1825 AC: First manned plane flight performed just outside Novo Trier, by a pair of brothers by the names of Ursus and Wystan Abered.
1830-1845 AC: Mongols invade Qin.
1850 AC: Radio invented, in Hellas.
1855-1860 AC: Caspian Crisis; Mongolia attempts to annex most of the Caspian Sea, resulting in a four-way battle between Rome, Raccia, Mongolia, and Persia; this was the first major war involving Rome since the War of the Caspian Sea a hundred years before.
Death of Solveig Caetia.
1875 AC: Helicopter invented, Judea. Widest adoption in Raccia and Novo Germania, however.
1890 AC: Brandr Ilfetu born.
1895 AC: Ornithopter invented, Persia.
1900 AC: Far-viewers developed, in Nippon.
Recent History
1905 AC: Antonius Valerius Livorus born, Rome.
1910 AC: Sigrun Caetia born, Cimbri-on-the-Caestus, Nova Germania, Caesaria Aquilonis.
1915 AC: Jet turbine engine developed.
1923 AC: Livorus enters the Legion.
1924 AC: Kanmi born.
1926 AC: Sigrun enters the Odinhall.
1927 AC: Slavery abolished in Nova Germania and Novo Gaul.
1927-1930 AC: Raccia-Mongol Conflict.
1928 AC: Trennus born.
1929 AC: First rocket launched into space from Judea, sparking space-race between Hellas, Judea, and Nippon, with Britannia an interested observer.
1929 AC: Adam ben Maor born. Sophia Caetia born.
1930 AC: Sigrun leaves the Odinhall.
1930 AC: Minori Sasaki (Ijiun) born.
1930-54 AC: The Shadow War. Proxy war; Persia and Rome fight through provinces and subject kingdoms like Chaldea, Media, and Judea. Re-ignites every 3-4 years.
1930-1932 AC: Sigrun on Roman-Persian Border, in Asia Minor.
1932-1934 AC: Sigrun on Roman-Mongol border, within spitting range of Raccia.
1933-43 AC: Livorus serves as aedile in Rome. Roof over Colosseum built.
1934 AC: Transatlantic cable laid, allowing for overseas telephone calls.
1936-38 AC: Sigrun begins protection work for diplomatic envoys to the independent Nordic countries.
1939 AC: Splitting of the atom in Judea.
1939 AC: Sophia Caetia’s first visions.
1939-1948. Sigrun works as an ælagol in the New World.
1943 AC: Livorus’ unsuccessful run for quaestor. Appointed diplomatic envoy to India, instead.
1944 AC: Trennus’ mentor killed by a rogue summoner. He goes to University of Londonium thereafter.
1945 AC: First satellites settle into orbit.
1946 AC: Kanmi graduates the University of Athens and gets married. Immediately leaves for Mongol border.
1947 AC: Adam goes to the Persian border.
1948 AC: Caesarion IX crowned. (God-born).
1948 AC: Livorus appointed ambassador to Qin.
1949 AC: The Mongol-Qin Provocations.
1949 AC: Sigrun recruited by Praetorians; appointed to Livorus' detail after the Mongol-Qin incidents.
1950 AC: Kanmi returns home from Roman-Mongol border. Recruited by Praetorians.
1950 AC:. Trennus leaves Londonium for work with the gardia.
1951 AC: Adam recruited by the Praetorians.
1953 AC: Adam paired, late in the year, with Sigrun.
1954 AC: Story begins.
Order of the Emperors
Caesarion I, Reigned 15-55 AC
Philometrus (Caesarion's son) 55-95 AC
Livianus (great-grandson) I 95-130
Diocletian I 130-180
Caesarion II 180-218
Flavian I 218-245
Philometrus II 245-283
Flavian II 283-333
Diocletian II 333-380 (Edict passed in 350)
Domitanus 700 AC
. . . and so on and so forth.
Appendix III: Money and Daily Living
Money and Value
Rome has never come off the gold standard. There is no paper money; credit cards do not exist. In later books, debit cards are developed, but that’s as far as it goes.
Money has a very real value, and counterfeiting is a serious crime, usually investigated by the Praetorians.
Money
Change in Ass.
Change in Den.
Change in Sol.
$ equivalent
Relative Value
Assarius/assari (Bronze)
1 = 1 US dollar
Denarius/denarii (silver)
10 assari
1 = 10 US dollars Cost in Rome in 1954 AC, for a glass of wine, a half-denarius. Adam considers this expensive
Solidus/solidi (gold)
100 assari
10 denarii
1 = 100 US dollars
2 solidus a month = rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in a major city
Aureus/aurei(gold)
1000 assari
100 denarii
10 solidi
1 = 1,000 US dollars
Adam makes 4 aureus a month in 1954. 4,000/month; by becoming head of detail, 5. By 1970, 7/month, or 7,000
The drachm is a gold coin in common use in the Persian Empire. Most Romans consider them to be debased coinage. They can’t be used within the Roman Empire, however.
