The Grass Crown

by Colleen McCullough

  "Well, look at that! The heads are gone again! I wonder, Lucius Decumius," the flamen Dialis mused as his foot touched the first flagstone at the rim of the Comitia well, "if one sweeps the dead presence out of the place where he died with an ordinary broom, or if one has to use a special broom?" He gave a skip, and reached for his wife's hand. "There's nothing for it, I'm afraid! I shall have to find the books and read them. It would be dreadful to get one iota of the ritual wrong for my benefactor Gaius Marius! If I do nothing else, I must rid us of all of Gaius Marius."

  Lucius Decumius was moved to prophesy, not because he had the second sight, but because he loved. "You'll be a far greater man than Gaius Marius," he said.

  "I know," said Young Caesar. "I know, Lucius Decumius, I know!"

  FINIS

  Author’s Note

  The First Man in Rome, which was the initial book in this projected series of novels, laid in the backdrop of an alien world. After it, I am obliged by the sheer length of this project to restrict my detail to what is necessary to advance characters and plot—both of which, being history, are in one sense already established.

  Wherever possible, anachronisms are avoided; but sometimes an anachronistic word or phrase is the only way to get one's point across. There are not many. What I would like my readers to know is that each one of them has been carefully considered before being resorted to. I am, after all, writing in English for an audience separated by two thousand years from the people and events which make up these books; even the greatest of the modern scholars on the period has occasionally to resort to anachronisms.

  The Glossary that follows has been rewritten. Some items have been removed, others inserted. There are now entries under: Arausio, Battle of; Saturninus; the Gold of Tolosa: all events or people featuring in The First Man in Rome, now become part of history as far as events and people in The Grass Crown are concerned.

  Some of the drawings are repeated, as these characters are still important. Others have been added. The likenesses of Marius, Sulla, King Mithridates, and Young Pompey are authentic, the others taken from anonymous (that is, unidentified) portrait busts of Republican date. As no portrait busts of famous Republican Romans are known to have been taken in their youth, the drawing of Young Pompey is the first I have "youthened." It is the famous bust of Pompey in his fifties with the weight of middle age removed and the lines of living taken out of the face. I did this because Plutarch assures us that the Young Pompey was striking and beautiful enough to remind his contemporaries of Alexander the Great—very difficult to see in the likeness of the middle-aged man! However, once the extra thirty-odd pounds are removed, one can discern a very attractive young man.

  The style of the maps has changed somewhat. One learns by experience and actually has the opportunity to mend earlier style mistakes, a luxury open to me because I am writing sequentially.

  A word about the bibliography. For those who have written to me (care of the publisher) requesting a copy—do not despair! It is coming, if it has not already arrived. The trouble is that I have produced two novels—each over 400,000 words in length and drafted several times—within twelve months of each other. Spare time is not something I have had, and the formal compilation of a bibliography is a daunting task. Hopefully now done with.

  I must thank a few people by name, and others too numerous to single out by name. My classical editor, Dr. Alanna Nobbs of Macquarie University, Sydney. Miss Sheelah Hidden. My agent, Frederick T. Mason. My editors, Carolyn Reidy and Adrian Zackheim. My husband, Ric Robinson. Kaye Pendleton, Ria Howell, Joe Nobbs, and the staff.

  LIST OF CONSULS

  *A.U.C.: Ab Urbe Condita (years from founding of Rome in 753)

  99 (655 A.U.C.)

  Marcus Antonius Orator (censor 97), Aulus Postumius Albinus

  98(656 A.U.C.)

  Quintus Caecilius Metellus, Nepos Titus Didius

  97 (657 A.U.C.)

  Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus, Publius Licinius Crassus (censor 89)

  96 (658 A.U.C.)

  Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (Pontifex Maximus, censor 92), Gaius Cassius Longinus

  95 (659 A.U.C.)

  Lucius Licinius Crassus Orator (censor 92), Quintus Mucius Scaevola (Pontifex Maximus 89)

  94 (660 A.U.C.)

  Gaius Coelius Caldus, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

  93 (661 A.U.C.)

  Gaius Valerius Flaccus Marcus Herennius

  92 (662 A.U.C.)

  Gaius Claudius Pulcher, Marcus Perperna (censor 86)

  91 (663 A.U.C.)

