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 at least 1000 BC. Roman doctors used it to allow them to perform prolonged operations on patients. peltast: a light infantryman of Greek and Anatolian origin. Apart from a shield, they fought unarmoured and, depending on their nationality, carried rhomphaiai or javelins and sometimes spears or knives. Their primary use was as skirmishers. phalera (pl. phalerae): a sculpted disc-like decoration for bravery which was worn on a chest harness, over a Roman soldier's armour. Phalerae were commonly made of bronze, but could be made of more precious metals as well. Torques, arm rings and bracelets were also awarded. pilum (pl. pila): the Roman javelin. It consisted of a wooden shaft approximately 1.2 m (4 ft) long, joined to a thin iron shank approximately 0.6 m (2 ft) long, and was topped by a small pyramidal point. The javelin was heavy and, when launched, all of its weight was concentrated behind the head, giving it tremendous penetrative force. It could strike through a shield to injure the man carrying it, or lodge in the shield, making it impossible for the man to continue using it. The range of the pilum was about 30 m (100 ft), although the effective range was probably about half this distance. Priapus: the god of gardens and fields, a symbol of fertility. Often pictured with a huge erect penis. primus pilus: the senior centurion of the whole legion, and possibly – probably – the senior centurion of the first cohort. A position of immense importance, it would have been held by a veteran soldier, typically in his forties or fifties. On retiring, the primus pilus was entitled to admission to the equestrian class. principia: the headquarters of a legion, to be found on the Via Praetoria. This was the beating heart of the legion in a marching camp or fort; it was where all the administration was carried out and where the unit's standards, in particular the Aquila, or eagle, were kept. Its massive entrance opened on to a colonnaded and paved courtyard which was bordered on each side by offices. Behind this was a huge forehall with a high roof, which contained statues, the shrine for the standards, a vault for the legion's pay and possibly more offices. It is likely that parades took place here, and that senior officers addressed their men in the hall. pugio: a dagger. Some Roman soldiers carried these, an extra weapon. They were probably as useful in daily life (for eating and preparing food, etc.) as when on campaign. retiarius (pl. retiarii): the fisherman, or net and trident fighter, named after the rete, or net. Also an easily recognisable class of gladiator, the retiarius merely wore a subligaria. His only protection consisted of the galerus, a metal shoulder-guard, which was attached to the top edge of a manica on his left arm. His weapons were the weighted net, a trident and a dagger. With less equipment to weigh him down, the retiarius was far more mobile than many other gladiators and, lacking a helmet, was also instantly recognisable. This may have accounted for the low status of this class of fighter. rhomphaia (pl. rhomphaiai): essentially a polearm. This fearsome weapon had a straight or slightly curved single cutting edge attached to a pole which was considerably longer than the blade. While primarily used by the Thracians, a variant called the falx was also used by the Dacians. The design of both gave tremendous cutting force. After encountering the falx in Dacia, the Romans' response was to make the only known documented change to their armour in response to an enemy's weapon, that of strengthening their helmets with reinforcing bars. rudis: the wooden gladius which symbolised the freedom that could be granted to a gladiator who pleased a sponsor sufficiently, or who had earned enough victories in the arena to qualify for it. Not all gladiators were condemned to die in combat: far from it. Prisoners of war and criminals usually were, but slaves who had committed a crime were granted the rudis if they survived for three years as a gladiator. After a further two years, they could be set free. scutum (pl. scuta): an elongated oval Roman army shield, about 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and 0.75 m (2 ft 6 in) wide. It was made from two layers of wood, the pieces laid at right angles to each other; it was then covered with linen or canvas, and leather. The scutum was heavy, weighing between 6 and 10 kg (13-22 lb). A large metal boss decorated its centre, with the horizontal grip placed behind this. Decorative designs were often painted on the front, and a leather cover was used to protect the shield when not in use, e.g. while marching. secutor (pl. secutores): the pursuer, or hunter class of gladiator. Also called the contraretiarius, the secutor fought the fisherman, the retiarius. Virtually the only difference between the secutor and the murmillo was the smooth-surfaced helmet, which was without a brim and had a small, plain crest, probably to make it more difficult for the retiarius' net to catch and hold. Unlike other gladiators' helmets, the secutor's had small eyeholes, making it very difficult to see. This was possibly to reduce the chances of the heavily armoured fighter quickly overcoming the retiarius. sestertius (pl. sestertii): a silver coin, it was worth four asses; or a quarter of a denarius; or one hundredth of an aureus. Its name, 'two units and a half third one', comes from its original value, two and a half asses. By the time of the late Roman Republic, its use was becoming more common. signifer (pl. signiferi): a standard-bearer and junior officer. This was a position of high esteem, with one for every century in a legion. Not much definite information survives about the uniform worn by signiferi at this time. Following later examples, I have made the signifer wear scale armour and an animal skin over his helmet, and carry a small, round shield rather than a scutum. His signum, or standard, consisted of a wooden pole bearing a raised hand, or a spear tip surrounded by palm leaves. Below this was a crossbar from which hung metal decorations, or a piece of coloured cloth. The standard's shaft was decorated with discs, half-moons, ships' prows and crowns, which were records of the unit's achievements and may have distinguished one century from another. stade (pl. stadia): a Greek word. It was the distance of the original foot race in the ancient Olympic games of 776 BC, and was approximately 192 m (630 ft) in length. The word stadium derives from it. stola: a long, loose tunic, with or without sleeves, worn by married women. Those who were unmarried wore other types of tunic, but to simplify things, I have mentioned only one garment, worn by all. tablinum: the office or reception area beyond the atrium. The tablinum usually opened on to an enclosed colonnaded garden. tesserarius: one of the junior officers in a century, whose duties included commanding the guard. The name originates from the tessera tablet on which was written the password for the day. testudo: the famous Roman square formation, formed by legionaries in the middle raising their scuta over their heads while those at the sides formed a shield wall. The testudo, or tortoise, was used to resist missile attack or to protect soldiers while they undermined the walls of towns under siege. The formation's strength was reputedly tested during military training by driving a cart pulled by mules over the top of it. Thracian: like most gladiators, this class had its origins with one of Rome's enemies – Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria). Armed with a small square shield with a convex surface, this fighter wore greaves on both legs and, occasionally, fasciae – protectors on the thighs. The right arm was covered by a manica. A Hellenistic-type helmet was worn, with a broad curving brim and cheek guards. thureophoros (pl. thureophoroi): an infantryman very similar to the peltast. The thurephoroi succeeded the peltasts as one of the most common type of mercenary in the eastern Mediterranean from the third century BC onwards. Grave paintings for thureophoroi have been found in Greece, Anatolia, Bithynia and Egypt. Carrying oval or rectangular shields rather than round ones, they wore Macedonian-style helmets and a variety of coloured tunics, and were armed with a long spear, javelins and a sword. tribune: senior staff officer within a legion; also one of ten political positions in Rome, where they served as 'tribunes of t