Furca: T-shaped pole carried by legionaries which held all their standard travelling kit.
Gaesatus: a spearman, usually a mercenary of Gallic origin.
Galician: Breed of horse from the north of the Spanish peninsula, strong, hardy and short, bred from a mix of Roman and native Iberian horses.
Gladius: the Roman army’s standard short, stabbing sword, originally based on a Spanish sword design.
Groma: the chief surveying instrument of a Roman military engineer, used for marking out straight lines and calculating angles.
Haruspex (pl. Haruspices): A religious official who confirms the will of the Gods through signs and by inspecting the entrails of animals.
Honesta Missio: A soldier’s honourable discharge from the legions, with grants of land and money, after a term of service of varied length but rarely less than 5 years.
Immunes: Soldiers excused from routine legionary duties as they possessed specialised skills which qualified them for other duties.
Kalends: the first day of the Roman month, based on the new moon with the ‘nones’ being the half moon around the 5th-7th of the month and the ‘ides’ being the full moon around the 13th-15th.
Labrum: Large dish on a pedestal filled with fresh water in the hot room of a bath house.
Laconicum: the steam room or sauna in a Roman bath house.
Lanista: Trainer of gladiators, or owner of a gladiatorial school.
Laqueus: a garrotte usually used by gladiators to restrain an opponent’s arm, but also occasionally used to cause death by strangulation.
Latrunculi: Roman board game involving stones of two colours on a board, resembling the Chinese game of Go.
Legatus: Commander of a Roman legion
Lilia (Lit. ‘Lilies’): defensive pits three feet deep with a sharpened stake at the bottom, disguised with undergrowth, to hamper attackers.
Ludus: 1) a game, 2) a Gladiatorial School.
Magna Mater: The Goddess Cybele, patron of nature in its most raw form
Mansio and mutatio: stopping places on the Roman road network for officials, military staff and couriers to stay or exchange horses if necessary.
Mare Nostrum: Latin name for the Mediterranean Sea (literally ‘Our Sea’)
Marius’ Mules: nickname acquired by the legions after the General Marius made it standard practice for the soldier to carry all of his kit about his person.
Mars Gravidus: an aspect of the Roman war god, ‘he who precedes the army in battle’, was the God prayed to when an army went to war.
Miles: the Roman name for a soldier, from which we derive the words military and militia among others.
Nones: the half moon around the 5th-7th of the Roman month, with the Kalends being the first day of the month and the ‘ides’ being the full moon around the 13th-15th
Octodurus: now Martigny in Switzerland, at the Northern end of the Great Saint Bernard Pass.
Oppidum: The standard Gaulish hill town of the pre-Roman period. A walled settlement, sometimes quite large.
Optio: A legionary centurion’s second in command.
Patrician: The higher noble class of Rome, often Senatorial.
Phalanx: Greek/Macedonian infantry tactic in which rows of men form a hedge of long spears, backed with a shield wall.
Phalerae: (sing. Phalera) set of discs attached to a torso harness used as military decorations.
Pilum: the army’s standard javelin, with a wooden stock and a long, heavy lead point.
Pilus Prior: The most senior centurion of a cohort and one of the more senior in a legion.
Plebeian: The general mass and populace of Roman citizens.
Plumbata: Heavy military darts utilised largely in the Greek world of the east.
Pomerium: The sacred boundary of the city of Rome, within which weapons were forbidden on the streets.
Praetor: a title granted to the commander of an army. cf the Praetorian Cohort.
Praetorian Cohort: personal bodyguard of a General.
Praetorium: The area in the centre of a temporary camp reserved for the tent of the commander and where the legion’s eagle and the signifers’ standards were grounded.
Primus Pilus: The chief centurion of a legion. Essentially the second in command of a legion.
Pteruges: leather straps that hang from the shoulders and waist of the garment worn under a cuirass.
Pugio: the standard broad bladed dagger of the Roman military.
Quadriga: a chariot drawn by four horses, such as seen at the great races in the circus of Rome.
Rudis: The wooden sword given as a gift and symbol upon the manumission of a Gladiator.
Samarobriva: oppidum on the Somme River, now Amiens.
Scorpion, Ballista amp; Onager: Siege engines. The Scorpion was a large crossbow on a stand, the Ballista a giant missile throwing crossbow, and the Onager a stone hurling catapult.
Sica: A curved sword with a Thracian origin, used by gladiators to circumvent the large shield.
Signifer: A century’s standard bearer, also responsible for dealing with pay, burial club and much of a unit’s bureaucracy.
Subarmalis: a leather garment worn under armour to prevent chafing and rust, to which the pteruges are attached.
Subura: a lower-class area of ancient Rome, close to the forum, that was home to the red-light district’.
Tablinum: The office or reception room in a Roman house or villa.
Tabularium: The records office. In Rome the Tabularium is in the Forum, though each fort had its own based in the centre of the camp.
Tarpeian Rock: Cliff on the Capitoline Hill of Rome from which traitors were hurled.
Testudo: Lit- Tortoise. Military formation in which a century of men closes up in a rectangle and creates four walls and a roof for the unit with their shields.
Tolosa: Roman town in southwest France conquered at the end of the second century b.c., now Toulouse.
Tribunal: A platform, carefully constructed in forts, or temporarily made from turf or wood, from which a commander would address or review troops.
Triclinium: The dining room of a roman house or villa
Trierarch: Commander of a Trireme or other Roman military ship.
Tullianum: Rock-cut prison in the Roman forum used for high profile prisoners.
Turma: A small detachment of a cavalry ala consisting of 32 men led by a
