ALL classics ever

Contubernium

8 men

Centurion

commander of a century

Signifier

a century's standard bearer

Optio

second in command of a century

Legion

a military unit of over 5000 men

Cohort

a unit made of six centuries

Century

a unit of about 80 men

Primus pilus

most senior centurion

Legatus

commander of a legion

Tribune

officers of a legion

Camp Prefect

most senior professional soldier, the legatus' right-hand man

Aquilifer

the man who carried the aquila

Aquila

emblem of a legion, an eagle made of gold

Principia

the headquarters of a fortress

Testudo

battle tactic

Ballista

large crossbow

Onager

catapult

Auxiliary

type of soldier

Trireme

warship with three banks of oars

Quadrireme

warship

Quinquereme

warship

Hexareme

warship

Liburna

smaller warship

Horace

Roman poet

Parthia

Rome's enemy to the east

Aeneas

Trojan hero, future founding father of Rome

Creusa

Aeneas' wife

Anchises

Aeneas' father

Iulus / Anchises

Aeneas' son

Priam

King of Troy

Hecuba

Queen of Troy, Roman name for Hecabe

Hector

Prince of Troy

Cassandra

Princess of Troy

Polites

Prince of Troy

Helen

Paris' wife

Pyrrhus

Achilles' son

Trajan

Roman Emperor

Dacia

region north of the Danube

Danube

river

Decebalus

king in Dacia

Triumph

parade celebrated by a victorious Roman general

Via Traiana

Roman road built by Trajan

Octavian

Augustus before he became Augustus

Julius Caesar

dictator of Rome, Octavian's adopted father

Agrippa

Octavian's general

Mark Antony

Julius's Caesar's deputy, Octavian's rival

Cleopatra

Queen of Egypt

Gulf of Ambracia

gulf in Greece, Mark Antony's base

Leukas

island at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf

Actium

headland at the Ambracian Gulf

Homeric Question

the debate about the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey

Epic

poetry focusing on great deeds

Time

honour

Kleos

glorious reputation

Aristeia

a scene in which a great warrior fights with exceptional courage and ability

War-prize

something or someone captured in war which brings honour and glory to the victor

Xenia

hospitality

Diomedes

Greek hero

Tydeus

Diomedes' father

Menelaus

Greek hero, original husband of Helen

Achilles

Greek hero

Peleus

Achilles' father

Patroclus

Achilles close companion

Pandarus

ally of the Trojans, great archer

Priam

King of Troy

Aeneas

Trojan hero, future founding father of Rome

Glaucus

warrior, ally of the Trojans

Hector

Prince of Troy

Andromache

Hector's wife

Astyanax

Hector's son

Hecabe

Queen of Troy

Paris

Prince of Troy

Helen

Paris' wife

Iris

Messenger goddess

Dione

Aphrodite's mother

Salamis

island off the coats of Attica

Troezen

city-state in southern Greece to which some Athenians evacuated

Delphi

sanctuary to Apollo and site of the oracle

Artemisium

city-state north of Athens near which the Greek and Persian fleets had a few skirmishes

Eurybiades

the Spartan commander of the Greek fleet

Themistocles

the Athenian commander of the Athenian ships

Artemisia

the queen of Halicarnassus who fought for the Persians at Salamis

Trireme

warship with three banks of oars

Liturgy

super-tax on the wealthy to fund important civic projects

Diekplous

naval manoeuvre whereby a ship would sail through the enemy line, then turn quickly and ram the side of an enemy ship

Hypozomata

to cables stretched from one end of a trireme to another to hold the ship's shape

Prothesis

Greek term for laying out a body

Ekphora

Greek term for a funeral procession

Pyre

the wooden structure used to cremate a body

Anthesteria

Greek festival to honour Dionysus and the dead

Genesia

Greek festival to honour the dead ancestors

Funerary mask

Roman practice of displaying a mask of the ancestors which could be worn by actors at funerals

Manes

Roman term for the spirits of the ancestors

Parentalia

Roman festival to honour the dead

Lemuria

Roman festival to ward off evil spirits

Centauromachy

battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs

Lapiths

mythical race from northern Greece

Centaurs

half-man half-horse

Amazonomachy

battle between the Amazons and the Greeks

Amazons

mythical race of warrior women