Carpathian Mountains: Mountain chain in Central and Eastern Europe, named from the ancient Carpi tribe.
Carpi: Tribe living north-west of the Black Sea.
Carrhae: Town in northern Iraq, scene of a disastrous Roman defeat at the hands of the Parthians in 53BC.
Carthage: Second city of the western Roman empire; capital of the province of Africa proconsularis.
Castellum Arabum: Roman fort, modern Tell Ajaja in eastern Syria.
Castellum Neptitana: Oasis in western Tunisia, modern Nefta.
Castra Regina: Legionary fortress and settlement in south eastern Germany, modern Regensburg.
Cataphracts: Heavily armoured Roman cavalry, from the Greek word for mail armour.
Caystros River: River in western Turkey, now much silted and known as the Küçükmenderes.
Cententarium Tibubuci: Roman outpost in southern Tunisia, modern Ksar Tarcine.
Centurion: Officer of the Roman army with the seniority to command a company of around eighty to a hundred men.
Cercopes: Mythical twins renowned for cheating, thieving, and lying.
Cerialia: Roman festival in honour of the goddess Ceres, celebrated on 10th April.
Chaboras River: Tributary of the Euphrates in southern Turkey and northern Syria, the modern Khabur River.
Cherusci: German tribe living in the north west of Germania.
Chian: Red wine from the Island of Chios; highly prized in antiquity.
Cilicia: Rome province in the south of Asia Minor.
Cillium: Town at the foot of the Atlas Mountains in eastern Tunisia; modern Kasserine.
Cinithii: Berber tribe living in the south of modern Tunisia.
Civilis princeps: Literally, a ‘citizen-like emperor’; one ruling with tact and restraint rather than as an absolute monarch or dictator.
Clibanarii: Heavily armoured cavalry, name possibly derived from the Latin for ‘baking oven’.
Coelli: Members of the Coelius family; their ancestors held the consulship in the Republic, making them nobiles.
Cohors I Thracarum: The 2nd Thracian Cohort; Auxiliary unit recruited from Thrace in the Balkans.
Cohors II Flavia Afrorum: The 2nd Cohort, Flavian, African; stationed in the south of modern Tunisia for much of its history.
Cohors V Dalmatarum: The 5th Dalmatian Cohort; in the late second century, stationed in Germania Superior.
Cohors XV Emesenorum; The 15th Emesene Cohort; auxiliary unit recruited from around the city of Emesa in Syria.
Cohort: Unit of Roman soldiers, usually about 500 men-strong.
Colonia Agrippinensis: Capital of the province of Germania Inferior; modern Cologne in Germany.
Comana: City in Cappadocia; modern Şar in central Turkey.
Comilitio: Latin, ‘fellow soldier’, often used by commanders wishing to emphasize their closeness to their troops.
Commagene: Small kingdom in south-eastern Turkey first assimilated into the Roman empire in AD17 and intermittently independent until AD72.
Concordiae Augustae: Literally 'of Augustan Concord’; a temple built in honour of the Emperor's harmonious rule was dedicated at the western end of the Roman Forum.
Conscript Fathers: Honourific form of address used before the Senate.
Consilium: Council, body of advisors, of a Roman Emperor.
Consul: In the Republic, the highest office in the Roman state; under the Emperors, a largely honourific and ceremonial position.
Consul Ordinarius: Literally ‘Consul in the usual manner’; Consul who took office at the start of the year. In the Republic, a pair of consuls were elected to serve for one year, but the Emperors shortened the length of office and nominated additional consuls. The consul ordinarius remained the most prestigious position as the Romans indicated years by the names of the two consuls who entered office on 1st January. See also Suffect Consul.
Corcyra: Greek name for the Island of Corfu.
Corinth: Ancient city in the Peloponnese, notorious for its luxurious living and prostitutes.
Ctesiphon: Capital of the Parthian empire, lying on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, twenty miles south of modern Baghdad in Iraq.
Cubicularius: Servant of the bed-chamber, valet; official position in the imperial and other elite households; also a Cubiculo.
Cuicul: Garrison town in the province of Numidia; modern Djémila in Algeria.
Curia: The meeting house of the Senate in Rome; the building erected after a fire in the later third century is still standing.
Cursus Honorum: Literally, ‘progression of offices’; the rigid career path of ranked public offices held in turn by an aspiring Roman politician on his way to becoming Consul.
