Historical Reference | Rome DCCIV AUC, Genesys compatible RPG supplement

Use this chapter to check a date, look up an office or see where a story comes from. It covers people, Latin terms, calendars, coins and measures, events after 50 BC and questions the record leaves open.

NOTICE

I Sources. Every row rests on the ancient and modern works listed in Sources and Further Reading. Where the ancient writers disagree, the row names each figure with its author or says "sources differ".

II Dates. Dates are the Romans' own. Before 45 BC the civil calendar ran ahead of the seasons, so a date is a calendar day, not a season. The seventh and eighth months are Quintilis and Sextilis until they are renamed (The Calendar in 50 BC).

III Real people. Everyone named in this chapter is historical. No real person has a stat block or is playable, and the book never gives one words. The cast and every character a table makes up are fictional.

The Historical Anchors

The Era gives the political timeline from 133 BC through 51 BC and the main events of 50 BC. The dates below fill in the landmarks that other chapters use, including the roads, aqueducts, temples, cults and arena.

Before the Gracchi

Date	Event
312 BC	The Via Appia and the Aqua Appia are begun
291 BC	The Temple of Aesculapius is founded on the Tiber Island
272 BC	The Aqua Anio Vetus
264 BC	The first recorded gladiator show, in the Forum Boarium (three pairs, by the count of the late writer Ausonius) at the funeral of Brutus Pera. A sundial taken at Catina is set up on the Rostra
220 BC	The Via Flaminia runs north to Ariminum
216 BC	Two Gauls and two Greeks are buried alive in the Forum Boarium
204 and 191 BC	The Magna Mater is brought from Pessinus; her temple on the Palatine is dedicated in 191 BC
187 BC	The Via Aemilia
186 BC	The Senate suppresses the Bacchanalia
159 BC	Scipio Nasica sets up a water clock under a roof
144 to 140 BC	The Aqua Marcia
139 BC	The written ballot comes to elections; astrologers and Jews are expelled from Rome

From the Gracchi to the Compact

Date	Event
125 BC	The Aqua Tepula
121 BC	Opimius rebuilds the Temple of Concord
118 BC	The Via Domitia links Italy to Spain through the old province
117 BC	The Temple of Castor is rebuilt on its high podium
114 to 113 BC	Vestal trials; three Vestals condemned
104 BC	Marius makes the eagle the legion's only standard
97 BC	The Senate decrees that no human being be sacrificed
87 BC	The post of Flamen Dialis falls vacant when Merula kills himself
6 Quintilis 83 BC	Capitoline Jupiter burns, and the Sibylline Books with it
81 BC	Sulla's settlement: 20 quaestors, 8 praetors (some read ten), the pontifices raised to 15
78 BC	The Tabularium is built on the Capitoline slope
76 BC	The keepers of the Sibylline Books send envoys to gather the oracles again
73 BC	The praetor Glaber's 3,000 blockade the slaves' hill; the slaves climb down on ladders of wild vine, Plutarch says, and take his camp. Livy's summaries count 74 in the breakout
73 BC	The Vestal Fabia is tried and acquitted
69 BC	Catulus dedicates the rebuilt Capitoline temple and spreads the first awnings over a theater
67 BC	The lex Roscia gives the equestrians the first 14 rows at the theater
65 BC	Caesar as aedile gives 320 pairs of gladiators (Plutarch); Suetonius says fewer than he planned
64 BC	The crossroads colleges are banned
63 BC	Pompey enters the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem and leaves the treasure. The election of priests by 17 of the 35 tribes is restored
21 October 63 BC	The Senate's final decree against Catiline
3 December 63 BC	The Allobroges' envoys, seized at the Mulvian Bridge in the night, give Cicero the conspirators' letters; the conspirators are executed on 5 December
62 BC	The Pons Fabricius
60 BC	Faustus Sulla gives games for his father

Caesar's Command

Date	Event
59 BC	Bibulus watches the heavens against Caesar's laws. A third of the Asian tax contract is remitted
58 BC	Clodius restores the crossroads colleges. The Isiac altars on the Capitol are thrown down. Scaurus builds a timber theater that Pliny says had 360 columns. Caesar's 4,000 horse are raised from the Province, the Aedui and their allies
57 BC	The temple of Horus at Edfu is finished
57 and 55 BC	The Senate votes thanksgivings of 15 and then 20 days for Caesar's victories
56 BC	The haruspices answer the Senate on a prodigy, and the Sibylline Books are consulted on Ptolemy XII
54 BC	Crassus takes the 2,000 talents in money that Pompey left in the Temple at Jerusalem and, Josephus says, its gold, valued at 8,000 talents. The temple of Hathor at Dendera is begun. The Tiber floods
54 BC	Bribery doubles the rate of interest in Rome from 4 to 8 per cent from 15 Quintilis. Cicero and Oppius have paid 60 million sesterces for the land of Caesar's forum. The Basilica Julia is probably begun
53 BC	Caesar crosses the Rhine again. Cicero is elected augur. Late in the year the Senate votes to pull down private temples of Isis and Sarapis
19 January 52 BC	The day after Clodius is killed, his body burns in the Curia, and the Curia and the Basilica Porcia burn with it
52 BC	Pompey takes Metellus Scipio as colleague for the last five months. With its own Curia burned, the Senate meets in Pompey's Curia and in temples. Curio's revolving wooden theaters
52 BC	Of about 40,000 inside Avaricum, scarcely 800 escape. At Gergovia Caesar loses just under 700 soldiers and 46 centurions. An assembly at Bibracte confirms Vercingetorix as commander. Caesar winters at Bibracte
51 BC	The consul Marcus Marcellus has a man of Novum Comum flogged. Bibulus arrives as governor of Syria. Ariobarzanes III becomes king of Cappadocia. On 29 September the Senate's decree on the provinces is passed in the temple of Apollo
51 BC	A papyrus of late summer 51 BC carries Cleopatra's name alone
31 Quintilis 51 to 30 Quintilis 50 BC	Cicero governs Cilicia

