The Emperor's Games

by The Emperor's Games (retail) (epub)

  “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

  57 Shepherds Lane

  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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