The Red Serpent

by Robert Low

  Less than a dozen years after the events here, Alexander Severus would suffer the same fate as his cousin, plunging the world into what historians call ‘The Crisis of Empire’, fifty years of rebellion, barbarian invasions and military breakdown. There were some twenty-six claimants to the title of emperor in that time, mostly generals who assumed imperial power over all or part of the Empire. These included a certain Uranius, whose history is clouded, and Maximinus Thrax, whose history is not. The giant soldier became Emperor in AD 235 and ruled for three years until murdered and beheaded by the soldiers of his own 2nd Parthica legion.

  This is the atmosphere, the trickle-down of plot and politics, through which move the lowly, down-at-heel Brothers of the Sands, socially reviled as ex-gladiators and ex-slaves. Their attempts to make a sestertius by whatever means possible while staying alive to enjoy it is what most of the rest of the Roman world were trying to do while Emperors and generals squabbled.

  Their story is worth hearing, in the flickering shadows made by a guttering lamp in a ramshackle tenement in Subura – but failing that, read it anyway.

  Acknowledgements

  The people without whom…

  Kate, my long-suffering wife, the bedrock, lodestar and frequently abandoned woman who puts up with me living in some strange century with stranger people for protracted periods. If it is a lonely life being an author, it is worse still to be an author’s wife.

  James Gill of United Agents, a loyal and determined friend who has been instrumental in getting what I write to the right people for more years than I like to remember.

  The good and professional people at Canelo – Kit, Michael and others. You know who you are.

  The loyal fans of my writing out there. More power to you and I hope you enjoy this new direction.

  Glossary

  Mainly of gladiator and related terms you will find throughout the book. Most of them are easy to grasp without constant reference to this – but I know people love lists.

  Atellan

  Atellanae Fabulae or Fabulae Atellanae, also known as the Oscan Games, were masked improvised farces, short pieces usually put on after longer pantomimes. The origin of the Atellan Farce is uncertain but they are similar to other forms of ancient theatre, such as the South Italian Phlyakes, the plays of Plautusd and Terrence, and Roman mime. The farces were written in the Campanian dialect of Oscan and in later Roman versions, only the ridiculous characters read their lines in Oscan, while the others read in Latin.

  Authentēs

  A Greek term (αὐθέντης) – a bit of fawning with added barb. It can mean an absolute ruler, an autocrat, but also is applied to the perpetrator of any act, especially those who commit murder by their own hand.

  Dis Manibus

  A standard phrase of dedication to the Manes, the spirits of the dead. Effectively they are being warned that there’s another one on the way. In the gladiatorial amphitheatre it was an actual person, also known as Charun, the Roman form of Charon, the Greek demi-god who ferried the dead across the Styx. Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld, was also used. A man traditionally masked as someone from the underworld, accompanied by other masked helpers, would stab the fallen to make sure they were dead and, if not, use a traditional hammer to finish them off. Then others would hook the body by the heels and drag if off through the Gate of Death. Those who had survived left the way they had entered, through the Gate of Life.

  Dromedarii

  Camel-mounted cavalry. Dromedarii were first raised by Trajan and used as border scouts in the desert provinces of the Eastern Empire to take the place of light cavalry in scorching desert conditions. Usually attached to a cohors equitata, between thirty-two and thirty-six dromedarii troopers are listed in the rosters of Cohors XX Palmyrenorum Equitata at Dura-Europos in the early third century.

  Dura-Europos

  Already famous by the time the Romans took it in AD 165, this became a vital fortress in the chain of defences designed to secure Mesopotamia – the same function it served for the Seleucids, successors of Alexander the Great, when they founded the city in 303 BC. It was, I have always imagined, the model for Mos Eisley in Star Wars – ‘a wretched hive of scum and villainy’ – though it was also one of the most multi-cultural. In the early 200s, the famed house-church and synagogue were built. There was also a Mithraeum, a Temple of Bel and a Temple of Adonis.