The Map Year

Date	Event
50 BC	Caesar visits Cisalpine Gaul, and its towns welcome him
50 BC	Antony is elected augur by the tribes
50 BC	Valerius Maximus tells that when no workman would touch it, the consul Paullus took an axe to the doors of the temple of Isis and Sarapis
50 BC	The curule aedile Caelius writes to Cicero for panthers for his games
50 BC	Faustus Sulla is rebuilding the Curia; Paullus's basilica is a building site
24 November 50 BC	Cicero reaches Brundisium

After the Map Year, 49 to 27 BC

These events still lie ahead in 50 BC. If the campaign continues, follow a person or event here to the end of play in 44 BC or through to Augustus. For whether the table can change what happens, see Running the Era, The Approach of the Civil War.

What Becomes of the Great Men

Who	49 to 27 BC
Caesar	On 1 January 49 BC his letter is read in the Senate; on 7 January the Senate passes its final decree against him. He crosses the Rubicon on 10 to 11 January 49 BC with the Thirteenth and holds Italy in about sixty days (Plutarch); he is briefly dictator late in 49 BC to hold the elections. He wins at Pharsalus (9 Sextilis 48 BC), at Zela (2 Sextilis 47 BC), at Thapsus (6 April 46 BC) and at Munda (17 March 45 BC). In 46 BC he celebrates four triumphs, over Gaul, Egypt, Pontus and Africa, and is made dictator for ten years; in 44 BC dictator for life. He is killed on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC
Pompey	Leaves Rome with the Senate and sails from Brundisium on 17 March 49 BC. Beaten at Pharsalus, he flees to Egypt and is murdered at Pelusium on 28 September 48 BC by the court of Ptolemy XIII
Cato	Kills himself at Utica after Caesar's victory at Thapsus, 46 BC
Cicero	In the Philippics he says he has received more than twenty million sesterces in inheritances. He is proscribed and killed on 7 December 43 BC
Curio, Caelius and Quintus Cassius	Flee to Caesar in January 49 BC, Antony with them on 7 January. Curio dies that year, and his widow Fulvia then marries Antony
Antony	At the Lupercalia (15 February 44 BC) he offers Caesar a diadem, which Caesar refuses. He is a triumvir from 43 BC, meets Cleopatra at Tarsus in 41 BC, proclaims the Donations of Alexandria in 34 BC, is beaten at Actium on 2 September 31 BC and dies by his own hand on 1 Sextilis 30 BC
Brutus and Cassius	Gaius Cassius, the man who held Syria after Carrhae, leads the conspiracy of 44 BC with Marcus Brutus: more than 60 conspirators, 23 wounds, in the Curia of Pompey. Both are beaten at Philippi in two battles (3 and 23 October 42 BC) and both die
Octavian	Caesar's will adopts him. He is 19 when he is made consul (19 Sextilis 43 BC). The Second Triumvirate (Antony, Octavian, Lepidus) is made lawful by the lex Titia on 27 November 43 BC, and the proscriptions follow. His admiral Agrippa wins at Naulochus and at Actium; he triumphs three times on 13 to 15 Sextilis 29 BC and receives the name Augustus in January 27 BC
Lepidus	Triumvir from 43 BC; stripped of his command in 36 BC
Fulvia	Marries Antony; with his brother Lucius she fights Octavian in the Perusine War, winter 41 to 40 BC
Sextus Pompey	Pompey's son is beaten at Naulochus on 3 September 36 BC

The City, the Calendar and the Gods

Thing	What happens to it
The treasury	Caesar takes it from the Temple of Saturn in 49 BC after the tribune Lucius Metellus tries to block him. Plancus rebuilds the temple in 42 BC
The Senate	Caesar swells it to 900 by 45 BC (Dio)
The proscriptions of 43 BC	About 300 senators and 2,000 equestrians (Appian); Livy's summaries give 130 senators; sources differ
The grain list	In 46 BC, Suetonius says, a house-by-house count cuts the list from 320,000 to 150,000 names
Rents	In 47 BC Caesar remits a year's rent to tenants in Rome who pay 2,000 sesterces or less
Caesar's forum	Dedicated on 26 September 46 BC with the temple of Venus Genetrix, which he vowed at Pharsalus in 48 BC
The basilicas	The Basilica Julia is dedicated unfinished in 46 BC; Paullus's son dedicates the Basilica Aemilia in 34 BC
Shows	The first mock sea battle is Caesar's, in 46 BC. The first stone amphitheater in Rome is Statilius Taurus's, 29 BC by modern reckoning, 30 BC by Dio's placing; sources differ
Caesar's gladiators	In January 49 BC the consul Lentulus brings Caesar's gladiators at Capua into the town's forum, promises them freedom, and then scatters them among the households of the district
The calendar	Caesar's reform year, 46 BC, runs 445 days. The new calendar takes effect on 1 January 45 BC. Quintilis is renamed Iulius in 44 BC; Sextilis becomes Augustus in 8 BC
Isis and Sarapis	In 48 BC the haruspices advise razing their precincts
The Vestals	Caesar's will is lodged with them and opened after his death in 44 BC
The Flamen Dialis	The post stays empty until Augustus fills it
The Jews of Rome and Judea	Caesar protects Jewish rights from 47 to 44 BC and grants Hyrcanus II the title of ethnarch in 47 BC. Herod's rebuilding of the Temple begins about 20 BC
Crassus's lost standards	Parthia returns them to Augustus in 20 BC

