The Amber Road (52 page)

Aurelian
: Lucius Domitius Aurelian, known as Hand-to-Steel, a Roman officer from the Danube. A friend of Ballista at the court of Gallienus.

Aureolus
: Once a Getan shepherd near the Danube, now Gallienus’s Prefect of Cavalry, one of the
protectores.

Ballista
: Marcus Clodius Ballista, originally named Dernhelm, son of Isangrim the
Dux
, war leader, of the Angles; a diplomatic hostage in the Roman empire, he has been granted Roman citizenship and equestrian status, having served in the Roman army in Africa, the far west, and on the Danube and Euphrates; having defeated the Sassanid Persians at the battles of Circesium, Soli and Sebaste, and killed the pretender Quietus, he was briefly acclaimed Roman emperor three years before this novel starts.

Bion
: Deputy
strategos
of Olbia.

Bonitus
: Roman siege engineer, one of Gallienus’s
protectores.

Bonosus
: Commander of Legio III Italica Concors, a drunkard in the service of Postumus.

Brecca
: Ruler of the Brondings.

Brutus
: One of Julius Caesar’s assassins.

Caesar
: Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman statesman and general, assassinated for tyranny on the
ides
(15th) of March 44
BC
.

Calgacus
: Marcus Clodius Calgacus; a Caledonian ex-slave, originally owned by Isangrim and sent by him to serve as a body servant to his son Ballista in the Roman empire, and manumitted by the latter. He was murdered by Hippothous the year before this novel starts.

Caligula
: Gaius Julius, Roman emperor
AD
37–41; as a child, nicknamed Little Boots,
Caligula
, because his father had him dressed in miniature soldier’s uniform.

Callistratus
: Foremost
archon
of Olbia.

Camsisoleus
: Egyptian officer of Gallienus, brother of Theodotus; one of the
protectores.

Carus
: Marcus Aurelius Carus, a young officer from Narbo, one of Gallienus’s
protectores.

Cassius
: One of Julius Caesar’s assassins.

Castricius
: Gaius Aurelius Castricius, Roman army officer risen from the ranks, Prefect of Cavalry under both Quietus and Ballista.

Cato the Censor
: Marcus Porcius Cato, also known as Cato the Elder (234–149
BC
), stern moralist of the Republican age.

Catullus
: Roman poet (
c
. 80–
c
. 51
BC
).

Celer
(1): Roman general from Italy, one of Gallienus’s
protectores.

Celer
(2):
Frumentarius
in the service of Postumus.

Censor
: Governor of Gallia Narbonensis under Postumus.

Censorinus
: Lucius Calpurnius Piso Censorinus,
Princeps Peregrinorum
under Valerian and the pretenders Macrianus and Quietus; now serving as Praetorian Prefect under Gallienus.

Ceola
: Son of Godwine, a young Angle warrior in charge of coastal defence.

Chosroes
: Exiled client king of Armenia, now resident at the court of Gallienus.

Cicero
: Roman statesman and prolific author (106–43
BC
).

Circe
: Mythical witch, also involved in the homecoming of Odysseus from the Trojan war.

Claudius
: Marcus Aurelius Claudius, a Danubian officer of Gallienus, one of the
protectores.

Claudius Natalianus
: Gallienus’s governor of Moesia Inferior.

Clementius Silvius
: Titus Clementius Silvius, governor of both the provinces of Pannonia, Superior and Inferior, under Gallienus.

Cominius Priscianus
: Gallienus’s
a Studiis.

Cormac
: Cousin of Maximus.

Dadag
:
Agoranomos
of Olbia.

Dardanos
: Legendary founder of Troy.

Demetrius
: Marcus Clodius Demetrius, a slave purchased by Julia to serve as her husband Ballista’s secretary; manumitted by the latter, now a freedman with Roman citizenship living in the household of the emperor Gallienus.

Dernhelm
(1): Original name of Ballista.

Dernhelm
(2): Lucius Clodius Dernhelm, second son of Ballista and Julia.

