permutatio A banking term. It meant that sums of money could be transferred between institutions inside and outside Rome, sometimes over very long distances, without the actual money changing hands.
Phrygia This was one of the wilder and less populated parts of Anatolia, synonymous to the ancients with nymphs, dryads, satyrs, and other mythical woodland folk, as well as with peasants so naive and defenseless they were ridiculously easy to enslave. Phrygia lay inland from Bithynia, south of Paphlagonia, and west of Galatia. Its southern boundary was with Pisidia. Mountainous and heavily forested, it was a part of the Attalid empire of Pergamum; after settling the wars following the bequest of the Kingdom of Pergamum to Rome, the Roman proconsul Manius Aquillius literally sold most of Phrygia to the fifth King Mithridates of Pontus in return for a large sum of gold. Aquillius kept the gold for himself.
Picenum That part of the eastern Italian peninsula roughly occupying the area of the Italian leg's calf muscle. Its western boundary followed the ridge of the Apennines; to its north lay Umbria, and to its south Samnium. Since it possessed a good section of the Adriatic coast, it possessed several seaports, the most important of which were Ancona and Firmum Picenum. The main inland town and capital city was Asculum Picentum. The original inhabitants were of Italiote and Illyrian stock, but when the first King Brennus invaded Italy many of his Celtic tribesmen settled in Picenum, and intermarried with the earlier folk. There was also a tradition that Sabines from the other side of the Apennines had migrated to settle Picenum. Its people were referred to as Picentines or Picentes. The region fell more or less into two parts—northern Picenum, closely allied to southern Umbria, was under the sway of the great family called Pompeius, whereas Picenum south of the Flosis River was connected more closely to Samnium in the spiritual ties of its people.
pilum Plural, pila. The Roman infantry spear, especially as modified by Gaius Marius. It had a very small, wickedly barbed head of iron and an upper shaft of iron; this was joined to a shaped wooden stem which fitted the hand comfortably. Marius modified it by introducing a weakness into the junction between iron and wooden sections of the shaft; when the pilum lodged in a shield or enemy's body, it broke apart, and thus was of no use to enemy soldiers. The Roman legions, however, possessed craftsmen who could quickly mend pila after a battle.
Pisidia This region lay to the south of Phrygia, and was even wilder and more backward. Extremely mountainous and filled with lakes, its climate was held to be a very healthy one. Little industry or populous settlement existed; the countryside was heavily forested with magnificent pines. Its people apparently were an ancient and indigenous strain allied to the Thracians, and its language was unique. Those few Pisidians who came to the notice of Rome and Romans were famous for their bizarre religious beliefs.
Plautus His real name was Titus Maccius Plautus. An Umbrian, he lived during the third century b.c., and died at some date after 184 b.c. During his long career he wrote about 130 plays. He worked in the comedic form, and in Latin; though his plots were essentially borrowed from Greek comedy, he contributed an unmistakably Roman feel to his plays, shifting his locales from Greece to Rome, enhancing the importance of slave characters, and giving his Roman or Italian audiences a completely comfortable feeling that what they saw was taking place at home rather than in Greece. His dialogue (even in modern English translation) is remarkably free and extremely funny. Critically he failed to be faithful to his own plots and often succumbed to interpolated scenes having nothing to do with what had gone before or was yet to come—wit was all. Though no trace of the music has come down to us, his plays were larded with songs, some accompanied by a lyre (the canticum) or flute. The importance of music in Latin comedy relative to Greek comedy may perhaps have been a heritage from the Etruscans; the music in Latin plays may have been freer and more melodic in our present-day terms than Greek music.
plebeian, Plebs All Roman citizens who were not patricians were plebeians—that is, they belonged to the Plebs (the e is short, so Pleb rhymes with Feb of "February"). At the beginning of the Republic, no plebeian could be a priest, a curule magistrate, or even a senator. This situation lasted only a very short while; one by one the exclusively patrician institutions crumbled before the onslaught of the Plebs, that much larger class of citizens not being above threatening to secede. By the time of Marius and Sulla it could be said that the Plebs ran Rome, that there was little if any advantage in being patrician.