  Sextus Julius Caesar, Lucius Marcius Philippus (censor 86)

  90 (664 A.U.C.)

  Lucius Julius Caesar (censor 89), Publius Rutilius Lupus

  89 (665 A.U.C.)

  Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Lucius Porcius Cato Licinianus

  88 (666 A.U.C.)

  Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Quintus Pompeius Rufus

  87 (667 A.U.C.)

  Gnaeus Octavius Ruso, Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Lucius Cornelius Merula (flamen Dialis, consul suffectus)

  86 (668 A.U.C.)

  Lucius Cornelius Cinna (second term), Gaius Marius (seventh term), Lucius Valerius Flaccus (consul suffectus)

  GLOSSARY

  ABSOLVO The term employed by a jury when voting for the acquittal of the accused. It was used in the courts, not in the Assemblies.

  advocate The term generally used by modern scholars to describe a man active in the Roman law courts. "Lawyer" is considered too modern, hence is not used in this book.

  aedile There were four Roman magistrates called aediles; two were called plebeian aediles, two were called curule aediles. Their duties were confined to the city of Rome. The plebeian aediles were created first (in 493 b.c.) to assist the tribunes of the plebs in their duties, but, more particularly, to guard the rights of the plebs in relation to their headquarters, the temple of Ceres in the Forum Boarium. Elected by the Plebeian Assembly, the plebeian aediles soon inherited supervision of the city's buildings as a whole, as well as archival custody of laws (plebiscites) passed in the Plebeian Assembly, together with any senatorial decrees (consulta) directing the passage of plebiscites. In 367 b.c. two curule aediles were created to give the patricians a share in custody of public buildings and archives; they were elected by the Assembly of the People in their tribes. Very soon, however, the curule aediles were as likely to be plebeians as patricians by status. From the third century b.c. onward, all four were responsible for the care of Rome's streets, water supply, drains and sewers, traffic, public buildings, monuments and facilities, markets, weights and measures (standard sets of these were housed in the basement of the temple of Castor and Pollux), games, and the public grain supply. They had the power to fine citizens and noncitizens alike for infringements of any regulations connected to any of the above, and deposited the monies in their coffers to help fund the games. Aedile—plebeian or curule—was not a part of the cursus honorum, but because of the games was a valuable magistracy for a praetorian hopeful to hold.

  Aeneas Prince of Dardania, in the Troad. He was the son of King Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans). When Troy fell to the forces of Agamemnon, he fled the burning city with his aged father perched on his shoulders and the Palladium under one arm. After many adventures, he arrived in Latium and founded the race from whom true Romans were descended. His son, Iulus, was the direct ancestor of the Julian family; therefore the identity of Iulus's mother was of some import. Virgil says lulus was actually Ascanius, the son of Aeneas by his Trojan wife, Creusa, Aeneas having brought the boy with him from Troy (Ilium to the Romans). On the other hand, Livy says lulus was the son of Aeneas by his Latin wife, Lavinia. What the Julian family of Caesar's day believed is not known. I shall go with Livy, who seems on the whole a more reliable source than Virgil.

  Aesernia A small city in northwestern Samnium. It was given the Latin Rights in 263 b.c. to encourage its people to be loyal to Rome rather than to Samnium, the traditional Italian enemy of Rome.
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  Africa During the Roman Republic, the word "Africa" referred to that part of the North African coast around Carthage—modern Tunisia.

  Africa Province That part of Africa which physically belonged to Rome. In size it was quite small—basically, the out-thrust of land which contained Carthage and Utica. This Roman territory was surrounded by the much larger Numidia.

  ager publicus Land vested in Roman public ownership, most of it acquired by right of conquest or taken off its original owners as a punishment for disloyalty. This latter was particularly true of ager publicus in the Italian peninsula. The censors leased it out on behalf of the State in a manner favoring large estates. There was Roman ager publicus in every overseas province, in Italian Gaul, and in the Italian peninsula. The most famous and contentious of all the many pieces of ager publicus was the ager Campanus,

  extremely rich land which had once belonged to the city of Capua, and was confiscated by Rome after several Capuan insurrections.

  Agger A part of the Servian Walls of Rome, the Agger protected the city on its most vulnerable side, the Campus Esquilinus. The Agger consisted of a double rampart bearing formidable fortifications.