The official rate of exchange is three gold drachm for every aureus in 1988 AC. The street exchange rate is closer to two to one, but only in areas close to the Persian border.
Appendix IV: Glossary
A note on languages and their development
Languages in Edda have not been locked in time or sealed away in a vacuum chamber.
Gothic
I use Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon terms to give Sigrun’s language flavor. Given that the various branches of Germanic have been under heavy influence from Latin for some 2,000 years, it is very likely that her spoken dialect, while it retained the characteristic “we two” pronoun of Anglo-Saxon, witan, and the equally characteristic lack of a future tense, would be somewhat closer to Mittelhochdeutsch or Middle English. The Great Vowel Shift never occurred. If you wish to imagine what she’d sound like, grab a copy of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales or the work of the Pearl poet, and read it out loud to yourself. . . being sure to use the vowel sounds of continental European languages
For example:
Whan in Aprille the shoures soote,
the droughte of Merche hath perced to the roote. . .
=
W(ahh)n in Ah-pr(ih)l the sh(oo)r-es soat
the drou[ch]t of Merch hath per-ced to the roat. . .
There are almost as many dialects of Germanic and Gallic as there are subprovinces. There are more and less dominant dialects. For example, Sigrun speaks, initially, a dialect of Gallic common to the Bláthach peninsula; it serves her as a bridge to Trennus’ Pictish dialect, but it is about as close as, say, modern Dutch and modern German. Other dialects are more distant kin—more equivalent to modern Swedish to Swyzerdutch. This is attributable to how early colonization took place, how isolated individual colonia were for hundreds of years, and how little literacy/mass media was available to keep the languages from altering substantially over time.
Latin
Latin is spoken throughout the Empire. It is the universal lingua franca of the Western World. It, too, has not been preserved in a time capsule. It has a variety of dialects, but almost every schoolchild is taught “standard received” Latin (think BBC English) and “classical” Latin to ensure that the language doesn’t deviate too far from its roots.
Hebrew
Hebrew is a living language, rather than a resurrected one, in Edda. It has picked up thousands of loan-words from Latin, Persian, Egyptian, Carthaginian, and other languages of the Empire. Most students in Judea are taught, again, the classical form of their language, so that they may read their religious writings.
I am not a scholar of this language; therefore, I have used modern equivalents wherever possible.
Nipponese/Japanese
This island nation did not experience any periods of isolation. Their daily language has been highly influenced by Korean, Chinese, and even Raccian and Latin, as they have been a major hub for trade for hundreds of years. The language of the court in Kyoto is precise, formal, and harkens back to a bygone era—an older form of the language, entirely.
Again, I am not a scholar of this language. I have used modern equivalents wherever necessary, and I invite the reader to imagine what the language would sound like, if it had developed differently, due to different historical pressures.
The list of terms offered below is not exhaustive, and I have tried, whenever possible, to translate within the text.
Terms:
ablutum — Latin, laundromat
Æðeles ides — Gothic, noble lady
æðelinga — Gothic, noble one, feminine ending
æðeling — Gothic, noble one, masculine ending
ælagol — Gothic, law-giver, law-keeper, adjudicator
a thaisce — Gallic, ‘my treasure.’
atzmay — Hebrew, Maverick
auhz — Hebrew, Goose
bitahevn — Hebrew, defense. Term used in place of Krav Maga.
cwealuwyrm — Gothic, deathworm
dominus, domina — Latin, lord, lady
ex nihilo nihil fit — Latin, “from nothing, nothing comes.”
forðferan, forðferest — Gothic, literally, “to go forth.” To perish.
fikken, fikkest thu — Gothic, to fuck; “fuck you” (informal second person)
géa — Gothic, yes. (equivalent to ja and yeah)
harah — Hebrew, Shit.
héodæg — Gothic, today. (Directly related to modern German heute)
hrímþursar — Gothic, rime-giant, frost-giant
hveðungr — An alternate name for Loki, it has also been used as "monster" in Old Norse.
inanwyrm — Gothic, gutworm, parasite
jaso — A joule
kami — Nipponese, spirit or god
leh lehizdayen — “Fuck you.” (to a man)
nið, niðing —Gothic, anathema, evil, malice, cowardly, unmanly, accursed.
nitzen – A Newton of force
ollamaliztli — Nahautl ball game
Paredes’ disease — Parkinson’s
perfututum — Latin, literally, “fucked out.”
photogram —coined word that describes a device that plays music encoded in light on crystalline storage discs.