plebiscite Plebiscitum. A law passed in the Plebeian Assembly was more properly a plebiscitum than a lex. From very early in the Republic, plebiscites were regarded as legally binding, but the lex Hortensia of 287 b.c. made this an official fact. From then on, there was virtually no difference at law between a plebiscitum and a lex. By the time of Marius and Sulla almost all the legal clerks who were responsible for putting the laws on tablets and recording them for posterity neglected to mention whether the laws were plebiscitum or lex.
pomerium The sacred boundary enclosing the city of Rome. Marked by stones called cippi, it was reputedly inaugurated by King Servius Tullius, and remained without alteration until the later years of Sulla's career. The pomerium did not exactly follow the Servian Walls, one good reason why it is doubtful that the Servian Walls were built by King Servius Tullius—who would surely have caused his walls to follow the same line as his pomerium. The whole of the ancient Palatine city of Romulus was enclosed by the pomerium, but the Aventine lay outside it, and so did the Capitol. Tradition held that the pomerium might be enlarged only by a man who significantly increased the size of Roman territory. In religious terms, Rome herself existed only within the pomerium; all outside it was merely Roman territory.
pons A bridge.
pontifex The Latin word for a priest; it has survived to be absorbed unchanged into most modern European languages. Many Latin etymologists consider that in very early Roman times the pontifex was a maker of bridges, and that the making of bridges was considered a mystical art, thus putting the maker in close touch with the gods. Be that as it may, by the time the Republic was flourishing the pontifex was a priest; incorporated into a special college, he served as an adviser to Rome's magistrates in religious matters— and inevitably would be a magistrate himself. At first all pontifices had to be patrician, but a lex Ogulnia of 300 b.c. stipulated that half of the College of Pontifices had to be plebeian.
Pontifex Maximus The head of Rome's State-run religion, and most senior of all priests. He seems to have been an invention of the infant Republic, a typically masterly Roman way of getting around an obstacle without ruffling too many feelings; for in the time of the kings of Rome, the Rex Sacrorum had been the chief priest, this being a title held by the king. Probably because they considered it unwise to abolish the Rex Sacrorum, the rulers of the new Republic of Rome simply created a new pontifex whose role and status were superior to those of the Rex Sacrorum. This new priest was given the title Pontifex Maximus; to reinforce his statesmanlike position, he was to be elected rather than co-opted (as the ordinary pontifices were). At first he was probably required to be a patrician (the Rex Sacrorum remained a patrician right through the Republic), but by the middle of the Republic he was more likely to be a plebeian. He supervised all the various members of the various priestly colleges—pontifices, augurs, flamines, fetials, and other minor priests—and the Vestal Virgins. In Republican times he occupied the most prestigious State-owned house, but shared it with the Vestal Virgins. His official headquarters had the status of a temple—the little old Regia in the Forum Romanum just outside his house.
Pontus A large kingdom at the southeastern end of the Euxine Sea. In the west it bordered Paphlagonia at Sinope, in the east Colchis at Apsarus. Inland it bordered Armenia Magna on the east and Armenia Parva on the southeast; to proper south was Cappadocia, west of it was Galatia. Wild, untamed, beautiful, and mountainous, Pontus had a fertile littoral dotted with Greek colony cities like Sinope, Amisus and Trapezus. Some idea of the climate can be gained from th
e fact that Pontus was the original home of the cherry and the rhododendron. Because the interior of Pontus was divided by three ranges of very high peaks running parallel to the coastline, it was never in antiquity a truly combined entity; its kings took tribute rather than taxed, and allowed each district to run its affairs in the manner local terrain and sophistication dictated. Gemstones and much alluvial gold added to the wealth of its kings, the Mithridatidae, as did silver, tin and iron.
