“I should like to see Dacia. That will be nice,” Ygerna said comfortably.
* * *
The chieftain of the Semnones sat by the hearth of the great hall of Ranvigshold and polished a hunting spear. There were children playing outside, shrieking like fiends in the spring sun. A ball bounced past the open door as he watched. His son tumbled after it, head over feet, brushed himself off, and scampered on, with a smaller child behind him. Ranvig found it pleasant to watch the children. These would have time to grow now, and Signy had another babe at the breast, a girl this time, with Signy’s rose-gold hair.
The chieftain and his young wife had found matters somewhat easier between them of late, with no older women in the hall to overshadow her. Morgian had gone away home to Steinvarshold, and Fiorgyn was married as well, and with child. Ranvig had his own ideas about that, but he would keep them to himself. She had picked a brown-haired man for her husband. Arni had done his best to get himself killed in the fighting, but he hadn’t, and he had just ridden in to say that the spies in Moguntiacum said that the Romans were posting men to the Dacian frontier. Ranvig grinned silently and held the hunting spear sideways to the light to see if the rust was gone.
Cast of Characters
THE HOUSE OF APPIUS
Appius
Flavius Appius Julianus the Elder
Correus
Correus Appius Julianus, adopted slave-born son of Appius
Ygerna Flavia
Agricolina, British wife of Correus
Felix
Frontinus Appius Julianus, Correus’s son by Freita, a German freedwoman; formally adopted by Correus
Eilenn
Correus and Ygerna’s daughter
Eumenes
slave belonging to Correus
Flavius
Flavius Appius Julianus the Younger, half brother to Correus, legitimate son of Appius
Aemelia
wife of Flavius
Aemelius
father of Aemelia
Valeria Lucilla
mother of Aemelia
Julia
Appia Julia, sister of Flavius, half sister of Correus
Lucius Paulinus
husband of Julia
Tullius
free servant of Paulinus
Antonia
wife of Appius, mother of Flavius and Julia
Helva
slave mistress of Appius, mother of Correus
Forst
German freedman, Appius’s horsemaster
Emer
freedwoman, Forst’s wife
Julius
slave of Correus
Diulius
horsemaster of the chariot ponies
ROME
Titus
emperor of Rome
Domitian
brother of Titus
Marius Vettius
senator, a crony of Domitian
Gentilius Paulinus
uncle of Lucius Paulinus
Faustus Sulla
a triumvir capitalis
Roscius Celsus
a wealthy merchant
Nyall Sigmundson
former chieftain of the Semnones
GERMANY
Theophanes
a pirate leader
Cerdic, Ennius, Wulf, Commius
men of Aristides’s band
Velius Rufus
the emperor’s general in Germany
Julius Frontinus
the chief engineer of the Roman Army in Germany
Sulpicius Clarus
governor of Lower Germany
Quintus
a centurion of the Eighth Legion Augusta
Labienus
chief field surgeon
Rhodope
a madam
Marbod
chieftain of the Chatti
Morgian
mother of Nyall Sigmundson
Fiorgyn
wife of Nyall Sigmundson
Signy
wife of Ranvig
Barden
priest of the Semnones
Arni
a lord of the Semnones
Steinvar
a lord of the Semnones, husband of Morgian
Glossary
aedile: Roman political official in charge of games, markets, temples, and public buildings
Aesculapius: god of healing
amphora: large, narrow-necked jar used to store and transport wine and food
Annwn: Celtic land of the dead
Aphrodite: goddess of love
Athena Nike: virgin goddess of wisdom and power, in her aspect of goddess of victory
atrium: the central room of a Roman house, frequently built around a pool
augurs: a priestly college at Rome, the business of which was to take the auspices on all important occasions
auxiliaries: cavalry, light troops, bowmen, etc., recruited from the provinces; term applied to all units other than the legions; the officers were Roman, and the men received Roman citizenship upon their discharge.
