Serdica: Roman town; modern Sofia in Bulgaria.
Silentarius: Roman official; as his title indicates, he was charged with keeping silence and decorum at the imperial court.
Silvanus: Patron god of quarrymen.
Sinistus: High-priest of a German tribe.
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: Long Roman sword, the usual type of sword carried by all troops by the mid-third century AD.
Stationarii: Roman soldiers on detached duty from their main units.
Stola: Roman matron’s gown.
Superbia: Latin, pride; a vice often thought inherent in barbarians and tyrants.
Symposium: Greek drinking party, adopted as social gathering of choice by the Roman elite.
Syria Coele: Hollow Syria, Roman province; often referred to as Coele Syria.
Syria Palestina: Palestinian Syria, Roman province.
Syria Phoenice: Phoenician Syria, Roman province.
Systratiotes: Greek, fellow-soldiers; commilitiones in Latin.
Tadmor: Locals’ name for the city of Palmyra.
Tanukh: Group of Arab tribes.
Telones: Greek name for a customs official.
Temesa: Greek city in Italy; scene of a famous ghost story. Polites, one of Odysseus’s crewmen, was stoned to death by its citizens after raping a local girl. He returned from the dead as a murderous daemon. The Delphic Oracle told the local inhabitants to propitiate him by building him a temple and every year offering him the most beautiful virgin in the town. This continued until an Olympic boxing champion called Euthymos one year fell in love with the girl chosen and beat the daemon in a fight. The story is in Pausanias (6.6.7–11), who had seen a painting of the story in which the revenant is called Lykas.
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.
Thessaly: Area of northern Greece.
Theta: Eighth letter in the Greek alphabet; written next to the name of a deceased soldier on a military roster; in soldiers’ slang, ‘to be thetaed’ was to be killed (from Thanatos, death).
Thrace: Roman province to the north-east of Greece.
Time of Troubles, The: Name given to Persian invasions of AD252–3.
Trierarch: Commander of a trireme; in the Roman forces, equivalent to a centurion.
Trireme: Ancient warship, a galley rowed by about 200 men on three levels.
Turma, plural turmae: Small sub-unit of Roman cavalry, usually about thirty-strong.
Tutor: Guardian legally necessary for a child, imbecile or woman.
Tyche: Greek, the goddess Fortune; each polis was thought to have its own Tyche; e.g. the Tyche of Antioch.
Valhalla: In Norse paganism, the hall in which selected heroes who had fallen in battle would feast until Ragnarok.
Vexillatio: Sub-unit of Roman troops detached from its parent unit.
Vexillum: Roman military standard.
Vir Clarissimus: Title of a Roman senator.
Vir Egregius: Knight of Rome, a man of the equestrian order.
Vir Ementissimus: The highest rank an equestrian could attain; e.g. Praetorian Prefect.
Vir Perfectissimus: Equestrian rank above Vir Egregius but below Vir Ementissimus.
Virtus: Latin, literally, man-ness; courage, manliness, virtue; sense far stronger and more active than English ‘virtue’.
List of Emperors in the First Half of the Third Century AD
AD193–211 Septimius Severus
AD198–217 Caracalla
AD210–211 Geta
AD217–18 Macrinus
AD218–22 Elagabalus
AD222–35 Alexander Severus
AD235–8 Maximinus Thrax
AD238 Gordian I
AD238 Gordian II
AD238 Pupienus
AD238 Balbinus
AD238–44 Gordian III
AD244–9 Philip the Arab
AD249–51 Decius
AD251–3 Trebonianus Gallus
AD253 Aemilianus
AD253–60 Valerian
AD253– Gallienus
List of Characters
To avoid giving away any of the plot, characters usually are only described as first encountered in Lion of the Sun.
Accius: Tribune commanding third cohort of Celts; captured by the Persians with Valerian.
Achaeus: Governor of Palestine/Syria Palaestina.
Achilleus: Gallienus’s a Memoria.
Acilius Glabrio: Gaius Acilius Glabrio, a young patrician, one of Gallienus’s comites at Mediolanum in AD260.
Aemilianus: Mussius Aemilianus, Prefect of Egypt (the most prestigious post held by an equestrian).
Aeneas Tacticus: Greek writer on military tactics of the fourth century BC. His How to Defend a City under Siege survives.
Aetion: Greek painter of the fourth century BC.