praefectum fabrum "He who supervises the making." One of the most important men in a Roman Republican army, technically he was not even a part of it; he was a civilian appointed to the post of praefectus fabrum by the general. The praefectus fabrum was responsible for the equipping and supplying of the army in all respects, from its animals and their fodder to its men and their food. Because he let out the contracts to businessmen and manufacturers for equipment and supplies, he was a very powerful figure—and unless he was a man of superior integrity, in a perfect position to enrich himself.
praenomen The first name of a Roman man. There were very few of them in use—perhaps twenty at the time of Marius and Sulla, and half of that twenty were not common, or were confined to the men of one particular gens, as with Mamercus, confined to the Aemilii Lepidi. Each gens or clan favored certain praenomina only, which further reduced the number available! A modern scholar can often tell from a man's praenomen whether or not that man was a genuine member of the gens; the Julii, for instance, favored Sextus, Gaius and Lucius only, so a man called Marcus Julius was not a true Julian of the patrician gens; the Licinii favored Publius, Marcus and Lucius; the Pompeii favored Gnaeus, Sextus and Quintus; the Cornelii favored Publius, Lucius and Gnaeus; the Servilii of the patrician gens favored Quintus and Gnaeus. Appius belonged only to the Claudii. One of the great puzzles for modern scholars concerns that Lucius Claudius who was Rex Sacrorum during the late Republic; Lucius is not a Claudian praenomen, but as he was certainly a patrician, Lucius Claudius the Rex Sacrorum must have been a genuine Claudian. I have postulated that there was a branch of the Claudian gens bearing the praenomen Lucius which traditionally always held the priesthood of Rex Sacrorum.
praetor This was the second most senior position in the hierarchy of Roman magistrates (excluding the office of censor, a special case). At the very beginning of the Republic the two highest magistrates of all were called praetors. But by the end of the fourth century b.c. the word "consul" was being used to describe these highest magistrates. One praetor was the sole representative of this position for many decades thereafter; he was very obviously the praetor urbanus, as his duties were confined to the city of Rome, thus freeing up the two consuls for duty as war leaders away from Rome. In 242 b.c. a second praetor was created—the praetor peregrinus. There soon followed Rome's acquisition of overseas provinces requiring governance, so in 227 b.c. two more praetors were created, to deal with Sicily and Sardinia/Corsica. In 197 b.c. the number was increased from four to six praetors, to cope with governance of the two Spains. However, after that no more praetors were created; at the time of Marius and Sulla, six seems to have been the standard number, though in some years the Senate apparently felt it necessary to bring the number up to eight. There is, I add, modern argument about this; some scholars think it was Sulla as dictator who increased the praetors from six to eight, whereas others consider the number became eight during the time of Gaius Gracchus.
praetor peregrinus In English, I have chosen to describe the praetor peregrinus as the foreign praetor because he dealt only with legal matters and lawsuits involving one or more parties who were not Roman citizens. By the time of Marius and Sulla the foreign praetor's duties were confined to the dispensation of justice; he traveled all over Italy, and sometimes further afield than that. He also heard the cases involving non-citizens within the city of Rome.
praetor urbanus In English, the urban praetor. By the time of Marius and Sulla his duties were almost purely in litigation; he was responsible for the supervision of justice and the law courts within the city of Rome. His imperium did not extend beyond the fifth milestone from Rome, and he was not allowed to leave Rome for more than ten days at a time. If both the consuls were absent from Rome, he was its senior magistrate, therefore empowered to summon the Senate, make decisions about execution of government policies, even organize the defenses of the city if under threat of attack. It was his decision as to whether two litigants should proceed to court or to a formal hearing; in most cases he decided the matter there and then, without benefit of hearing or trial process.
primus pilus Later, primipilus. The centurion in command of the leading century of the leading cohort of a Roman legion, and therefore the chief centurion of that legion. He rose to this position by a serial promotion, and was considered the most able man in the legion. During the time
of Marius and Sulla, the centuries in the leading cohort appear to have been the same size as all the other centuries.
