Glossary

A.D. (“Anno Domini”): Latin for “In the Year of our Lord,” a dating system that was first proposed in the sixth century CE.
A.H. (“Anno Hegirae”): Latin for “In the Year of the Emigration (hijra),” this system of reckoning time is modeled after the Latin A.D. to express the Islamic custom of dating time from the year of Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina) in 622 CE.
amir: A “military commander” within the early Islamic empire.
basileos (plural: basileoi): The Greek word which captured the idea of the Latin “imperator,” or emperor; it could also, however, be understood as “king.” East Romans referred to their ruler as basileos.
Christ: From the Greek word “Anointed,” a word which Jesus’ followers used to articulate their belief that Jesus was the “Messiah.” It is not Jesus’ last name, and its use in historical writing is highly questionable since not everyone, then or now, believes Jesus was the “Messiah.”
Christianismos: A Greek word, coined in the early second century CE. Often translated as “Christianity,” so that it appears as something distinct from Judaism, this word was likely invented to capture a sense of “identifying openly as a ‘Christian.’” As a term, then, it says very little about whether Christians saw themselves as having separated from their Jewish heritage or whether Christianity as a religion had parted ways from Judaism.
comes: A special advisor to the emperor, or “count.”
communitas: As proposed by the anthropologist Victor Turner (1920–1983), this Latin word captures the social bonds that tie people together after a rite of passage, or initiation. To emphasize that this social connection endures even after individuals depart, Turner used the Latin word “communitas” to distinguish it from the common word for a gathering.
consul: A government executive who served beneath the emperor although largely a ceremonial position. It had existed during the Republican period when the two consuls of Rome acted largely as the government’s chief executives. By the later Empire, it was a political honor to hold the title.
cosmocrator: A Greek word usually used to refer to the Roman emperor’s status as “ruler of the known world.”
diocese: One of twelve super‐provinces created as part of Diocletian’s restructuring of the Roman state in the late third century CE.
domus (plural: domus): The Latin word for “house.”
dux: The military governor of a province, as opposed to its civilian commander, the praeses.
episcopalis audientia: The Latin phrase for “bishop’s audience,” a legal option for Romans who wished to have their grievances tried by a Christian church official, not by judges in the traditional Roman legal system.
episcopos (plural: episcopoi): Greek for “overseer,” it later became one of the terms used to designate a “bishop” in the early Christian community. There is no historical evidence for the establishment of any such office prior to the first century CE, however.
epistula (plural: epistulae): The Latin word meaning “letter,” or piece of correspondence; in a legal context, an emperor’s letter had the force of law.
flamen (plural: flamines): Provincial priests of Rome’s imperial cult, they oversaw sacrifices and temples for the deified rulers in the capital cities of the provinces where they lived.
gno̵sis: Greek for “knowledge,” it became associated with teachers and holy men who professed to have hidden ideas which only their disciples could understand.
haram: An Arabic word for a “sanctuary,” in general.
hijra: Arabic for “emigration,” this word is commonly used to refer to the occasion in 622 CE when Muhammad left his home in Mecca and journeyed to a new home in Yathrib (Medina).
Ioudaïsmos: A Greek word coined during the late Second Temple period, it is used for the first time in the anonymously written text known as 2 Maccabees and for a second time two hundred years later in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Often misleadingly translated “Judaism,” it began its life as a contentious term and referred to one specific cultural way of “being Jewish.” It was not an idea with which all Jews in antiquity necessarily identified.
jihad: An Arabic word which expresses the idea of striving, or struggling, for God.
magister officiorum: Master of the Imperial Offices, a chief‐of‐staff figure in the late Roman Empire who oversaw couriers, communications, interpreters, and the emperor’s schedule.
menorah (plural: menarot): A seven‐branched candlestick which was one of the objects used in Jewish Temple rituals. In the third century CE, it became a popular symbol for Jewish communities looking to reassert their lost connection to the Temple in Jerusalem.
mu’min (plural: mu’minum): A “Believer,” in Arabic; in the first generations of Muhammad’s movement, the word was overwhelmingly preferred by members inside the group to refer to themselves.
