Fire in the East

by Harry Sidebottom

Conticinium: The still time of the day, when the cocks have stopped crowing but men are usually still asleep.

  Contubernium: A group of ten soldiers who share a tent; by extension ‘comradeship’.

  Curule: A chair adorned with ivory, the ‘throne’ that was one of the symbols of high Roman office.

  Cursus publicus: The imperial Roman posting service, whereby those with official passes, diplomata, would be given remounts.

  Denarius: A Roman silver coin.

  Dignitas: Important Roman concept which covers our idea of dignity but goes much further; famously, Julius Caesar claimed that his dignitas meant more to him than life itself.

  Diplomata: Official passes which allowed the bearer access to the cursus publicus.

  Disciplina: Discipline; Romans considered that they had this quality and others lacked it.

  Dominus: Lord, Master, Sir; a title of respect (Latin).

  Draco: Literally a snake or dragon; name given to a windsock-style military . standard shaped like a dragon.

  Dracontarius: A Roman standard-bearer who carried a draco.

  Drafsh-i-Kavyan: The battle standard of the Sassanid royal house.

  Dromedarii: Roman soldiers mounted on camels.

  Dux Ripae: The Commander, or Duke, of the Riverbanks; a Roman military officer in charge of the defences along the Euphrates river in the third century AD; historically based at Dura-Europos, in this novel based at Arete.

  Elagabalus: Patron god of the town of Emesa in Syria, a sun god, also name often given to one of his priests who became the Roman emperor formally known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (AD218-222).

  Epotis: The ‘ear timber’ of a trireme projecting out from the side of the vessel just behind the ram.

  Equestrian: The second rank down in the Roman social pyramid, the elite order just below the Senators.

  Equites singulares: Cavalry bodyguards; in Rome one of the permanent units protecting the emperors; in the provinces ad hoc units set up by military commanders.

  Eupatrids: From the Greek, meaning the ‘well-born’, aristocrats.

  Exactor: The accountant in a Roman military unit.

  Familia: Latin term for family, and by extension the entire household including slaves.

  Franks: A confederation of German tribes.

  Frigidarium: Cold room of a Roman bath.

  Frumentarius, plural frumentarii: They were a military unit based on the Caelian Hill in Rome; the emperors’ secret police; messengers, spies and assassins.

  Germania: The lands where the German tribes lived.

  Gladius: A Roman military short sword; generally superseded by the spatha by the mid-third century AD; also slang for ‘penis’.

  Goths: A confederation of Germanic tribes.

  Harii: A German tribe, renowned night fighters.

  Haruspex, plural haruspices: A priest who divines the will of the gods; one would be part of the official staff of a Roman governor.

  Hibernia: Modern Ireland.

  Hyperboreans: Legendary race of men who lived in the far north, beyond the north wind.

  Hypozomata: A rope forming the undergirdle of a trireme; there were usually two of them.

  Ides: the thirteenth day of the month in short months, the fifteenth in long months.

  Immortals: A Sassanid guard unit of (possibly) 1 ,000 men.

  Imperium: The power to issue orders and exact obedience; official military command.

  Imperium romanum: The power of the Romans, i.e., the Roman empire.

  Jan-avasper: Those who sacrifice themselves, a Sassanid guard unit.

  Kalends: The first day of the month.

  Kyrios: Lord, Master, Sir; a title of respect (Greek).

  Lanista: A trainer of gladiators.

  Legio IIII Scythica: A Roman legion from the second half of the first century AD based at Zeugma in Syria; in Fire in the East a detachment, vexillatio, of this legion forms part of the garrison of the city of Arete.

  Legion: A unit of heavy infantry, usually about 5 ,000 men strong; from mythical times the backbone of the Roman army; the numbers in a legion and the legion’s dominance in the army declined during the third century AD as more and more detachments, vexillationes, served away from the parent unit and became more or less independent units.

  Libertas: Latin for liberty or freedom, its meaning was contingent on when it was said and who by.

  Librarius: The bookkeeper or scribe of a Roman military unit.

  Liburnian: A name given in the time of the Roman empire to a small warship, possibly rowed by about fifty men on two levels.

  Limes imperii: Latin for the limits of empire, the borders of the Roman imperium.

  Magi: Name given by Greeks and Romans to Persian priests, often thought of as sorcerers.

