Reading Companion to Book 1 of The Seculary of a Wandering Jew
Page 20
net and a trident
A retiarius (plural retiarii; literally, "net-man" or "net-fighter" in Latin) was a Roman gladiator who fought with equipment styled on that of a fisherman: a weighted net (rete, hence the name), a three-pointed trident (fuscina or tridens), and a dagger (pugio).
The retiarius was lightly armored, wearing an arm guard (manica) and a shoulder guard (galerus). Typically, his clothing consisted only of a loincloth (subligaculum) held in place by a wide belt, or of a short tunic with light padding. He wore no head protection or footwear.
Rostra
Platform in a forum for official speeches
The rostra was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods.
Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between. It is often referred to as a suggestus or tribunal, the first form of which dates back to the Roman Kingdom, the Volcanal.
It derives its name from the six rostra (plural of rostrum, a warship's ram) which were captured during the victory at Antium in 338 BC and mounted to its side. Originally, the term meant a single structure located within the Comitium space near the Forum and usually associated with the Senate Curia. It began to be referred to as the Rostra Vetera ("Elder Rostra") in the imperial age to distinguish it from other later platforms designed for similar purposes which took the name "Rostra" along with its builder's name or the person it honored.
Salve
Roman salutation, singular
Salvete
Roman salutation, plural
Septuagint
Greek translation of the Pentateuch
Sophos
Scholar / wise man
Speculatores
Messengers and agents of the Imperial guard
Speculatores and Exploratores were the scouts and reconnaissance element of the Roman army. In both the legions and in the praetorian camp, speculatores were initially scouts but became bodyguards, couriers, law-enforcers, and sometimes executioners.
Exploratores were tasked to keep watch on enemy movements in the field. Both occupations could require the wearing of 'plain clothes' and may therefore be deemed spies (Occulta speculator/speculatrix).
To a certain extent (but only to an extent) speculatores may be deemed 'internal security' and exploratores 'external security.' However, the Roman Empire lasted a very long time and various espionage units, including the infamous frumentarii created by Hadrian to suppress internal dissent, and later the agentes in rebus, came and went throughout its history.
Stabulum
Inn
Taberna
Public place for the serving of drinks
A taberna (plural tabernae) was a single room shop covered by a barrel vault within great indoor markets of ancient Rome. Each taberna had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway. A famous example is the Markets of Trajan in Rome, built in the early 1st century by Apollodorus of Damascus
A taberna was a "retail unit" within the Roman empire and furthermore was where many economic activities and many service industries were provided, including the sale of cooked food, wine and bread.
Tabernae revolutionized the Roman economy because they were the first permanent retail structures within cities, which signified persistent growth and expansion within the economy. Moreover, tabernae were utilized as lucrative measures to gain upward social mobility for the freedmen class. Although the occupation of a merchant was not highly regarded in Roman culture, it still pervaded the freedman class as means to establish financial stability and eventually some influence within local governments.
Tartarus
Mythical place in the Greek underworld
In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus (sea) is Tartarus, or Tartaros.
It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato (c. 400 BC) wrote that souls were judged after death and those who received punishment were sent to Tartarus.
Like other primal entities (such as the earth and time), Tartarus is also a primordial force or deity.
Tartarus was used as a prison for the worst of villains, including Cronus and the other Titans who were thrown in by Zeus. Uranus also threw his own children into Tartarus because he feared they might overthrow him. These mishaps included the "hundred-handed-ones", the "cyclops" and the "giants".
Thermopolium
Public place for the serving of food and meals
In ancient Rome, a thermopolium (plural thermopolia) was a commercial establishment where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat food. The forerunner of today's restaurant, the items served at the thermopolia are sometimes compared to modern fast-food. These places were mainly used by the poor or those who simply could not afford a private kitchen, sometimes leading them to be scorned by the upper class.
A typical thermopolium would consist of a small room with a distinctive masonry counter in the front. Embedded in this counter were earthenware jars (called dolia) used to store dried food like nuts (hot food would have required the dolia to be cleaned out after use, and because they are embedded in the counter, it is believed that they were not used to store hot food, but rather dried food where cleaning wouldn't be necessary). Fancier thermopolia would also be decorated with frescoes.
Thracian
Roman gladiator, use curved sword and shin guards
The Thraex (pl. thraeces), or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with small rectangular shield called a parmula (about 60 x 65 cm) and a very short sword with a slightly curved blade called a sica (like a small version of the Dacian falx), intended to maim an opponent's unarmoured back. His other armor included armored greaves (necessitated by the smallness of the shield), a protector for his sword arm and shoulder, a protective belt above a loin cloth, and a helmet with a side plume, visor and high crest.
He and the hoplomachus, with his Greek equipment, were usually pitted against the murmillo, armed like a legionary, mimicking the opposition between Roman soldiers and their various enemies.
Triclinium
Dining-room in Greco-Roman residences
A triclinium (plural: triclinia) is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek tri-, "three", and klin, a sort of "couch" or rather chaise longue. Each couch was wide enough to accommodate three diners who reclined on their left side on cushions while some household slaves served multiple courses rushed out of the culina, or kitchen, and others entertained guests with music, song, or dance.
In Roman-era dwellings, particularly wealthy ones, triclinia were common. Used to entertain company, the hosts and guest would recline on pillows while feasting.
Dining was the defining ritual in Roman domestic life, lasting from late afternoon through late at night. Typically, 9-20 guests were invited, arranged in a prescribed seating order to emphasize divisions in status and relative closeness to the dominus. As static, privileged space, dining rooms received extremely elaborate decoration, with complex perspective scenes and central paintings (or, here, mosaics). Dionysus, Venus, and still lifes of food were popular, for obvious reasons.
Middle class and elite Roman houses usually had at least two triclinia; it's not unusual to find four or more. Here, the triclinium maius (big dining room) would be used for larger dinner parties, which would typically include many clients of the owner.
Vale
Roman salutation
Villa
Residence of a wealthy roman
Vox populi
The voice of the people
Ziggurat
Ancient temple in Babylon
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.
Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions.
Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other buildings. The earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BC.
Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but there is no archaeological evidence for this. Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit.
The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.