Ahala: Legionary of Legio IIII Scythica.
Albinus: Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus, contender for the imperial throne AD193–7.
Alexander Severus: Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander, Roman emperor AD222–35.
Antigonus: One of Ballista’s Equites Singulares, who died at Arete.
Antiochus: A lost child, the son of Barlaha, a member of the Boule of Zeugma.
Anthia: Maid of Julia’s.
Apollonius of Tyana: A philosopher/wonder-worker of the first century AD.
Appian: Son of Aristides, a Christian martyred at Ephesus.
Archelaos: King of Cappadocia towards the end of the first century BC, built a palace on the promontory at Sebaste.
Arellius Fuscus: ‘Father of the Senate’, i.e. most senior ex-consul, in AD260.
Arrian: Lucius Flavius Arrianus, Greek author and Roman consul, c. AD86–160. Several of his works survive, including Anabasis of Alexander.
Astyrius: Roman senator and nobilis.
Attalus: King of the Marcomanni, father of Pippa.
Aurelian (1): Lucius Domitius Aurelian, a Roman officer from the Danube, known as Manu ad Ferrum (‘Hand to steel’).
Aurelian (2): Tribune of the Equites Singulares, known as ‘The Italian’ or ‘The Other Aurelian’; captured by the Persians with Valerian.
Aurelius Dasius: Roman governor of the province of Mesopotamia (or Osrhoene, as it was sometimes also called).
Aureolus: Once a Getan shepherd near the Danube, now Gallienus’s Prefect of Cavalry, one of the protectores.
Bagoas: See Hormizd.
Ballista: Marcus Clodius Ballista, originally named Dernhelm, son of Isangrim the Dux, war-leader, of the Angles. A diplomatic hostage in the Roman empire, he has been granted Roman citizenship and Equestrian status, having served in the Roman army in Africa, the far west and on the Danube and Euphrates. When the novel starts, he is a prisoner of the Persians.
Barlaha: Member of the Boule of Zeugma.
Bathshiba: Daughter of the late Iarhai, a synodiarch (caravan protector) of Arete, now married to Haddudad.
Bonitus: Roman siege engineer; one of the protectores.
Calgacus: Marcus Clodius Calgacus, freedman of Ballista. Originally a Caledonian slave owned by Isangrim; sent by him to serve as a body servant to his son in the Roman empire.
Caligula: Gaius Julius, Roman emperor AD37–41; as a child nicknamed ‘Little Boots’/Caligula, because his father had him dressed in miniature soldier’s uniform.
Callistratus: Friend of Demetrius in Hierapolis.
Camillus: Tribune commanding Legio VI Gallicana; captured by the Persians with Valerian.
Camsisoleus: Egyptian officer of Gallienus; brother of Theodotus; one of the protectores.
Caracalla: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known as Caracalla, Roman emperor AD193–217.
Castricius: Centurion in Legio IIII Scythica.
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Cato: Marcus Porcius Cato, known as ‘Cato the Elder’ or ‘Cato the Censor’ (234–149BC), stern moralist of the Republican age.
Celer Venerianus: Italian officer of Gallienus, one of the protectores.
Celsus: Pretender to the throne from Africa.
Censorinus: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Censorinus, Princeps Peregrinorum, commander of the frumentarii.
Cicero: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43BC), the great orator of the late republic.
Cincinnatus: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, supposedly summoned from his plough to be dictator in 458BC; his duty done, he returned to his fields. An exemplum of old-style virtue for the Romans.
Claudius: Marcus Aurelius Claudius, a Danubian officer of Gallienus, one of the protectores.
Cledonius: Ab Admissionibus to Valerian; captured by the Persians with the emperor.
Commodus: Lucius Aurelius Commodus, Roman emperor AD180–92.
Cornelius Macer: Cousin of Quietus.
Cornelius Octavianus: Marcus Cornelius Octavianus, governor of Mauretania.
Cornicula: Annius Cornicula, governor of Syria Phoenice.
Crocus: War-leader of the Alamanni; in his own language, Hroc or Wolfhroc.
Decianus: Governor of Numidia in Africa.
Demetrius: Marcus Clodius Demetrius, the ‘Greek Boy’; secretary to Ballista; originally a slave purchased by Julia to serve her husband.
Demosthenes: Officer serving under Ballista in Cilicia.