Egypt, Gaul and the East

Place or person	What happens
Cleopatra	By 49 BC the party round Ptolemy XIII drives her from Alexandria. The Alexandrine War leaves her on the throne in 47 BC with her brother Ptolemy XIV. Her son, called Caesarion, is born in 47 BC. She dies by her own hand about 10 Sextilis 30 BC
The Ptolemaic army	Caesar finds 20,000 men under Achillas in 48 BC, mostly the Gabiniani, with runaway slaves and 2,000 horse
The Library	Fire in the Alexandrine War of 48 BC burns books, 40,000 rolls by Seneca's figure; whether the Library itself burns is disputed
Egypt	Falls to Octavian on 1 Sextilis 30 BC and is governed by a prefect who answers to him
Massilia	Trebonius besieges it for Caesar in 49 BC; its defenders' great bolt-throwers shoot iron-tipped poles 12 feet long
Juba I	Beaten with the Pompeians at Thapsus, 46 BC
Pharnaces II	Beaten at Zela in 47 BC
Burebista	The king of the Getae and Dacians is killed about 44 BC

Truth and Legend

The tables compare accounts from Rome, Spartacus and ancient writers with the historical record. TRUTH means the record supports the story. LEGEND marks a later or doubtful report, or a screen story without support. UNRESOLVED means the evidence leaves the question open. See Sources and Further Reading, How This Book Handles Uncertainty.

Spartacus

The story	The record	Mark
Spartacus leads a breakout from a gladiator school at Capua	In 73 BC some 70 to 78 men break out of the school of Lentulus Batiatus with kitchen knives and take a cart of gladiators' arms	TRUTH
Spartacus is a chieftain or a king's son	The sources make him a Thracian; Appian and Florus report that he had served with the Romans and deserted	LEGEND
The house of Batiatus and its intrigues	Nothing is recorded of Batiatus but his name and his school	LEGEND
Gannicus is the school's champion	Gannicus is a rebel leader, destroyed with Castus in 71 BC	LEGEND
Spartacus dies on a cross	He is killed in battle in Lucania, and Appian says his body was never found. About 6,000 captives are crucified from Capua to Rome	LEGEND
Spartacus makes Roman captives fight at Crixus's funeral	Appian says he sacrificed 300 Roman prisoners to Crixus's shade; Florus and Orosius say they fought as gladiators; sources differ	UNRESOLVED
Crassus walls off the toe of Italy	Plutarch gives a ditch and wall 300 stades long at Rhegium; the length and the crossing are not confirmed	LEGEND
The slave army numbers 120,000	Appian gives 70,000 and then 120,000 foot; Orosius 60,000; ancient estimates only	UNRESOLVED

The Arena

The story	The record	Mark
Gladiators fight in the Colosseum	No Colosseum in 50 BC (The Arena and the Games, Games in 50 BC)	LEGEND
Rome has a stone arena	In Rome shows are fought in the Forum before timber stands. The oldest surviving stone amphitheater is Pompeii's, built about 70 BC	LEGEND
Capua has a stone arena	Capua's amphitheater is not securely dated, so the record cannot say whether it stands in 50 BC	UNRESOLVED
The crowd turns its thumbs down to kill	No Republican source shows a thumbs-down; the texts are later, and which way meant death is not proven	UNRESOLVED
The crowd alone decides who lives	The editor gives the verdict; the loser may appeal to him and to the crowd (The Arena and the Games, The Editor's Decision)	LEGEND
Every bout ends in a death	Mercy is possible and many fights are stopped; no Republican death rate survives	LEGEND
A net-man (retiarius) fights in 50 BC	The net-man and his chaser are Augustan at the earliest	LEGEND
The Thracian and the murmillo fight in 50 BC	Both are named in Cicero's Philippics of 44 to 43 BC; the Samnite and the Gaul are the older types	TRUTH
A seasoned gladiator costs 7,000 to 12,000 sesterces	No Republican price survives. The figures are caps from the Senate's decree of AD 177; the book's working prices are in The Arena and the Games, The Editor	LEGEND
A freed gladiator is given a wooden sword	Cicero (Philippics 2.74, 44 BC) and Horace, about 20 BC, know the wooden sword (rudis) as the sign of a gladiator's release	TRUTH
The Circus factions are Blue and Green	In this period the colors are white and red; green and blue come later	LEGEND

