The Road To Rome

, for keeping at bay the various RSIs I have acquired while writing. To my wife, Sarah, and children, Ferdia and Pippa, I owe the deepest debt, for they provide me with all the love I could need. Glossary acetum: sour wine, the universal beverage served to Roman soldiers. Also the word for vinegar, the most common disinfectant used by Roman doctors. Vinegar is excellent at killing bacteria, and its widespread use in western medicine continued until late in the nineteenth century. Aesculapius: son of Apollo, the god of health and the protector of doctors. amphora (pl. amphorae): a large, two-handled clay vessel with a narrow neck used to store wine, olive oil and other produce. It was also a unit of measurement, equivalent to 80 pounds of wine. aquilifer (pl. aquiliferi): the standard-bearer for the aquila, or eagle, of a legion. To carry the symbol which meant everything to Roman soldiers was a position of immense importance. Casualty rates among aquiliferi were high, as they were often positioned near or in the front rank during a battle. The only images surviving today show the aquilifer bare-headed, leading some to suppose that this was always the case. In combat, however, this would have been incredibly dangerous and we can reasonably assume that the aquilifer did wear a helmet. We do not definitely know if he wore an animal skin, as the signifer did, so to have him do so is my interpretation. His armour was often scale, and his shield probably a small one, which could be carried easily without using the hands. During the late Republic, the aquila itself was silver and clutched a gold thunderbolt. The wooden staff it was mounted on had a spike at its base, allowing it to be shoved into the ground, and sometimes it had arms, which permitted it to be carried more easily. Even when damaged, the aquila was not destroyed, but lovingly repaired time and again. If lost in battle, the Romans would do virtually anything to get the standard back. The recovery of Crassus' eagles by Augustus in 20 BC was thus regarded as a major achievement. as (pl. asses): a small bronze coin, originally worth one-fifth of a sestertius. In 23 BC, its makeup was changed to copper. atrium: the large chamber immediately beyond the entrance hall in a Roman house or domus. Frequently built on a grand scale, this was the social and devotional centre of the house. It had an opening in the roof and a pool, the impluvium, to catch the rainwater that entered. aureus (pl. aurei): a small gold coin worth twenty-five denarii. Until the time of the early Empire, it was minted infrequently. ballista (pl. ballistae): a two-armed Roman catapult that looked like a big crossbow on a stand. It operated via a different principle, however, utilising the force from the tightly coiled sinew rope holding the arms rather than the tension in the arms themselves. Ballistae varied in size, from those portable by soldiers to enormous engines that required wagons and mules to move them around. They fired either bolts or stones with great force and precision. Favourite types had nicknames like 'onager', the wild ass, named for its kick; and 'scorpion', called such because of its sting. basilicae: huge covered markets in the Roman Forum; also where judicial, commercial and governmental activities took place. Public trials were conducted here, while lawyers, scribes and moneylenders worked side by side from little stalls. Many official announcements were made in the basilicae. bestiarius (pl. bestiarii): men who hunted and captured animals for the arena in Rome. A highly dangerous occupation, it was also very lucrative. The more exotic the animals – for example elephants, hippopotami, giraffes and rhinoceroses – the higher the premium commanded. The mind boggles at the labour and hazards involved in bringing such animals many hundreds of miles from their natural habitat to Rome. bucina (pl. bucinae): a military trumpet. The Romans used a number of types of instruments, among them the tuba, the cornu and the bucina. These were used for many purposes, from waking the troops each morning to sounding the charge, the halt or the retreat. We are uncertain how the different instruments were played – whether in unison or one after another, for example. To simplify matters, I have used just one of them: the bucina. caldarium: an intensely hot room in Roman bath complexes. Used like a modern-day sauna, most also had a hot plunge pool. The caldarium was heated by hot air which flowed through hollow bricks in the walls and under the raised floor. The source of the piped heat was the hypocaustum, a furnace kept constantly stoked by slaves. caligae: heavy leather sandals worn by the Roman soldier. Sturdily constructed in three layers – a sole, insole and upper – caligae resembled an open-toed boot. The straps could be tightened to make them fit more closely. Dozens of metal studs on the sole gave the sandals good grip; these could also be replaced when necessary. In colder climes, such as Britain, socks were often worn as well. cella (pl. cellae): the windowless, rectangular central room in a temple dedicated to a god. It usually had a statue of the relevant deity, and often an altar for offerings as well. cenacula (pl. cenaculae): see insula. Cerberus: the monstrous three-headed hound that guarded the entrance to Hades. It allowed the spirits of the dead to enter, but none to leave. consuclass="underline" one of two annually elected chief magistrates, appointed by the people and ratified by the Senate. Effective rulers of Rome for twelve months, they were in charge of civil and military