The Wolves of the North

by Harry Sidebottom

  Legatus extra ordinem Scythica: Extraordinary envoy to the Scythians.

  Legion: 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 legions’ 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.

  Legionary: Roman regular soldier serving in a legion.

  Lesbian: From the Greek island of Lesbos; their wine was highly praised in antiquity, and was sometimes mixed with seawater.

  Lesser Rhombites: Ancient name for the river Kirpilli, flowing into the eastern shore of Lake Maeotis, the modern Sea of Azov.

  Libation: Offering of drink to the gods.

  Libertas: Latin term for freedom or liberty; a political slogan throughout much of Roman history, though its meaning changed according to an author’s philosophical principles or the system of government that happened to be in power. More technically, the state of being free as opposed to being a slave.

  Libitinarii: Funerary men, the carriers out of the dead; they had to reside beyond the town limits, and had to ring a bell when they came into town to perform their duties.

  Liburnian: Name given in the time of the Roman empire to a small warship, possibly rowed on two levels.

  Logos: Greek philosophical term meaning ‘reason’; in many ancient theological systems, the mind was said to govern the universe.

  Loki: In Norse mythology, the trickster, bad god.

  Lustral: Pertaining to a religious ceremony of purification.

  Lycia: Region on the south coast of modern Turkey.

  Lydia: Kingdom in Asia Minor, conquered by the Persians in 546BC.

  Macrophali: Greek, literally ‘long-headed’, peoples who practised head-binding, leading to an elongated skull.

  Maeotae: Group of peoples living in the area of the Maeotian marshes, found on the eastern shores of Lake Maeotis, the modern Sea of Azov.

  Maeotis: The Sea of Azov.

  Maiestas: Latin, ‘majesty’; the majesty of the Roman imperium was a core component of imperial ideology, and maintaining Roman prestige among barbarian tribes was central to foreign policy; offences against Roman maiestas, personified by the emperor, were considered treasonous and punishable by death.

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

  Manichaeism: Religion founded by the ‘prophet’ Mani (AD216–76); a mixture of pagan, Christian and Persian beliefs, which opposed good (identified with the mind) against evil (identified with matter).

  Manichaeans: Followers of the religious leader Mani (AD216–76).

  Manumission: In Roman law, the legal act of freeing a slave.

  Massilia: Roman port on the southern shores of Gaul; modern Marseilles.

  Mediolanum: Roman city in north Italy; modern Milan.

  Menog: Persian word for spirit, immaterial; the spirit plane.

  Middle Earth: In Norse culture, the world of men, as opposed to Asgard, the realm of the gods.

  Miles Arcana: Latin, miles, ‘a soldier’, arcana, ‘secret’, so in English, ‘secret soldier’.

  Milesians: People of the city of Miletus, in Ionia.

  Mithras: Eastern god popular among Roman soldiers.

  Mobads: Persian priests of the Zoroastrian religion.

  Moesia Inferior: Roman province south of the Danube, running from Moesia Superior in the west to the Black Sea in the east.

  Mordens: Tribe living in the region of the river Volga.

  Mural Crown: Roman award for valour, for being the first over the wall of an enemy town; in the principate, reserved for officers.

  Museum: Temple of the Muses in Alexandria, an institution that attracted leading intellectuals from all over the Greek world, who came to study in its vast library and would lecture in its precincts; origin of the modern word ‘museum’.

  Mycenae: Seat of the legendary King Agamemnon in the epic poems of Homer.

  Naglfar: In Norse mythology, a ship made from the finger- and toenails of the dead, which will carry the armies to battle with the gods at the end of days.

  Navarchos: Greek, literally, ‘ship commander’; the commander of a squadron of ships.

  Nemausus: Town in Gaul (modern Nîmes); possibly the birthplace of Castricius.

  Nerthus: Germanic earth goddess.

  Nervii: Germanic tribe feared for their fighting skills, originally from the area of modern Belgium.

  Niflheim: In Norse mythology, the underworld for those who do not die in battle.

  Nithing: Germanic word for coward, wretch; highly derogatory.

  Norns: In Norse mythology, the three goddesses responsible for weaving the destinies of gods and men.