Caesar and the Great Men

The story	The record	Mark
Caesar reports a victory in three words, "veni, vidi, vici"	After Zela, 47 BC: in a letter to a friend (Plutarch) or on a placard at the Pontic triumph (Suetonius)	TRUTH
Omens greet Caesar at the Rubicon	A herdsman who seizes a trumpet (Suetonius) and struck statues (Lucan) are reported after the fact	LEGEND
Caesar crosses on the night of 10 to 11 January 49 BC	The date is derived, not stated: modern scholars reckon it from Cicero's letters, and no ancient writer gives the day	UNRESOLVED
Caesar is killed in the Senate House in the Forum	He is killed in the Curia of Pompey on the Campus Martius, by more than 60 conspirators, with 23 wounds	LEGEND
Caesar wants a crown	At the Lupercalia of 44 BC Antony offers him a diadem, and he refuses it and sends it to Jupiter on the Capitol; whether the scene was staged to test the crowd, the ancient writers could not say	UNRESOLVED
The First Triumvirate is an office	The pact of 60 BC is private; "First Triumvirate" is a modern label	LEGEND
Caesar bought the consul Paullus for 1,500 talents	Plutarch and Appian report it; neither Caesar nor Cicero says so	LEGEND
Caesar owed 1,300 talents before he held office	Plutarch's figure; Appian gives 25 million sesterces; reported, not proven	LEGEND
Caesar bribed his way to Pontifex Maximus	Suetonius says lavish bribery; Plutarch says Catulus offered Caesar money to withdraw and was refused; sources differ	UNRESOLVED
Marius made the poor into soldiers in one stroke	The change came gradually; scholars doubt a single act	LEGEND
Romans of 50 BC speak of July	The seventh month is Quintilis until 44 BC	LEGEND

LEGEND: POMPEY'S FOOT

Italian towns offered thanksgiving when Pompey recovered from grave illness at Naples in 50 BC, as Cicero remembers. In Plutarch's telling it went to Pompey's head. Someone asked where his troops were if Caesar marched. Pompey said he could stamp his foot anywhere in Italy and armies of foot and horse would rise.

LEGEND: CAESAR AND THE PIRATES

Cilician pirates took the young Caesar near Pharmacusa about 75 BC. According to Plutarch, he laughed at the ransom of 20 talents and promised 50. He joked that he would crucify his captors, then did so once ransomed. Suetonius adds that Caesar cut their throats first as a mercy. Velleius also tells the story.

LEGEND: THE HEAD OF CRASSUS

During a performance of Euripides' Bacchae before the Armenian and Parthian kings, says Plutarch, the actor playing Agave lifted Crassus's head in place of Pentheus's. In Dio's second-hand account the Parthians pour molten gold into the mouth to mock his greed. Plutarch was not a witness either.

Cleopatra and Egypt

The story	The record	Mark
Cleopatra rules Egypt alone in 50 BC	She rules jointly with her brother Ptolemy XIII under their father's will; she is about 19. A papyrus of 51 BC carries her name alone, so the mark is a judgment on the will, not a certainty	LEGEND
Cleopatra and Caesar are lovers before the civil war	Caesar first reaches Alexandria in 48 BC; Caesarion is born in 47 BC, on a day still disputed	LEGEND
Cleopatra dies by an asp's bite	The record has her die by her own hand about 10 Sextilis 30 BC; the means is not settled	UNRESOLVED
The Library is already lost	It stands in 50 BC; a fire of 48 BC burns books, and how much of the Library is lost is disputed	LEGEND
The Pharos is 100 to 140 meters high, in three stages	Strabo calls it a white tower of many stories; the height and shape come from much later descriptions	LEGEND
Egypt's grain feeds Rome in 50 BC	Rome's grain comes from Sicily, Sardinia and Africa; Egypt's comes under the emperors	LEGEND
Pompey's Pillar and Cleopatra's Needles stand in Alexandria	The pillar is Diocletian's, AD 298; the Needles and the Caesareum are later	LEGEND

The Vestals and the Gods

The story	The record	Mark
Six Vestals, chosen as girls, serve thirty years	Six, chosen between 6 and 10 years old; ten years learning, ten serving, ten teaching	TRUTH
An unchaste Vestal is buried alive	In an underground room at the Campus Sceleratus by the Colline Gate; her lover is beaten to death	TRUTH
A Vestal met by chance can save a condemned man	Plutarch alone, writing about AD 100, says so	LEGEND
The Vestals guard the Palladium carried from Troy	Livy and Plutarch tell it; no man but the Pontifex Maximus may enter the inner store	LEGEND
Wills and treaties are lodged with the Vestals	Caesar's will is lodged with them	TRUTH
A priest of Jupiter (Flamen Dialis) serves in 50 BC	The post is empty from 87 BC until Augustus	LEGEND
Mithras has worshippers in Rome	Plutarch gives Mithras's rites to the Cilician pirates; Roman Mithraism is imperial	LEGEND
Rome never sacrificed people	In 216 BC Rome buried alive two Gauls and two Greeks; the Senate banned human sacrifice in 97 BC	LEGEND
A sacred shield fell from the sky under Numa	Livy and Plutarch tell it of the Salii's shields	LEGEND
The druids burn men in wicker figures	Caesar reports it, and Strabo repeats it; the archaeology is debated	LEGEND

