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The Dacian War (Book 6 of the Veteran of Rome Series)

Page 33

by William Kelso


  ***

  Efa lay on the bed, covered in thick blankets of animal hides. She looked very frail and weak but as Dylis crouched beside her and whispered something into her ear, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at the people crowding around her. They were all there, Marcus, Kyna, Petrus, Cunomoltus, Jowan, Dylis, Fergus and Galena and the four silent children.

  “Look,” Dylis said, in a voice that was quivering with emotion. “Look mother, look who has returned home. Look who it is.”

  Slowly Efa’s eyes fixed on Fergus and then she smiled, as he crouched beside her bed and gently took her hand in his.

  “Fergus,” Efa whispered, in a faint voice. “Fergus.”

  “We are all here,” Dylis gasped. “We are all together again at last, mother. This was your wish, to see us all together again. This is what you have been waiting for. Well we are here now and we are with you. We are with you.”

  In response Efa slowly moved her head to look at the faces around her and as she did, she smiled gently and happily.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “We are all here, all here together at last. What a wonderful thing.”

  For a long moment Efa paused and closed her eyes and for another long moment, it seemed as if she was asleep. Then she opened her eyes again. “If only Corbulo could see you all now,” she whispered with a happy smile and in such a faint voice, that she was barely audible. “This was his dream and it became mine and when I am gone it must become yours. It must belong to all of you. Stick together and don’t let go of each other, that is what Corbulo would say. He was the love of my life, the love of my life, the love of my life.”

  AUTHOR’S NOTES

  Rome fought three wars with Dacia. The first with emperor Domitian (86-88 AD) which ended in an ignominious truce. This war and the initial Roman military defeats was the reason why one of the four legions then based in Britain, the II Adiutrix, was transferred to the Danube and never returned to Britain. This reduction in the Roman military resources in Britain was a significant factor in the Roman withdrawal from Scotland. This is reflected in the abandonment of the Roman legionary fortress at Inchtuthil. The next Dacian war was fought between emperor Trajan and king Decebalus (101-102 AD) and resulted in Decebalus suing for peace and agreeing to become a Roman vassal and the placing of Roman forts in his territory. This was the war in which Marcus served with his 2nd Batavian auxiliary cohort and where he lost the three fingers on his left hand. The events described in this book are about Trajan’s 2nd Dacian war (summer 105 – summer 106 AD) which resulted in the complete destruction of an independent Dacian state, the enslavement of over 100,000 Dacian captives and the death of king Decebalus. From the end of this war until 275 AD Dacia and its mines will be a Roman province.

  Regards the place names mentioned in this book I have tried to use the Latin names wherever I could but sometimes it was impossible to find a Roman name for something so I have then used the later names, an example being Hengistbury Head which has obvious Angle and Saxon connotations. Concerning the Dacian treasure buried underneath the Sargetia river this has been estimated to have been in the region of 165 tons of gold and 330 tons of silver. I also looked up how long it would take to travel from London to Rome in those days and found a fantastic online tool called ORBIS created by a team of historians and IT professionals at Stanford University. ORBIS allows you to calculate the fastest and most cost-effective way and route in which to travel between cities and places within the Roman Empire. It is the route suggested by ORBIS that Marcus takes when he heads for Rome. Tiberius Claudius Maximus was a real cavalry trooper and it was indeed he who cut off King Decebalus’s head. We know this because his grave stone has been found in Greece on which he records his exploits. Bicilis too was a real person but the only thing we know about him is that he betrayed the location of the Dacian treasure horde to Trajan.

  The Veteran of Rome series will extend to nine books in all after which the series will finish. The next book, Veteran of Rome 7 will be published at the start of September 2017.

  William Kelso

  London, April 2017

  MAJOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE DACIAN WAR

  Abraham, Christian priest living in Rome

  Adalwolf, German amber and slave trader, but also guide, advisor and translator for Hadrian.

  Ahern, Kyna’s son by another man. Jowan adopted him.

  Aledus, Londinium-born legionary friend of Fergus, squad leader

  Alexandros, Greek captain of the Hermes that sailed to Hyperborea

  Bicilis, Dacian brother in law to King Decebalus

  Briana, New born daughter of Fergus

  Catinius, Friend of Fergus and a Legionary.

