Eagles at War (57 page)

Ara Ubiorum: Cologne.

Arduenna Silva: the Ardennes Forest.

as
(pl.
asses
): a small copper coin, worth a quarter of a
sestertius
, or a sixteenth of a denarius.

Asciburgium: Moers-Asberg.

Augusta Treverorum: Trier.

Augusta Vindelicorum: Augsberg.

auxiliaries (in Latin:
auxilia
): It was common for Rome to employ non-citizens in its armies, both as light infantry and cavalry. By the time of Augustus, the
auxilia
had been turned into a regular, professional force. Roughly cohort- or double-cohort-sized units, they were of three types: infantry, cavalry or mixed. Auxiliary units were commanded by prefects – equestrian officers. At the Teutoburg, Varus’ army contained six auxiliary infantry cohorts, and three of auxiliary cavalry.

ballista
(pl.
ballistae
): a two-armed Roman catapult that looked like a crossbow on a stand, and which fired either bolts or stones with great accuracy and force.

barritus
: the war chant sung by German warriors. My description of it comes straight from the ancient texts.

bireme
: an ancient warship, perhaps invented by the Phoenicians, with a square sail and two sets of oars on each side.

Bonna: Bonn.

caldarium
: an intensely hot room in Roman bath complexes. Used like a modern-day sauna, most also had a warm plunge pool. The
caldarium
was heated by hot air which flowed through hollow bricks in the walls and under the raised floor. The source of the piped heat was the
hypocaustum
, a furnace constantly tended by slaves.

caltrops: anti-personnel devices used by the Romans and other ancient peoples. They were four-sided spiked devices; when thrown, one spike always projected upwards, while the three others gave a stable base. They were useful not just against cavalry and elephants, but foot soldiers.

Campania: a fertile region of west central Italy.

carnyx (pl. carnyxes): a Gaulish bronze trumpet, which was held vertically and topped by a bell shaped in the form of an animal, often a boar. It provided a fearsome sound alone or in unison with other instruments.

centurion (in Latin,
centurio
): the disciplined career officers who formed the backbone of the Roman army. (See also the entry for legion.)

century: the main sub-unit of a Roman legion. Although its original strength had been one hundred men, by the first century AD it had numbered eighty men for close to half a millennium. The unit was divided into ten sections of eight soldiers, called
contubernia
. (See also the entry for legion.)

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.

Civitas Nemetum: Speyer.

cohort: a unit comprising a tenth of a legion’s strength. A cohort was made up of six centuries, each nominally of eighty legionaries. Each century was led by a centurion. The centurion leading the first century was the most senior (this is Tullus’ rank); the centurions were ranked after him, in order of their century: second, third and so on. The cohorts followed the same order of seniority, so that the centurions of the First Cohort, for example, outranked those of the Second Cohort, who were more senior than those of the third etc.

Confluentes: Koblenz.

consul: during the Roman Republic, this position (of which there were two) was the highest magistracy in the land. The consuls were the political and military leaders of Rome for the twelve months of their office. By the time of the early empire, under Augustus, the consuls had become toothless beasts. Considerable honour was still bestowed on the men who served in the positions, as evinced by the emperor taking the post for himself, but they lacked any real power. Although elected, they were in fact appointed by Augustus and subsequent emperors.

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

Danuvius: the River Danube.

denarius
(pl.
denarii
): the staple coin of the Roman Empire. Made from silver, it was worth four
sestertii
, or sixteen
asses
. The less common gold
aureus
was worth twenty-five
denarii
.

Donar: the German thunder god, and one of the only tribal deities attested to in the early first century AD.

equestrian: a Roman nobleman, ranked just below the class of senator. It was possible to move upwards, into the senatorial class, but the process was not easy.

falx
(pl.
falces
): two-handed, long scythe-like weapons used by the Dacian tribes. Very dangerous! Some historians think that a modification to legionaries’ helmets in the second century AD was made to counter the danger posed by these lethal weapons.