  Flavian

  Now better known as the Coliseum, it was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre since it was built by the Flavian dynasty. Commissioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian, it was completed by his son Titus in AD 80, with later improvements by Domitian. Located just east of the Forum, it was built to a practical design, with its 80 arched entrances allowing easy access for 55,000 spectators, who were seated according to rank. The Coliseum is huge, an ellipse 188 m long and 156 m wide. Originally 240 masts were attached to stone corbels on the fourth level to provide shade on hot days. It was called the Coliseum because of a massive statue of Nero which stood nearby – later remodelled into the god Helios or Sol, and at times the heads of succeeding emperors.

  Fortuna

  A goddess who was the personification of luck in Roman times and, naturally, one much worshipped by gladiators. She was usually depicted with a rota fortunae (a Wheel of Fortune) and a Horn of Plenty, and could be represented as veiled and blind, as in modern depictions of Justice. The first temple dedicated to Fortuna was attributed to the Etruscan Servius Tullius, while the second is known to have been built in 293 BC as the fulfilment of a Roman promise made during later Etruscan wars – which is also the same time as gladiatorial contests are thought to have been created.

  Harena

  Literally, ‘sand’. Possibly Etruscan, which was believed to be the origin of gladiatorial contests.

  Hyrcanian tiger

  The big cat was already a rarity in the late Roman era, but it survived until final sightings in the 1970s. It was once as widespread as the area east of the Caspian Sea, from Turkey and Iran through Central Asia into the Takla Makan desert of Xinjiang, China. It was one of the largest living felines and ranked among the biggest that ever existed.

  Ludus

  The gladiator ‘school’. It’s estimated that there were more than a hundred gladiator schools throughout the Empire. New gladiators were formed into troupes called familia gladiatorium, which were under the overall control of a manager (lanista) who recruited, arranged for training and made the decisions of where and when the gladiators fought. There were gladiator schools near all the major cities around Rome, and one which has stayed in history is that of Batiatus in Capua, where Spartacus was trained. But the most famous gladiator schools of all were those in Rome: the Great Gladiatorial Training School (Ludus Magnus), which was connected to the Flavian Amphitheatre by a tunnel; the Bestiaries School (Ludus Matutinus), which specialised in training those who fought, handled and trained the exotic wild beasts; the Gallic School (Ludus Gallicus), smallest of the schools, which specialised in training heavily armoured fighters; and the Dacian School (Ludus Dacicus), which trained lightly armoured fighters in the use of the sicari dagger, a short curved weapon.

  Ludum venatorium (venatio)

  In the animal hunts, venatores were skilled men usually pitted against carnivorous beasts; bestiarii were animal handlers and killers of less skill and finesse. Literary accounts and inscriptions often stress the numbers of animals killed. As in gladiatorial combat, men condemned to fight or perform in such games could sometimes win their freedom. By the third century the games had degenerated into vicious spectacle, with such crowd-pleasers as children hung up by the heels to see which of the starving dogs could leap high enough to get a bite, foxes let loose with their tails on fire, and worse.

  Mavro

  A Greek word meaning ‘black’ or ‘dark’. When applied to people, it is simply a statement of fact – it is neither derogatory nor insensitive. However, in the third century, the Severan dynasty who hailed from North Africa w
ere considered strange and exotic, not for their skin-tone, but for their cultural heritage, exacerbated by marriage into an even more exotic Syrian family of sun worshippers. ‘Mavro’ gained a note of disdain as a result.

  Missio

  A gladiator who acknowledged defeat could request the munerarius to stop the fight and send him alive (missus) from the arena. If he had not fallen he could be ‘sent away standing’ (stans missus). The Exhibitor took the crowd’s response into consideration in deciding whether to let the loser live or order the victor to kill him.

