Praesental Army; Literally ‘the Army in the Emperor’s Presence’. By the late 4th century AD, the Eastern and Western Emperors each possessed such an army, comprised of crack corps of Auxilia Palatina infantry legions and Scholae Palatinae cavalry brigades as well as many more specialist units. It is thought that both Eastern and Western Praesental Armies numbered upwards of thirty thousand men.
Posca; Wine soured with vinegar and flavoured with herbs – a favourite of the legions.
Praetorium; A fort commander’s living quarters.
Primus Pilus; The chief centurion of a legion. So called, as his own century would line up in the first file (pilus) of the first cohort (primus).
Principia; Situated in the centre of a Roman fort or marching camp, the principia served as the headquarters. In a standing fort, the principia would be laid out as a square, with three wings enclosing a parade area. The legionary standards, wage chest and religious shrines were housed inside the wings along with various administrative offices.
Quadriga; Ceremonial chariot towed by four horses.
Reiks; In Gothic society, a reiks was a tribal leader or warlord. Whenever the Gothic tribes came together to fight as a united people, a ‘council’ of reiks would elect one man to serve as their Iudex, overall leader of the alliance.
Sacrum Consistorium; The Roman Emperor’s ‘Sacred Council’ or inner circle of advisers.
Sagittarius (pl. Sagittarii); Roman foot archer. Typically equipped with a bronze helm and nose-guard, mail vest, composite bow and quiver.
Schola Palatinum (pl. Scholae Palatinae); The elite cavalry regiments of the later Roman Empire. Typically, these crack riders would serve in the Emperor’s Praesental Army.
Semispatha; A half-sized version of the legionary spatha.
Signaculum; a leather necklace and pouch bearing two small lead discs with the legion’s name on one side and their own name on the reverse.
Signifer; Standard-bearer for a Roman century.
Solidus (pl. Solidi); Valuable gold coin in the later Roman Empire.
Spatha; The Roman straight sword up to one metre long, favoured by the Roman infantry and cavalry.
Speculator (pl. Speculatores); A shadowy secret police employed throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. They tended to focus on internal affairs and domestic threats, carrying coded messages, spying, and assassinating on command.
Testudo; Formation where infantry place shields around all sides and overhead of their unit, thus providing protection from missiles from all directions.
Thermae; Roman bathhouse, comprising a dressing room (apodyterium), cold room (frigidarium), warm room (tepidarium) and hot room (caldarium).
Timpani; Also known as kettledrums, these instruments consist of skin stretched over a copper bowl.
Tiro; A legionary recruit.
Tribunus (pl. Tribuni); The senior officer of a legion. In the late 4th century AD, a tribunus was usually in charge of one or more legions of limitanei or comitatenses.
Trireme; A war galley with three banks of oars.
Turma (pl. Turmae); The smallest unit of Roman cavalry, numbering thirty riders.
Valetudinarium; A medical building in a Roman camp or fort.
Vexillatio (pl. Vexillationes); A detachment of a Roman legion formed as a temporary task force.
Via Egnatia; Highway constructed in the 2nd century BC running from Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea, all the way through Thrace to Constantinople.
Via Militaris; The nearly 1000km long highway constructed in the 1st century AD running from Constantinople all the way through the Dioceses of Thracia, Dacia and on into Pannonia to the fortress-city of Singidunum. So-called because it was the main road the legions used to traverse the Balkan Peninsula.
Vigiles; The city watch – probably the Roman equivalent of modern firemen and police.
If you enjoyed Legionary: Empire of Shades, why not try:
Strategos: Born in the Borderlands, by Gordon Doherty
When the falcon has flown, the mountain lion will charge from the east, and all Byzantium will quake. Only one man can save the empire . . . the Haga!
1046 AD. The Byzantine Empire teeters on the brink of all-out war with the Seljuk Sultanate. In the borderlands of Eastern Anatolia, a land riven with bloodshed and doubt, young Apion's life is shattered in one swift and brutal Seljuk night raid. Only the benevolence of Mansur, a Seljuk farmer, offers him a second chance of happiness.
Yet a hunger for revenge burns in Apion's soul, and he is drawn down a dark path that leads him right into the heart of a conflict that will echo through the ages.
Marius Mules: The Invasion of Gaul, by S.J.A. Turney
It is 58 BC and the mighty Tenth Legion, camped in Northern Italy, prepare for the arrival of the most notorious general in Roman history: Julius Caesar.
Marcus Falerius Fronto, commander of the Tenth is a career soldier and long-time companion of Caesar's. Despite his desire for the simplicity of the military life, he cannot help but be drawn into intrigue and politics as Caesar engineers a motive to invade the lands of Gaul.
Fronto is about to discover that politics can be as dangerous as battle, that old enemies can be trusted more than new friends, and that standing close to such a shining figure as Caesar, even the most ethical of men risk being burned.
Table of Contents
Maps & Military Charts
Part 1 The Dead of Winter, Thracia, Early 379 AD
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part 2 Into Barbaricum, Spring 379 AD
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part 3 The Sons of Fritigern, Late Summer 379 AD
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Part 4 March of the Black Horde, Summer 380 AD
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Glossary
EMPIRE OF SHADES Page 41