  Mandata: Instructions issued by the emperors to their governors and officials.

  Margazan: Persian term for one who commits a sin, like cowardice in battle, and deserves death.

  Mazda: (Also Ahuramazda) ‘The Wise Lord’, the supreme god of Zoroastrianism.

  Mentula: Latin obscenity for penis, i.e., ‘prick’.

  Meridiatio: Siesta time.

  Meshike: The site of a battle fought some time between 13 January and 14 March AD244 in which Shapur I claimed to have defeated Gordian III. Greek and Roman sources do not mention this battle. Renamed Peroz-Shapur, the ‘Victory of Shapur’, by the Sassanid king, it became known as Pirisabora to the Romans.

  Miles, plural milites: Soldier.

  Mobads: Persian name for class of priests.

  Murmillo: A type of heavily armed gladiator with a helmet crest in the shape of a fish.

  Nones: The ninth day of a month before the ides, i.e., the fifth day of a short month, the seventh of a long month.

  Numerus, plural numeri: Latin name given to a Roman army unit, especially to ad hoc units outside the regular army structure, often units raised from semi- or non-Romanized peoples which retained their indigenous fighting techniques; thus in Fire in the East the titles of the units formed from mercenaries and local levies and commanded by the caravan protectors.

  Oneiromanteia: Greek term for telling the future by the interpretation of dreams.

  Oneiroskopos: A ‘dream-scout’, one of the Greek names given to an interpreter of dreams.

  Optio: Junior officer in the Roman army, ranked below a centurion.

  Paideia: Culture; Greeks considered it marked them off from the rest of the world, and the Greek elite considered it marked them off from the rest of the Greeks.

  Parexeiresia: The outrigger of a trireme which allowed the upper level of oarsmen to row.

  Parthians: Rulers of the eastern empire centred on modern Iraq and Iran overthrown by the Sassanid Persians in the 2205 AD.

  Paedagogus: Schoolmaster.

  Pepaideumenos, plural pepaideumenoi: Greek term for one of the highly educated or cultured.

  Peroz: Victory (Persian).

  Pilus Prior: The senior centurion in a Roman army unit.

  Porta Aquaria: The Water Gate; in this novel the eastern gate of the city of Arete.

  Praefectus: ‘Prefect’, a flexible Latin title for many officials and officers, typically the commander of an auxiliary unit.

  Praefectus fabrum: A Roman army officer, a general’s Chief of Engineers.

  Praepositus: Latin term for a commander; in this novel the title given to the caravan protectors as commanders of numeri.

  Praetorian prefect: The commander of the Praetorian Guard, an equestrian.

  Princeps peregrinorum: The commander of the frumentarii, a senior centurion.

  Priricipatus: (In English, the ‘principate’) Rule of the Princeps, the rule of the Roman imperium by the emperors.

  Principia: The headquarters building of a Roman army camp.

  Procurator: A Latin title for a range of officials, under the principate typically a financial officer of the emperors operating in the provinces.

  Provocator: A type of gladiator.

 
Pugio: A Roman military dagger, one of the symbols which marked out a soldier.

  Retiarius: A type of lightly equipped gladiator armed with a trident and net.

  Sassanids: The Persian dynasty that overthrew the Parthians in the 220S AD and were Rome’s great eastern rivals until the seventh century AD.

  Senate: The council of Rome, under the emperors composed of about 600 men, the vast majority ex-magistrates, with some imperial favourites. The senatorial order was the richest and most prestigious group in the empire, but suspicious emperors were beginning to exclude them from military commands in the mid-third century AD.

  Spatha: A long Roman sword, the normal type of sword carried by all troops by the mid-third century AD.

  Speculator: A scout in the Roman army.

  Strategos: General (Greek).

  Strigil: A scraper used by bathers for scraping oil and dirt off their skin.

  Subura: The district of Rome between the Esquiline and Viminal hills, a notorious slum.

  Synodiarch: Greek term for a ‘caravan protector’, the unusual group of rich and powerful men historically known in Palmyra and in this novel in the city of Arete.

  Tadmor: The name for the city of Palmyra used by the locals.

  Telones: Customs official (Greek).

  Tepidarium: Warm room of a Roman bath.

  Testudo: Literally, tortoise (Latin), by analogy both a Roman infantry formation with overlapping shields, similar to a northern ‘shieldburg’, and a mobile shed protecting a siege engine.

