Hannibal 02: Fields of Blood

by Ben Kane

  So many other people must be named: Charlie Viney, my agent, deserves my thanks as always. I’m appreciative of Richenda Todd, my copy editor, who provides highly incisive input; Claire Wheller, my first-class physio, who stops my body from falling to bits after spending too long at my PC; Arthur O’Connor, an old friend, who also supplies excellent criticism and improvements to my stories. Thanks also to you, my loyal readers. It’s you who keep me in a job, for which I am endlessly grateful. Your emails from all over the world, and contacts on Facebook and Twitter, brighten up my days: please keep them coming! Last, but most definitely not least, I thank Sair, my wife, and Ferdia and Pippa, my children, for the huge amount of love and joy that they bring into my world.

  Ways to contact me: email: ben@benkane.net

  Twitter: @BenKaneAuthor

  Facebook: facebook.com/benkanebooks

  Glossary

  acetum: vinegar, the most common disinfectant used by the Romans. Vinegar is excellent at killing bacteria, and its widespread use in western medicine continued until late in the nineteenth century.

  aedile: a magistrate responsible for various civic duties in Rome.

  Aesculapius: son of Apollo, the god of health and the protector of doctors. Revered by the Carthaginians as well as the Romans.

  Agora: we have no idea what Carthaginians called the central meeting area in their city. I have used the Greek term to differentiate it from the main Forum in Rome. Without doubt, the Agora would have been the most important meeting place in Carthage.

  Alps: In Latin, these mountains are called Alpes. Not used in the novel (unlike the Latin names for other geographical features) as it looks ‘strange’ to modern eyes.

  amphora (pl. amphorae): a large, two-handled clay vessel with a narrow neck used to store wine, olive oil and other produce.

  apodyterium: the room at the entrance to a Roman baths, where the customers undressed.

  Apulia: a region of southeast Italy roughly equating to modern-day Puglia.

  Ariminum: modern-day Rimini.

  Arnus: the River Arno.

  Arretium: modern-day Arezzo.

  as (pl. asses): a small bronze coin.

  atrium: the large chamber immediately beyond the entrance hall in a Roman house. Frequently built on a grand scale, this was the social and devotional centre of the home.

  Aufidius: the River Ofanto.

  Baal Hammon: the pre-eminent god at the time of the founding of Carthage. He was the protector of the city, the fertilising sun, the provider of wealth and the guarantor of success and happiness. The Tophet, or the sacred area where Baal Hammon was worshipped, is the site where the bones of children and babies have been found, giving rise to the controversial topic of child sacrifice. For those who are interested, there is an excellent discussion on the issue in Richard Miles’s book, Carthage Must Be Destroyed. The term ‘Baal’ means ‘Master’ or ‘Lord’, and was used before the name of various gods.

  Baal Saphon: the Carthaginian god of war.

  Caere: modern-day Cerveteri.

  caetrati (sing. caetratus): light Iberian infantry. They wore short-sleeved white tunics with a crimson border at the neck, hem and sleeves. Their only protection was a helmet of sinew or bronze, and a round buckler of leather and wicker, or wood, called a caetra. They were armed with falcata swords and daggers.

  caldarium: an intensely hot room in Roman bath complexes. Used like a modern-day sauna, most also had a hot 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 kept hot by slaves.

  caligae: heavy leather sandals worn by the Roman soldier. Sturdily constructed in three layers – a sole, insole and upper – caligae resembled an open-toed boot. The straps could be tightened to make them fit more closely. Dozens of metal studs on the sole gave the sandals good grip; these could also be replaced when necessary.

  Campania: a fertile region of west central Italy.

  Cannae: modern-day Canne della Battaglia, a site about 12 kilometres west of the town of Barletta, in Apulia.

  Canusium: modern-day Canosa di Puglia.

