Harry Sidebottom - Blood and Steel

Nilus : Poem on the personification of the Nile alleged to have been written by Gordian the Elder; only the title survives.

NiseanStallion : Ancient Iranian horse breed, prized in antiquity.

Nisibis : Border town that frequently changed hands between Rome and Persia; modern Nusaybin in southeastern Turkey.

Nobiles (singular Nobilis ): Latin, ‘nobleman’; a man from a patrician family or a plebeian family, one of whose ancestors had been consul.

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.

Noricum : Roman province to the northeast of the Alps.

Novus Homo (plural Novi Homines ): Latin, literally ‘new man’; someone whose ancestors had not previously held Senatorial rank.

Numidia : Roman province in western North Africa.

Nymph : In Greek and Roman mythology, type of minor female deity associated with a particular place, often streams or woods.

O tempora, o mores : Famous complaint of Cicero, ‘O what times, oh what manners!’.

Odysseus : Legendary Greek warrior and traveller, famed for his guile.

Oligarchy : From the Greek ‘rule by the few’.

Olympus : Mountain in northern Greece; in Greek mythology, the home of the gods.

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

Oracle of Delphi : Famed source of prophesy in antiquity; the maxim ‘know thyself’ was prominently inscribed on the oracle’s sanctuary in central Greece.

Orator : Latin term for a professional public speaker.

Orpheus : Mythical Greek musician who travelled to the underworld to bring his wife back from the dead; failing to follow divine instructions not to look at her before both had re-entered the world of the living, she returned forever to Hades.

Osrhoene : Roman province in northern Mesopotamia.

Ostia : Ancient port of the city of Rome, located at the mouth of the Tiber.

Ovile : Settlement in the Thracian highlands, named from the Latin for sheepfold.

Palatine Hill : One of the fabled seven hills of Rome, southeast of the Roman Forum. Site of the imperial palaces; the English term is derived from their location.

Palestina : see Syria Palestina .

Pannonia Inferior : Roman province lying along the south bank of the Danube, opposite the Sarmatian Iazyges.

Pannonia : Roman territory to the south of the Danube, split into two provinces.

Pantheon : Colossal domed temple dedicated to all the gods, located in the Circus Maximus; re-built by the Emperor Hadrian, it is one of the best preserved buildings from ancient Rome.

Parthia : Region of northeastern Iran; seat of the Arcasid dynasty, its name came to be synonymous with their empire.

Patrician : People of the highest social status at Rome; originally descendants of those men who sat in the very first meeting of the free senate after the expulsion of the last of the mythical kings of Rome in 509BC; under the Principate, Emperors awarded new families patrician status.

Pax deorum : Latin, ‘Peace of the gods’; important Roman concept signifying the agreement between mortals and gods, ensured by observance of correct (traditional) rituals.

Pedagogue : Greek term for a teacher borrowed by the Romans; literally ‘leader of a child’.

Persis : Most important region of the Parthian empire, ultimately giving rise to the word Persia; roughly the territory of the modern province of Fars in Iran.

Philanthropia : Greek, love of mankind; underpinned by philosophy, the concept acted as a powerful influence on the perceptions and actions of the Greek and Roman elites.

Phrygian : From Phrygia, an ancient region lying to the west of central Turkey.

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

Picenum : Ancient region of Italy to the northeast of Rome along the shore of the Adriatic.

Pila : Roman throwing spear; its head was purposely weakened to bend on impact, preventing it from being reused by the enemy.

Plebs Urbana : Poor of the city of Rome, in literature usually coupled with an adjective labelling them as dirty, superstitious, lazy, distinguished from the plebs rustica , whose rural lifestyle might make them less morally dubious.

Plebs : Technically, all Romans who were not patricians; more usually, the non-elite.

Pluto : Roman god of the underworld.

Poliorcetic : From the Greek, ‘things belonging to sieges’; the science of besieging a city.

Polis : Greek, a city state; focus of Philanthropia and social competition.

Pollinctores : Roman undertakers; employed to wash the corpse and prepare it for cremation.

Pontifex Maximus : Most prestigious priesthood in Roman religion, monopolized by the Emperors.

Portico of Gaius and Lucius Caesar : Colonnade running in front of the Basilica Aemilia on the north side of the Forum Romanum ; built by the Emperor Augustus in honour of his two grandsons.

Porticus Vipsania : Large colonnaded square completed by the Emperor Augustus in the Campus Martius .

Poseidon : Greek god of the sea.

Praefectus Annonae : Prefect of the Provisions, title of official in charge of the grain supply of Rome.

Praetor : Roman magistrate in charge of justice, senatorial office second in rank to the Consuls.

Praetorian Camp : Barracks of the Praetorian Guard, encircled by massive brick walls, located in northeastern Rome.

Praetorian Guard : Unit of elite soldiers, organized into ten cohorts, each with 1,000 troops; the Emperor’s personal guard in Rome, though detachments also served alongside the Emperor with the field armies campaigning along the frontiers.

Praetorian Prefect : Commander of the Praetorians, an equestrian; one of the most prestigious and powerful positions in the empire.

Praetorians : Soldiers of the Praetorian Guard, the Emperor’s bodyguard and the most prestigious and highly paid unit in the empire. Unfortunately for the Emperors, their loyalty could be bought with surprising ease.

Prefect of Egypt : Governor of Egypt; because of the strategic importance of the province, this post was never trusted to Senators (who might be inspired to challenge the Emperor) but was always filled by equestrians.

Prefect of Rome : See Prefect of the City.

Prefect of the Camp : Officer in charge of equipment, supply, and billeting.