The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra

by Colleen McCullough

  tribe By the beginning of the Republic, his tribe to a Roman was not an ethnic grouping, but a political grouping. There were thirty-five Roman tribes, thirty-one of them rural, four of them for urban Romans. Even if born in and permanently resident in the city of Rome, members of the First and Second Classes almost always belonged to a rural tribe; it was the lower classes who were jammed into the urban tribes. Freedmen were put in only two of the four urban tribes, Suburana or Esquilina.

  Every member of a tribe cast a vote, but in itself his vote was not significant. The votes in each tribe were counted, then the tribe as a whole cast one single vote, the majority of its members. Which meant that in no tribal Assembly could the massive number of voters in an urban tribe influence the overall outcome. If 5,000 men voted in urban Suburana and only 75 in rural Fabia, the two tribal votes carried exactly the same weight.

  tribune, military Each of the middle officers in the chain of command of a Roman army was classified as a tribunus militum. It was a term reserved for unelected tribunes, and went through a number of grades and functions.

  tribune of the plebs This magistrate came into being not long after the Republic, when the plebeians were at complete loggerheads with the patricians. Elected by the tribal Plebeian Assembly, the tribunes of the plebs swore an oath to defend the lives and the property of members of the Plebs. By 450 B.C. there were ten tribunes of the plebs; they served for one year and entered office on December 10.

  Because they were not elected by the whole People (patricians were excluded), they had no power under Rome’s largely unwritten constitution; their real power lay in the oath the Plebs took to defend the sacrosanctity or inviolability of its elected tribunes, and in their right to exercise a veto against the actions of fellow tribunes of the plebs, or any-or all-other magistrates, or the holding of an election, or the passing of a law or plebiscite, or decrees of the Senate, even in war and foreign affairs. Only a dictator was above the tribunician veto. If his right to proceed about his duties was impeded, a tribune of the plebs could even exercise the death penalty.

  The lex Atinia of ca. 149 B.C. laid down that a man elected tribune of the plebs was automatically a member of the Senate, so it became a way into the Senate if the censors turned a man down. The office did not have imperium, and ceased to exist beyond the first milestone outside Rome. Tradition held that a man should not stand for re-election, but as it was not law, Gaius Gracchus stood for re-election successfully in 122 B.C. As the real power of the office lay in the veto, tribunician function tended to be more obstructive than innovative. It was an office that held a powerful attraction for men of demagogic inclination, and could be a handy stepping-stone toward the consulship for an ambitious plebeian.

  tribune of the soldiers These were twenty-four men aged between twenty-five and twenty-nine years who were elected each year by the Popular Assembly to serve with the consular legions. Having been elected by the whole People, they were true and legal magistrates, though they held no imperium. If the consuls had no legions, they were rationed out between whatever legions were in the field.

  tribunus aerarius A tribune of the Treasury (aerarium). This seems to have been an economic classification of the censors; they were said to have an income of between 300,000 and 400,000 sesterces a year. Presumably civil servants administering the Treasury were tribunes of the Treasury, but that we don’t really know.

  trireme With the bireme, the commonest and best liked of the ancient war galleys. Though the word suggests three banks of oars, triremes seem to have had only two, indicating perhaps that the lower bank of oars was staggered in port height.

  The average trireme was about 130 feet (40 meters) long, and was no wider in the beam than 13 feet (4 meters) excluding the outrigger. The ratio was therefore about 10:1. The oars were relatively short, each being about 15 feet (5 meters) long. Only one rower manned one oar. The lowest oarsmen worked oars through ports so close to the sea that each was fitted with a leather cuff or valve to keep water out of the hull. Certainly there were 108 oarsmen in this bank or banks; another 62 oarsmen sat in the outriggers, giving a total of 170 rowers per ship. The outrigger oarsmen had to work the hardest, as their oars hit the water at a sharper angle.

  Triremes were eminently suitable for ramming, and thus had beaks that became two-pronged, bigger, heavier and better armored as time went on. Most triremes were decked and could carry up to fifty marines as well as artillery. Built from fir or other lightweight pine, triremes were light enough to be portaged on rollers for long distances, and were easily dragged out of the water at night. If they were not hauled out almost daily, they quickly waterlogged. If well looked after and housed in a ship shed, a vessel’s seafaring life was about twenty years.