  Allies of Rome Quite early in the history of the Roman Republic, its magistrates began to issue the title "Friend and Ally of the Roman People" to peoples and/or nations who had assisted Rome in an hour of need; the most usual form of assistance was military. The first Allies were located in the Italian peninsula, and as time went on toward the later Republic, those Italian peoples not enfranchised as full Roman citizens nor possessed of the Latin Rights were deemed the Italian Allies. Rome assured them military protection and gave them some other concessions, but in return they were expected to give Rome troops whenever she asked, and to support those troops in the field without financial assistance from Rome. Abroad, peoples and/or nations began to earn the title too; for instance, the Aedui of Gallia Comata and the Kingdom of Bithynia were formally deemed Allies. The Italian nations were mostly called "the Allies," while overseas nations were accorded the full title "Friend and Ally of the Roman People."

  Amor Literally, "love." Because it is "Roma" spelled backward, the Romans of the Republic commonly believed it was Rome's vital secret name.

  amphora Plural, amphorae. A pottery vessel, bulbous in shape, the amphora had a narrow neck and two handles connecting the shoulders with the upper neck; its bottom was pointed or conical, rather than flat, which meant it could not be stood upright on level ground. It was used for the bulk transport (usually maritime) of wheat and other grains, wine, oil, and other pourable substances. Its pointed bottom enabled it to be fitted easily into the sawdust which filled the ship's hold or the cart's interior, so that it was cushioned and protected during its journey. This pointed bottom also enabled it to be dragged across level .ground with considerable ease when being loaded and unloaded. The customary sized amphora held about twenty-five liters (six American gallons), which made it too heavy and awkward to be shouldered.

  Anatolia Roughly, modern Asian Turkey. It extended from the south coast of the Euxine Sea (the Black Sea) to the north coast of the Mediterranean, and from the Aegean Sea in the west to modern Russian Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria in the east. The Taurus and Anti-taurus mountains made its interior and much of its coastline very rugged, but it was then, as now, fertile and arable. The climate of the interior was continental.

  Antiochus The generic name of many of the Kings of Syria and other, smaller kingdoms in that part of the East.

  Apulia That part of southeastern Italy extending from Samnium in the north to ancient Calabria in the south (the back of the Italian leg). Fertile enough when there was water, the region has always suffered greatly from a sparse rainfall. Its people, the Apuli, were considered very poor and backward. The major towns were Luceria, Venusia, Barium, and Canusium.

  aquilifer Presumably a creation of Gaius Marius's at the time he gave the legions their silver eagles. The best man in the legion, the aquilifer was chosen to carry the legion's silver eagle, and was expected never to surrender it to the enemy. As a mark of his distinction, he wore a wolf skin or a lion skin over his head and shoulders, and all his decorations for valor.

  Arausio, Battle of On October 6, 105 b.c., the three Germanic peoples (Cimbri, Teutones, and Tigurini/ Marcomanni/Cherusci) who had been trying to migrate for fifteen years met Rome in battle outside the town of Arausio, in the valley of the Rhodanus (the Rhone). Due to a complete lack of co-operation between the two Roman commanders, Gnaeus Mallius Maximus and Quintus Servilius Caepio, the Roman forces were both separated from each other and hopelessly positioned; the result was the worst defeat in the history of the Republic. Eighty thousand Roman soldiers died.

  Arpinum A town in Latium not far from the border of Samnium, and probably originally populated by Volsci. Together with Formiae Fundi, it was the last Latin Rights community to receive the full Roman citizenship (in 188 b.c.), but it did not enjoy proper municipal status during the late Republic. Arpinum's chief claim to fame was as the birthplace and homeland of two very distinguished men, Gaius Marius and Marcus Tullius Cicero.

  artillery Before the employment of gunpowder, these were military machines, usually spring-driven or spring-loaded, capable of launching projectiles—boulders, rocks, stones, darts, canister, grape, or bolts. Among the various kinds of Roman artillery were the ballista, the catapultus, and the onager.