Póg mo thóin — Gallic, “kiss my ass.”
rihtære scale — Richter scale
Sangua Foederis — Latin, Blood Pact
seiðr — Gothic, magic
sennin — Nipponese, immortal person, transcendent, mage, spirit, sage, hermit
shtoyut — Hebrew, Bullshit, crap, nonsense
thaum — Unit measuring magical energy, equivalent to wex
Tholberg coil — Tesla coil
Tlatoani — Nahautl, emperor of Nahautl
uisce beatha — Gallic, whiskey
wex — A watt of power.
ya ben shel zona. — Hebrew, “You son of a bitch.”
Air travel
Hatasahl Air — Judean airline, chemically-fueled jets.
Hellene Air — Hellene airline, chemically-fueled jets
Alroma — Roman state airline, ley-powered.
Qin Air — Quin state airline, ley-powered.
Motorcar brands
Judean:
Tsunams and Mehymans. All are electrically-powered.
Nipponese:
Kusabanas and Takas. Ley or electrical power, depending on market demand.
Hellene:
Arma, Aloga, and Epibintores. All luxury-brand vehicles, entirely ley-powered.
Weapons
Aphek 5 assault rifle
Velserk (Colt) .45 caliber pistol, which holds 6 rounds when fully loaded.
Vheva (Cobra) 9mm.
Legion organization and ranks
All levy forces, regardless of their province of origin, use Legion ranks.
Legion
1280 men. Commanded by Legion Legate, or legatus.
Tribuni angusticlavii – Tribune of the soldiers. A soldier who ranks above a centurion, but below the legate. (This is Sigrun’s rank, when she serves in the Legion actively.) These are officers, usually career military, and their rank gives them a fair degree of latitude. Many of them handle paperwork, but others are used to cut through paperwork, at the discretion of their legate.
Primus pilus centurion — Commanding centurion of the first century, first cohort and the senior-most centurion of the entire legion.
Cohort
4 centuries 320 men each, roughly; 4 cohorts per legion
Pilus prior centurion commands a cohort.
Century
80 men (16 centuries per legion;)
Primi ordines command a century.
Manciple
40 men.
Rank centurion.
Commands a manciple.
Optio
(A junior lieutenant, essentially. This is Adam’s first rank.) An optio commands 20 men, or half a manicple.
Hasta
Lowest enlisted rank.
Appendix V: Bind-Runes and Other Symbols
During the writing of the text, I only used dates and simple lines to break between different characters’ points of view. On viewing the text on a Kindle screen, I rapidly decided that this system did not allow the reader’s eye enough of a break from the wall of text on any given page. As such, I began to develop bind-runes for most of the major characters. A bind-rune is a combination of Norse runes, taking into account their symbolic values, and arranging them into a (hopefully) symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing configuration. Bind-runes were thought to be magical (much in the way that all early writing was considered magical by the largely-illiterate societies in which each system originated), and also served as markers of personal ownership. Early examples include the Valknut (symbol of Odin) and the Aegishjalmur (or helm of awe, which sticklers may consider more of a stave than a bind-rune).
Of course, not every character comes from a culture that would find the runes at all congenial, so I began adapting the system to include cuneiform for the Chaldean Magi characters, Japanese kanji for applicable characters, astronomical and alchemical signs where applicable to Roman gods, and so on. Not every point-of-view (POV) character has a symbol. Some characters only have a paragraph or so to themselves, so they did not receive one. Some characters do not have POVs, but I consider so important to the narrative, that they receive a bind-rune or other marker, anyway.
This table may provide spoilers for later books, so read it at your own risk.
Adam
Apollo
Baal-Hamon
Raidho, journey, leadership;
Manaz, mankind, man;
Tiwaz, justice and law;
Gebo, sacrifice;
Othala, ancestral power or inheritance
Astronomical sign for the sun
Two traditional symbols for Baal-Hamon, commingled
Brandr
Cernunnos
Drust and Sadb
Tiwaz, war;
Jera, patience;
Thurisaz, masculine vigor;
Algiz, protection
Traditionally, the horned god
Fehu, fertility; Nauthiz, suffering
Ehecatl
Erida
Freya
Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent as Ouroboros, and as the sun.
Sag sign in cuneiform, symbol of the Magi “head” or “wisdom”
Fehu; richness, abundance, female generativity
Frittigil
Hecate
Hel
Berkano, rebirth and renewal; Gebo, sacrifice
Othala, ancestral power; Inguz, isolation; Kenaz, knowledge/magic
Triple ring; adapted from “triple moon” symbol for triune goddesses.
Dark of the moon
I
lla’zhi
Ima
Inghean
Storm god or demon, cuneiform
Hagaliz, transformation; Tiwaz, war; Fehu, richness; Kenaz; knowledge
Fehu, femininity and fertility, wealth, abundance
Inti
Isis
Jormangand
Sacrificed Sun
Isis knot
Serpent coiled around the World-Tree (or Tree of Life)
Juno
Jupiter
Kanmi
Traditional symbol for Juno
Traditional and astronomical sign for Jupiter
The Goddess Embraced Page 180