Avernus: lake in the crater of an extinct volcano, supposed to lead to the underworld
Bacchus: god of wine
basilica: public building housing law courts and exchange
Cassandra: prophetess daughter of Trojan King Priam; Apollo, whom she had repulsed, caused her true predictions always to be disbelieved
century: a unit of eighty men; six centuries made a cohort
Charon: boatman who ferried the dead across the River Styx
cohort: six centuries; ten cohorts made up a legion
confarreatio: the old religious form of Roman marriage witnessed by senior priests; divorce was nearly impossible
consuls: formerly the two highest Republican magistrates in Rome; under the empire a much less powerful office, but still a great honor; the emperor was generally a consul
corona aurea: Roman army decoration for extraordinary bravery
corona civica: Roman army decoration awarded to a soldier who has saved the life of a fellow citizen, at risk to his own
corvus: “crow’s beak,” the iron spike at the end of a Roman boarding ramp, used to punch through the deck of an enemy ship and hold it to be boarded
cuirass: close-fitting body armor covering the torso
Diogenes: Greek Cynic philosopher, reputed to have gone about in daylight with a lantern, looking for a man with the proper human virtues
Donar: German god of thunder, protector of men
Eagle: the standard of a Roman legion; it personified the legion’s honor, and its loss was a disgrace
the Eagles: the Roman legions
Eir: German goddess of healing
Epona: Celtic goddess of horses
Erebus: the darkness through which the souls of the dead travel to Hades
Europa: Phoenician princess carried off by Zeus in the form of a bull
the Fates: three goddesses who spin, fix the length, and finally cut the thread of life
Flavian Amphitheater: later known as the Colosseum
Furies: avenging goddesses
the Goddess: Earth Mother in her many forms
Gorgons: three frightful sisters whose look turns the beholder to stone
greaves: lower leg armor
Hades: lord of the underworld; also the name of the underworld itself
Hector: chief Trojan hero in the war with the Greeks
Hel: German goddess of the underworld; also the name of her domain
Hercules: hero god famed for great feats of strength
hortator: on a ship, one who sets time for the oar strokes with a mallet
hypocaust: Roman hot-air system
Isis: Earth Mother in her Egyptian form
Janus: two-faced god of beginnings and endings of all undertakings
Juno: wife of Jupiter, goddess of marriage and childbirth
Jupiter: Roman name of Zeus, all-powerful father of the gods, protector of Rome
latrunculi: literal
ly “bandits,” Roman board game
legate: commander of a legion
legionary: the enlisted man of the legions; he was a Roman citizen
lilies: small, sharp spikes set in a defensive ditch
lorica: body armor of several types; at this time, scale or segmented plates
Lugh: Celtic sun god
maenads: priestesses of Bacchus who worked themselves into a frenzy at his festivals
Mercury: god of commerce; messenger of Zeus who guides the shades of the dead to the underworld
Minerva: Roman name of Athena
Mithras: Persian god of light and truth, mediator between man and the supreme god; his worship was popular in the Roman army
the Morrigan: Celtic goddess of battle; Earth Mother in her warlike aspect
the Mother: Earth Mother in any of her many forms
naiad: freshwater nymph
Neptune: Roman name of Poseidon
Olympus: mythical home of the Roman gods on the summit of Mount Olympus in Thessaly
optio: aide assigned to an officer
Persephone: maiden abducted by Hades to become his wife; doomed to spend six months of each year in the underworld
phalerae: Roman military decorations in the form of medallions worn on a leather harness across the chest
pilum: Roman military javelin
Pontifex Maximus: the chief priest of Rome
Poseidon: sea god and creator of the horse
Praetorian Guards: the home guard of Rome, the elite of the army, and the personal bodyguard of the emperor
praetorium: the commander’s quarters in a Roman fort
primus pilus: commander of the First Cohort; in the field, second-in-command of the legion
principia: headquarters building in a Roman fort
quinquireme: galley with five oarsmen, but probably only three actual banks of oars
Rome Dea: goddess personification of the City of Rome
Romulus: legendary founder of Rome
Saturnalia: Roman winter festival when slaves impersonated their masters and vice versa
sidhe: in Celtic legend, the hollow hills of the faery folk; here used to mean a dwelling of an older race
Sign of Horns: invoking the Horned God (similar to Pan) to ward off evil
spina: central divider of a chariot track
Tartarus: lowest level of the underworld
tribune: officer in a legion, generally a young man serving a short term before beginning a political career
trireme: galley with three banks of oars
triumviri capitales: Roman officials who inquired into all capital crimes, apprehended criminals, had charge of prisons, and carried out sentences
Typhon: fire-breathing monster and creator of hurricanes, said to have a hundred heads and terrible voices
Ulysses: hero of the Trojan War
Valhalla: German paradise for the souls of slain heroes
Valkyrie: maiden messengers of Wuotan sent to choose the slain in battle and serve them mead in Valhalla
Venus: Roman name of Aphrodite
Vestal Virgins: priestesses of Vesta, supposed to be incorruptible
vicus: the civil settlement outside a Roman fort
vine staff: a centurion’s staff of office; literally a cane cut from vine wood
Wisdom: a Celtic board game resembling chess
Wuotan: German chief of all the gods; sky god; god of light, war, and knowledge, giver of life and death to men; he had two ravens, Hugin and Munin, who perched on his shoulders daily to tell him the news
Ziu: ancient German tribal god of war
First published in the United States in 1984 by Ballantine Books
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © Dewey Lambdin, 1984
The moral right of Dewey Lambdin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788632041
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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