Gaul and the Legions

The story	The record	Mark
Vercingetorix is king of the Gauls	His own followers hail him king (Caesar, Gallic War 7.4); the assembly at Bibracte confirms him as commander of the war, not as king of the Gauls	LEGEND
Vercingetorix is killed after Alesia	He is held six years and put to death after Caesar's triumph in 46 BC	LEGEND
Gauls fight from chariots	Caesar meets war chariots among the Britons, not the Gauls of his day	LEGEND
The war kills a million Gauls and enslaves a million more	Plutarch's figures; Pliny gives 1,192,000 killed in all Caesar's battles outside the civil wars; round boasts, not counts	LEGEND
The Helvetii number 368,000	Caesar's figure from tablets he says were found in their camp; historians think it inflated	UNRESOLVED
80,000 shut in Alesia and a relief army of 8,000 horse and about 240,000 foot	Caesar's own claims, as he gives them; some editions read 250,000	UNRESOLVED
The buyers counted 53,000 Aduatuci	Caesar reports the buyers' count; the figure is his alone	UNRESOLVED
Legionaries wear segmented plate and carry rectangular shields	In 50 BC it is mail and an oval scutum; segmented plate is later (Running the Era, The Anachronism Guard)	LEGEND
Pullo and Vorenus are real centurions	Caesar names them as rivals in Quintus Cicero's besieged camp in 54 BC; the rest of their screen story is invented	TRUTH
The eagle-bearer of the Tenth leaps into the surf off Britain	Caesar tells it, 55 BC	TRUTH
A centurion carries a vine stick	Firmly attested only in the Empire; Republican use is likely but unproven	LEGEND

The City

The story	The record	Mark
The Senate meets in the Curia in the Forum	The Curia burned in January 52 BC and is being rebuilt; the Senate meets in Pompey's Curia and in temples such as Apollo's	LEGEND
Rome has the Pantheon and the imperial forums	Neither exists; nor do the Baths of Agrippa or the Theater of Marcellus	LEGEND
Rome has many aqueducts	Four in 50 BC: the Appia, the Anio Vetus, the Marcia and the Tepula; the Aqua Julia is 33 BC	LEGEND
The temple of Venus Genetrix stands in Caesar's forum	It is vowed in 48 BC and dedicated in 46 BC; in 50 BC the forum is cleared ground	LEGEND

Glossary

For each term in use, follow the pointer to the chapter that owns it.

Term	Meaning	Owner
aedes	A god's house: the temple building itself	Gods and Religion
aerarium	The state treasury, kept in the Temple of Saturn	Powers of the Republic
ambitus	Electoral bribery, a crime	Era Rules
as	The bronze coin; see Money and Measures	Era Rules
atrium	The hall of a house, open to the sky over a basin	The Era
auctoratus	A free man who signs on to fight as a gladiator	The Arena and the Games
auspices	The signs of the gods' approval, taken before public business	Gods and Religion
caligae	A soldier's nailed boots	The Era
capite censi	Citizens counted by head because they own nothing	Powers of the Republic
catasta	The dealer's platform at the slave market	Rome
cena	The main meal, from mid-afternoon	The Era
client	A man who owes a patron support and greeting in return for protection	Powers of the Republic
collegium (plural collegia)	An association: of a trade, a cult or a neighborhood	Powers of the Republic
comitia	The voting assemblies of the people	Powers of the Republic
contubernium	Eight soldiers who share a tent	Legion Battles
cura annonae	The command of the grain supply, given to Pompey in 57 BC for five years	Rome
cursus honorum	The ladder of offices	Powers of the Republic
Dignitas	A character's public worth in play	Era Rules
domus	The house of a family of means	The Era
editor	The man who gives a show and pays for it	The Arena and the Games
equites	The equestrian order: the wealthy men below the Senate, rated at 400,000 sesterces or more	The Era
fasces	The bundle of rods carried by a magistrate's lictors	Powers of the Republic
fasti, nefasti, comitiales	Days when the courts may sit, days with no legal business, days when the assemblies may meet	Gods and Religion
Gabiniani	Roman soldiers left in Egypt by Gabinius in 55 BC	Alexandria
imperium	The power to command an army and to judge	Powers of the Republic
infamis (plural infames)	A person under legal disgrace: gladiator, trainer, actor, brothel-keeper	The Arena and the Games
insula	A block of rented rooms over shops	The Era
Kalends, Nones, Ides	The three fixed days of a month; see The Calendar in 50 BC	Gods and Religion
lanista	The owner and trainer of a gladiator school	The Arena and the Games
lararium	The household shrine	Gods and Religion
latus clavus	The broad purple stripe on a senator's tunic	Powers of the Republic
lictor	An attendant who walks before a magistrate with the fasces	Powers of the Republic
ludi	State festival games on fixed days	The Arena and the Games
ludus	A gladiator school	The Arena and the Games
mangones	Slave dealers	Rome
missio	Release of a beaten gladiator alive	The Arena and the Games
munus (plural munera)	A gladiator show owed to the dead	The Arena and the Games
nundinae	The market day, every eighth day	Rome
obnuntiatio	Announcing bad omens to stop public business	Gods and Religion
oppidum	A walled Gallic hill town	Gaul and the Provinces
Ordo	A character's legal order in play	Era Rules
palla	A woman's shawl	The Era
paterfamilias	The oldest living man of a family, who holds power over it	The Era
peculium	The fund an owner lets an enslaved person hold	The Era
Peregrine	A free man or woman who is not a Roman citizen	Era Rules
pilum	The legionary's heavy throwing spear	Legion Battles
pomerium	The sacred boundary of the city	Gods and Religion
publicani	The companies that farm the state's taxes and contracts	Powers of the Republic
quaestiones	The standing jury courts	Powers of the Republic
res repetundae	Extortion by a governor, tried in its own court	Powers of the Republic
rudis	The wooden sword of training and of release	The Arena and the Games
sagum	A heavy cloak, of soldiers and Gauls	The Era
salutatio	The morning greeting of clients at a patron's door	Powers of the Republic
scutum	The legionary's long oval shield	Legion Battles
senatus consultum	A decree of the Senate; the ultimum is its final decree in an emergency	Powers of the Republic
spectacula	The timber stands put up for a show	The Arena and the Games
stola	A married woman's long dress	The Era
supplicatio	Days of public thanksgiving voted by the Senate	Gods and Religion
tablinum	The master's office off the atrium	The Era
templum	A space marked out by the augurs, where the Senate may meet	Gods and Religion
toga	The citizen's white wool mantle; candida, chalked for a candidate; praetexta, bordered in purple for a magistrate	The Era
tresviri capitales	Three junior magistrates who keep watch over the city with a few public slaves	The Era
tribuni aerarii	The third order of jurors under the lex Aurelia	Powers of the Republic
verna	A slave born in the house	The Era
vicesima	The tax of one twentieth of a slave's value on freeing him	Gear and Prices