  Novae: Town on the south bank of the Danube; successfully defended from Gothic attack by the future emperor Gallus in AD250.

  Obol: Small-denomination Greek coin.

  Olbia: Town near the mouth of the Dnieper river.

  Omega: Last letter of the Greek alphabet, shaped like a curving ‘U’, with longer cross-pieces to the top which project at either side.

  Ordo: Latin term, meaning a social or professional class.

  Ornamenta Consularia: The ‘ornaments’ of a consul; often used by Rome as a diplomatic gift to foreigners.

  Oxygala: Greek sour milk or yoghurt.

  Palmyra: Now-abandoned city in central Syria; in the chaos of the third century AD, its ruler was put in charge of the Roman provinces of the east by the emperor Gallienus.

  Pamphylia: Region on the southern coast of modern Turkey.

  Panticapaeum: Greek, literally, ‘all-cradling’; a trading city at the eastern end of the Crimean peninsula, now modern Kerch.

  Paraclete: Greek for advocate, go-between; became a religiously charged term for someone able to intercede with the divine.

  Paradise: Persian for garden or game reserve.

  Parthia: Empire centred around north-eastern Iran, conquered in AD224 by Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid empire.

  Pataroue Point: Headland on the eastern shores of the Sea of Azov.

  Patronus: Latin, ‘patron’; once a slave had been manumitted and become a freedman, his former owner became his patronus; there were duties and obligations on both sides.

  Patronymic: Ancient practice of taking a father’s name as part of the personal name.

  Pepaideumenoi: Greek, literally, ‘those who have been educated’; members of the intellectual elite.

  Perge: Regional capital of Pamphylia, an area on the southern coast of modern Turkey.

  Phanagoria: Town on the eastern shore of the straits of Kerch, leading into the Sea of Azov.

  Pharos: Greek term for a lighthouse.

  Phasis: Town on the eastern shores of the Black Sea.

  Phoibos: Title of the god Apollo, literally, ‘the Radiant’.

  Physiognomy: Ancient ‘science’ of studying people’s faces, bodies and deportment to discover their character, and thus both their past and future.

  Pileus: Felt cap, given to freed slaves as a symbol of their new liberty; adopted by French revolutionaries in the eighteenth century, and still worn by some modern personifications of France.

  Platonic: Pertaining to the philosopher Plato.

  Polis: Greek, a city state; living in one was a key marker in being considered Greek and/or civilized.

  Poseidon: Greek god of the sea.

  Praeco: Latin, ‘herald’.

  Praenomen and nomen: Latin, ‘forename’ and ‘family name’. Slaves were given only one name; if they were freed, they adopted the forename and family name of their previous masters, giving them the three names symbolizing a free Roman.

  Prefect of Cavalry: Senior military post introduced in the mid-third century AD.

  Principate: Rule of the Princeps; the rule of the Roman imperium by the emperors.

  Procurator of the Hellespontine Provinces: In Roman imperial government, a
procurator oversaw the collection of taxes and goods; the Hellespontine provinces bordered the northern shores of the Hellespont, the modern Dardanelles.

  Prometheus: Divine figure, one of the Titans; variously believed to have created mankind out of clay, tricked the gods into accepting only the bones and fat of sacrifices, and stolen fire from Olympus for mortals. Zeus chained him to a peak in the Caucasus, where an eagle daily ate his liver.

  Proskynesis: Greek, ‘adoration’; given to the gods and in some periods to some rulers, including emperors in the third century AD and foreign potentates. There were two types: full prostration on the ground, or bowing and blowing a kiss with the fingertips. Barbarian princes merited the lesser form.

  Psessoi: One of the tribes of the Maeotae living on the eastern shore of Lake Maeotis, the modern Sea of Azov.

  Puer: Latin, ‘boy’; used by owners of male slaves, and by soldiers of each other.

  Ragas: Tribe living along the banks of the Volga.

  Ragnarok: In Norse paganism, the death of gods and men, the end of time.

  Res Publica: Latin, ‘the Roman Republic’; under the emperors, it continued to mean the Roman empire.

  Reudigni: Germanic tribe from the north.

