Legionary: The Scourge of Thracia (Legionary 4) (48 page)

Glossary

Ambulatum;
Legionary ‘maneouvres’ training in which soldiers would take part in mock missions, marching in full kit over difficult terrain at military or full step. Cohorts would often be pitted against one another, tasked with outflanking or ambushing their comrades in an effort to test and strengthen each unit’s hardiness and readiness for real battle.

Auxilium Palatinum (pl. auxilia palatina);
These elite infantry regiments of the late Roman Empire served as the emperor’s core guard in his
Praesental Army
. Auxilia palatina legions would have been distinct in their appearance, with many retaining some unique decorative symbol on their armour that nodded to their origins, e.g. the Cornutii wore horns (or more likely feathers) on the sides of their helmets, just as the barbarian tribe they were originally recruited from did.

Ballista (pl. ballistae);
Roman bolt-throwing artillery that was primarily employed as an anti-personnel weapon on the battlefield.

Buccina
; The ancestor of the trumpet and the trombone, this instrument was used for the announcement of night watches and various other purposes in the legionary camp.

Castrum (pl. castra);
Fort or fortified camp.

Chi-Rho
; The
Chi Rho
is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, and was used by the early Christian Roman Empire. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word
Christ
,
chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the following monogram;

Clibanus;
A small clay oven used by legionaries to bake bread.

Comes
; Commander of a field army of
comitatenses
legions.

Comitatensis (pl. comitatenses)
; The comitatenses were the Roman field armies – a ‘floating’ central reserve of legions, ready to move swiftly to tackle border breaches. These legions were considered the cream of the late Roman army, second only to the palatine legions in the
Praesental Army
.

Contubernium (pl. contubernia)
; A grouping of eight legionaries (ten
contubernia
per century). These soldiers would share a tent and would receive disciplinary action or reward as a unit.

Cubiculum;
Bedchamber.

Culina;
Kitchen.

Cursus Publicus
; The imperial courier system facilitated by state-funded roads, waystations, stables and dedicated riders. The riders were tasked with carrying messages all over the empire.

Diocese;
An administrative and geographical division of the later Roman Empire. Each Diocese contained a collection of provinces.

Dominus;
A respectful honourific indicating sovereignty.

Eques (pl. equites)
; Roman light cavalry, used for scouting ahead and screening the flanks of a marching legionary column.

Fabrica (pl. fabricae)
;
The workshop of a Roman legion located within the legionary fort or camp. Skilled artisans and craftsmen such as engineers, carpenters, masons, wagon-makers, blacksmiths, painters and other artificers worked in the
fabrica
, using devices such as smelting furnaces and water cisterns to produce arms and equipment for the legionaries.

Falcata
; A curved blade used for slashing down over defending shields so the point could pierce the skulls of the defenders.

Follis (pl. folles)
; A large bronze coin introduced around 294 AD with the coinage reform of Emperor Diocletian.

Funditor (pl. funditores)
; Unarmoured Roman slingers who would take part in the skirmishing before a battle.

Horreum (pl. horrea)
; The Roman granary and storehouse for other consumables such as wine and olive oil.

Iudex;
The fourth century Goths did not have kings as such. Instead, each tribe – led by a
reiks
– would elect a ‘judge’ or ‘iudex’ who would steer them through a period of migration or conflict.

Imperator
; Title of the Roman Emperor.

Insulae;
The often architecturally-unsound tenement blocks of the empire’s urban sprawls.

Intercisa
; Iron helmet constructed of two halves with a distinctive fin-like ridge joining them together and large cheek guards offering good protection to the face. The illustration on the cover provides a good example of this style of helm.

Latrunculi;
A Roman board game. Known as ‘the Game of Brigands’, it was vaguely analogous to modern Draughts, and is thought to have been useful for teaching military manoeuvres and tactics.

Libra;
The Roman measurement of weight roughly equivalent to the modern pound.

Lilia;
Pits filled with sharpened stakes dug into the earth outside Roman fortifications. Often hidden or covered by foliage, these pits were the bane of any attacking army.

Limes (pl. limites)
; The Roman frontiers, studded with forts, military roads, choke points and walls. These borders would be manned by the
limitanei
legions.

Limitaneus (pl. limitanei)
; The limitanei were the frontier soldiers, light infantry spearmen who served in the legions posted along the empire’s borders.