Offices

For the number of men in each office, their powers and minimum ages, see Powers of the Republic, The Ladder of Offices. The list below gives their duties.

Office	What he does	Owner
Consul	One of two chief magistrates a year; commands armies, presides over the Senate, names the year	Powers of the Republic
Praetor	Holds imperium and runs the courts: the urban praetor for citizens, the peregrine praetor for foreigners, the rest for the jury courts	Powers of the Republic
Quaestor	Keeps the treasury, or the accounts of a governor in his province; the first step into the Senate	Powers of the Republic
Aedile	Keeps the markets, streets, water, grain and temples, and gives games	Powers of the Republic
Tribune of the plebs	A plebeian whose person is sacred; can veto any act and propose laws	Powers of the Republic
Censor	Elected about every five years for eighteen months; counts the citizens, enrolls the Senate, lets the state contracts	Powers of the Republic
Dictator	A magistrate with supreme command for a set task; to everyone alive in 50 BC the word means Sulla	Powers of the Republic
Proconsul, propraetor	A former consul or praetor sent to govern a province	Powers of the Republic
Princeps senatus	The senator at the head of the censors' roll; since Sulla the presiding consul asks the consuls-elect first	Powers of the Republic
Legate	A senator chosen by a general to command a legion or a detachment	Character Creation and Roles
Military tribune	One of six young officers in each legion	Character Creation and Roles
Centurion	Commands a century; the senior centurion of a legion is the primus pilus	Character Creation and Roles
Pontifex Maximus	Head of the college of pontiffs, keeper of the calendar and the Vestals	Gods and Religion
Augur	Judges whether the gods approve a public act	Gods and Religion
Tresviri capitales	Keep watch over the city with a few public slaves; Rome has no police	The Era

The Calendar in 50 BC

To a Roman, this is the year of the consuls Paullus and Marcellus. In Varro's reckoning from the founding of Rome, it is 704, or DCCIV. A year has 355 days. In alternate years the pontiffs may insert a month after 23 or 24 February, counted by the ancients as 22 or 23 days. Curio asks for one in 50 BC and is refused. Modern estimates put the civil date about five to seven weeks ahead of the sun. The precise gap has to be reconstructed. See Gods and Religion, The Roman Year for counting back from the fixed days and dating the festivals.

Each month opens on the Kalends. Markets (nundinae) come every eighth day. Romans divide daylight into twelve hours, longer in summer, and night into four watches.

Month	Days	Nones	Ides	Later name
Ianuarius	29	5th	13th
Februarius	28	5th	13th
Martius	31	7th	15th
Aprilis	29	5th	13th
Maius	31	7th	15th
Iunius	29	5th	13th
Quintilis	31	7th	15th	Iulius (July) from 44 BC
Sextilis	29	5th	13th	Augustus (August) from 8 BC
September	29	5th	13th
October	31	7th	15th
November	29	5th	13th
December	29	5th	13th

Money and Measures

Look up money, stakes and credit in Era Rules, Money and Credit, and prices in Gear and Prices. The Basis column distinguishes source figures, values calculated from them and conventions for play.

Unit	Worth or length	Basis
quadrans	a quarter of an as; the price of a bath	Recorded
as	bronze; 4 quadrantes; a quarter of a sestertius	Recorded
sestertius (HS)	4 asses; the unit of account, seldom struck	Recorded
denarius	silver, about 3.9 g; 4 sestertii or 16 asses	Recorded
aureus	gold, rare; no fixed rate in 50 BC; reckon about 100 HS as bullion	Book convention
drachma	the Greek silver coin of the East; counts as 1 denarius in Roman accounts	Convention

Unit	Worth or length	Modern equivalent	Basis
talent	a weight of silver used as a sum; 6,000 denarii or 24,000 HS		Derived
purse	the arena's unit of account; 800 HS (200 denarii); see The Arena and the Games		Book convention
Roman foot		about 296 mm	Recorded
pace	two steps, 5 Roman feet	about 1.48 m	Derived
Roman mile	1,000 paces	about 1,480 m	Recorded
stade	the Greek measure of distance	the Heptastadion's seven stades are about 1.2 km	Recorded
modius	the grain measure; a working adult eats about one a week	no figure in this book	Recorded
hour	a twelfth of the daylight, longer in summer		Recorded
watch	a quarter of the night		Recorded

Who's Who

The book names these real people in third person, without stats or dialogue.