Cursus Publicus: Imperial Roman postal service, whereby those with official passes could get remounts and a room for the night.
Curule Throne: Ivory folding chair, the mark of office of important Roman officials.
Custos: Latin, literally ‘a guardian’; one would accompany an upper-class woman, in addition to her maids, when she went out in public.
Cybele: Eastern mother goddess adopted by the Greeks and Romans.
Cynegeticus: Title of several ancient treatises on hunting with dogs.
Cynic: The counter-cultural philosophy founded by Diogenes of Sinope in the fourth century BC; its adherents were popularly associated with dogs (the name itself is from the Greek for ‘dog’) for their barking and snapping at contemporary morality and social customs.
Cyrenaeans: Followers of the philosophy of Aristippus, who taught that pleasure should be found by adapting the circumstances to suit oneself, not submitting oneself to circumstance.
Cyrenaica: Roman province of eastern Libya and the Island of Crete.
Dacia: Roman province north of the Danube, in the region around modern Romania.
Daemon: Supernatural being; could be applied to many different types: good/bad, individual/collective, internal/external, and ghosts.
Daphne: Suburb of Antioch, famed for its oracular temple of Apollo, and its luxury.
Demeter: Greek goddess of the harvest.
Diatribe: Ancient rhetorical genre, generally dealing with the denunciation of vices.
Dignitas: Important Roman concept which covers our idea of dignity but goes much further; famously, Julius Caesar claimed that his dignitas meant more to him than life itself.
Dionysos: Greek god of Wine.
Diis Manibus: ‘For the ghost-gods’, i.e. spirits of the departed; common formula on Roman funerary monuments, often abbreviated to D. M.
Dominus: Latin, ‘lord’, ‘master’, ‘sir’; a title of respect.
Domus Rostrata: Home of the Republican general Pompey in the fashionable Carinae quarter; decorated with the ramming beaks (Rostra) of the pirate ships he captured, from which it took its name.
Durostorum: Roman fortress on the south bank of the Danube; modern Silistra in Bulgaria.
Dux ripae: The Commander, or Duke, of the River Banks; a Roman military officer in charge of the defences along the Euphrates in the third century AD; historically based at Dura-Europos.
Dyarchy: From the Greek ‘rule by two’.
Eclogues: Title of a collection of poems by Virgil; from the Greek ekloge, ‘extracts’.
Edessa: Frontier city periodically administered by Rome, Parthia and Armenia in the course of the third century; modern Şanliurfa in southern Turkey.
Egnatii: Members of the senatorial Egnatius family.
Eleusis: Greek religious centre; home of an extremely ancient cult of Demeter that required worshippers to undergo various secret initiation ceremonies.
Elysian Fields: In Greek mythology, the heaven that awaits the souls of heroes and the virtuous.
Emesenes: Inhabitants of the city of Emesa and surrounding area, modern Homs in Syria.
Ephesus: Major city founded by Greek colonists on the western coast of modern Turkey.
Epicureans: Greek philosophical system, whose followers either denied that the g
ods existed or held that they were far away and did not intervene in the affairs of mankind.
Equestrian: Second rank down in the Roman social pyramid; the elite order just below the senators.
Equites: Latin, ‘horsemen’, ‘cavalry’.
Equites Singulares: Cavalry bodyguards.
Equites Singulares Augusti: Permanent mounted unit protecting the Emperor.
Equites Singulares Consularis: Mounted unit raised to protect a provincial governor.
Erinyes: Greek mythological deities of vengeance.
Esquiline: One of the seven hills of Rome, rising east of the Roman Forum.
Esuba: Ancient village in North Africa, location uncertain.
Europa: Phoenician princess in Greek mythology kidnapped and raped by Zeus.
Exi! Recede!: Latin, ‘get out, go away’.
Exemplum: Latin, ‘example’; has connotations of model virtue, something or someone to be followed.
Falernian: Very expensive white wine from northern Campania, particularly prized by the Romans.
Familia Caesaris: The household of the Emperor, comprising both servants and the imperial bureaucracy; largely staffed by slaves and freedmen.
Father of the House: Most senior member of the Senate.
Feliciter: Latin, ‘good luck’, ‘hurrah’; cried by guests to newlyweds.
Fides: Latin, ‘good faith’, ‘loyalty’.