  Lady Claudia, A high born aristocrat and old acquaintance of Marcus

  Clodovicus, Retired Batavian army soldier living at Hengistbury Head.

  Cunitius, A private investigator and representative of Marcus’s enemies

  Cunomoltus, Marcus’s half-brother.

  Decebalus, King of the Dacians.

  Dylis, Younger half-sister of Marcus, adopted by Corbulo.

  Efa, Wife of Corbulo, step-mother of Marcus.

  Plotina Pompeia, Empress of Rome, Emperor Trajan’s wife

  Fronto, Fergus’s rival and company Tesserarius in the fourth company

  Nigrinus, Leading citizen in Rome and close friend of Trajan

  Galena, Wife of Fergus

  Jowan, Husband of Dylis.

  Kyna, Wife of Marcus, mother of Fergus.

  Lucullus, Centurion in command of the 2nd company

  Ninian, Marcus’s broker and agent with the merchants in Reginorum

  Paulinus Picardus Taliare, One of Rome’s finance ministers, in charge of the state treasury

  Petrus, The Christian boy who Corbulo had rescued from certain death in Londinium nearly twenty years earlier.

  Rufus, Senior centurion of the 2nd cohort, Twentieth Legion

  Trajan, Emperor of Rome from AD 98 to 117

  Vibia Sabina , Hadrian’s wife

  Vittius, Friend of Fergus and a legionary in the 2nd company.

  GLOSSARY

  Aerarium, State treasury for Senatorial provinces

  Aesculapius, The god of healing

  Agrimensore, A land surveyor.

  Armorica, Region of north-west France

  Aquincum, Modern Budapest, Hungary

  Arcidava, Fort in the Banat region of Dacia

  Argiletum, Street of the booksellers in ancient Rome.

  Ballistae, Roman artillery catapult

  Banat, Region of Dacia, Romania and Serbia

  Berzobis, Fort in the Banat region of Dacia

  Bonnensis, Bonn, Germany. Full name.

  Burdigala, Roman city close to modern Bordeaux, France

  Capitoline Hill, One of the seven hills of ancient Rome

  Carnuntum, Roman settlement just east of Vienna, Austria

  Carrobalista, Mobile Roman artillery catapult

  Castra, Fort.

  Cavalry alae, A Roman cavalry unit

  Centurion, Roman officer in charge of a company of about 80 legionaries.

  Cilicia, Roman province in modern Turkey

  Classis Pannonica, Roman fleet based on the Danube at Carnuntum

  Cohort, Roman military unit equivalent to a battalion of around 500 men. Ten cohorts make up a legion.

  Colonia Agrippina, Cologne, Germany.

  Contubernium, Eight-man legionary infantry squad. Barrack room/tent group room

  Cornicen, Trumpeter.

  Cuirassed armour, Expensive chest armour that followed the muscles of the chest

  Currach, Celtic boat.

  Dacia(n), The area in Romania where the Dacians lived.

  Decanus, Corporal, squad leader

  Decurion, Roman cavalry officer.

  Denarii, Roman money.

  Deva Victrix, Chester, UK.

  Domitian, Emperor from AD 81 - 96

  Draco banner, Dacian coloured banner made of cloth

&n
bsp; Emporium, Marketplace

  Equestrian Order, The Order of Knights – minor Roman aristocracy

  Equites, Individual men of the Equestrian Order.

  Falx, Curved Dacian sword.

  Fibula , A brooch or pin used by the Romans to fasten clothing.

  Fiscus, The Roman state treasury controlled by the emperor and not the senate

  Focale, Roman army neck scarf

  Fortuna, The Goddess of Fortune.

  Forum Boarium, The ancient cattle market of Rome

  Forum Romanum, Political centre of ancient Rome, area of government buildings

  Frisii, Tribe of Frisians who lived in the northern Netherlands

  Gades, Cadiz, southern Spain

  Garum, Roman fermented fish sauce.

  Gladius, Standard Roman army short stabbing sword.