  Capua: modern-day Santa Maria Capua Vetere, near Naples, in Campania. In the third century BC, it was the second largest city in Italy and had not long been under the control of Rome.

  carnyx (pl. carnyxes): a bronze trumpet, which was held vertically and topped by a bell shaped in the form of an animal, usually a boar. Used by many Celtic peoples, it was ubiquitous in Gaul, and provided a fearsome sound alone or in unison with other instruments. It was often depicted on Roman coins, to denote victories over various tribes.

  Carthage: modern-day Tunis. It was reputedly founded in 814 BC, although the earliest archaeological finds date from about sixty years later.

  cenaculae (sing. cenacula): the miserable multi-storey flats in which Roman plebeians lived. Cramped, poorly lit, heated only by braziers, and often dangerously constructed, the cenaculae had no running water or sanitation. Access to the flats was via staircases built on the outside of the building.

  centurion (in Latin, centurio): disciplined career officer; centurions formed the backbone of the Roman army. See also entry for maniple.

  Ceres: the goddess of agriculture, grain crops and fertility.

  Choma: the man-made quadrilateral area which lay to the south and southeast of the main harbours in Carthage. It was probably constructed to serve as a place to unload ships, to store goods, and to act as a pier head protecting passing vessels from the worst of the wind.

  Cisalpine Gaul: the northern area of modern-day Italy, comprising the Po plain and its mountain borders from the Alps to the Apennines. In the third century BC, it was not part of the Republic.

  consul: one of two annually elected chief magistrates, appointed by the people and ratified by the Senate. Effective rulers of Rome for twelve months, they were in charge of civil and military matters and led the Republic’s armies into war. If in the field together, each man took charge of the army on alternate days. In other circumstances, each could countermand the other; both were supposed to heed the wishes of the Senate. No man was meant to serve as consul more than once, although in practice this was not the case.

  contubernium (pl. contubernia): a group of eight legionaries who shared a tent and who cooked and ate together.

  crucifixion: contrary to popular belief, the Romans did not invent this awful form of execution; in fact, the Carthaginians may well have done so. The practice is first recorded during the Punic wars.

  decurion: the cavalry officer in charge of ten men. In later times, the decurion commanded a turma, a unit of about thirty men.

  Diana: the goddess of the hunt, the moon and of childbirth.

  dictator: in times of great crisis, the Senate could elect a dictator, a magistrate who, for six months, had supreme control over all other magistrates, and of the entire Republic. His second-in-command was called the Master of the Horse (a reference to cavalry).

  didrachm: a silver coin, worth two drachmas, which was one of the main coins in third century BC Italy. Strangely, the Romans did not mint many coins of their own design until later on. The denarius, which was to become the main coin of the Republic, was not introduced until around 211 BC.

  drachm: a silver coin of Greek denomination. See entry above.

  equestrian: a Roman nobleman, ranking just below the class of senator. In the third century BC, men such as these provided the regular cavalry for the Roman army.

  Eshmoun: the Carthaginian god of health and well-being, whose temple was the largest in Carthage.

  Etruria: a region of central Italy, north of Rome and the homeland of the Etruscans, a people who had dominated much of northern Italy before the rise of Rome.

  falcata sword: a lethal, slightly curved weapon with a sharp point used by light Iberian infantry. It was single-edged for the first half to two-thirds of its blade, but the remainder was double-edged. Th
e hilt curved protectively around the hand and back towards the blade; it was often made in the shape of a horse’s head. Apparently, the caetrati who used falcata swords were well able to fight legionaries.

  Fides: the goddess of trust.

  Fortuna: the goddess of luck and good fortune. Like all deities, she was notoriously fickle.

  frigidarium: a room in Roman baths containing a cold plunge pool. It was often the last chamber in a bathing complex.

  fugitivus: a runaway slave. The punishment branding the letter ‘F’ (for fugitivus) on the forehead is documented; so is the wearing of permanent neck chains, which had directions on how to return the slave to his or her owner.

  Genua: modern-day Genoa.