Dernhelm (1): Original name of Ballista.
Dernhelm (2): Lucius Clodius Dernhelm, second son of Ballista and Julia.
Deucalion: In Greek myth, the survivor of a world flood; a Greek Noah.
Dio of Prusa: Dio Chrysostom, the ‘Golden-Mouthed’; a Greek philosopher of the first to second centuries AD.
Dolon: In the Iliad, a Trojan who goes on an ill-advised night-time reconnaissance.
Domitian: Titus Flavius Domitian, Roman emperor AD81–96.
Domitianus: Italian officer of Gallienus, one of the protectores; claims descent from the emperor Domitian.
Epaphroditus: Slave of Astyrius.
Epicurus: Greek philosopher, 341–270BC, founder of Epicurean philosophy.
Exiguus: Governor of Cappadocia under Valerian.
Fabius Cunctator: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, appointed Dictator (for the second time) to defend Rome from Hannibal in 217BC. Avoiding pitched battle, and thus defeat, he earned the name Cunctator, ‘the delayer’.
Fabius Labeo: Ex-consul, supporter of Macrianus.
Fabius Pomponianus: Dux of Libyan frontier.
Felix: Elderly senator; defended Byzantium from the Goths in AD257.
Gaius Julius Aquilius Aspasius Paternus: Elderly senator, ex-consul.
Gaius Julius Volcatius Gallicanus: Roman senator of Gallic extraction; Julia’s late father.
Galliena: Female cousin of Gallienus.
Gallienus: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, declared joint Roman emperor by his father, the emperor Valerian, in AD253.
Gallus: Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, a successful general on the Danube, he defended Novae from the Goths in AD250; emperor AD251–3.
Garshasp the Lion: A Sassanid warrior who commanded the Persian forces at Circesium.
Genialis: Simplicinius Genialis, acting governor of Raetia.
Gratius: Miles of Legio IIII Scythica.
Haddudad: Mercenary captain who served Iarhai, Bathshiba’s father; now an officer in the service of Odenathus of Palmyra.
Haeranes: Eldest son of Odenathus and first wife; thus stepson of Zenobia.
Hamazasp: King of Georgian Iberia.
Heliodorus of Emesa: Greek novelist, author of the extant Aethiopica; scholarly opinion is divided if he is to be dated to the third or fourth century AD.
Heliogabalus: Derogatory nickname for the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, AD218–22; he was also known after the name of his god, Elagabalus.
Heraclian: Once a Danubian peasant, now commander of the Equites Singulares of Gallienus; one of the protectores.
Hermianus: Ab Admissionibus of Gallienus.
Herod the Great: King of Judea 40–44BC; founder of Caesarea Maritima.
Herodian: Greek historian of the third century AD; his History of the Empire after Marcus survives.
Herodotus: The ‘Father of History’; fifth century BC Greek historian of the Persian Wars.
Hippothous: Rough Cilician, claims to be from Perinthus originally.
Hormizd: A member of the Persian priestly caste; one-time slave to Ballista (then known as Bagoas).
Iarhai: A caravan protector who was killed in the fall of Arete; father of Bathshiba.
Ingenuus: Governor of Pannonia Superior; one of the protectores.
Isangrim (1): Dux, war-leader, of the Angles, father of Dernhelm/Ballista.
Isangrim (2): Marcus Clodius Isangrim, first son of Ballista and Julia.
Jadhima: Leader of the Tanukh Arabs.
Josephus: Flavius Josephus, a general of the Jewish rebellion against Rome, went over to Vespasian; his Jewish Antiquities and Jewish War survive.
Jucundus: Marcus Aurelius Jucundus, centurion of Legio IIII Scythica.
Julia: Daughter of the senator Gaius Julius Volcatius Gallicanus; wife of Ballista.
Kirder the Mobad: Zoroastrian high priest, Herbed, of Shapur.
Licinius: Gallienus’s brother.
Lucretia: Wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus; raped by Sextus, the son of Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. She became an exemplum of a Roman matrona.
Lydius: Rough Cilician, follower of Trebellianus.
Macrianus (1): Marcus Fulvius Macrianus ‘the Elder’; Comes Sacrarum Largitionum et Praefectus Annonae of Valerian.
Macrianus (2): Titus Fulvius Junius Macrianus ‘the Younger’; son of Macrianus (1).
Maeonius Astyanax: Senator, supporter of Macrianus.
