Fire in the East

ary of a Roman governor or official. Adventus: An arrival; the formal ceremony of welcome of a Roman emperor or high official. Agger: Latin term for a siege ramp. Agora: Greek term for a marketplace and civic centre. Agrimensores: Roman land surveyors. Ahriman: In Zoroastrianism, the evil one, a demon, the lie, the devil. Alamanni: A confederation of German tribes. Angles: A north German tribe, living in the area of modern Denmark. Antoninianus, plural antoniniani: A Roman silver coin. Apodyterium: Changing room of a Roman bath. Archon: A magistrate in a Greek city; in the fictional city of Arete the annual chief magistrate. Auxiliary: A Roman regular soldier serving in a unit other than a legion. Bahram fires: The sacred fires of Zoroastrian religion. Ballista, plural ballistae: A torsion-powered artillery piece; some shot bolts, others stones. Ballistarius, plural ballistarii: A Roman artilleryman. Barbalissos: A town on the Euphrates, scene of a defeat of the Roman army in Syria by Shapur I, probably in AD252. Barbaricum: Latin term for where the barbarians live, i.e., outside the Roman empire; in some ways seen as the opposite of the world of humanitas, civilization. Barritus: German war-cry, adopted by the Roman army. Borani: A German tribe, one of the tribes that made up the confederation of the Goths, notorious for their piratical raids into the Aegean. Boukolos: A Greek official supervising the entry and exit into a town of herds of animals. Boule: The council of a Greek city, in the Roman period made up of the local men of wealth and influence. Bouleuterion: The council house in a Greek city. Bucinator: A Roman military musician. Caestus: Roman boxing glove, sometimes with metal spikes. Caldarium: The hot room of a Roman bath. Caledonia: Modem Scotland. Campus martius: Literally Field of Mars, a Roman parade ground. Cantabrian circle: A Roman cavalry manoeuvre. Caracallus: A northern hooded cloak. Carpi: A barbarian tribe on the Danube. Centuriation: Roman system of marking out land in squares or rectangles. Clibanarius, plural clibanarii: heavily armed cavalryman; possibly derived from 'baking oven'. Cingulum: A Roman military belt, one of the symbols that marked out a soldier. Coele Syria: Literally 'Hollow Syria', a Roman province. Cohors: A unit of Roman soldiers, usually about 500 men strong. Cohors XX Palmyrenorum Milliaria Equitata: A double-strength Roman auxiliary unit, consisting of about 1,000 men, part mounted, part infantry; historically part of the garrison of Dura-Europos; in Fire in the East part of the garrison of the city of Arete. Commilitiones: Latin term for 'fellow soldiers', often used by commanders wishing to emphasize their closeness to their troops. Concordia: Latin term of harmony, concord; in Fire in the East the name of a Roman warship. Conditum: Spiced wine, sometimes served warm before dinner. Consilium: A council, or body of advisors, of a Roman emperor, official or elite private person. Conticinium: The still time of the day, when the cocks have stopped crowing but men are usually still asleep. Contubernium: A group of ten soldiers who share a tent; by extension 'comradeship'. Curule: A chair adorned with ivory, the 'throne' that was one of the symbols of high Roman office. Cursus publicus: The imperial Roman posting service, whereby those with official passes, diplomata, would be given remounts. Denarius: A Roman silver coin. Dignitas: Important Roman concept which covers our idea of dignity but goes much further; famously, Julius Caesar claimed that his dignitas meant more to him than life itself. Diplomata: Official passes which allowed the bearer access to the cursus publicus. Disciplina: Discipline; Romans considered that they had this quality and others lacked it. Dominus: Lord, Master, Sir; a title of respect (Latin). Draco: Literally a snake or dragon; name given to a windsock-style military. standard shaped like a dragon. Dracontarius: A Roman standard-bearer who carried a draco. Drafsh-i-Kavyan: The battle standard of the Sassanid royal house. Dromedarii: Roman soldiers mounted on camels. Dux Ripae: The Commander, or Duke, of the Riverbanks; a Roman military officer in charge of the defences along the