  Gerunium: an ancient town in Samnium, the modern-day location of which is not known. It lay close to Larinum (modern-day Larino).

  gladius (pl. gladii): little information remains about the ‘Spanish’ sword of the Republican army, the gladius hispaniensis, with its waisted blade. It is not clear when it was adopted by the Romans, but it was probably after encountering the weapon during the First Punic War, when it was used by Celtiberian troops. The shaped hilt was made of bone and protected by a pommel and guard of wood. The gladius was worn on the right, except by centurions and other senior officers, who wore it on the left. It was actually quite easy to draw with the right hand, and was probably positioned like this to avoid entanglement with the scutum while being unsheathed.

  gugga: In Plautus’ comedy Poenulus one of the Roman characters refers to a Carthaginian trader as a ‘gugga’. This insult can be translated as ‘little rat’.

  Hades: the underworld – hell. The god of the underworld was also called Hades.

  hastati (sing. hastatus): experienced young soldiers who formed the first ranks in the Roman battle line in the third century BC. They were armed with mail or bronze breast and back plates, crested helmets, and scuta. They carried two pila, one light and one heavy, and a gladius hispaniensis.

  Hercules (or, more correctly, Heracles): the greatest of Greek heroes, who completed twelve monumentally difficult labours.

  Iberia: the modern-day Iberian Peninsula, encompassing Spain and Portugal.

  Illyrian: someone from Illyricum (or Illyria): the Roman name for the lands that lay across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, including parts of modern-day Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.

  Insubres: a tribe of Gauls.

  Juno: sister and wife of Jupiter, she was the Roman goddess of marriage and women.

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

  lararium: a shrine found in Roman homes, where the household gods were worshipped.

  Larinum: modern-day Larino.

  latrones (sing. latro): thieves or brigands.

  licium: linen loincloth worn by nobles. It is likely that all classes wore a variant of this.

  Ligurians: natives of the coastal area that was bounded to the west by the River Rhône and to the east by the River Arno.

  maniple: the main tactical unit of the Roman army in the third century BC. There were thirty maniples in a legion, and a total of about 4,200 men. Each maniple was commanded by two centurions, one more senior than the other. Maniples of hastati and principes were composed of two centuries of sixty legionaries; forty velites were also attached to each unit. A maniple of triarii, however, was smaller. It was composed of two centuries of thirty men each, and forty velites.

  Mars: the Roman god of war.

  Melqart: a Carthaginian god associated with the sea, and with Hercules. He was also the god most favoured by the Barca family. Hannibal notably made a pilgrimage to Melqart’s shrine in southern Iberia before beginning his war on Rome.

  Minerva: the Roman goddess of war and also of wisdom.

  mollis: Latin word, meaning ‘soft’ or ‘gentle’, here used as a term of abuse for a homosexual.

  Ocriculum: near modern-day Otricoli.

  optiones (sing. optio): the officers who ranked immediately below centurions; an optio was the second-in-command of a century.

  Oscans: ancient inhabitants of much of southern Italy, most especially Campania.

  Padus: the River Po.

  papaverum: the drug morphine. Made from the flowers of the opium plant, its use has been documented from at least 1,000 BC.

  phalanx: the traditional tactical unit of Greek armies, and, it is thought, of the Libyan spearmen who fought for Carthage.

  phalera (pl. phalerae): a sculpted disc-like decoration for bravery which was worn on a chest harness over a Roman soldier’s armour. Phalerae were commonly made of bronze, but could be made of more precious metals as well.

  Phoenicians: a seafaring, merchant people who lived mostly on the coastline of modern-day Lebanon. They were the founders of Carthage.

  pilum (pl. pila): the Roman javelin. It consisted of a wooden shaft approximately 1.2 m (4 ft) long, joined to a thin iron shank approximately 0.6 m (2 ft) long, and was topped by a small pyramidal point. The javelin was heavy and, when launched, all of its weight was concentrated behind the head, giving it tremendous penetrative force. It could strike through a shield to injure the man carrying it, or lodge in the shield, making it impossible for the man to continue using it. The range of the pilum was about 30 m (100 ft), although the effective range was probably about half this distance.