Dido
: Legendary founder and Queen of Carthage, spurned lover of Aeneas in the
Aeneid.

Dio of Prusa
: Also known as Dio Chrysostom, the Golden-Mouthed; a Greek philosopher of the first to second centuries
AD
.

Diocles
:
Optio
of a military unit sent to Olbia.

Diogenes
: Cynic philosopher,
c
. 412/403–
c
. 324/321
BC
.

Diophanes
: Student of the philosopher Plotinus.

Domitianus
: Italian officer of Gallienus, one of the
protectores
; claims descent from the emperor Domitian.

Dunnere Tethered-Hound
: Heathobard warrior.

Eadric
: Angle, son of
eorl
Eadwine of Gudmestrand.

Eadwine
: Angle
eorl
of Gudmestrand, of the Waymunding family.

Eadwulf Evil-Child
: Son of Isangrim (1) and a woman of the Frisii, full brother of Arkil, half-brother of Ballista.

Eomer
: Angle
duguo.

Eudosius
: Ruler of the Dauciones.

Fabius Cunctator
: Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, appointed Dictator (for the second time) to defend Rome from Hannibal in 217
BC
. Avoiding pitched battle, and thus defeat, he earned the name Cunctator, the Delayer.

Fabius Labeo
: Ex-consul, governor of Syria Coele for Gallienus.

Faraxen
: Charismatic leader of a native revolt against Rome in North Africa; uncertain if he is dead.

Faustinus
: Roman senator with wide estates in Narbonensis and Lugdunum.

Firmus
: Castricius Firmus, Roman senator; identified as a follower of the philosopher Plotinus by Porphyry.

Flaccinus
: Valerius Flaccinus, a young relative of Gallienus’s father, Valerian. Fell into the hands of the Quadi and was rescued by Probus.

Freki
: Alamann, commander of the German bodyguard of Gallienus.

Froda
: Son of Isangrim (1) and a Langobardi woman, older half-brother of Ballista.

Gallienus
: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, declared joint Roman emperor by his father, the emperor Valerian, in
AD
253, sole emperor after the capture of his father by the Persians in
AD
260.

Gallus
: Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, a successful general on the Danube, he defended Novae from the Goths in
AD
250; emperor
AD
251–3.

Gifeca
: Counsellor of Heoden, king of the Harii.

Giton
: Slave boy belonging to Marcus Aurelius Julianus, named after a character in an ancient novel who was also used sexually by his master.

Glaum
: Son of Wolfmaer, an Angle confidant of Morcar.

Godwine
: Angle
eorl
, father of Ceola.

Grim
: Heathobard warrior.

Gunteric
: Ruler of the Tervingi Goths.

Guthlaf
:
Duguth
of the Angles.

Hama
: Legendary hero in the poems of the
scops
, a warrior and dragon-slayer.

Hannibal
: General of Carthage in the Second Punic War against Rome (247–183
BC
).

Hathkin
: Angle, son of Heoroweard and Wealtheow, cousin of Starkad.

Hector
: Legendary hero in Homer’s
Iliad
, the greatest warrior of Troy and sworn enemy of Achilles.

Helen
: Greek princess abducted by Hector’s brother and brought to Troy; the war waged for her return is the subject of the
Iliad.

Heliodorus
: Sailor serving on the
Fides
patrol boat, originally from Egypt.

Heliogabalus
: Derogatory nickname for the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
AD
218–22. Said to be remarkably perverse.

Helm
: Ancestor of Heoden, founder of the royal line of the Harii.

Heoden
: King of the Harii, maternal uncle and sometime foster-parent of Ballista.

Heoroweard Paunch-Shaker
: Brother of Kadlin, husband of Wealtheow; a childhood friend of Ballista.

Heraclian
: Marcus Aurelius Heraclianus, a
protector
of Gallienus.

Herodotus
: The Father of History; fifth-century
BC
Greek historian of the Persian wars.

Hieroson
: Olbian guide attached to Ballista’s embassy.