Name	Who	Dates	Where in this book
Achillas	General of the Ptolemaic court	Commands 20,000 in 48 BC	Alexandria
Agrippa	Octavian's admiral	Naulochus 36 BC; Actium 31 BC	The Era
Ambiorix	Leader of the Eburones	Destroys Sabinus and Cotta, winter 54 to 53 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Antipater the Idumaean	The power behind Hyrcanus II in Judea	In power in 50 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Antony (Marcus Antonius)	Caesar's friend; augur and tribune-elect in 50 BC	Tribune from 10 December 50 BC; dies 30 BC	The Era; Powers of the Republic; Gods and Religion
Appius Claudius Pulcher	Censor of 50 BC who purges the Senate	Censor 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Ariobarzanes III	King of Cappadocia, a client of Rome	King from 51 BC	Powers of the Republic; Gaul and the Provinces
Ariovistus	Leader of the Suebi and their allies, beaten by Caesar	58 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Bibulus (Marcus Calpurnius)	Optimate; Caesar's colleague as consul; governor of Syria	Consul 59 BC; Syria 51 to 50 BC	Powers of the Republic; Gods and Religion
Brutus (Marcus Junius)	Leader, with Cassius, of the conspiracy of 44 BC	Dies after Philippi, 42 BC	The Era
Burebista	King of the Getae and Dacians	Killed about 44 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Caelius Rufus (Marcus)	Curule aedile of 50 BC, Cicero's correspondent	Aedile 50 BC	Powers of the Republic; The Arena and the Games
Caesar (Gaius Julius)	Proconsul of the Gauls and Illyricum, and head of the pontiffs	Killed 15 March 44 BC	Throughout
Caesarion	Son of Cleopatra, not yet born in 50 BC	Born 47 BC	Alexandria
Cassius Longinus (Gaius)	Crassus's quaestor, who held Syria after Carrhae	Beats the Parthians 51 BC; dies after Philippi, 42 BC	Powers of the Republic
Cassius Longinus (Quintus)	Caesar's friend, tribune-elect	Tribune from 10 December 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Catiline (Lucius Sergius Catilina)	Conspirator of 63 BC	Killed near Pistoria, January 62 BC	The Era
Cato (Marcus Porcius)	Stoic, the hard line of the optimates	Praetor 54 BC; kills himself at Utica 46 BC	Powers of the Republic
Catulus (Quintus Lutatius)	Builder of the Tabularium and the new Capitoline temple	78 and 69 BC	Gods and Religion; Rome
Cicero (Marcus Tullius)	Advocate; consul of 63 BC; governor of Cilicia in the map year	Augur from 53 BC. Killed 7 December 43 BC	Powers of the Republic
Cleopatra VII	Queen of Egypt with her brother	Joint ruler from 51 BC; dies 30 BC	Alexandria
Clodius (Publius Clodius Pulcher)	Tribune and street leader	Tribune 58 BC; killed at Bovillae 18 January 52 BC	Powers of the Republic; Rome
Crassus (Marcus Licinius)	The richest man of his day	Consul 70 and 55 BC. Killed after Carrhae, 53 BC	Powers of the Republic
Crixus, Oenomaus	Gauls who led the breakout with Spartacus	73 BC; Crixus falls at Mount Garganus, 72 BC	The Era
Curio (Gaius Scribonius)	Tribune of the plebs in 50 BC	Dies 49 BC	Powers of the Republic
Deiotarus	King of Galatia, a client of Rome	In power in 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Diviciacus	Aeduan noble named by Caesar; Cicero calls him a druid (On Divination 1.90)	In Caesar's war	Gaul and the Provinces
Domitius Ahenobarbus (Lucius)	Optimate leader	In the Senate in 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Dumnorix	Aeduan noble	Dies 54 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Faustus Sulla	Son of the dictator; rebuilder of the Curia	Games 60 BC; rebuilding in 50 BC	Rome; Powers of the Republic
Fulvia	Widow of Clodius, wife of Curio in 50 BC	Later wife of Antony	Powers of the Republic
Gabinius (Aulus)	Proconsul who restored Ptolemy XII	55 BC	Alexandria
Gracchus (Tiberius and Gaius)	Tribunes and reformers	Killed 133 and 121 BC	The Era
Hyrcanus II	High priest at Jerusalem	Ethnarch only from 47 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Juba I	King of Numidia, Pompey's friend and Curio's enemy	Beaten at Thapsus, 46 BC	Powers of the Republic
Julia	Caesar's daughter, Pompey's wife	Married 59 BC; dies in childbirth 54 BC	Powers of the Republic
Lentulus Batiatus	Owner of the school at Capua	73 BC	The Era
Lepidus (Marcus Aemilius)	Triumvir with Antony and Octavian	43 to 36 BC	The Era
Marcellus (Gaius Claudius)	Consul of 50 BC	Consul 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Marcellus (Marcus Claudius)	Consul of 51 BC who moved to replace Caesar	Consul 51 BC	Powers of the Republic
Marius (Gaius)	General, seven times consul	Dies 13 January 86 BC	The Era
Metellus Scipio	Pompey's father-in-law and colleague	Consul 52 BC	Powers of the Republic
Milo (Titus Annius)	Clodius's rival, with gladiators of his own	Tribune 57 BC; in exile at Massilia from 52 BC	Powers of the Republic; Rome
Mithridates VI	King of Pontus	Massacre of 88 BC; dies 63 BC	The Era
Octavian	Caesar's great-nephew and heir	Consul at 19, 43 BC; Augustus 27 BC	The Era
Orodes II	King of Parthia	In power in 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Paullus (Lucius Aemilius)	Consul of 50 BC and builder of a basilica	Consul 50 BC	Powers of the Republic; Rome; Gods and Religion
Pharnaces II	Holder of the Bosporan kingdom	Beaten at Zela, 47 BC	Powers of the Republic
Piso (Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus)	Censor of 50 BC	Censor 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Pompey (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus)	First man in Rome by rank	Consul 70, 55 and 52 BC. Killed 28 September 48 BC	Throughout
Pothinus	Chief minister of Ptolemy XIII	In power in 50 BC	Alexandria
Ptolemy XII Auletes	King of Egypt, restored by Rome	Restored 55 BC; dies early 51 BC	Alexandria
Ptolemy XIII	Boy king, joint ruler with Cleopatra	About ten when his father dies	Alexandria
Pullo (Titus) and Vorenus (Lucius)	Rival centurions named by Caesar	54 BC	Gaul and the Provinces
Sallust	Historian; expelled from the Senate by Appius	Expelled 50 BC	Powers of the Republic
Spartacus	Thracian gladiator and leader of the slave war	73 to 71 BC; killed in Lucania 71 BC	The Era; Powers of the Republic
Sulla (Lucius Cornelius)	Dictator	Dictator from 82 BC; dies 78 BC	The Era; Powers of the Republic
Surena	Parthian general at Carrhae	53 BC; later put to death by Orodes	The Era; Legion Battles
Tiro (Marcus Tullius)	Cicero's secretary, freed by him	Freed before 50 BC	The Era; Powers of the Republic
Vatinius (Publius)	Author of the law of 59 BC; beat Cato to a praetorship	59 BC	Powers of the Republic
Vercingetorix	Arvernian commander of the Gallic war	Surrenders at Alesia, 52 BC; put to death after Caesar's triumph in 46 BC	The Era; Gaul and the Provinces
Verres	Governor of Sicily, prosecuted by Cicero	70 BC	The Era