  Tyrian purple Purple was the most prized color in the spectrum of the ancient world, and of all the shades of purple, Tyrian was the most expensive. It had connotations of royalty, therefore was frowned on by Romans. Tyrian purple came only from the city of Tyre, in Phoenicia. It was so dark as to appear almost black, but was shot through with gleams of crimson.

  Tullianum Rome’s only dungeon, actually an execution chamber only. It sat at the foot of the Arx of the Capitol.

  tumultus In this book, a state of civil war.

  tunic The ubiquitous article of clothing for all Mediterranean peoples, who despised trousers as barbarian. A Roman tunic was rather loose and shapeless, made without darts, and often had its sleeves cut in one with the bodice. The Greek tunic had darts and fitted the body more snugly, its sleeves usually set in. The ancients knew how to cut, sew and tailor, so they could set sleeves in, and make garments with long sleeves. The customary fabric for a tunic was wool and the customary color oatmealish, but there is ample evidence that tunics came in many colors and patterns.

  Twelve Tables The revered table of Roman laws dating to the middle of the fifth century B.C. The original Twelve Tables were burned when the Gauls sacked Rome, but were reconstituted on bronze, and formed the basis of all subsequent Roman law. Toward the end of the Republic they were memorial rather than legal.

  Ultimate Decree See Senatus Consultum Ultimum.

  Uxellodunum A Gallic oppidum, thought to be modern Puy d’Issolu.

  vale Farewell.

  veneficae Witches.

  verpa A Latin obscenity used in verbal abuse. It referred to the penis in the erect state, with the foreskin drawn back, and had a homosexual connotation.

  Vesta A numinous Roman god, of the domestic hearthfire.

  Vestal Virgins The special priestesses of Vesta. Six in number, they were inducted at about seven years of age, and served for thirty years. They were required to be virgins; their chastity was considered Rome’s good luck. A Vestal tried for and found guilty of unchastity was buried alive. They lived in the Domus Publica. Once discharged from service, a Vestal was permitted to marry, but few did.

  via A main road or street.

  Via Aemilia Built 187 B.C. It connected the Adriatic coast at Ariminum with Placentia in western Italian Gaul.

  Via Aemilia Scauri Built 103 B.C. It connected Placentia through Dertona with Genua, then followed the Tuscan coast to Pisae on the Arnus.

  Via Annia Built 153 B.C. It connected Florentia on the Arnus with Verona in northern Italian Gaul, and intersected with the Via Aemilia at Bononia.

  Via Appia Built 312-244 B.C. The long road between Rome and its Adriatic ports of Tarentum and Brundisium.

  Via Aurelia Nova Built 118 B.C. It connected Pisae with Populonia on the Tuscan coast of Etruria.

  Via Aurelia Vetus Built 241 B.C. It connected Populonia with Rome along the Tuscan coast of Etruria.

  Via Cassia Built 154 B.C. It ran between Rome and Arretium and Florentia on the Arnus River, traveling through Etruria.

  Via Domitia Built 121 B.C. The long road to Further Spain. It started at Placentia in Italian Gaul, crossed the Alps and the Pyrenees, and terminated at Corduba.

  Via Egnatia Built 130 B.C. It connected Dyrrachium and Ap
ollonia in western Macedonia with the Hellespont and Byzantium.

  Via Flaminia Built 220 B.C. It went from Rome across the Apennines to the Adriatic coast at Fanum Fortunae.

  Via Julia Built 105-103 B.C. The coast road between Genua and Massilia.

  Via Minucia Built 225 B.C. It connected Beneventum with Barium on the Adriatic, then followed the coast to Brundisium.

  Via Popillia Built 131 B.C. It traveled from Capua to Rhegium on the Italian toe opposite Sicilian Messana.

  Via Salaria Too old to date, this was Rome’s first long road. It crossed the central Apennines from Rome to the Adriatic.

  Via Valeria Built 307 B.C. It crossed the Apennines from Rome to the Adriatic.

  Vibo A small port on the Tuscan Sea not far north of Rhegium.

  vicus A city street.

  vir militaris A military man, usually of low birth, who managed to rise to the senior magistracies by virtue of his deeds as a general of troops. Publius Ventidius was an excellent example. So too were Gaius Marius and Quintus Sertorius.