  Rha river: The Volga.

  Rhombites: Ancient name for the modern river Yeia, flowing into the eastern shore of Lake Maeotis, the modern Sea of Azov.

  Rogas: Tribe living to the north of the Caucasus mountains.

  Rosomoni: Elite clan of the Heruli tribe; their name perhaps means ‘Red ones’, either referring to the colour of their tattoos or the dyeing of their hair.

  Rune sticks: Sticks marked with runes and thrown into the air; the patterns they made were used by the northern tribes to read the future.

  Sacramentum: Roman military oath, taken extremely seriously.

  Sarmatians: Nomadic peoples living north of the Danube.

  Sassanid: Persian, from the dynasty that overthrew the Parthians in the 220s AD and was Rome’s great eastern rival until the seventh century AD.

  Saturnalia: Roman festival in honour of the god Saturn, taking place over several days around midwinter, marked with feasting and gift-giving.

  Saxones: North Germanic tribe.

  Scadinavia: Ancient name for the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, thought in antiquity to be an island; also called Scandza.

  Scapulimancy: Practice of telling the future from the cracks in burnt shoulder blades, known as scapulae in Latin.

  Sceptouchos: Greek, literally, ‘sceptre-bearer’; a high office in the Persian empire and the title of a noble in the region of the Caucasus.

  Scrithiphini: Scandinavian tribe.

  Scythia: Term used by Greeks and Romans of the lands to the north and east of the Black Sea, roughly bordered by the Danube in the west, the Volga in the east and the Caucasus to the south. Its nomadic peoples were a source of fantastical tales for ancient geographers and began to take on a terrifying aspect from the frequent raids they made on the Roman empire. Raiding increased in intensity throughout the third century AD.

  Scythians: Greek and Latin name for various northern and often nomadic barbarian peoples.

  Seal of the Prophets: The religious leader Mani claimed that his coming was foretold in the New Testament, and that he would be the final prophet sent from god.

  Selene: Greek moon goddess.

  Senator: Member of the senate, the council of Rome. The senatorial order was the richest and most prestigious group in the empire; in the third century AD, suspicious emperors were beginning to exclude them from military commands and imperial offices.

  Sirachoi: Tribe living on the north-western edge of the Caucasus mountains, subject to the Alani.

  Skalks: Gothic, ‘slave’.

  Socratic dialogue: Literary genre taking the form of conversations on philosophical themes, popularized by Plato’s more or less imagined discussions with Socrates.

  Sophist: Highly regarded public speaker who specialized in display oratory.

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

  Spolia Opima: Roman generals who personally killed the opposing commander in combat were allowed to strip the armour from their enemy and dedicate it to the gods. The honour was so potent that Augustus, later to become the first Roman emperor, blocked the claim of one of his generals on very spurious grounds to avoid being outdone. Only known to have been won three times, the last in 222BC.

  Stipendium: Latin military term for a soldier or sailor’s pay.

  Styx: In Greek and Roman mythology, the river marking the boundary of the underworld. The spirits of the dead had to pay to be ferried across.

  Suania: Kingdom in the high Caucasus; included the modern district of Georgia called Svaneti.

  Subura: Poor quarter of the city of Rome.

  Suebian sea: Ancient name for the Baltic.

  Syzygos: Greek, literally ‘yoked together’, so consort. In ancient mystical religions, a term for a companion angel.

  Taifali: Germanic tribe settled around the river Danube. Ammianus Marcellinus reports that their boys had homosexual relationships with older men until they had made their first successful hunt.

  Tamga: Term for the tribal or family symbols used to differentiate the nomadic peoples and clans of the Steppe.

  Tanais: City at the mouth of the river Tanais (the modern Don), located on the extreme north-eastern shore of the Sea of Azov.

  Tanais river: The Don.

  Tarandos: One of the fantastical creatures said to live in Scythia, the size of a cow with the head of a deer.

  Tarpeites: One of the tribes of the Maeotae living on the eastern shore of Lake Maeotis, the modern Sea of Azov.

  Tauma: Persian, literally, ‘twin’; a spirit double.