Fiscus: Imperial treasury.
Flamen Dialis: The Roman high priest of Jupiter, subject to numerous taboos.
Flavian Amphitheatre: Giant arena for gladiatorial fights seating 60,000 spectators; now known as the Colosseum, in antiquity known after the Flavian dynasty of Emperors who built and dedicated the structure.
Floralia: Roman festival to the goddess Flora, held between 28 April and 3 May, featuring obscene mimes.
Forum: Central square of a Roman city, site of the market-place, and government, judicial and religious buildings.
Forum of Augustus: Built by the Emperor Augustus north of the Roman Forum, backed by a high wall to act a barrier against the frequent fires affecting the slum quarter behind.
Forum Romanorum: The Roman Forum; oldest and most important public square in Rome, littered with honourific statues and monuments going back to the early Republic. Surrounded by temples, court buildings, arches, and the Curia.
Frumentarii: Military unit based on the Caelian Hill in Rome; the Emperor’s secret police; messengers, spies, and assassins.
Gades: Roman port; modern Cádiz in Spain.
Gaetuli: Berber tribes living on the fringes of the Sahara in North Africa, beyond effective Roman control.
Ganymedes: In Greek mythology, the hero Ganymede, the most beautiful man among mortals, attracted the erotic desires of Zeus, was abducted by the god and made immortal.
Garamantes: Berber tribe living in south-western Libya.
Gedrosian Desert: Disastrous route taken by the army of Alexander the Great retreating west from India; desert in modern Baluchistan.
Genius: Divine part of man; some ambiguity as to whether it is external (like a guardian angel) or internal (a divine spark); that of the head of a household worshipped as part of the household gods, that of the Emperor publicly worshipped.
Georgics: From the Greek georgicos, ‘agricultural’; famous books of poems on rural themes by Virgil.
Germania: Lands where the German tribes lived; ‘free’ Germany beyond direct Roman control.
Germania Inferior: More northerly of Rome’s two provinces of Germany; mainly confined to the west bank of the Rhine.
Germania Superior: More southerly of Rome’s two German provinces.
Gordiani: The Gordianus family; in English, the Gordians.
Goths: Confederation of Germanic tribes.
Graeculus: Latin, ‘Little Greek’; Greeks called themselves Hellenes, Romans tended not to extend that courtesy but called them Graeci; with casual contempt, Romans often went further, to Graculi.
Granicus: Victorious battle fought in 334BC by Alexander the Great against the Persian empire.
Gymnasium: Exercise ground; formed from the Greek gymnos ‘naked’, as all such activities were performed in the nude.
Hades: Greek underworld.
Hadrianoupolis: Capital of the Roman province of Thrace; modern Edirne in European Turkey.
Hadrumetum: City on the eastern coast of Africa Proconsularis, modern Sousse in Tunisia.
Hatra: Independent city state in northern Iraq, fought over by both the Romans and Parthians in the early third century.
Hatrene: Inhabitant of Hatra.
Hellene: The Greeks’ name for themselves; often used with connotations of cultural superiority.
Hephaistos: Greek god of the forge.
Hera: Greek goddess of marriage.
Hercules: In Greek mythology, mortal famed for his strength who subsequently became a god.
Hermes: Greek messenger god.
Hierasos: Greek name for the Alkaliya River, flowing into the Black Sea in eastern Ukraine.
Hipposandals: Metal plates secured under the hooves of horses by leather straps; used before the introduction of horse shoes in the fifth century AD.
Hispania Tarraconensis: One of the three provinces into which the Romans divided the Spanish peninsula, the north-east corner.
House of the Vestals: Home of the Vestal Virgins, priestesses who tended the sacred fire of the goddess Vesta; situated east of the Roman Forum and on the south side of the Sacred Way, opposite the Temple of Venus and Rome.
Humanitas: Latin, ‘humanity’ or ‘civilization’, the opposite of barbaritas; Romans thought that they, the Greeks (at least upper-class ones), and, on occasion, other peoples (usually very remote) had it, while the majority of mankind did not.
Hydaspes: Greek name for the Jhelum River in Pakistan, site of Alexander the Great’s victory over the Indian king Porus in 326BC.
Hymen: Greek god of marriage.
Iazyges: Nomadic Sarmatian tribe living north of the Danube on the Great Hungarian Plain.