matters and led the Republic's armies into war. Each could countermand the other and both were supposed to heed the wishes of the Senate. No man was supposed to serve as consul more than once. But by the end of the second century BC, powerful nobles such as Marius, Cinna and Sulla were holding on to the position for years on end. This dangerously weakened Rome's democracy, a situation made worse by the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. From then on, the end of the Republic was in sight. contubernium (pl. contubernia): a group of eight legionaries who shared a tent or barracks room and who cooked and ate together. denarius (pl. denarii): the staple coin of the Roman Republic. Made from silver, it was worth four sestertii, or ten asses (later sixteen). The less common gold aureus was worth twenty-five denarii. domus: a wealthy Roman's home. Typically it faced inwards, presenting a blank wall to the outside world. Built in a long, rectangular shape, the domus possessed two inner light sources, the atrium at the front and the colonnaded garden to the rear. These were separated by the large reception area of the tablinum. Around the atrium were bedrooms, offices, storerooms and shrines to a family's ancestors, while the chambers around the garden were often banqueting halls and further reception areas. editor (pl. editores): the sponsor of a munus, a gladiatorial contest. Once part of the obligatory rituals to honour the dead, such munera had by the late Republic become a way of winning favour with the Roman people. The lavishness of the spectacle reflected the depth of the editor's desire to please. Felicitas: the goddess of good luck and success. Fortuna: the goddess of luck and good fortune. Like all deities, she was notoriously fickle. fossae (sing. fossa): defensive ditches, which were dug out around all Roman camps, whether temporary or permanent. They varied in number, width and depth depending on the type of camp and the degree of danger to the legion. fugitivarius (pl. fugitivarii): slave-catchers, men who made a living from tracking down and capturing runaways. Gallicinium watch: the Romans divided night-time into eight watches, four before midnight, and four after it. The Gallicinium watch is the second of these latter four, so approximately 2 a.m. TO 4 a.m. gladius (pl. gladii): little information remains about the 'Spanish' sword of the Republican army, the gladius hispaniensis, with its waisted blade. I have therefore used the 'Pompeii' variation of the gladius as it is the shape most people are familiar with. This was a short – 420-500 mm (16.5-20 in) – straight-edged sword with a V-shaped point. About 42-55 mm (1.6-2.2 in) wide, it was an extremely well-balanced weapon ideal for both cutting and thrusting. The shaped hilt was made of bone and protected by a pommel and guard of wood. The gladius was worn on the right, except by centurions and other senior officers, who wore it on the left. It was actually quite easy to draw with the right hand, and was probably positioned like this to avoid entanglement with the scutum while being unsheathed. haruspex (pl. haruspices): a soothsayer. A man trained to divine in many ways, from the inspection of animal entrails to the shapes of clouds and the way birds fly. As the perceived source of blood, and therefore life itself, the liver was particularly valued for its divinatory possibilities. In addition, many natural phenomena – thunder, lightning, wind – could be used to interpret the present, past and future. The bronze liver mentioned in the book really exists; it was found in a field at Piacenza, Italy, in 1877. hora prima: Roman time was divided into two periods, that of daylight (twelve hours) and of night time (eight watches). The first hour of the day, hora prima, started at sunrise. Great inaccuracies were present in the Romans' methods of measuring time. The main instrument used was a sundial, which meant that the latitude of the location defined day length. Thus the time in Rome was quite different to Sicily, far to the south. In addition, varying day length throughout the year meant that daylight hours in the winter were shorter than in the summer. We must therefore assume that time was more elastic in ancient times. The Romans also devised the clepsydra, or water clock. By using a transparent water vessel with a regular intake, it was possible to mark the level of water for each daylight hour, and then to use it at night or during fog. Imperator: a Latin word which meant 'commander' in Republican times. Later it came to be one of the emperor's titles, and of course gave rise to the English word. insula (pl. insulae): high-rise (three-, four- or even five-storey) blocks of flats in which most Roman citizens lived. As early as 218 BC, Livy recorded the tale of an ox that escaped from the market and scaled the stairs of an insula before hurling itself to its death from the third floor. The ground level of each insula often comprised a taberna, or shop, which opened right on to the street via a large arched doorway. The shopkeeper and his family lived and slept in the room above. Built on top of this was floor after floor of cenaculae, the plebeians' flats. Cramped, poorly lit, heated only by braziers, and often dangerously constructed, the cenaculae had no running water or sanitation. Access to the flats was made via staircases built on the outside of the building. intervallum: the wide, flat area inside the walls of a Roman camp or fort. As well as serving to protect the barrack buildings from enemy missiles, it could when necessary allow the massing of troops