Адриан Голдсуорти - Brigantia

Similar trends placed aristocrats in other provinces under great strain, as they spent lavishly to compete with each other in demonstrating how Roman they had become. Such competition replaced the political and military competition between and within the tribes prior to conquest. Inevitably some lost out, and many more ran up huge debts in the process and had little or no hope of paying their creditors. The desperation of indebted tribal aristocrats, most of them citizens and equites , underlay the rebellions in Gaul under Tiberius and contributed to Boudicca’s revolt and the disturbances in the Rhineland in ad 70. I drew upon all of these as inspiration for the rebellion in our story. The Batavian revolt in the Rhineland in ad 70 was led by Julius Civilis. We do not know his age at the time or what happened to him and his family, so this permitted the creation of Longinus, the old rebel leader living anonymously as an ordinary soldier.

Even by ad 100, Londinium was growing into the largest city in Roman Britain. Our knowledge of the city is patchy, since most lies under the heart of modern London, but it is steadily growing as rescue archaeology occurs before new building projects. A collection of writing tablets similar to the ones from Vindolanda was recently published and it is to be hoped that more will be found in due course. One of the surprises in these documents was the impression of just how quickly the city recovered after being sacked by Boudicca’s warriors. Many mysteries remain about the city at the time of our story. The abandoned earlier fort described in the story has been found, and within a generation a permanent fort was built, but so far we have no idea where any soldiers lived while in Londinium c. ad 100.

If you ever have the chance, then a visit to the Museum of London is highly recommended, not least for their reconstructions of a series of rooms dating pretty much to the time of our story – https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/permanent-galleries/roman-london. They also produce the very handy Londinium. A new map and guide to Roman London , which shows the traces of the Roman city overlaid on a modern map. It is also possible to see remains of a Roman amphitheatre under the Guildhall – https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/guildhall-galleries/Pages/londons-roman-amphitheatre.aspx. Like the stone fort, this was built a little later than our story, and in the book the action takes place in its wooden predecessor.

A few years ago a TV documentary suggested that a grave of a woman from the Roman period in London was that of a gladiator. While possible, the evidence was poor, relying mainly on the inclusion of an oil lamp with a picture of a gladiator among several forming part of the grave goods. However, there is evidence for women gladiators from other parts of the empire, not least the stone monument from Asia Minor in honour of two fighters called Amazon and Achillia now in the British Museum. Domitian included a display of women fighting midgets at one of his games. More usually, female gladiators were matched against each other, and it is likely that they represented a small minority of the professional fighters.

More historical background will appear on my website – adriangoldsworthy.com, where you can also find supporting material for the other stories about Ferox.

accensus : senior clerk and doorman on the staff of a Roman governor.

ad stercus : literally ‘to the shit’, the expression was used in military duty rosters for men assigned to clean the latrines.

agmen quadratus : literally a square battle-line, this was a formation shaped like a large box and used by a Roman army threatened by attack from any side. Units were deployed to form a rectangle, sheltering baggage and other vulnerable personnel and equipment inside.

ala : a regiment of auxiliary cavalry, roughly the same size as a cohort of infantry. There were two types: ala quingenaria consisting of 512 men divided into sixteen turmae ; and ala milliaria consisting of 768 men divided into twenty-four turmae .

aquilifer : the man who carried the eagle standard (or aquila ) of a legion.

aureus (pl. aurei) : a gold coin equal to 25 silver denarii.

auxilia/auxiliaries : over half of the Roman army was recruited from non-citizens from all over (and even outside) the empire. These served as both infantry and cavalry and gained citizenship at the end of their twenty-five years of service.

barritus : Germanic battle cry that began as a low rumble of voices and rose to a crescendo.

Batavians: an offshoot of the Germanic Chatti, who fled after a period of civil war, the Batavians settled on what the Romans called the Rhine island in modern Holland. Famous as warriors, their only obligation to the empire was to provide soldiers to serve in Batavian units of the auxilia . Writing around the time of our story, the historian Tacitus described them as ‘like armour and weapons – only used in war’.

beneficiarii : experienced soldiers selected for special duties by the provincial governor. Each carried a staff with an ornate spearhead.

Brigantes: a large tribe or group of tribes occupying much of what would become northern England. Several sub-groups are known, including the Textoverdi and Carvetii (whose name may mean ‘stag people’).

caligae : the hobnailed military boots worn by soldiers.

centurio regionarius : a post attested in the Vindolanda tablets, as well as elsewhere in Britain and other provinces. They appear to have been officers on detached service placed in control of an area. A large body of evidence from Egypt shows them dealing with criminal investigations as well as military and administrative tasks.

centurion: a grade of officer rather than a specific rank, each legion had some sixty centurions, while each auxiliary cohort had between six and ten. They were highly educated men and were often given posts of great responsibility. While a minority were commissioned after service in the ranks, most were directly commissioned or served only as junior officers before reaching the centurionate.

clarissima femina : ‘most distinguished woman’ was a title given to women of a senatorial family.

classicum : the late afternoon/evening meal taken by soldiers.

cohort: the principal tactical unit of the legions. The first cohort consisted of 800 men in five double-strength centuries, while cohorts two to ten were composed of 480 men in six centuries of eighty. Auxiliaries were either formed in milliary cohorts of 800 or more often quingeniary cohorts of 480. Cohortes equitatae or mixed cohorts added 240 and 120 horsemen respectively. These troopers were paid less and given less expensive mounts than the cavalry of the alae .

colonia : a city with the status of colony of Roman citizens, which had a distinct constitution and followed Roman law. Many were initially founded with a population of discharged soldiers.

commilitones : ‘comrades’ or ‘fellow soldiers’.

consilium : the council of officers and other senior advisors routinely employed by a Roman governor or senator to guide him in making decisions.

contubernalis (pl. contubernales ): originally meaning tent-companion and referring to the eight soldiers who shared a tent on campaign. It became more generally used as ‘comrade’.