In Numina: Urban Fantasy in Ancient Rome (Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic Book 2)
Page 34
In this book I went with the later spelling of G in Gaius, Gnaeus etc., rather than C (Caius, Cnaeus), and Caeso instead of Kaeso, as the old forms were falling out of favour around the Mid-Republic era, and they are less familiar for modern readers. I did use ‘I’ instead of ‘J’ for Iunius (Junius), Iovis (Jove) etc. The sound the letter makes is a consonantal I and using J for the /dz/ sound came much later in English.
Praetor a high-ranking public official, second to the consuls. There were normally six praetors in a year.
Priapus a rustic fertility god, protector of gardens, livestock, and male genitalia. Usually depicted with an erect phallus.
Princeps Senatus the first senator, the leader of the house.
Perduellio high treason, punishable by death.
Pyxis (pl. Pyxidae) a small box with a close-fitting lid, often used to store women’s cosmetics or other creams and unguents.
Quadran a minor copper coin, worth 1/40th of a denarius (or 1/10 of a sestertius).
Quaestor a low ranking official. The first rung in the cursus honorum.
Quirite the language of the people of Egretia.
Quirites (plural) the citizens of Egretia. Based on the old word for spear (quiris), it was used in Rome as well to refer to citizens.
Res magiae literally, “a thing of magic”.
Retiarius a gladiator trained to fight with a weighted net and a trident. Their only armour was a padded greave on their left arm. They were highly mobile warriors, and thus often pitted against the heavily armed but slower gladiators. At first it may seem like they were under-classed, but the development of the secutor shows that they needed to be better balanced
Rhone a made-up word. In Egretian, rhonus. Equivalent to a Roman aedile, with the senior rhone of each collegium — the primus rhonus — equal to a praetor in terms of social rank, if not civil authority.
Discerning readers will note that this word has a more Greek feel to it than Latin — a reminder of the Alexandrian elements mixed into Egretian culture. The rhones would be a position within the collegia, which in turn are again based on the Alexandrian museon (of which the Great Library was just a part). I mixed the two traditions here, and gave it a fantasy name and spin.
Saltatrix tonsa a “shaved dancing girl” or drag queen.
Secutor a variation of the myrmillo, this gladiator was developed specifically to fight against retiarii. Wearing essentially the same armour and weapons, their helmets were smooth to prevent the net from catching on them and had only two round holes for the eyes to counter the prongs of the trident.
Semi a bronze coin, worth half a sestertius (or 1/8th of a denarius).
Sestertius (pl. Sestertii) a bronze coin. One quarter of a denarius. The price of a good meal.
Sopio a caricature with an abnormally large penis. Priapus is often depicted as such.
Stadium (pl. Stadia) 600 feet, or about 180 meters.
Stercus shit.
Sterculius or Sterquilinus the god of faeces. Originally an agricultural god of manure, he was later adapted to city life.
Stigma originally (in Latin) a hot mark tattooed (branded) on runaway slaves. In Egretia, it means tattoos of magical power.
Strigil a curved tool, often made of metal, used to scrape dirt and sweat off the body during Egretian baths. A person would have his body rubbed with oil, and then scraped with the strigil to remove the oil and the dirt. Only then would they move to the hot baths to soak.
Stola the female equivalent of the toga, it was the traditional garment for women. Made from linen.
Stultus stupid, idiot.
Sui iuris under her own right. Refers to women who managed to have legal rights for independent living by themselves, without being required to have a male relative act as their paterfamilias.
Tablinum the office of the master of the house. Usually connecting the atrium and the peristyle garden at the back.
Talent a measurement based on how much a man can carry, roughly 30 kg (66 lbs). Often used to measure large sums of money or bullion. A talent of silver denarii contains 6,250 coins (equivalent to 25,000 sestertii) and would be enough to pay for a cohort of soldiers for a month.
Triclinium a formal dining room, with three long couches arranged in a U shape. The men reclined, while women sat on chairs facing them. Long low tables in front of each couch were set to hold the food and drinks. In recent times and with looser company, women started to recline together with the men as well.
Veneficitor an incantator who specialises in the Veneficium branch of the Collegium Incantatorum.
Veneficium the study of herbs and poisons, the properties and methods thereof. Part of the classification of magic according to the Collegium Incantatorum.
Verpa another insult based on a word for penis, referring to its erect form.
Via a main road.
Vicus a main street.
Vigiles the watchmen in Egretia, tasked mainly with fire-fighting and keeping the public order as a side-job.
Visus verum true sight.
Voces mysticae words not recognisable in any human language. In the context of Egretian magic, there are the words and sounds of power that incantatores use to direct the magia.
Vomitorium (pl. Vomitoria) the hallways leading out of the circuses, getting their names from how people are spewing forth from inside. Not, as some Internet memes claim, a room to vomit in.