Fectio: Vechten.

Flevo Lacus: the Zuiderzee, now the IJsselmeer.

Fortuna: the goddess of luck and good fortune. Like all deities, she was notorious for her fickle nature.

frameae
(sing.
framea
): the long spears used by most German tribesmen. They had a short, narrow iron blade and were fearsome weapons. Employed in conjunction with a shield, they were used to stab, throw or swing at an opponent.

frigidarium
: an unheated room in Roman bath complexes, with a cold water basin.

Gallia Belgica and Gallia Lugdunensis: these were two of the four Gaulish provinces defined by Augustus. The other two were Gallia Aquitania and Gallia Narbonensis.

Germania: in AD 9, the Romans regarded the area between the Rhine and Elbe Rivers as the province of Germania Magna. East of the Elbe and its tributary the Saale lay Germania Libera, or ‘free’ Germany.

gladius
(pl.
gladii
): by the time of the early principate, the Republican
gladius hispaniensis
, with its waisted blade, had been replaced by the so-called ‘Mainz’ gladius (named because of the many examples found there). The Mainz was a short steel sword, some 400–550 mm in length. Leaf-shaped, it varied in width from 54–75 mm to 48–60 mm. It ended with a V-shaped point that measured between 96 and 200 mm. It was a well-balanced sword for both cutting and thrusting. The shaped handgrip was made of ox bone; it was protected at the distal end by a pommel and nearest the blade by a hand guard, both made of wood. The scabbard was made from layered wood, sheathed by leather and encased at the edges by U-shaped copper alloy. The
gladius
was worn on the right, except by centurions and other senior officers, who wore it on the left. Contrary to what one might think, it is easy to draw with the right hand, and was probably positioned in this manner to avoid entanglement with the
scutum
while being unsheathed.

Hispania: the Iberian peninsula.

Illyricum (or Illyria): the Roman name for the lands that lay across the Adriatic Sea from Italy: including parts of Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. Illyricum included the area known as Pannonia, which became a Roman province sometime during the first half of the first century AD.

intervallum
: the wide, flat area inside the walls of a Roman camp or fort. As well as serving to protect the barrack buildings from enemy missiles, it allowed the massing of troops before patrols, or battle.

Jupiter: often referred to as ‘Optimus Maximus’ – ‘Greatest and Best’. Most powerful of the Roman gods, he was responsible for weather, especially storms.

Laugona: the River Lahn.

legate (in Latin,
legatus
legionis
): the officer in command of a legion, and a man of senatorial rank, most often in his early thirties. The legate reported to the regional governor. (See also the entry for legion.)

legion (in Latin,
legio
): the largest independent unit of the Roman army. At full strength, it consisted of ten cohorts, each of which comprised 480 legionaries, divided into six centuries of eighty men. Every century was divided into ten sections,
contubernia
, of eight men. The centuries were each led by a centurion, each of whom had three junior officers to help run the unit: the
optio
,
signifer
and
tesserarius
. (See also the relevant entry for each.) Every century and cohort had their own standard; each legion possessed an eagle. The legion was commanded by a legate, whose second-in-command was the most senior tribune, the
tribunus laticlavius
. The camp prefect, a former
primus pilus
, was third-in-command; after him – we are not sure in what order – came the five junior tribunes and the
primus pilus
. One hundred and twenty cavalrymen were attached to each legion. (See entries for
tribune
,
primus pilus
and
turmae
.) In practice, no legion was ever at full strength. Sickness and detachments on duty in other places and, in wartime, losses due to combat were some of the reasons for this. Most scholars now therefore accept that Varus’ three legions with their associated auxiliary troops numbered around thirteen to fifteen thousand men, rather than the oft-quoted twenty thousand.