  Arx The Capitoline Mount of the city of Rome was divided into two humps by a declivity called the Asylum; the Arx was the more northern of the two humps, and contained the temple of Juno Moneta.

  as The smallest in value of the coins issued by Rome; ten of them equaled one denarius. They were bronze. I have avoided all mention of the as in this book because of (a) its relative unimportance, and (b) its identical spelling to the English language adverb and/or conjunction "as"— most confusing!

  Asia Minor Basically, modern Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia. So little was known by the ancients about Arabia that its inclusion in Asia Minor was ephemeral; the Black Sea and the Caucasus formed the northern boundary of Asia Minor.

  Asia Province The Roman province left to Rome in the will of King Attalus III of Pergamum. It consisted of the west coast and hinterland of what is now Turkey, from the Troad and Mysia in the north to the Cnidan peninsula in the south; thus it included Caria, but not Lycia. Its capital in Republican times was Pergamum, but Smyrna, Ephesus, and Halicarnassus rivaled the seat of the governor in importance. The islands lying off its coast—Lesbos, Lemnos, Samos, Chios, et cetera—were a part of the province. Its people were sophisticated and highly commercial in outlook, and were the descendants of successive waves of Greek colonization—Aeolian, Dorian, Ionian. It was not centralized in the modern sense, but was administered by Rome as a series of separate communities which were largely self-governing and gave tribute to Rome.

  Assembly (comitia) Any gathering of the Roman People convoked to deal with governmental, legislative, judicial, or electoral matters. In the time of Marius and Sulla there were three true Assemblies—of the Centuries, the Whole People, and the Plebs.

  The Centuriate Assembly (comitia centuriata) marshaled the People, patrician and plebeian, in their Classes, which were filled by a means test and were economic in nature. As this was originally a military assembly, each Class gathered in the form of Centuries (which by the time of Marius and Sulla numbered far in excess of one hundred men per century, as it had been decided to keep the number of Centuries in each Class the same). The Centuriate Assembly met to elect consuls, praetors, and (every five years) censors. It also met to hear trials involving a charge of major treason, and could pass laws. Because of the unwieldy nature of the Centuriate Assembly, which had to meet outside the pomerium on the Campus Martius at a place called the saepta, it was in normal times not convoked to pass laws or hear trials.

  The Assembly of the People (comitia populi tributa) allowed the full participation of patricians, and was tribal in nature. It was co
nvoked in the thirty-five tribes into which all Roman citizens were placed. When speaking of this Assembly throughout the book, I have mostly chosen to call it the Whole People to avoid confusion. It was called together by a consul or praetor, and elected the quaestors, the curule aediles, and the tribunes of the soldiers. It could formulate laws and conduct trials. The normal meeting place was in the lower Forum Romanum, in the Well of the Comitia.

  The Plebeian Assembly (comitia plebis tributa or concilium plebis) did not allow the participation of patricians, and met in the thirty-five tribes. The only magistrate empowered to convoke it was the tribune of the plebs. It had the right to enact laws (strictly, plebiscites) and conduct trials. Its members elected the plebeian aediles and the tribunes of the plebs. The normal meeting place was in the Well of the Comitia.

  In no Roman Assembly could the vote of one individual be credited directly to his wants; in the Centuriate Assembly his vote was incorporated into the vote of his Century in his Class, his Century's majority vote then being cast as a single vote; in the two tribal Assemblies his vote was incorporated into the vote of his tribe, the majority vote of the tribe then being cast as one single vote.

  atrium The main reception room of a Roman domus or private house; it contained a rectangular opening in the roof (the compluvium), below which was a pool (the impluvium). Originally the purpose of the pool was to provide a reservoir of water for household use, but by the late Republic the pool was usually purely ornamental.

  Attalus III The last King of Pergamum, and ruler of most of the Aegean coast of western Anatolia as well as inland Phrygia. In 133 b.c. he died at a relatively early age, and without heirs closer than a collection of cousins. His will bequeathed his kingdom to Rome, much to the chagrin of the cousins, who promptly went to war against Rome. The insurrection was put down by Manius Aquillius in 129 and 128 b.c., after which Aquillius settled to organize the bequest as the Roman province of Asia. While going about this task, Aquillius sold most of Phrygia to the fifth King Mithridates of Pontus for a sum of gold which he put into his own purse. Discovered by those in Rome, this deed of greed permanently crippled the reputation of the family Aquillius.