The Amber Road (53 page)

Menoetius
: Legendary Greek hero and father of Patroklos, accompanied Jason and the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece.

Montanus
: Marcus Galerius Montanus Proculus,
strategos
of Olbia. The tomb of his great-grandmother, who lived to the remarkable age of ninety, still survives.

Morcar
: Son of Isangrim (1) and a woman of the Brondings; full brother of Oslac, elder half-brother of Ballista.

Mord
: Young Angle, son of Morcar.

Mussius Aemilianus
: Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, rebelled as Prefect of Egypt
c
.
AD
261–2 but was captured and replaced by Theodotus.

Naulobates
: King of the Heruli.

Niger
: Gaius Pescennius Niger, short-lived usurper in the east,
AD
193–4.

Nummius Ceionius Albinus
: Prefect of the City in
AD
256 and
AD
261–3, and
Consul Ordinarius
for the second time in
AD
263.

Nummius Faustinianus
:
Consul Ordinarius
with Gallienus in
AD
262.

Odenathus
: Septimius Odenathus, Lord of Palmyra/Tadmor, appointed by Gallienus as
corrector
(overseer) over the eastern provinces of the Roman empire.

Odysseus
: Legendary Greek hero of the
Odyssey
, encountered many trials and monsters on his ten-year return home from the siege of Troy.

Oslac
: Stepfather of Starkad (2) and second husband of Kadlin, son of Isangrim (1) and a Bronding woman, full brother of Morcar, elder half-brother of Ballista.

Palfurius Sura
: Gallienus’s
ab Epistulis.

Patroklos
: Greek hero killed at Troy and avenged by Achilles, thought by some in antiquity to be his lover.

Petronius
: First-century
AD
author of the Latin novel
The Satyricon
; usually identified with Petronius Arbiter, sometime friend of Nero.

Philip the Arab
: Marcus Julius Philippus, Praetorian Prefect under the emperor Gordian III (
AD
238–44), became Roman emperor himself
AD
244–9.

Pindar
: Greek lyric poet.

Pippa
(
or Pipa
): Daughter of Attalus, king of the Marcomanni, known as Pippara to Gallienus.

Pius
: Titus Fulvius Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, sometimes shortened to Antoninus Pius, Roman emperor
AD
138–61.

Placidianus
: Julius Placidianus, Gallienus’s
Prefectus Vigilum
. An inscription in his honour survives from Grenoble.

Plato
: Athenian philosopher,
c
. 429–347
BC
.

Pliny
: Pliny the Younger, a prolific letter writer and author of a surviving speech in praise of the emperor Trajan (
AD
61/62–
c
. 113).

Plotinus
: Neoplatonist philosopher,
AD
205–69/70.

Postumus
: Marcus Cassianus Latinius Postumus, once governor of Lower Germany, from
AD
260 Roman emperor of the breakaway Gallic empire; murderer of Gallienus’s son Saloninus.

Postumus Iunior
: Son of the Gallic emperor Postumus, serving as a tribune of the Vocontii.

Potamis
: Slave trader on the Dnieper river, whose unpleasant character was referred to in
The Wolves of the North.

Priam
: Legendary king of Troy during the siege recounted in Homer’s
Iliad.

Probus
: Marcus Aurelius Probus, a young tribune from Pannonia, rescuer of Flaccinus.

Proculus
: Gallic prefect in the service of Gallienus.

Pyrrhus of Epirus
: King of Epirus, stunned by a roof tile while assaulting Sparta and subsequently beheaded (319/318–272
BC
).

Pythonissa
: Daughter of King Polemo of Suania; a priestess of Hecate.

Quietus
: Titus Fulvius Iunius Quietus, son of Macrianus the Elder, proclaimed Roman emperor with his brother Macrianus the Younger in
AD
260, and killed by Ballista in
AD
261.

Quirinius
: Aurelius Quirinius, Gallienus’s
a Rationibus.

Ragonius Clarus
: Gaius Ragonius Clarus, a Roman senator, originally from Macedonia, a supporter of Postumus, had previously served as Ballista’s legate in Cilicia.

Rebecca
: Jewish slave woman bought by Ballista.

Regalianus
: One-time governor of Pannonia Inferior, who claimed descent from the kings of Dacia before the Roman conquest; rebelled against Gallienus and was killed in
AD
260.

Regulus
:
Trierarch
in charge of transporting Ballista’s embassy.

Respa
: Son of Gunteric, brother of Tharuaro; Gothic warrior of the Tervingi killed by Ballista at Didyma.

Rikiar
: Ugly Vandal warrior, member of Heoden’s hearth-troop, composer of poetry.

Rufinus
: Gallienus’s
Princeps Peregrinorum
, spymaster, commander of the
frumentarii.

Rullus
: Publius Servilius Rullus, tribune of the Roman people in 63
BC
, proposed a set of radical measures to resettle the urban poor as farmers. Three of Cicero’s speeches against the proposals survive.

Sabinillus
: Roman senator; identified as a follower of the philosopher Plotinus by Porphyry.

Saitaphernes
: Member of the
Boule
of Olbia.

Salonina
: Egnatia Salonina, wife of Gallienus.

Saloninus
: Publius Cornelius Licinius Saloninus Valerianus, second son of Gallienus, made Caesar in
AD
258 on the death of his elder brother, Valerian II; executed by Postumus in
AD
260.

Saturninus
: L. Albinus Saturninus, consul in
AD
264.

