male name in the Greek-speaking parts of the Roman empire

  sponsa (spon-suh)

  Latin for fiancée, wife or betrothed

  stola (stole-uh)

  a long sleeveless tunic worn mostly by Roman matrons (married women)

  stylus (stile-us)

  a metal, wood or ivory tool for writing on wax tablets

  suppressio (suh-press-ee-oh)

  Latin legal term for the abduction and enslavement of a person who is freeborn

  Surrentum (sir-wren-tum)

  modern Sorrento, a pretty harbour town on the Bay of Naples south of Vesuvius

  Symi (sim-ee)

  small island near Rhodes famous for its sponge-divers

  tablinum (tab-leen-um)

  room in wealthier Roman houses used as the master’s study or office, often looking out onto the atrium or inner garden, or both

  Tarquin (tar-kwin)

  one of the first kings of Rome; lived in the sixth century BC

  temenos (tem-en-oss)

  sacred marked-out area, usually in a sanctuary

  tesserae (tess-sir-eye)

  the little cubes of stone and glass that make up a mosaic

  tetradrachm (tet-ra-drak-m)

  coin of the Greek-speaking part of the Roman empire; in the first century, one tetradrachm was equal to four drachmae or one denarius

  tetrarch (tet-rark)

  Greek for ‘ruler of a quarter’; term for governor of part of a province in the Roman empire or a ruler of a minor principality

  thalassa (tha-la-sa)

  Greek word for ‘sea’; this is what Xenophon and his men shouted after months of being lost inland and finally catching sight of water

  Thebaid (thee-bye-id)

  region of Upper Egypt around Thebes (modern Luxor and Karnak)

  Titus (tie-tuss)

  Titus Flavius Vespasianus, forty-one-year-old son of Vespasian, has been Emperor of Rome for almost a year when this story takes place

  toga (toe-ga) a blanket-like outer garment, worn by freeborn men and boys

  triclinium (trik-lin-ee-um)

  ancient Roman dining room, usually with three couches to recline on

  tunic (tew-nik)

  a piece of clothing like a big T-shirt; children often wore a long-sleeved one

  tyche (tie-kee)

  Greek word for ‘luck’ or ‘fortune’

  Tychicus (tik-ee-kuss)

  early Christian who traveled with St Paul and is mentioned in some of his letters; we only know that he came from Ionia and ministered around Ephesus

  Vespasian (vess-pay-zhun)

  Roman emperor who ruled from AD 69–79; father of Titus and Domitian

  vespasian (vess-pay-zhun)

  slang term for ‘piss-pot’, so called because the emperor Vespasian had once
set a tax on urine

  Vesuvius (vuh-soo-vee-yus)

  volcano near Naples which erupted on 24 August AD 79 and destroyed Pompeii

  Via Ostiensis (vee-uh os-tee-en-suss)

  road from Ostia to Rome

  vinea (vin-nay-uh)

  Latin for ‘vineyard’ or ‘vines’

  Virgo (vur-go)

  Latin for ‘virgin’ or ‘maiden’; sign of the zodiac of the maiden

  Vulcan (vul-kan)

  god of fire, the forge and blacksmiths

  wall-nettle AKA herba murialis also known as parthenion, a herb recommended by Pliny and Celsus for bruises

  wax tablet

  a wax-covered rectanglar piece of wood used for making notes

  wet-nurse

  a woman who breast-feeds an infant if his mother is dead or can’t feed him herself

  Xenophon (zen-oh-fon)

  (C.431–355 BC) a Greek who lived in the time of Plato; he led a group of mercenary soldiers who were lost for many months, when at last they caught sight of the sea, they knew they could find their way home to Greece

  Yohanan (yo-ha-nan)

  Hebrew for ‘John’; John son of Zebedee was one of Jesus’s disciples

  Zabdai (zab-die)

  Hebrew for ‘Zebedee’, a surname mentioned in the New Testament

  Zodiac (zo-dee-ak)

  Greek for ‘animal figure’: a belt of the heavens which includes twelve important constellations, (e.g. Virgo, the maiden); the ancients put great significance on the movement of the sun, moon and seven planets through these constellations

  Jesus of Nazareth was the name of the man who gave rise to the whole Christian faith. Some people believe he was the Son of God and that he performed miracles and rose from the dead. Others think he was just a wise prophet who lived in the first century AD. We know he was born about the year ‘dot’ and we still count our calendar from his birth. (AD stands for anno domini – ‘in the year of the Lord’– and CE stands for ‘Christian era’.) We know Jesus was Jewish, and that he spoke Aramaic and probably also Greek. We know that Jesus had at least a dozen disciples (all Jews) who followed him and claimed to have witnessed his miracles and resurrection. Almost all historians agree that Jesus was crucified in the Roman province of Judea around AD 30, during the reign of Tiberius, forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus’s legions. We know that in the first century, Christianity seemed to be another sect of Judaism, and the two were often confused. Rome considered both dangerous because their followers would not worship deified Roman emperors, and this was considered subversive.