  Munus (plural munera)

  Meaning ‘the show’, the term also has a connotation of ‘duty’. It usually lasted for three or more days and, under special circumstances, for weeks or months. Provincial games rarely lasted more than two days, but Titus’s games in Rome for the inauguration of the completed Flavian in AD 80 lasted 100 days. The classic Italian munus plena included venations in the morning, various noontime activities (meridiani), and gladiatorial duels in the afternoon.

  Munerarius (Exhibitor)

  The giver of the games. It could be a member of the nobler orders of Rome who put on the show privately (a rarity post-Republic) or in his official capacity as a magistrate or priest, but it was more likely the State organising games whose dates and functions were set in the Roman calendar. Outside Rome, munerarii were generally municipal and provincial priests of the imperial cult, or local governors.

  Omnes ad stercus

  Not strictly a gladiatorial term, but certainly used by them and liberally scrawled on walls all over Rome. Best translation is ‘it’s all shit’, but ‘we’re in the shit’ can also be used, depending on context. It is not, as internet translations coyly have it, ‘get lost’ or ‘go to hell’.

  Pompa

  The parade that signalled the start of a gladiatorial munus; it included the munerarius, usually in some outlandish costume and carriage, the gladiators, musicians, a palm-bearer, and various other officials and personnel, such as a sign-bearer whose placard gave the crowd information about events, participants and other matters, including the Emperor’s response to petitions.

  Palmyra

  Documents mention the city in the second millennium BC, and by the third century it was the pre-eminent trade point for caravans travelling up and down the Silk Road and a city-state not dominated by Rome. The city’s social structure was tribal, and its inhabitants spoke Palmyrene, a dialect of Aramaic, using Greek for diplomacy and commerce. It reached the apex of its power in the 260s, when the Palmyrene King Odaenathus defeated Sasanid Emperor Shapur. The king was succeeded by his wife, Queen Zenobia, acting as regent for their son. She rebelled against Rome and established the Palmyrene Empire.

  Pollice verso

  ‘With thumb turned’. Much debated signal, though most assume the thumb is turned down if a gladiator is to die. There are accounts of it being passed across the throat, turned to the heart, and so on.

  Pugnare ad digitum

  To ‘fight to the finger’. Combat took place until the referee stopped the fight or the defeated gladiator raised his finger (or his hand or whole arm) to signal the munerarius to stop the fight.

  Recipere ferrum

  To receive the iron. A defeated gladiator who was refused missio was expected to kneel and courageously accept death. His victorious opponent would stab him or cut his throat. The referee made sure it was done properly and swiftly.

  Sine missione

  Without missio, a fight with no possibility of a reprieve for the loser. Rare.

  Six

  Number tagged against a fighter’s name in the Ludus he was part of when he had died. Origin unknown – but to be ‘sixed’ means you are a dead man.

  Stantes missi

  A draw, with both ‘sent away standing’. Both gladiators walked away, neither having won nor lost.

  The Ludi

  Games in general, and festivals involving games. Games could be private, public or extraordinary – since gladiators were so expensive to train and keep, they fought three or four times a year and, unless the giver of the Games – the Munerius – paid for it, there was no fight to the death. Contests were, in fact, one-on-one and regulated by a referee, usually a former gladiator. Criminals and prisoners could be damned to fight in the arena, with the hope of a reprieve if they survived a certain number of years. These men were trained in a specialised form of combat. Others, untrained, were expected to die within a short time. There were also volunteer gladiators, ones who either enlisted voluntarily as free or freed men, or who re-enlisted after winning their freedom. Even equites and, more rarely, senators sometimes enlisted. The word ‘gladiator’ simply means ‘swordsman’.

  The Mountain Jews

  The Mountain Jews, or Jews of the Caucasus, have inhabited the region since the fifth century AD. Being the descendants of the Persian Jews of Iran, their migration from Persia proper to the Caucasus took place in the time this book is set, but it is believed that they had arrived in Persia, from Ancient Israel, as early as the eighth century BC.