legionary: the professional Roman foot soldier. A citizen, he joined the army in his late teens or early twenties, swearing direct allegiance to the emperor. In AD 9, his term of service was twenty years, with a further five years as a veteran. He was paid three times a year, after deductions for food and equipment had been made. Over a tunic, most often of white wool, he probably wore a padded garment, the
subarmalis
, which served to dissipate the penetrative power of enemy weapons that struck his armour. Next came a mail shirt or the famous segmented iron armour, the so-called
lorica
segmentata
. Military belts were always worn, and for the most part covered by small tinned or silvered plates. It was common to suspend from the belt an ‘apron’ of four or more dangling leather, metal-studded straps to protect the groin. Various types of helmet were in use during the early first century AD, made of iron, bronze or brass, sometimes with copper, tin and/or zinc alloy decorative pieces. The legionary carried a shield for defence, while his offensive weapons consisted of
gladius
,
pilum
and dagger (see entries for the first two). This equipment weighed well in excess of twenty kilograms. When the legionary’s other equipment – carrying ‘yoke’, blanket, cooking pot, grain supply and tools – were added, his load came to more than forty kilograms. The fact that legionaries were expected to march twenty miles in five hours, carrying this immense weight, shows their high level of fitness. It’s not surprising either that they soon wore down the hobnails on their sandals. Although it was usual for troops to have to pay for such things themselves, there is a recorded instance of soldiers – after a long, forced march – demanding that the emperor pay for their new hobs. Their demand for ‘nail money’ was granted! I loved this little snapshot, which led me to weave it into the story.

lituus
: the curved bronze badge of office carried by soothsayers. Take a look at a modern bishop’s crozier to see that nothing changes!

Lupia: the River Lippe.

Mare Germanicum: the North Sea.

Mars: the god of war. All spoils of war were consecrated to him, and few Roman commanders would go on campaign without having visited Mars’ temple to ask for the god’s protection and blessing.

Minerva: the goddess of war and also of wisdom.

Mithras: possibly a Persian god, he was born on the winter solstice, in a cave. He wore a Phrygian blunt-peaked hat and was associated with the sun, hence the name ‘Sol Invictus’: ‘Unconquered Sun’. We know little about Mithraism, except that there were various levels of devotion, with rites of passage being required to rise between them. With its tenets of courage, strength and endurance, the religion was popular among the Roman military, especially during the empire.

Mogontiacum: Mainz.

molles
: Latin word, meaning ‘soft’ or ‘gentle’, and my invention of a derogatory term for a homosexual.

Novaesium: Neuss.

optio
(pl.
optiones
): the officer who ranked immediately below a centurion; the second-in-command of a century. (See also the entry for legion.)

phalera
(pl.
phalerae
): a sculpted disc-like decoration for bravery which was worn on a chest harness, over a Roman officer’s armour.
Phalerae
were often made of bronze, but could also be made of silver or gold. I have even seen one made of glass. Torques, arm rings and bracelets were also awarded to soldiers.

Phoenician: someone from Phoenicia, today’s coastal Syria and Lebanon. The Phoenicians were famous travellers and traders; they founded Carthage in the eighth century BC.

pilum
(pl.
pila
): the Roman javelin. It consisted of a wooden shaft some 1.2 m long, joined to a thin iron shank approximately 0.6 m long, and was topped by a small pyramidal point. The javelin was heavy and, when launched, its weight was concentrated behind the head, giving tremendous penetrative force. It could drive through a shield to injure the man carrying it, or lodge in the shield, rendering it unusable. The range of the
pilum
was about thirty metres, although the effective range was about half this distance. While it is thought that legionaries may have each possessed a pair of
pila
, it’s more likely that they would have gone into battle with one. I have portrayed Varus’ unsuspecting legionaries carrying two each, because they were on what was, at the outset, a peacetime march.

praetorium
: the commandant’s house in a Roman camp. Often situated behind the
principia
, it was built on a grand scale, in the style of a townhouse, with a range of buildings around a square central courtyard.