Euphrates river in the third century AD; historically based at Dura-Europos, in this novel based at Arete. Elagabalus: Patron god of the town of Emesa in Syria, a sun god, also name often given to one of his priests who became the Roman emperor formally known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (AD218-222). Epotis: The 'ear timber' of a trireme projecting out from the side of the vessel just behind the ram. Equestrian: The second rank down in the Roman social pyramid, the elite order just below the Senators. Equites singulares: Cavalry bodyguards; in Rome one of the permanent units protecting the emperors; in the provinces ad hoc units set up by military commanders. Eupatrids: From the Greek, meaning the 'well-born', aristocrats. Exactor: The accountant in a Roman military unit. Familia: Latin term for family, and by extension the entire household including slaves. Franks: A confederation of German tribes. Frigidarium: Cold room of a Roman bath. Frumentarius, plural frumentarii: They were a military unit based on the Caelian Hill in Rome; the emperors' secret police; messengers, spies and assassins. Germania: The lands where the German tribes lived. Gladius: A Roman military short sword; generally superseded by the spatha by the mid-third century AD; also slang for 'penis'. Goths: A confederation of Germanic tribes. Harii: A German tribe, renowned night fighters. Haruspex, plural haruspices: A priest who divines the will of the gods; one would be part of the official staff of a Roman governor. Hibernia: Modern Ireland. Hyperboreans: Legendary race of men who lived in the far north, beyond the north wind. Hypozomata: A rope forming the undergirdle of a trireme; there were usually two of them. Ides: the thirteenth day of the month in short months, the fifteenth in long months. Immortals: A Sassanid guard unit of (possibly) 1,000 men. Imperium: The power to issue orders and exact obedience; official military command. Imperium romanum: The power of the Romans, i.e., the Roman empire. Jan-avasper: Those who sacrifice themselves, a Sassanid guard unit. Kalends: The first day of the month. Kyrios: Lord, Master, Sir; a title of respect (Greek). Lanista: A trainer of gladiators. Legio IIII Scythica: A Roman legion from the second half of the first century AD based at Zeugma in Syria; in Fire in the East a detachment, vexillatio, of this legion forms part of the garrison of the city of Arete. Legion: A unit of heavy infantry, usually about 5,000 men strong; from mythical times the backbone of the Roman army; the numbers in a legion and the legion's dominance in the army declined during the third century AD as more and more detachments, vexillationes, served away from the parent unit and became more or less independent units. Libertas: Latin for liberty or freedom, its meaning was contingent on when it was said and who by. Librarius: The bookkeeper or scribe of a Roman military unit. Liburnian: A name given in the time of the Roman empire to a small warship, possibly rowed by about fifty men on two levels. Limes imperii: Latin for the limits of empire, the borders of the Roman imperium. Magi: Name given by Greeks and Romans to Persian priests, often thought of as sorcerers. Mandata: Instructions issued by the emperors to their governors and officials. Margazan: Persian term for one who commits a sin, like cowardice in battle, and deserves death. Mazda: (Also Ahuramazda) 'The Wise Lord', the supreme god of Zoroastrianism. Mentula: Latin obscenity for penis, i.e., 'prick'. Meridiatio: Siesta time. Meshike: The site of a battle fought some time between 13 January and 14 March AD244 in which Shapur I claimed to have defeated Gordian III. Greek and Roman sources do not mention this battle. Renamed Peroz-Shapur, the 'Victory of Shapur', by the Sassanid king, it became known as Pirisabora to the Romans. Miles, plural milites: Soldier. Mobads: Persian name for class of priests. Murmillo: A type of heavily armed gladiator with a helmet crest in the shape of a fish. Nones: The ninth day of a month before the ides, i.e., the fifth day of a short month, the seventh of a long month. Numerus, plural numeri: Latin name given to a Roman army unit, especially to ad hoc units outside the regular