  Touloutegon: A Roman cavalry manoeuvre.

  Tribunus laticlavius: A young Roman of senatorial family doing military service as an officer in a legion; there was one per legion.

  Trierarch: The commander of a trireme, in the Roman forces equivalent in rank to a centurion.

  Trireme: An ancient warship, a galley rowed by about 200 men on three levels.

  Turma, plural, turmae: A small sub unit of Roman cavalry, usually about 30 men strong.

  Venationes: Beast hunts in the Roman arena.

  Vexillatio: A sub unit of Roman troops detached from its parent unit.

  Vinae: Literally Latin for vine trellises; name given to mobile covered siege shelters because of their shape.

  Vir egregius: Knight of Rome, a man of the equestrian order.

  Xynema: A Roman cavalry manoeuvre.

  List of Emperors in the First Half of the Third Century AD

  List of Characters

  To avoid giving away any of the plot, characters usually are only described as first encountered in Fire in the East.

  Acilius Glabrio: Marcus Acilius Glabrio, Tribunus Laticlavius of Legio IIII, commander of the detachment of the legion in Arete; a young patrician.

  Alexander: A nondescript councillor of Arete.

  Anamu: A synodiarch (caravan protector) and councillor of Arete.

  Antigonus: A trooper in Cohors XX, selected to serve in the equites singulares of Ballista.

  Antoninus Prior: Pilus Prior, First Centurion, of Cohors I of Legio IIII.

  Antoninus Posterior: Centurion of Cohors II of Legio IIII.

  Ardashir: King of Adiabene, son and vassal of Shapur.

  Bagoas: The ‘Persian Boy’, a slave purchased by Ballista on the island of Delos; he claims his name before enslavement was Hormizd.

  Ballista: Marcus Clodius Ballista, originally named Dernhelm, son of Isangrim the Dux, warleader, of the Angles; a diplomatic hostage in the Roman empire, he has been granted Roman citizenship and equestrian status, having served in the Roman army in Africa, the far west and on the Danube. When the novel starts he has just been appointed Dux Ripae.

  Bathshiba: Daughter of Iarhai.

  Bonitus: A famous Roman siege engineer.

  Calgacus: A Caledonian slave originally owned by Isangrim sent by him to serve as a body servant to his son Ballista in the Roman empire.

  Callinicus of Petra: A Greek sophist.

  Castricius: A legionary in Legio IIII.

  Celsus: A famous Roman siege engineer.

  Cocceius: Titus Cocceius Malchiana, a decurion in command of the first turma of cavalry in Cohors XX.

  Demetrius: The ‘Greek Boy’, a slave purchased by Julia to serve as her husband Ballista’s secretary.

  Dinak: Queen of Mesene, a daughter of Shapur.

  Felix (1): A centurion in Cohors XX.

  Felix (2): An unlucky trooper in the equites singulares of Ballista.

  Gallienus: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus, declared joint Roman emperor by his father, the emperor Valerian, in AD253.

  Haddudad: A mercenary captain serving larhai.

  Hamazasp: King of Georgia, a vassal of Shapur.

  Hannibal: A nickname given to a frumentarius from North Africa serving as a scribe on the staff of Ballista.

  larhai: A synodiarch (caravan protector) and councillor of Arete.

  Ingenuus: A Roman general on the Danube.

  lotapianus: A pretender to the Roman throne in AD248-249, from Emesa.

  Isangrim: Dux, warleader, of the Angles, father of Dernhelm/Ballista.

  Josephus: A Christian mistaken for a philosopher.

  Julia: Wife of Ballista.

  Karen: A Parthian nobleman, the head of the house of Karen, a vassal of Shapur.

  Lucius Fabius: Centurion of Cohors I of Legio IIII, stationed at the Porta Aquaria.

  Mamurra: Praefectus Fabrum (chief of engineers) to Ballista.

  Mariades: A member of the elite of Antioch who turned bandit before going over to the Sassanids.

  Maximinus Thrax: Gaius Iulius Verus Maximinus, Roman emperor AD235- 23 8, known as ‘Thrax’ (‘The Thracian’) because of his lowly origins.

  Maximus: Bodyguard to Ballista; originally a Hibernian warrior known as Muirtagh of the Long Road, sold to slave traders and trained as a boxer, then gladiator, before being purchased by Ballista.