Hippolytus
: Legendary Greek figure. As punishment for spurning Aphrodite’s advances, the goddess made his stepmother fall madly in love with him. Similarly rejected, her jealousy ultimately resulted in Hippolytus’s death.

Hippothous
: Claimed to be from Perinthus originally; joined Ballista as
accensus
(secretary) in Rough Cilicia, murdered Calgacus.

Hjar
:
Cyning
of the Angles, great-grandfather of Ballista.

Holen
: Wrosn of the islands of Latris, first husband of Kadlin.

Homer
: Epic poet and father of Greek literature, author of the
Iliad
and
Odyssey
; probably lived in the seventh or eighth century
BC
.

Honoratianus
: Governor of Gallia Lugdunensis;
Consul Ordinarius
with Postumus
AD
260.

Hrothgar
: Brother of Holen, brother-in-law of Kadlin and ruler of the Wrosns.

Hygelac
: Ruler of the Geats.

Ingenuus
: One-time governor of Pannonia Superior and one of Gallienus’s
protectores
, rebelled and was killed in
AD
260.

Ion
: Slave boy belonging to Amantius.

Isangrim
(1):
Dux
, war leader, of the Angles, father of Dernhelm/Ballista.

Isangrim
(2): Marcus Clodius Isangrim, first son of Ballista and Julia.

Ivar Horse-Prick
: Angle warrior and older contemporaryof Ballista.

Julia
: Daughter of the late senator Gaius Julius Volcatius Gallicanus; wife of Ballista.

Julius Marcellinus
: Roman officer in the service of Gallienus, assistant to Bonitus.

Kadlin
: Wife of Oslac and mother of Starkad, an Angle
eorl.

Laelianus
: Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus, legionary commander in then governor of Germania Superior, a supporter of Postumus.

Leoba
: Sibling of Kadlin and Heoroweard, an Angle shield-maiden.

Lepidus
: Governor of Gallia Belgica for Postumus.

Liberalinius Probinus
: Officer serving under Lollianus.

Licinius
: Licinius Valerianus, son of Valerian and half-brother of Gallienus,
Consul Ordinarius
in
AD
265.

Lollianus
: Commander of Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix, advised Postumus to rebel, promoted to Prefect of Cavalry.

Lucillus
: Egnatius Lucillus, designated
Consul Ordinarius
for
AD
265, possibly a relation of Gallienus.

Macarius
: Marcus Aurelius Macarius,
stephanephor
of Miletus.

Macrianus
: Titus Fulvius Junius Macrianus, son of Macrianus the Lame and known as Macrianus the Younger. With his brother, Quietus, usurped the throne in
AD
260 and died in
AD
261.

Macrianus the Lame
: Fulvius Macrianus, father of the usurpers Macrianus and Quietus. Was unable to assume the throne himself as he was physically deformed in one leg, so arranged to have his sons acclaimed joint emperors in
AD
260. Died in
AD
261.

Maecianus
: Prefect of Postumus’s Equites Singulares Augusti
.

Marcellus Orontius
: Roman senator identified as a follower of the philosopher Plotinus by Porphyry.

Marcianus
: Aurelius Marcianus, one of Gallienus’s
protectores.

Marcus Aurelius
: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, emperor
AD
161–80.

Marcus Aurelius Dialis
: Postumus’s governor of Germania Inferior.

Marcus Aurelius Julianus
: Roman knight, ambassador of Gallienus.

Marinianus
: Publius Licinius Egnatius Marinianus, youngest and sole surviving son of Gallienus.

Marius
: Postumus’s
Praefectus Castrorum.

Maximinus Thrax
: Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus, Roman emperor
AD
235–8, known as
Thrax
(the Thracian) because of his lowly origins.

Maximus
: Marcus Clodius Maximus, bodyguard to Ballista; originally a Hibernian warrior known as Muirtagh of the Long Road, sold to slave traders and trained as a boxer then gladiator before being purchased by Ballista. Now a freedman.