frumentarii: soldiers detached from their units with responsibility for supervising the purchase and supply of grain and other foodstuffs to the army.

galearius (pl. galearii): slaves owned by the army, who wore a helmet and basic uniform and performed service functions, such as caring for transport animals and vehicles.

Getae: were a group of people of similar language and customs (at least to outside observers), living in the wider Balkan area.

gladius: Latin word for sword, which by modern convention specifically refers to the short sword used by all legionaries and most auxiliary infantry. By the end of the first century most blades were less than two feet long.

legate/legatus (legionary): the commander of a legion was a legatus legionis and was a senator at an earlier stage in his career than the provincial governor. He would usually be in his early thirties.

legate/legatus (provincial): the governor of a military province like Britain was a legatus Augusti, the representative of the emperor. He was a distinguished senator and usually at least in his forties.

legion: originally the levy of the entire Roman people summoned to war, legion or legio became the name for the most important unit in the army. In the last decades of the first century BC, legions became permanent with their own numbers and usually names and titles. In AD 98 there were 28 legions, but the total was soon raised to 30.

lillia: lilies were circular pits with a sharpened stake in the centre. Often concealed, they were a comman part of the obstacles outside Roman fortifications.

lixae: A generic term for the camp followers of a Roman army.

medicus: an army medical orderly or junior physician.

Monâkon: a single armed catapult described in Hellenistic manuals. The type was widely used in Late Antiquity, when it was often known as the onager, and continued in use throughout the Middle Ages.

omnes ad stercus: a duty roster of the first century AD from a century of a legion stationed in Egypt has some soldiers assigned ad stercus, literally to the dung or shit. This probably meant a fatigue party cleaning the latrines – or just possibly mucking out the stables. From this I have invented omnes ad stercus as ‘everyone to the latrines’ or ‘we’re all in the shit’.

optio: the second in command of a century of eighty men and deputy to a centurion.

pileatus (pl. pileati): the ‘cap wearers’ were the nobles in Dacian society as opposed to the long haired mass of the population.

pilum: the heavy javelin carried by Roman legionaries. It was about six to seven feet long. The shaft was wooden, topped by a slim iron shank ending in a pyramid-shaped point (much like the bodkin arrow used by longbowmen). The shank was not meant to bend. Instead the aim was to concentrate all of the weapon’s considerable weight behind the head so that it would punch through armour or shield. If it hit a shield, the head would go through, and the long iron shank gave it the reach to continue and strike the man behind. Its effective range was probably some 15 to 16 yards.