The world of 600

Glossary

In 599 the Empire governs in Latin and lives in Greek. The army still gives its orders in Latin, the law is written in it, and the coins speak it; the markets, the churches and most of the East talk Greek. The words below are the ones a reader meets first in The Smallest Coin.

No spoilers beyond the opening chapters of Volume I.

apoche Greek

A receipt. The one the customs house gives a traveller is worth more than anything he declared on it.

argentarius Latin

A banker: he changes money, lends it and buys bullion, and he keeps his books in a portico where everyone can see him do it.

Augustus Latin

The emperor's title, as it had been since the first of them. In 599 the Augustus is Maurice, and his eldest son Theodosius has been crowned beside him.

Avars

Horse nomads from the steppe, ruled by their Khagan from the plain beyond the Danube. They take tribute from the Empire, captives from its provinces and, when they can, its cities.

bulla Latin

A lead seal, struck with a die over the cord that closes a document. Officials, bishops and merchants each had one.

calcei Latin

Closed leather shoes. A man of property wears them; a labourer goes in sandals or barefoot.

campsor Latin

A money-changer at a table in the market. He weighs your silver, tests it, and tells you less than it is worth.

chlamys Greek

A short cloak pinned at the right shoulder with a brooch (fibula), leaving the sword arm free.

colonus Latin

A tenant farmer, tied by law to the estate he works. When the Lombards burn the estate, he is tied to nothing and owns less.

domine, kyrie Latin, Greek

"Sir", "lord": how a servant, a tradesman or a petitioner addresses his betters, in Latin and in Greek.

follis Latin

The heavy bronze coin of the street. See money.

holkas Greek

A broad-bellied merchant ship, built to carry cargo rather than to row.

indiction Latin

The fifteen-year tax cycle by which documents were dated, each year beginning on 1 September. Spring 599 falls in the second indiction.

Kalends Latin

The first day of the Roman month, when rents and wages fall due.

Khagan Turkic

The ruler of the Avars, in 599 the old and formidable Bayan.

kommerkiarios Greek

The customs officer of a port. He values your goods and takes an eighth of them for the treasury.

libra Latin

The Roman pound, about 327 grams, by which gold, silver and spices were weighed.

oikonomos Greek

The steward of a bishop's church, who manages its houses, lands and money. A good one is worth any three archdeacons.

optio Latin

A junior officer, second to a centurion. In Syracuse he guards a gate and chews a stalk of grass.

Patrimony of Saint Peter

The estates of the Roman Church, the largest landlord in Sicily, run by the Pope's rectors and deacons.

possessor Latin

A landowner of the class that sat on town councils, paid the land tax and expected to be called "lord".

praetor Latin

The governor of Sicily, who kept the old title; his clerks, the officium, keep a ledger on everyone worth watching.

Rhodian Sea Law

The law of the sea. If cargo is thrown overboard to save a ship, every merchant whose goods were saved pays a share of the loss. Gentlemen's bags go over with the rest.

siliqua Latin

The silver coin and unit of account: twenty-four to the solidus. See money.

solidus Latin

The gold coin of the Empire, trusted from Britain to India. See money.

tabellio Latin

A public notary, who draws up leases, sales and covenants and makes them good in law.

theriac Greek

The great antidote of ancient medicine, a compound of dozens of ingredients. The best came from Alexandria, and nobody asked what was in it.

tremissis Latin

A small gold coin, a third of a solidus.

"Whose are you?"

The first thing a Greek asks a stranger, then and now. The answer is never just a name: it is a family, a district, a church. Andreas will be asked it all year, and must answer correctly every time.

xenodocheion Greek

A hostel kept by the Church for travellers, pilgrims and the poor (Latin xenodochium).