Ides: Thirteenth day of the month in short months, the fifteenth in long months.
Ilion: Alternative name for the legendary city of Troy.
Illyrian: From the Balkans beyond the Adriatic (Illyricum in Latin); vaguely applied.
Imperator: Originally an epithet bestowed by troops on victorious generals, became a standard title of the Princeps, and thus origin of the English word Emperor.
Imperium: Power of the Romans, i.e. the Roman empire, often referred to in full as the imperium Romanorum.
In Absentia: Latin, ‘while absent’.
Io, Imperator!: Latin, ‘hurrah, Imperator’, cry of victory.
Ionia: Area of western Turkey bordering the Aegean, settled by Greeks.
Iunam: Berber god identified with Sol or Mar, the Roman sun or war gods.
Iupiter optime, tibi gratias. Apollo venerabilis, tibi gratias: Latin prayer, ‘Greatest Jupiter, to you we give thanks; reverend Apollo, to you we give thanks’.
Iuvenes: Latin, ‘young men’; often denoting an elite para-military organization.
Ixion: In Greek mythology, Ixion murdered his father-in-law after refusing to honour a wedding contract, and was punished by being tied to a fiery flying wheel for eternity.
Juno: Roman goddess of marriage.
Juno Sospes: Title of Juno, ‘The Saviour’.
Jupiter: Roman king of the gods.
Jupiter Optimus Maximus: Title of Jupiter, ‘Greatest and Best’.
Jupiter Victor: Title of Jupiter, ‘The Victorious’.
Kalends: First day of the month.
Laconicum: Dry sweating room in a Roman baths.
Lake of Curtius: Archaic monument in the middle of the Roman Forum taking the form of a sunken pool with statuary; the Romans themselves told various stories about its origins.
Lake of Triton: Ancient name for the Chott el Djerid, a large salt lake in central Tunisia.
Lambaesis: Fortress of the
3rd Augustan Legion and capital of the Roman province of Numidia; modern Tazoult in north-eastern Algeria.
Lamiae: Witches thought to suck the blood of children.
Lararium: Roman household shrine.
Legate: Latin, a high-ranking officer in the Roman army, drawn from the senatorial classes.
Legio I Parthica: The 1st Parthian Legion, stationed at Singara in Mesopotamia (Sinjar in Iraq).
Legio II Parthica: Full title Legio II Parthica Pia Fidelis Felix Aeterna, the 2nd Legion, the Parthian, Eternally Loyal, Faithful and Fortunate; in this period based at Mainz in Germany, though stationed in peacetime on the Alban hills near Rome.
Legio III Augusta: The 3rd Augustan Legion; stationed at Lambaesis in the province of Numidia.
Legio III Italica: The 3rd Italian Legion; usually stationed at Castra Regina in the province of Germania Superior.
Legio III Parthica: The 3rd Parthian Legion; raised towards the end of the second century for campaigns against Parthia; garrisoned at Resaina in Syria.
Legio IIII Scythica: The 4rd Scythian Legion; from the second half of the first century AD based at Zeugma in Syria Coele (Kavunlu, formerly Belkis, in Turkey).
Legio VI Ferrata: The 6th Iron-Clad Legion; based at Carporcotani in Syria Palestina (el-Qanawat in Syria).
Legio VII: Full title Legio VII Gemina, The 7th Twin Legion, stationed at Legio (Léon) in Hispania Tarraconensis.
Legio VIII Augusta: The 8th Augustan Legion; stationed at Argentoratum (Strasbourg) in Germania Superior.
Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis: The 11th Legion, Claudian, Loyal and Faithful; based at Durostorum in Moesia Inferior (Silistra in Bulgaria).
Legio XII Fulminata: The 12th Thunder-bearing Legion; in this period, garrisoned in Syria.
Legio XV Apollinaris: The 15th Apollonarian Legion; stationed at Stala in Cappadocia (Sadak in Turkey).
Legio XVI: Full title Legio XVI Flavia Firma, the 16th Legion, Flavian and Steadfast; based at Samostata in Syria Coele (Samsat in Turkey).
Legion: Unit of heavy infantry, usually about 5,000 men-strong; from mythical times, the backbone of the Roman army; the numbers in a legion and the legions’ dominance in the army declined during the third-century AD as more and more detachments served away from the parent unit and became more or less independent units.
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