  Placentia: modern-day Piacenza.

  porta decumana: one of the four entrances to a marching camp. It was found on one of the two short sides of the camp (which was roughly rectangular) opposite the porta praetoria, which lay close to the commanders’ quarters. The via praetoria linked these two gates, and the via principalis the other two.

  porta praetoria: see entry above.

  principes (sing. princeps): these soldiers – described as family men in their prime – formed the second rank of the Roman battle line in the third century BC. They were similar to the hastati, and as such were armed and dressed in much the same manner.

  proconsul: a magistrate who operated outside Rome in place of a consul. His position lay outside the normal annual magistracy and was usually used for military purposes, i.e. to conduct a war on Rome’s behalf.

  pteryges: also spelt pteruges. These were a twin layer of stiffened linen strips that protected the waist and groin of the wearer. They either came attached to a cuirass of the same material, or as a detachable piece of equipment to be used below a bronze breastplate. Although pteryges were designed by the Greeks, many nations used them, including the Romans and Carthaginians.

  Rhodanus: the River Rhône.

  Saguntum: modern-day Sagunto. In the late third century BC, it was populated by Greeks and had allied itself to Rome in an effort to resist Carthaginian influence. When Hannibal attacked it in the spring of 219 BC, he did so in the knowledge that it would provoke a war with Rome.

  Samnium: a confederated area in the central southern Apennines. It fought three wars against Rome in the fourth and third centuries BC, losing the final one. The Samnites did not rest easily under Roman rule, however. They backed both Pyrrhus of Epirus and Hannibal in their wars against the Republic.

  scutarii (sing. scutarius): heavy Iberian infantry, Celtiberians who carried round shields, or ones very similar to those of the Roman legionaries. Richer individuals may have had mail shirts; others may have worn leather cuirasses. Many scutarii wore greaves. Their bronze helmets were very similar to the Gallic Montefortino style. They were armed with straight-edged swords that were slightly shorter than the Gaulish equivalent, and known for their excellent quality.

  scutum (pl. scuta): an elongated oval Roman army shield, about 1.2 m (4 ft) tall and 0.75 m (2 ft 6 in) wide. It was made from two or three layers of wood, the pieces laid at right angles to each other; it was then covered with linen or canvas, and leather. The scutum was heavy, weighing between 6 and 10 kg (13–22 lbs). A large metal boss decorated its cent
re, with the horizontal grip placed behind this. Decorative designs were often painted on the front, and a wooden spine ran down the front of it. A leather cover was used to protect the shield when not in use, e.g. while marching. Some of the Iberian and Gaulish warriors used very similar shields.

  Senate: a body of three hundred senators who were prominent Roman noblemen. The Senate met in the Curia in central Rome, and its function was to advise the magistrates – the consuls, praetors, quaestors etc. – on domestic and foreign policy, religion and finance.

  Seres: the Roman name for the Chinese people.

  Sibylline Books: ancient texts stored in the temple of Jupiter in Rome, and reputed to have been written by the Sibyls, mythical oracles.

  signifer (pl. signiferi): a standard-bearer and junior officer. This was a position of high esteem, with one for every century in a legion.

  socii: allies of Rome. By the time of the Punic wars, all the non-Roman peoples of Italy had been forced into military alliances with Rome. In theory, these peoples were still independent, but in practice they were subjects, who were obliged to send quotas of troops to fight for the Republic whenever it was demanded.

  strigil: a small, curved iron tool used to clean the skin after bathing. First perfumed oil was rubbed in, and then the strigil was used to scrape off the combination of sweat, dirt and oil.

  tablinum: the office or reception area beyond the atrium. The tablinum usually opened on to an enclosed colonnaded garden, the peristyle.

  Tanit: along with Baal Hammon, the pre-eminent deity in Carthage. She was regarded as a mother goddess, and as the patroness and protector of the city.