  Odenaethus: Septimius Odenaethus, Lord of Palmyra/Tadmor, a client ruler of the Roman empire.

  Ogelos: A synodiarch (caravan protector) and councillor of Arete.

  Otes: A councillor of Arete, a eunuch.

  Philip the Arab: Marcus Iulius Philippus, Praetorian Prefect under Gordian III, became Roman Emperor AD244-249.

  Priscus (1): Optio, second-in-command, of the trireme Concordia.

  Priscus (2):Gaius Iulius Priscus, brother of Philip the Arab.

  Prosper: Gaius Licinius Prosper, a young optio serving in Legio IIII.

  Pudens (1): Centurion of Cohors II of Legio IIII.

  Pudens (2): A lumpen Macedonian soldier who ends up as standard-bearer to Ballista.

  Romulus: A trooper of Cohors XX appointed standard-bearer to Ballista.

  Sampsigeramus: King of the Roman client kingdom of Emesa and high priest of Elagabalus.

  Sasan: Prince, ‘the hunter’, a son of Shapur.

  Scribonius Mucianus: Gaius Scribonius Mucianus, Tribune commanding Cohors XX.

  Seleucus: Pilus Prior, First Centurion, of Cohors II of Legio IIII.

  Sertorius: Nickname given to a frumentarius from the Iberian peninsular, serving as a scribe on the staff of Ballista.

  Shapur I: (or Sapor) Second Sassanid King of Kings, son of Ardashir I.

  Suren: A Parthian nobleman, the head of the house of Suren, vassal of Shapur.

  Theodotus: A councillor of Arete, a Christian priest.

  Turpio: Titus Flavius Turpio, Pilus Prior, First Centurion, of Cohors XX.

  Uranius Antoninus: Lucius Iulius Aurelius Uranius Antoninus, from Emesa, pretender to the Roman throne AD253-254.

  Valash: Prince, ‘the joy of Shapur’, a son of Shapur.

  Valerian (1): Publius Licinius Valerianus, an elderly Italian senator elevated to Roman emperor in AD253.

  Valerian (2): Publius Cornelius Licinius Valerianus, eldest son of Gallienus, grandson of Valerian, made Caesar in AD256.

  Vardan: A captain serving under the Lord Suren.

  Verodes: Chief minister to Odenaethus.

  Vindex: A trooper
in the equites singulares of Ballista, a Gaul.

  Zenobia: Wife of Odenaethus of Palmyra.

  Warrior of Rome

  PART II

  King of Kings

  Read on for a taster of the next instalment in the Warrior of Rome series

  Prologue (Autumn AD256)

  They were riding for their lives. The first day in the desert they had pushed hard, but always within their horses’ limits. Completely alone, there had been no sign of pursuit. That evening in camp among the muted, tired conversations there had been a fragile mood of optimism. It was smashed beyond recall in the morning.

  As they crested a slight ridge Ballista pulled his horse to one side off the rough track and let the other thirteen riders and one pack horse pass. He looked back the way they had come. The sun was not up yet, but its beams were beginning to chase away the dark of the night. And there at the centre of the spreading semi-circle of numinous yellow light, just at the point where in a few moments the sun would break the horizon was a column of dust.

  Ballista studied it intensely. The column was dense and isolated. It rose straight and tall, until a breeze in the upper air pulled it away to the south and dissipated it. In the flat, featureless desert it is always difficult to judge distances. Four or five miles away, too far to see what was causing it. But Ballista knew. It was a troop of men. Out here in the deep desert it had to be a troop of mounted men; horses or camels, or both. Again, the distance was too great to make an accurate estimate of the numbers, but to kick up that amount of dust there had to be four or five times as many as rode with Ballista. That the column of dust did not incline to left or right but seemed to rise up completely straight showed that they were following. With a hollow feeling Ballista accepted it for what it was - the enemy was chasing them, a large body of Sassanid Persian cavalry were on their trail.

  Looking round Ballista realized that those with him had stopped. Their attention was divided between him and the dust cloud. Ballista pushed them out of his thoughts. He scanned through 360 degrees. Open, slightly undulating desert. Sand with a thick scattering of small and sharp, dun-coloured rocks. Enough to hide a myriad scorpions and snakes, nothing to hide a man, let alone fourteen riders and fifteen horses.