The Silver Eagle (57 page)

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 guess that the
aquilifer
did wear a helmet. We do not know either if he wore an animal skin, as the
signifer
did, so that is my interpretation. The armour was often scale, and the shield carried 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. My placing of an
aquila
in Margiana is obviously conjecture.

as
(pl.
asses
): a small copper coin, originally worth one-fifth of a
sestertius
.

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.

Azes: the history of north-west India at this time is poorly described, but we know that in the second century
BC
different Scythian tribes and Asian nomads conquered much of the area, including parts of Margiana and Bactria, fighting the Parthians and the remnants of the Greeks descended from those left by Alexander. In the following century, they were variously defeated in turn by other Indo-Scythian tribes. The ruler of one such was Azes, of whom very little is known.

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
.

Belenus: the Gaulish god of light. He was also the god of cattle and sheep.

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 required, and hazards involved, 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 used – whether in unison or one after another, for example. To simplify matters, I have used just one of them: the
bucina
.

caduceus
: a Greek symbol of commerce, adopted also by the Romans. It was a short herald’s staff covered by a pair of intertwined serpents, and occasionally topped by wings. It was often portrayed being carried by Mercury, messenger of the gods and protector of merchants.

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 had an altar for offerings as well.

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.

congiaria
: free distributions of grain and money to the poor.

consul: 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 negate 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.

contubernium
(pl.
contubernia
): a group of eight legionaries who shared a tent or barracks room and who cooked and ate together.

corona muralis
: a prestigious silver or gold award given to the first soldier to gain entry into a town under siege; other awards included the
corona vallaris
for similar success against an enemy encampment, and the
corona civica
, made of oak leaves, given for the saving of another citizen’s life.

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
.

dolia
(sing.
dolium
): giant earthenware jars that were buried in the ground and used for storage of liquids such as oil or wine, and solids like grain or fruit.

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, store-rooms and shrines to a family’s ancestors, while the chambers around the garden were often banqueting halls and further reception areas.

equites
: the ‘knights’ or equestrian class were originally the citizens who could afford to equip themselves as cavalrymen in the early Roman army. By late Republican times the title was defunct, but it had been adopted by those who occupied the class just below that of the senators.

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. The punishment described in
The Silver Eagle
, of branding the letter ‘F’ (for
fugitivus
) on the forehead, is documented; so is the wearing of permanent neck chains which had directions on how to return the slave to their owner.

garum
: an extremely popular sauce in Roman times, it was made by fermenting a fatty fish in brine and adding other ingredients such as wine, herbs and spices.
Garum
factories have been found in Pompeii, and soldiers on Hadrian’s Wall ordered and ate it as well. Some modern authors compare garum to Worcestershire sauce, which has anchovies in it.

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 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.