army structure, often units raised from semi- or non-Romanized peoples which retained their indigenous fighting techniques; thus in Fire in the East the titles of the units formed from mercenaries and local levies and commanded by the caravan protectors. Oneiromanteia: Greek term for telling the future by the interpretation of dreams. Oneiroskopos: A 'dream-scout', one of the Greek names given to an interpreter of dreams. Optio: Junior officer in the Roman army, ranked below a centurion. Paideia: Culture; Greeks considered it marked them off from the rest of the world, and the Greek elite considered it marked them off from the rest of the Greeks. Parexeiresia: The outrigger of a trireme which allowed the upper level of oarsmen to row. Parthians: Rulers of the eastern empire centred on modern Iraq and Iran overthrown by the Sassanid Persians in the 2205 AD. Paedagogus: Schoolmaster. Pepaideumenos, plural pepaideumenoi: Greek term for one of the highly educated or cultured. Peroz: Victory (Persian). Pilus Prior: The senior centurion in a Roman army unit. Porta Aquaria: The Water Gate; in this novel the eastern gate of the city of Arete. Praefectus: 'Prefect', a flexible Latin title for many officials and officers, typically the commander of an auxiliary unit. Praefectus fabrum: A Roman army officer, a general's Chief of Engineers. Praepositus: Latin term for a commander; in this novel the title given to the caravan protectors as commanders of numeri. Praetorian prefect: The commander of the Praetorian Guard, an equestrian. Princeps peregrinorum: The commander of the frumentarii, a senior centurion. Priricipatus: (In English, the 'principate') Rule of the Princeps, the rule of the Roman imperium by the emperors. Principia: The headquarters building of a Roman army camp. Procurator: A Latin title for a range of officials, under the principate typically a financial officer of the emperors operating in the provinces. Provocator: A type of gladiator. Pugio: A Roman military dagger, one of the symbols which marked out a soldier. Retiarius: A type of lightly equipped gladiator armed with a trident and net. Sassanids: The Persian dynasty that overthrew the Parthians in the 220S AD and were Rome's great eastern rivals until the seventh century AD. Senate: The council of Rome, under the emperors composed of about 600 men, the vast majority ex-magistrates, with some imperial favourites. The senatorial order was the richest and most prestigious group in the empire, but suspicious emperors were beginning to exclude them from military commands in the mid-third century AD. Spatha: A long Roman sword, the normal type of sword carried by all troops by the mid-third century AD. Speculator: A scout in the Roman army. Strategos: General (Greek). Strigiclass="underline" A scraper used by bathers for scraping oil and dirt off their skin. Subura: The district of Rome between the Esquiline and Viminal hills, a notorious slum. Synodiarch: Greek term for a 'caravan protector', the unusual group of rich and powerful men historically known in Palmyra and in this novel in the city of Arete. Tadmor: The name for the city of Palmyra used by the locals. Telones: Customs official (Greek). Tepidarium: Warm room of a Roman bath. Testudo: Literally, tortoise (Latin), by analogy both a Roman infantry formation with overlapping shields, similar to a northern 'shieldburg', and a mobile shed protecting a siege engine. Touloutegon: A Roman cavalry manoeuvre. Tribunus laticlavius: A young Roman of senatorial family doing military service as an officer in a legion; there was one per legion. Trierarch: The commander of a trireme, in the Roman forces equivalent in rank to a centurion. Trireme: An ancient warship, a galley rowed by about 200 men on three levels. Turma, plural, turmae: A small sub unit of Roman cavalry, usually about 30 men strong. Venationes: Beast hunts in the Roman arena. Vexillatio: A sub unit of Roman troops detached from its parent unit. Vinae: Literally Latin for vine trellises; name given to mobile covered siege shelters because of their shape. Vir egregius: Knight of Rome, a man of the equestrian order. Xynema: A Roman cavalry manoeuvre. List of Emperors in the First Half of the Third Century AD