before battle. Juno: sister and wife of Jupiter, she was the goddess of marriage and women. Jupiter: often referred to as Optimus Maximus – 'Greatest and Best'. Most powerful of the Roman gods, he was responsible for weather, especially storms. Jupiter was the brother as well as the husband of Juno. lanista (pl. lanistae): a gladiator trainer, often the owner of a ludus, a gladiator school. latifundium (pl. latifundia): a large estate, usually owned by Roman nobility, and which utilised large numbers of slaves as labour. Latifundia date back to the second century BC, when vast areas of land were confiscated from Italian peoples defeated by Rome, such as the Samnites. legate: the officer in command of a legion, and a man of senatorial rank. In the late Roman Republic, legates were still appointed by generals such as Caesar from the ranks of their family, friends and political allies. licium: linen loincloth worn by nobles. It is likely that all classes wore a variant of this; unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not believe in unnecessary public nudity. lictor (pl. lictores): a magistrates' enforcer. Only strongly built citizens could apply for this job. Lictores were essentially the bodyguards for the consuls, praetors and other senior Roman magistrates. Such officials were accompanied at all times in public by set numbers of lictores (the number depended on their rank). Each lictor carried a fasces, the symbol of justice: a bundle of rods enclosing an axe. Other duties included the arresting and punishment of wrongdoers. ludus (pl. ludi): a gladiator school. manica (pl. manicae): an arm guard used by gladiators. It was usually made of layered materials such as durable linen and leather, or metal. mantar: a Turkish word meaning 'mould'. I have taken advantage of its exotic sound to use it as a word for the penicillin powder that Tarquinius uses on Benignus. manumissio: during the Republic, the act of freeing a slave was actually quite complex. It was usually done in one of three ways: by claim to the praetor, during the sacrifices of the five yearly lustrum, or by a testamentary clause in a will. A slave could not be freed until at least the age of thirty and continued to owe formal duties to their former master after manumission. During the Empire, the process was made much more simple. It became possible to verbally grant manumission at a feast, using the guests as witnesses. Mars: the god of war. All spoils of war were consecrated to him, and no Roman commander would go on campaign without having visited the temple of Mars to ask for the god's protection and blessing. Minerva: the goddess of war and also of wisdom. Mithraeum (pl. mithraea): the underground temples built by devotees of Mithras. Examples can be found from Rome (there is one in the basement of a church just five minutes' walk from the Coliseum) to Hadrian's Wall (Carrawburgh, among others). Mithras: originally a Persian god, he was born on the winter solstice, in a cave. He wore a Phrygian blunt-peaked hat and was associated with the sun, hence the name Sol Invictus: 'Unconquered Sun'. With the help of various creatures, he sacrificed a bull, which gave rise to life on earth: a creation myth. The sharing of wine and bread as well as the shaking of hands were possibly initially Mithraic rituals. Unfortunately we know little about the religion, except that there were various levels of devotion, with rites of passage being required between them. A mosaic in a mithraeum at Ostia reveals fascinating snippets about the seven levels of initiate. With its tenets of courage, strength and endurance, Mithraicism was very popular among the Roman military, especially during the Empire. Latterly the secretive religion came into conflict with Christianity, and it was being actively suppressed by the fourth century ad. modius (pl. modii): an official Roman dry measure of approximately 8.6 l (just over 15 pts). To prevent malpractice, all weights and measures (wet and dry) were standardised. murmillo (pl. murmillones): one of the most familiar types of gladiator. The bronze, crested helmet was very distinctive, with a broad brim, a bulging face-plate and grillwork eyeholes. The crest was often fitted with groups of feathers, and may also have been fashioned in a fish shape. The murmillo wore a manica on the right arm and a greave on the left leg; like the legionary, he carried a heavy rectangular shield and was armed with a gladius. His only garments were the subligaria, an intricately folded linen undercloth, and the balteus, a wide, protective belt. In Republican times, the most common opponent for the murmillo was the secutor, although later on this became the retiarius. noxii (sing. noxius): were criminals convicted of the worst offences, prisoners of war, slaves, traitors or deserters. Their punishment was to be condemned to execution in the arena by the most extreme of methods. These included crucifixion, being pitted against wild beasts, or burned to death. To our modern sensibilities, these methods seem monstrous, but in the Romans' minds, the punishment had to fit the crime. optio (pl. optiones): the officer who ranked immediately below a centurion; the second-in-command of a century. Orcus: the god of the underworld. Also known as Pluto or Hades, he was believed to be Jupiter's brother, and was greatly feared. pali (sing. palus): 1.82-m (6-ft) wooden posts buried in the ground. Trainee gladiators and legionaries were taught swordsmanship by aiming blows at them. papaverum: the drug morphine. Made from the flowers of the opium plant, its use has been documented from