  Tauromenium: Town in Sicily (modern Taormina), where Ballista and Julia own a villa.

  Teiws: God of war worshipped by the Goths.

  Tervingi: Gothic tribe living in the region between the Danube and Dnieper rivers.

  Thiazi: Giant in Norse mythology, whose eyes were placed in the heavens by Odin.

  Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes: ‘I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.’ A much-quoted line from Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid; origin of the saying, ‘Beware Greeks bearing gifts.’

  Toga: Voluminous garment, reserved for Roman citizens, worn on formal occasions.

  Toga Virilis: Garment given to mark a Roman’s coming of age; usually at about fourteen.

  Trapezus: City on the southern coast of the Black Sea, sacked by the Goths in AD258.

  Trierarch: Commander of a trireme; in the Roman forces, equivalent to a centurion.

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

  Tumulus: Latin term for a burial mound.

  Urugundi: Gothic tribe settled along the Don river.

  Valhalla: In Norse paganism, the hall in which selected heroes who had fallen in battle would feast until Ragnarok.

  Varini: North Germanic tribe.

  Vesta: Roman goddess of the hearth.

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

  Vir Ementissimus: Highest rank an equestrian could attain; e.g. Praetorian Prefect.

  Vir Perfectissimus: Equestrian rank above Vir Egregius but below Vir Ementissimus.

  Woden: High Norse god.

  Wonders Beyond Thule: Novel written in the second century AD by Antonius Diogenes, taking the form of a fantastical travel book in 24 volumes, now known only via an epitome. Thule was an island thought to lie in the extreme north, beyond Britain.

  Wyrd: Anglo-Saxon, ‘fate’; one of the norns.

  Zereba: Stockade of thorn bushes made by African tribes.

  Zirin: Cry of the Scythians, said by Lucian to signal a person’s status as an emissary and prevent the caller from being harmed, even in the heat of combat.

  List of Emperors in the Third Century AD

  AD 193–211 S
eptimius Severus

  AD 198–217 Caracalla

  AD 210–11 Geta

  AD 217–18 Macrinus

  AD 218–22 Elagabalus

  AD 222–35 Alexander Severus

  AD 235–8 Maximinus Thrax

  AD 238 Gordian I

  AD 238 Gordian II

  AD 238 Pupienus

  AD 238 Balbinus

  AD 238–44 Gordian III

  AD 244–9 Philip the Arab

  AD 249–51 Decius

  AD 251–3 Trebonianus Gallus

  AD 253 Aemilianus

  AD 253–60 Valerian

  AD 253– Gallienus

  AD 260–1 Macrianus

  AD 260–1 Quietus

  AD 260– Postumus

  List of Characters

  To avoid giving away any of the plot, characters usually are only described as first encountered in The Wolves of the North.

  Achilles: Greek hero of the Iliad, Homer’s epic poem of the Trojan War.

  Aegisthus: In Greek mythology, he seduced Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon.

  Aeschylus: Greek tragic playwright of the first half of the fifth century BC.

  Agaetes: Semi-mythical king of Scythia.

  Agamemnon: Leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War.

  Agesilaus: Agesilaus II, King of Sparta, c. 445–359BC. Said to have ensured a favourable omen before battle by inscribing VICTORY backwards on his hand and pressing it on the entrails of the sacrificial victim.

  Ajax: Greek hero of the Trojan War.

  Alaric: Outcast from the Taifali, now a war leader for the Heruli.

  Albinus: Decius Clodius Septimius Albinus, c. AD150–97. Appointed Caesar by Septimius Severus. When the latter elevated his own son Caracalla to be Caesar, he sent messengers with orders to assassinate Albinus. When the plot failed, Albinus declared himself emperor from his base in Britain.

  Alexander the Great: 356–23BC, son of Philip, King of Macedon, conqueror of Achaemenid Persia.

  Aluith: Young Herul, from the Rosomoni clan.

  Amantius: Publius Egnatius Amantius, an imperial eunuch originally from Abasgia.

  Ammius: Leader of a war band of Heruli.

  Anacharsis: Scythian philosopher who settled in Athens in the sixth century BC, sometimes numbered among the Seven Sages of Greece.