Scipio
: Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus, usually shortened to Scipio Aemilianus; raised the city of Carthage to the ground in 146
BC
.

Scyles
: Half-Greek king of the Scythians,
c
. 500
BC
.

Septimius Severus
: Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor
AD
193–211.

Servilius Rufinus
: Commander of Legio XXII Primigenia in Germania Superior, a supporter of Postumus.

Shapur I
(
or Sapor
): Second Sassanid King of Kings, son of Ardashir I.

Silvanus
: Governor of Germania Superior and
Dux
of the Rhine; his unreasonable requests forced Postumus to rebel in
AD
260.

Simon
: Young Jewish boy owned by Ballista.

Simplicinius Genialis
: Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, acting governor of Raetia and supporter of Postumus, later confirmed in his post and made
Consul Ordinarius
in reward.

Solon
: Law-giver of the Athenians,
c
. 600
BC
.

Starkad
(1): Chief of the Angles, son of the
cyning
Hjar, Ballista’s grandfather.

Starkad
(2): Son of Kadlin, an Angle
eorl
. His banner is a white
draco.

Swerting
: Angle, once friend of Eadwulf.

Tacitus
(1): Marcus Claudius Tacitus, Roman senator of third century
AD
(most likely) of Danubian origins; one of the
protectores
; may have claimed kinship with or even descent from the famous historian, but this is unlikely to be true.

Tacitus
(2): Cornelius Tacitus,
c
.
AD
56–
c
. 118, the greatest Latin historian.

Tarchon
: Warrior from Suania rescued by Ballista and Calgacus.

Tatius
: Ex-centurion attached to the embassy of Marcus Aurelius Julianus.

Tetricius
: Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricius, Postumus’s governor of Aquitania.

Tharuaro
: Son of Gunteric, brother of Respa; Gothic warrior of the Tervingi killed by Ballista at Miletus.

Theodotus
: Aurelius Theodotus, Prefect of Egypt after putting down the revolt of Mussius Aemilianus; brother of Camsisoleus; one of the
protectores.

Thersites
: Troublemaking and ugly Greek soldier mentioned by Homer in the
Iliad
, probably of low birth.

Theseus
: Legendary Greek hero, accepted help from the besotted Ariadne but later abandoned her on the island of Naxos.

Tiridates
: Son of King Chosroes of Armenia, serving in the army of Gallienus.

Trajan
: Marcus Ulpius Trajan, Roman emperor
AD
98–117.

Trebellius Pollio
:
Amicus
of Postumus; a highly uncomplimentary biography of Gallienus circulates under his name.

Trimalchio
: Fictional character in Petronius’s novel
The Satyricon
; vulgar and immensely rich host of a bizarre dinner party.

Tulga
: King of the Grethungi Goths, father of Tuluin.

Tuluin
: Gothic warrior, son of Tulga.

Unferth
: Ruler of the Brondings; as leader of an uprising against the authority of the Angles, assumes the title Amber Lord. In Old English, his name means something like Unrest or Harm Peace.

Valerian
(1): Publius Licinius Valerianus, an elderly Italian senator elevated to Roman emperor in
AD
253; captured by Shapur I in
AD
260.

Valerian
(2) the Younger: Publius Cornelius Licinius Valerianus, eldest son of Gallienus, grandson of Valerian, made Caesar in
AD
256; died in
AD
258.

Vandrad
: Childhood alias of Ballista taken from the Norse sagas; literally, Won’t-be-Told.

Venutus
: Valerius Venutus, a
frumentarius
in the service of Gallienus.

Vermund
: Heathobard in Ballista’s hearth-troop.

Victorinus
: Marcus Piavonius Victorinus,
tribunus
of Postumus’s Equites Singularis Consularis in Germania Inferior, encourages Postumus to rebel, rewarded with post of Praetorian Prefect in the new regime.

Virgil
: Roman national poet (70–19
BC
).

Virius Lupus
: Governor of Arabia.

Vocontius Secundus
: Gaius Vocontius Secundus, Postumus’s
Princeps Peregrinorum.

Volcatius Gallicanus
: Gaius Julius Volcatius Gallicanus,
amicus
of Postumus and cousin of Ballista’s wife, Julia.

Volusianus
: Lucius Petronius Taurus Volusianus, Gallienus’s Praetorian Prefect, an Italian risen from the ranks; one of the
protectores.

Wada the Short
: Childhood friend of Ballista with his brother, Wada the Tall; warriors of the Harii, they attach themselves to Ballista’s retinue.

Wada the Tall
: Brother of Wada the Short.

Wealtheow
: Wife of Heoroweard Paunch-Shaker, mother of Hathkin.

Widsith Travel-Quick
: Warlord among the Brondings, the son of Unferth; known by the title The Young Lord. In Old English his name means something like Stranger.

Wiglaf
: Angle
eorl
. His banner is a red
draco.

Wulfmaer
: Angle, father of Glaum.

Xenophon
: Athenian soldier and writer (
c
. 430–
c
. 350
BC
); author of the
Anabasis
(March Upcountry), an account of the escape from Persia of ten thousand Greek mercenaries who fell under his command after their original general was murdered.

Yrmenlaf
: Ruler of the Wylfings.

Zenobia
: Wife of Odenathus of Palmyra.

Zik Zabrigan
: Persian commander,
framadar
, defeated by Ballista at Corycus, now in Roman service.

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