Mithras
; A pagan deity particularly loved by the legions – probably something to do with the belief that Mithras was born with a sword in his hand! In the late 4
^th
century AD, Christianity had taken hold in most of the major imperial population centres and it was only in remote areas like the
limites
that the last worshippers of Mithras were to be found. The cult of Mithras is thought to have evolved from the Persian Mithra, the God of Light and Wisdom. Also, although Mithras is often described as ‘Deus Sol Invictus Mithras’, he is not to be confused with Sol Invictus (the God of the official imperial cult established by Emperor Aurelian).

Natalis Invicti;
The birthday of Sol Invictus, the ‘Unconquered Sun’ – believed to be the 25
^th
December.

Officium;
The clerical staff of a Roman commander. These record-keepers would reside and work in or near the camp or fort’s principia.

Optio
; Second-in-command of a Roman century. Hand-chosen by the centurion.

Plumbata (pl. plumbatae)
; A lead-weighted throwing dart carried by Roman legionaries, approximately half a metre in length. Each legionary would carry three to five of these clipped in behind his shield. They would launch them, overhand or underhand, at their enemy prior to sword or spear engagement. They required some skill to throw accurately, but had a tremendous range of nearly ninety feet.

Praesental Army;
Literally ‘the Army in the Emperor’s Presence’. By the late 4
^th
century AD, the Eastern and Western Emperors each possessed such an army, comprised of crack corps of
auxilia palatina
infantry legions and
scholae palatinae
cavalry brigades as well as many more specialist units. It is thought that both Eastern and Western Praesental Armies numbered upwards of thirty thousand men.

Primus Pilus
; The chief centurion of a legion. So called, as his own century would line up in the first file (
pilus
) of the
first
cohort (
primus
).

Principia
; Situated in the centre of a Roman fort or marching camp, the principia served as the headquarters. In a standing fort, the principia would be laid out as a square, with three wings enclosing a parade area. The legionary standards, wage chest and religious shrines were housed inside the wings along with various administrative offices.

Quadriburgium (pl. quadriburgia)
; High-walled, sturdy, square Roman forts that became prevalent towards the end of the 4
^th
century AD. Characterised by their huge, rounded and protruding corner towers, these structures indicated the increasingly defensive stance of the empire in these times.

Reiks;
In Gothic society, a reiks was a tribal leader or warlord. Whenever the Gothic tribes came together to fight as a united people, a ‘council’ of reiks would elect one man to serve as their
Iudex,
leader of the alliance.

Sagittarius (pl. Sagittarii)
; Roman foot archer. Typically equipped with a bronze helm and nose-guard, mail vest, composite bow and quiver.

Schola Palatinum (pl. Scholae Palatinae);
The elite cavalry regiments of the later Roman Empire. Typically, these crack riders would serve in the Emperor’s
Praesental Army.

Sica
; A bent or curved dagger – a smaller version of the
falcata –
used for stabbing down around armour or shields.

Signifer;
Standard-bearer for a Roman century.

Solidus (pl. Solidi);
Valuable gold coin in the later Roman Empire.

Spatha
; The Roman straight sword up to one metre long, favoured by the Roman infantry and cavalry.

Speculatore (pl. speculatores)
; A shadowy secret police employed throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. They tended to focus on internal affairs and domestic threats, carrying coded messages, spying, and assassinating on command.

Tablinum;
A room in a Roman house separating the atrium and the peristyle gardens. Often this space would be used for carrying out business discussions.

Terra Mater;
The Roman Goddess of the Earth (literally ‘Mother Earth’).

Tesserarius
; Each legionary century had one man who served as a tesserarius. They would be answerable to the
optio
and their chief responsibilities were organising night watch and protecting watchwords.

Thermae
; Roman bathhouse, comprising a dressing room (
apodyterium
), cold room (
frigidarium
), warm room (
tepidarium
) and hot room (
caldarium
).

Tribunus (pl. tribuni)
; The senior officer of a legion. In the late 4
^th
century AD, a
tribunus
was usually in charge of one or more legions of
limitanei
or
comitatenses
.

Turma (pl. turmae)
; The smallest unit of Roman cavalry, numbering thirty riders.

Valetudinarium
; A medical building in a Roman camp or fort.

Vexillatio (pl. vexillationes)
; A detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force.

Via Militaris
; The nearly 1000km long highway constructed in the 1st century AD running from Constantinople all the way through the Dioceses of Thracia, Dacia and on into Pannonia to the fortress-city of Singidunum. So-called because it was the main road the legions marched through the Balkan Peninsula.