Notitia Dignitatum: This “List of Offices” describes Rome’s governmental structure in both the eastern and western Mediterranean around 400 CE.
oratio: The emperor’s “speech” before the Senate, in which he could articulate new law.
paganus (plural: pagani): A Latin word which had multiple meanings. It could refer to a “civilian,” the antonym of an “enlisted soldier,” or it could designate “country folk,” an antonym for “city dweller.” In the fourth century, militant followers of Jesus used paganus in the former way: to question the beliefs of other Christians whose cultural compromises they scorned. Only in the fifth century did Christians begin to use the word in the second sense, to refer to their non‐Christian neighbors as “rustics” or “hicks.”
paludamentum: A military cloak sported by Roman emperors in battle.
pietas: Latin noun which encapsulated the idea of devotion to the gods, to one’s family, and to the Roman state. Its Greek equivalent was eusebeia.
pontifex maximus: Latin title held by the emperors to designate their authority as “Chief Priest” of the state.
praefectus urbi: Prefect of the City of Rome, an office akin to mayor.
praeses: The civilian governor of a province, as opposed to its military commander, the dux.
praetorian prefecture: Four administrative regions which were created in the early fourth century CE; their chiefs, called praetorian prefects, functioned as the government oversight for the twelve dioceses.
proseuche (plural: proseuchai): Greek word for “prayer hall,” it is a common term for Jewish meeting spaces in the Hellenistic and early Roman period.
proskynesis: A Greek word loosely meaning “to kneel down in an act of worship”; it became part of Roman political ritual in the second and third centuries CE and remained a feature of political and diplomatic ritual throughout Late Antiquity.
pseudepigraphic: Adjective used to designate writings which were forged, including texts in the Christian Scripture like the letters of Timothy and Titus, attributed to Paul but which were written later.
qibla: For Muslims, the word that designates the “direction of prayer.”
quaestor sacri palatini: Chief Legal Officer in the Sacred Palace; he heard cases on the emperor’s behalf and met with citizens who petitioned the imperial house.
refrigerium: A funerary banquet at which family and friends gathered at the deceased’s tomb to pour offerings for the dead and commemorate their passing.
religio (plural: religiones): The set of worship practices that were deemed socially and culturally acceptable to the Roman people and state; its Greek equivalent was threskeia.
saeculum (plural: saecula): The Latin word for “sacred time” or “age”; Romans used it to refer to an Etruscan religious idea that the lifespan of the world was structured into discrete segments.The end of one unit and the beginning of the next was celebrated as an important event. The deceptively similar English word “secular” is a misleading translation of it since, in antiquity, it denoted a sacred concept.
Sasanians: Rulers who founded a new Persian empire which existed from 224–651 CE.
Second Temple Judaism: The period in Jewish history from 539 BCE–70 CE. It began after the liberation from captivity in Babylon when Jews returned to Jerusalem and began building a Second Temple. (The first had been destroyed by the Babylonians.) It ended in 70 CE when Romans destroyed the Temple.
solidus: A gold coin, also known in Greek as a nomisma. This form of currency was introduced into the Roman economy at the end of the third century CE.
superstitio (plural: superstitiones): The Latin word which designated those worship practices, rituals, or beliefs which were stigmatized as questionably Roman and were therefore judged to be socially unacceptable.
sura: A “chapter” in the Qur’an.
Tetrarchy: The “Rule of Four” instituted by Diocletian in 293 CE, it was headed by two senior Augustuses (Latin plural: Augusti) and two junior Caesars (Latin plural: Caesares). It became obsolete with the rise of Constantine as sole emperor in 324 CE.
threskeia: The Greek word for “worship,” it held similar connotations as the Latin word religio.
titulus (plural: tituli): A Latin legal term meaning “title,” or “inscription.” It was used to designate properties that had been gifted, or donated, to another person.
umma: Arabic for “community.”
vicarius: The administrative head of a super‐province, or diocese.
vir clarissimus: Gold social status, the lowest tier, among Roman senators.
vir illustris: Platinum social status, the highest achievable, among Roman senators.
vir spectabilis: Silver social status among Roman senators.