Facts We Do Not Know

Where evidence fails or conflicts, use the marked working figures as needed. Leave the other questions to the GM.

What is not known	Why	At the table
How many people live in Rome	No ancient count survives; modern estimates run from about half a million to a million	A crowded city; Rome, The City in 50 BC
What share of Italy is enslaved	Modern estimates run from one in five to one in three	Enslaved people are in every house and field
What a gladiator costs	No Republican price survives	Use the working prices in The Arena and the Games, The Editor
How often a bout ends in death	No Republican rate survives	The Arena and the Games, Failure States
Which way the thumb turned for death	The texts are later and disagree	Leave the gesture out; the editor speaks
The gladiator's oath in the Republic	The wording is known only from later writers	Use the contract, not the words
When the provocator first fights	The first clear evidence is imperial	Keep to the Samnite, Gaul, Thracian and murmillo
Where gladiator shows began	Campania or Etruria	Either
How many the Circus seats	150,000 (Dionysius) or 250,000 (Pliny), both questioned	A vast crowd
How many laps a race runs	Seven is the imperial rule; the Republican rule is not secure	The Arena and the Games, The Chariot Race
When Capua's amphitheater was built	Not securely dated	Assume none of stone in 50 BC
When Caesar's command ends	The optimates and Caesar read the laws of 55 and 52 BC differently; no historian can settle it	Every side has a lawyer; Powers of the Republic, In 50 BC: When Does Caesar's Command End?
Whether the exemption of 52 BC holds	Pompey added it after his law was engraved	As above
The exact drift of the calendar	Reconstructed, not recorded	About five to seven weeks ahead of the sun
When Sulla laid down the dictatorship	Late 81 to 79 BC, disputed
When Sertorius was killed	72 BC in most accounts, 73 BC by one argument
The day of Carrhae	9 June by Ovid; May by some reckonings
The size of Spartacus's army	Appian 70,000 and 120,000; Orosius 60,000	Tens of thousands
The proscription toll of 43 BC	300 senators (Appian) or 130 (Livy's summaries)
The day Caesarion is born	A disputed reading of a Memphis stela gives a day in June 47 BC by modern reckoning
The day Octavian becomes Augustus	13 or 16 January 27 BC, by calendar
How Cleopatra dies	By her own hand; the means is not settled
How many rolls the Library holds	The figures are later and disputed	A great many
How tall the Pharos is	Later descriptions only	Strabo's many stories
What the Temple of Saturn looks like in 50 BC	Nothing is known of the old temple's form	Tufa, stucco and tile
Who pays for a sacrifice	Not recorded	Gear and Prices sets a working figure
How common curse tablets are	Few Latin tablets this early survive	Rare but possible
How the Parthians worship	Poorly recorded	Keep it offstage
How many Helvetii marched	Caesar's 368,000, thought inflated	Use the scale, not the number
How many Gauls died in the war	Plutarch's and Pliny's totals are boasts	As above
Where Rome's slave dealers stand	Cicero places them near the Temple of Castor; the site is not certain	Rome, The Slave Market
What a centurion is paid	Not attested	Gear and Prices, Wages and Income
Whether a senator needs a property qualification	No Republican figure is attested	Powers of the Republic
Whether the centurion's vine stick is Republican	Firmly attested only in the Empire	Septimius carries one; treat it as rank, not proof