Princeps Senatus The Leader of the House. He was chosen by the censors according to the rules of the mos maiorum: he had to be a patrician, the leader of his decury, an interrex more times than anyone else, be of unimpeachable moral integrity, and have more auctoritas and dignitas than any other patrician senator. The title of Princeps Senatus was not given for life, but was subject to review by each new pair of censors, who could remove a man from the post and substitute another man did the Princeps Senatus fail to measure up. Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was chosen Princeps Senatus at an early age, apparently during his consulship in 115 b.c. and long before his term as censor (109 b.c.); it was unusual for a man to be appointed Princeps Senatus before he had been censor. Scaurus's winning of the post was either a signal mark of honor for an extraordinary man, or else (as some modern scholars have suggested), in 115 b.c. Scaurus was the most senior patrician senator available for the job. Whatever the reason behind his appointment, Scaurus held the title Princeps Senatus until his death in 89 b.c. His successor was Lucius Valerius Flaccus, consul in 100 b.c. and censor in 97 b.c.
privatus A private citizen. I use the term in this book to describe a man who was a member of the Senate but not serving as a magistrate.
proconsul One serving with the imperium of a consul but not in office as consul. Proconsular imperium was normally given to a man who had just finished his year as consul and went to govern a province or command an army in the name of the Senate and People of Rome. A man's term as proconsul usually lasted for one year, but was commonly prorogued beyond that year if the man was engaged in a campaign against an enemy still unsubdued, or there was no one suitable to take his place. If a consular was not available to govern a province difficult enough to warrant a proconsul, one of the year's crop of praetors was sent to govern it, but endowed with proconsular imperium. Proconsular imperium was limited to the area of the proconsul's province or task, and was lost the moment he stepped across the pomerium into the city of Rome.
proletarii Another name for the lowliest of all Roman citizens, the capite censi or Head Count. The word proletarius derived from proles, which meant progeny, offspring, children in an impersonal sense; the lowly were called proletarii because children were the only thing they were capable of producing. I have avoided using the word because of its Marxist connotations, connotations having absolutely no validity in ancient times.
propraetor One serving with the imperium of a praetor but not in office as a praetor. It was an imperium given to a praetor after his year in office was over in order to empower him to govern a province and, if necessary, conduct a defensive war. Like the imperium of the proconsul, it was lost the moment its holder stepped over the pomerium into the city of Rome. In degree it was a lesser imperium than proconsul, and was normally given to the governor of a peaceful province. According to the rules, any war the propraetor engaged upon had to be forced upon him, he could not seek it out. However, that didn't stop propraetors like Gaius Marius making war in their provinces.
prorogue To extend a man's tenure of magisterial offic
e beyond its normal time span. It applied to governorships or military commands rather than to the magistracies themselves. That is, it affected proconsuls and propraetors. Metellus Numidicus was sent to Africa to fight Jugurtha while still consul, but had not got his campaign off the ground when his year as consul expired; his command in the war against Jugurtha was prorogued into the following year, and into the year following that. I include the word in this glossary because I have discovered that modern English language dictionaries of small and medium size neglect to give this meaning in treating the word "prorogue."
province Provincia. Originally this meant the sphere of duty of a magistrate or promagistrate holding imperium, and therefore applied as much to consuls and praetors in office inside Rome as it did to those in the field. Then the word came to mean the place where the imperium was exercised by its holder, and finally was applied to that place as simply meaning it was in the ownership of Rome. By the time of Marius and Sulla, all of Rome's provinces were outside Italy and Italian Gaul.
publicani Singular, publicanus. Tax-farmers. These were the great private companies run from Rome which "farmed" the taxes of various parts of Rome's growing empire. The whole activity of farming the taxes was let out on contract by the censors every five years. The employees of these companies who actually collected the taxes in the provinces were also called publicani.
Public Horse A horse which belonged to the State—to the Senate and People of Rome. Going all the way back to the kings, it had been State policy to provide the 1,800 most senior knights of Rome with horses. Presumably when the practice began horses were both scarce and colossally expensive, otherwise the State of Rome, notoriously parsimonious, would not have spent its precious money; it would simply have required its knights to provide their own mounts, as happened during the Republic when the number of knights far exceeded 1,800.