Sulla were holding on to the position for years on end. This dangerously weakened Rome’s democracy, a situation made worse by the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus.
contubernium (pl. contubernia): a group of eight legionaries who shared a tent or barracks room and who cooked and ate together.
corona muralis: a prestigious silver or gold award given to the first soldier to gain entry into a town under siege; other awards included the corona vallaris for similar success against an enemy encampment, and the corona civica, made of oak leaves, given for the saving of another citizen’s life.
denarius (pl. denarii): the staple coin of the Roman Republic. Made from silver, it was worth four sestertii, or ten asses (later sixteen). The less common gold aureus was worth twenty-five denarii.
dolia (sing. dolium): giant earthenware jars that were buried in the ground and used for storage of liquids such as oil or wine, and solids like grain or fruit.
domus: a wealthy Roman’s home. Typically it faced inwards, presenting a blank wall to the outside world. Built in a long, rectangular shape, the domus possessed two inner light sources, the atrium at the front and the colonnaded garden to the rear. These were separated by the large reception area of the tablinum. Around the atrium were bedrooms, offices, store-rooms and shrines to a family’s ancestors, while the chambers around the garden were often banqueting halls and further reception areas.
equites: the ‘knights’ or equestrian class were originally the citizens who could afford to equip themselves as cavalrymen in the early Roman army. By late Republican times the title was defunct, but it had been adopted by those who occupied the class just below that of the senators.
Fortuna: the goddess of luck and good fortune. Like all deities, she was notoriously fickle.
fossae (sing. fossa): defensive ditches, which were dug out around all Roman camps, whether temporary or permanent. They varied in number, width and depth depending on the type of camp and the degree of danger to the legion.
fugitivarius (pl. fugitivarii): slave-catchers, men who made a living from tracking down and capturing runaways. The punishment described in The Silver Eagle, of branding the letter ‘F’ (for fugitivus) on the forehead, is documented; so is the wearing of permanent neck chains which had directions on how to return the slave to their owner.
garum: an extremely popular sauce in Roman times, it was made by fermenting a fatty fish in brine and adding other ingredients such as wine, herbs and spices. Garum factories have been found in Pompeii, and soldiers on Hadrian’s Wall ordered and ate it as well. Some modern authors compare garum to Worcestershire sauce, which has anchovies in it.
gladius (pl. gladii): little information remains about the ‘Spanish’ sword of the Republican army, the gladius hispaniensis, with its waisted blade. I have therefore used the ‘Pompeii’ variation of the gladius as it is the shape most people are familiar with. This was a short – 420–500 mm (16.5–20 in) – straight-edged sword with a ‘V’-shaped point. About 42–55 mm (1.6–2.2 in) wide, it was an extremely well-balanced weapon for both cutting and thrusting. The shaped hilt was made of bone and protected by a pommel and guard of wood. The gladius was worn on the right, except by centurions and other senior officers, who wore it on the left. It was actually quite easy to draw with the right hand, and was probably positioned like this to avoid entanglement with the scutum while being unsheathed.
haruspex (pl. haruspices): a soothsayer. A man trained to divine in many ways, from the inspection of animal entrails to the shapes of clouds and the way birds fly. As the perceived source of blood, and therefore life itself, the liver was particularly valued for its divinatory possibilities. In addition, many natural phenomena – thunder, lightning, wind – could be used to interpret the present, past and future. The bronze liver mentioned in the book really exists; it was found in a field at Piacenza, Italy in 1877.
homa: the sacred liquid drunk by members of various eastern religions such as Jainism. It was common practice for devotees in ancient times to take hallucinogenic substances when worshipping their gods. With secret rituals and rites of passage, it is not unreasonable to think that those who practised Mithraicism did the same.
intervallum: the wide, flat area inside the walls of a Roman camp or fort. As well as serving to protect the barrack buildings from enemy missiles, it could when necessary allow the massing of