  The City of Sharp-Nosed Fish

  A translation of Oxyrhynchos, which was a town south of Cairo now ennobled by its waste paper. The total lack of rain in this part of Egypt had preserved the papyrus beneath the sand, as nowhere else in the Roman Empire. This is where you hear the voices of the workers and traders set against the great events in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of Christianity. If you never read anything else about Roman history, find City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish by Peter Parsons.

  The Gladiators

  Eques

  A gladiator who fought on horseback, like a Roman knight, against other mounted fighters. An eques carried a spear, but also used a sword, so he could dismount to duel with an opponent. His helmet often displayed two feathers on either side of the dome (with no crest).

  Essedarius

  A chariot-fighter who probably dismounted to fight hand to hand.

  Familia gladiatorium

  A troupe of gladiators who lived and trained under one lanista.

  Gallus

  A Gaul, a type of heavily armed fighter named after the Romans’ tribal enemy. The original Galli were probably war captives. This type of fighter died out in the Empire.

  Hoplomachus

  This gladiator was distinguished by his short, curved sword. Like a Thrax, he wore high leg guards.

  Lanista

  An owner, recruiter, trainer, and speculator in gladiators who sold or rented men to munerarii. In the Empire this job came under the jurisdiction of the Emperor.

  Liberatio

  The freeing of a gladiator who had served his time (a period of years varying according to when and how he was inducted).

  Manica

  Arm padding of wrapped cloth and leather.

  Murmillo

  A fighter apparently named after a Greek word for fish. He wore a crested helmet and carried a tall shield.

  Retiarius

  This was the most distinctive-looking gladiator, a bare-headed, unshielded fighter whose main protection was padding and a shoulder guard on his left arm. He used a net to ensnare his opponent and a long trident to impale him.

  Rudiarius

  A gladiator who had received a rudis – the wooden sword that marked him as retired and no longer a slave – was an experienced volunteer, especially worth watching. There was a hierarchy of experienced rudiarii within a familia of gladiators, and rudiarii could become trainers, helpers, and arbiters of fights, the referees. The most elite of the retired gladiators were dubbed summa rudis. The summa rudis officials wore white tunics with purple borders and served as technical experts to ensure that the gladiators fought bravely, skilfully, and according to the rules. They carried batons and whips with which they pointed out illegal movements. Ultimately the summa rudis officials could stop a game if a gladiator was going to be too seriously wounded, compel gladiators to fight on, or defer the decision to the Exhibitor. Retired gladiators who became summa rudi
s achieved fame and wealth in their second careers as officials of the combats.

  Samnis

  Like the Gallus, the Samnis (Samnite) was originally an enemy of the Romans, from Campania in the south. Captives taken in battle in the Republic undoubtedly provided the model for this type of heavily armed fighter.

  Secutor

  The ‘follower’ was paired with a retiarius. His armour was distinguished by a helmet with small eyeholes that would presumably impede the trident’s prongs.

  Thrax

  The Thracian was another type of fighter equipped like a former enemy soldier (from Thrace in northern Greece). He fought with a small rectangular shield and his helmet bore a griffin crest.

  Tiro

  A gladiator fighting in his very first public combat.

  Venator

  Venatores were skilled spearmen, usually pitted against carnivorous beasts.

  Veteranus

  A veteran of one or more combats.

  The Gear

  Fascia

  A band of cloth or leather that protected the leg below the knee and provided padding beneath a greave.

  Fascina (or tridens)

  The long, three-pronged metal trident that was the hallmark of a retiarius.

  Galea

  The helmet worn by all gladiators except the retiarius. These were domed and often featured decorative crests and visors pierced with eyeholes.

  Galerus

  The distinctive metal shoulder guard of a retiarius. It curved up strongly from the shoulder, away from the neck, so that neck and head were protected but the fighter’s head movements were not restricted.

  Gladius

  This was the straight stabbing sword of the gladiator after which he was named.

  Ocrea

  A metal leg guard that ran from the knee (or above) to the shin and protected mainly the front of the leg.

  Parma

  A round or square shield that was smaller and lighter than a scutum.