  Greaves, Armour that protects the legs

  Hengistbury Head, Ancient Celtic trading post near Christchurch, UK.

  Hibernia, Ireland.

  Hispania, Spain.

  Hyperborea, Mythical land beyond the north wind.

  Imaginifer, Roman army standard bearer carrying an image of the Emperor.

  Insulae, Roman multi-storey apartment buildings

  Janus, God of boundaries.

  Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Patron god of Rome

  Kostolac, City in Serbia

  Lares, Roman guardian deities.

  Iazyges, Barbarian tribe, roughly in modern Hungary

  Legate, Roman officer in command of a Legion

  Liburnian, A small Roman ship

  Limes, Frontier zone of the Roman Empire.

  Londinium, London, UK.

  Lower Pannonia, Roman province in and around Hungary/Serbia and Croatia.

  Ludus, School

  Lugii, Vandals, barbarian tribe in central Europe.

  Luguvalium, Carlisle, UK.

  Marcomanni, Barbarian tribe whom lived north of the Danube in modern day Austria

  Massalia, Marseille, France

  Middle Sea, Mediterranean Sea,

  Mogontiacum, Mainz, Germany.

  Mons Graupius, Roman/Scottish battlefield in Scotland

  Munifex, Private non-specialist Roman Legionary.

  Noviomagus Reginorum, Chichester, UK.

  Numerii, Germanic irregular soldiers allied to Rome.

  O group meeting, Modern British army slang for group meeting of officers

  Onagers, Heavy Roman artillery catapults

  Optio, Roman army officer, second in command of a Company.

  Ostia, Original seaport of Rome

  Pilum/pila, Roman legionary spear(s).

  Porolissum, Settlement in northern Dacia/Romania

  Portus Augusti, The new seaport of ancient Rome

  Portus Tiberinus, Rome’s Tiber river port

  Praefecti Aeranii Saturni, Rome’s finance ministers

  Prefect, Roman officer in command of an auxiliary cohort or civil magistrate.

  Praetorian Guard, Emperor’s personal guard units

  Principia, HQ building in a Roman army camp/fortress.

  Pugio, Roman army dagger.

  Quadi, Germanic tribe living along the Danube

  Ranisstorum, Unknown place somewhere in Romania but recorded on the grave

  stone of Tiberius Claudius Maximus as the place to which he brought King

  Decebalus’s severed head and personally presented it to Emperor Trajan

  Rosia Montana, Ancient gold and silver mining district in Romania/Dacia

  Roxolani, Barbarian tribe in eastern Romania

  Rutipiae, Richborough, Kent, UK.

  Sacred Way, Important road in ancient Rome

  Sarmatians, Barbarian allies of the Dacians

  Sarmatian cataphracts, Heavily armoured Sarmatian cavalry

  Sarmisegetusa Regia, Capital city of ancient Dacia

  Saturn, God of wealth

  Saturnalia, Roman festival in late December

  Scythians, Barbarian tribes, modern Ukraine and Russia

  Singidunum, Belgrade.

  Sirmium, The ancient city of Sirmium on the Danube

  SPQR, Senate and People of Rome.

  Stola, Woman’s cloak

  Styx river, Mythical river you cross with the help of a ferryman as you enter the underworld.

  Stylus, Roman pen

  Subura, Slum neighbourhood in central Rome

  Tapae, Dacian fort at the entrance to the iron gates pass

  Tara, Seat of the High King of Hibernia, north-west of Dublin, Ireland.

  Tesserarius, Roman army watch/guard officer, third in line of company command

  Tessera tile, A small stone carried by the Tesserarius on which the daily password was written down

  Testudo formation, Roman army formation and tactic

  Tibiscum, Fort in Dacia

  Military Tribune, A senior Roman army officer

  Urban cohorts, A kind of anti-riot police force in ancient Rome

  Island of Vectis, Isle of Wight, UK.

  Velarium, Retractable canvas roof over the Roman colosseum.

  Velum, Parched animal skin used as writing paper

  Vestal Virgins, Female priestesses of ancient Rome

  Vexillatio(n), Temporary Roman army detachment.

  Viminacium, Roman town on the Danube in modern Serbia

 

 

 


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