Dictator

PHILIPPUS, LUCIUS MARCIUS consul soon after Cicero’s return from exile; married to Caesar’s niece, Atia, and thus the stepfather of Octavian; owner of a villa next door to Cicero’s on the Bay of Naples

PHILOTIMUS Terentia’s business manager, of questionable honesty

PISO, LUCIUS CALPURNIUS consul at the time of Cicero’s exile, and thus an enemy of Cicero’s; Caesar’s father-in-law

PLANCIUS, GNAEUS quaestor of Macedonia; his family were friends from the same region of Italy as the Ciceros

PLANCUS, LUCIUS MUNATIUS close lieutenant of Caesar, appointed governor of Further Gaul in 44 BC

POMPEY, GNAEUS MAGNUS born in the same year as Cicero; for many years the most powerful man in the Roman world; a former consul and victorious general who has already triumphed twice; a member of the ‘triumvirate’ with Caesar and Crassus; married to Caesar’s daughter, Julia

RUFUS, MARCUS CAELIUS Cicero’s former pupil; the youngest senator in Rome – brilliant, ambitious, unreliable

SERVILIA ambitious and politically shrewd half-sister of Cato; the long-term mistress of Caesar; the mother of three daughters and a son Brutus, by her first husband

SERVIUS SULPICIUS RUFUS contemporary and old friend of Cicero, famed as one of the greatest legal experts in Rome; married to Postumia, a mistress of Caesar

SPINTHER, PUBLIUS CORNELIUS LENTULUS consul at the time of Cicero’s return from exile; an enemy of Clodius and friend of Cicero

TERENTIA wife of Cicero; ten years younger than her husband, richer and of nobler birth; devoutly religious, poorly educated, with conservative political views; mother of Cicero’s two children, Tullia and Marcus

TIRO Cicero’s devoted private secretary, a family slave, three years younger than his master, the inventor of a system of shorthand

TULLIA Cicero’s daughter

VATINIUS, PUBLIUS a senator and soldier famed for his ugliness; a close ally of Caesar

GLOSSARY

aedile an elected official, four of whom were chosen annually to serve a one-year term, responsible for the running of the city of Rome: law and order, public buildings, business regulations, etc

auspices supernatural signs, especially flights of birds and lightningflashes, interpreted by the augurs; if ruled unfavourable no public business could be transacted

Carcer Rome’s prison, situated on the boundary of the Forum and the Capitol, between the Temple of Concord and the Senate house

century the unit in which the Roman people cast their votes on the Field of Mars at election time for consul and praetor; the system was weighted to favour the wealthier classes of society

chief priest see pontifex maximus

consul the senior magistrate of the Roman Republic, two of whom were elected annually, usually in July, to assume office in the following January, taking it in turns to preside over the senate each month

comitium the circular area in the Forum, approximately 300 feet across, bounded by the senate house and the rostra, traditionally the place where laws were voted on by the people, and where many of the courts had their tribunals

curule chair a backless chair with low arms, often made of ivory, possessed by a magistrate with imperium, particularly consuls and praetors

dictator a magistrate given absolute power by the senate over civil and military affairs, usually in a time of national emergency

equestrian order the second most senior order in Roman society after the Senate, the ‘Order of Knights’ had its own officials and privileges, and was entitled to one-third of the places on a jury; often its members were richer than members of the Senate, but declined to pursue a public career

Gaul divided into two provinces: Nearer Gaul, extending from the River Rubicon in northern Italy to the Alps, and Further Gaul, the lands beyond the Alps roughly corresponding to the modern French regions of Provence and Languedoc

haruspices the religious officials who inspected the entrails after a sacrifice in order to determine whether the omens were good or bad

imperator the title granted to a military commander on active service by his soldiers after a victory; it was necessary to be hailed imperator in order to qualify for a triumph

imperium the power to command, granted by the state to an individual, usually a consul, praetor or provincial governor

legate a deputy or delegate

legion the largest formation in the Roman army, at full strength consisting of approximately 5,000 men