Is it really true?

The saying ‘History is stranger than fiction’ shows that sometimes what really happened is hard to believe. This page is about the strange and wonderful things the Romans did and had.

On this page:

Ballista

In the book, the narrator uses a ballista to impress Boudicca. According to the Wikipedia page, a ballista could be accurate enough to hit a single enemy, and had a range of over 500 yards. A cart-mounted ballista was called a carroballista, and is shown on Trajan’s column in Rome. Here’s a public domain image of a ballista, taken from Wikipedia, and a video of a small one working, from Tod’s Workshop.

Boudicca

Queen of the Iceni tribe

Caratacus

Caratacus was a leader in the fight against the Roman invasion.

Carroballista

A carroballista was a ballista on a cart, usually pulled by mules.

Cornu and Carnyx – War horns of the Romans and Celts

The Cornu was a Roman war horn, and the Carnyx was used by the Celts.

Durobrivae

Durobrivae is the Roman name for the town of Water Newton in Cambridgeshire. Time Team did a dig here. Warning: skeletons! It is also the site where the Water Newton Treasure was found.


English: Silver Vase, Water Newton Treasure, 4th Century AD, British Museum, Photographer
Udimu Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vase_1.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED

Elephants

The Emperor Claudius brought war elephants to Britannia, but it is uncertain if they were used before he arrived. However, in the archaeological documentary ‘Time Team’, during an excavation in search of a Roman fort near the Thames, the artist Victor Ambrus painted war elephants, so I have included them in the book.

Elephants are scared of bees, and farmers in Africa use them to scare elephants away from their crops: TED Talk Video.

Would you like an elephant? Read the United Nation’s ‘Elephant care manual for mahouts and camp managers‘ first!

Germani

The Germani were the personal bodyguards to the Roman Emperors, from Julius Caesar to Nero.

Pilum

The Roman throwing spear was called a pilum, and the plural is pila. They could be thrown or used as spears against cavalry. They were designed to penetrate enemy shields and weigh them down, making them useless. They had soft metal necks, designed to bend so that the enemy couldn’t throw them back.

The rope technique used in the story is based on the Greek amentum, a leather strap which allows a spear to be thrown over 50% further than by hand.

Roman Food

Sarmatians

The Sarmatians were a group of people in ancient Asia, who lived between the Black Sea and the Aral Sea. They were famous riders, and some joined the Roman army as auxiliary cavalry.