Malchus: Praetorian guardsman.
Mamurra: Ballista’s Praefectus Fabrum and friend; was entombed in a siege tunnel at Arete.
Marcus Aurelius: Roman emperor AD161–80; author of philosophical reflections in Greek, To Himself (often known as The Meditations).
Mariades: Member of the elite of Antioch who turned bandit before going over to the Sassanids.
Marinianus: Third son of Gallienus.
Marinus: Marcus Aurelius Marinus, an optio in Legio X Fretensis.
Maximillianus: Governor of the province of Asia.
Maximinus Thrax: Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus, Roman emperor AD235–8, known as ‘Thrax’ (‘the Thracian’) because of his lowly origins.
Maximus: Marcus Clodius Maximus, freedman bodyguard to Ballista. Originally a Hibernian warrior known as Muirtagh of the Long Road, he was sold to slave traders and trained as a boxer, then gladiator, before being purchased by Ballista.
Memor: African officer of Gallienus; one of the protectores.
Messalina: Valeria Messalina, wife of the emperor Claudius; notorious for immorality.
Minos: Mythical King of Crete; had the labyrinth built to contain the minotaur.
Morcar: Son of Isangrim; elder half-brother of Ballista.
Nero: Nero Claudius Caesar, Roman emperor AD54–68.
Nicostratus of Trapezus: Greek historian; his history from Philip the Arab to Odenathus does not survive.
Odenathus: Septimius Odenathus, Lord of Palmyra/Tadmor, a client ruler of the Roman empire.
Palfuerius: Rough Cilician, follower of Trebellianus.
Palfurius Sura: Ab Epistulis of Gallienus.
Perilaus: Eirenarch (chief of police) in Soli.
Pippa (or Pipa): Daughter of Attalus of the Marcomanni; known as Pippara to Gallienus.
Piso: Gaius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, a senator and nobilis, supporter of Macrianus.
Plotinus: Neo-platonist philosopher, AD205–69/70.
Plutarch: Mestrius Plutarchus, Greek philosopher and biographer of the first to second centuries AD.
Pol
ykritos of Aitolia: The subject of one of the most bizarre ghost stories from antiquity; see Afterword: Ghosts.
Pompey the Great: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, 106–48BC; Roman general.
Pomponius Bassus: Marcus Pomponius Bassus, elderly patrician.
Postumus: Marcus Cassianus Latinius Postumus, governor of Lower Germany.
Priscus: Trierarch of the galley Concordia.
Quietus: Titus Fulvius Iunius Quietus, son of Macrianus the Elder.
Quirinius: Gallienus’s a Rationibus.
Ragonius Clarus: Gaius Ragonius Clarus, senator, supporter of Macrianus, Ballista’s legate in Cilicia.
Rebecca: Jewish slave woman bought by Ballista.
Regalianus: Governor of Pannonia Inferior; claimed descent from the Kings of Dacia before the Roman conquest.
Romulus: Standard bearer to Ballista, died outside Arete.
Rufinus: Gallienus’s Princeps Peregrinorum, spymaster, commander of the frumentarii.
Rutilus: Marcus Aurelius Rutilus, prefect of a cohort of Thracian auxiliaries.
Saecularis: Senator, Prefect of the City of Rome.
Salonina: Egnatia Salonina, wife of Gallienus.
Saloninus: Publius Cornelius Licinius Saloninus Valerianus, second son of Gallienus, made Caesar in AD258 on the death of his elder brother, Valerian II.
Sampsigeramus: Priest-king of Emesa.
Sardanapallus: In Greek myth, a decadent oriental Assyrian king.
Sasan: Founder of the Sassanid house.
Selurus: A bandit leader active in Sicily in the late 30s BC; known as the ‘Son of Etna’.
Seneca: Lucius Annaeus Seneca, philosopher and politician of the first century AD.
Septimius Severus: Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor AD193–211.
Servius: Syrian prefect of an Ala of auxiliary cavalry.
Shapur I (or Sapor): Second Sassanid King of Kings, son of Ardashir I.
Silvanus: Dux of the Rhine.
Simon: Simon-bar-Joshua, a young Jewish boy rescued by Ballista and taken into his household.
Successianus: Praetorian Prefect under Valerian.
Suren: Parthian nobleman, the head of the house of Suren, vassal of Shapur.
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