Ancient Period
Military History Glossary
This is the first in a series of articles which will define some of the more obscure terms that giocatori wargame run into when reading about their armies. Many of the common terms, like hoplite, Panzer, o corazziere have been omitted.
There are very few Asian terms in the ancient glossary, because they are rarely used in military history texts published in English. In the case of Latin e Greek, however, English texts frequently continued to use the original word, rather than translate it. As a result, most of the words here are (L)atin o (G)reek.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Diadochi (G) | Alexander’s successors, usually his generals. |
| Hwarang | Korean for "Flower Boys" – The cavaliers of the Korean army - well dressed ed impetuous young noble cavalleria. |
| Poeni | Full Carthaginian citizens, descended from Phoenician settlers. |
| Qurbuti/Qurubuti | The elite Assyrian fanteria e cavalleria della Guardia. Fully armoured, con spear e shield. |
| accensi (L) | Men taken from the lowest taxed class to fill the ranks of the Roman fanteria pesante. They followed the legion in their street clothes, e stood in the rear rank of the third line, ready to pick up the arms of the fallen e fill their places. They were also used as workmen ed orderlies. |
| argyraspides (G) | Literally, silver shields. The remnants of Alexander’s original Macedonian picchieri, who formed the elite in the successor armies, e displayed their status e travels with shields overlaid con Indian silver. |
| Balista (L) | A large, crossbow-like device, usually powered by a pair of torsion springs (twisted ropes, in this case), used by Greeks e Romans, e probably others. Balista fired bolts o arrows in a variety of sizes. |
| cassis (L) | The bronze elmo worn by Roman soldiers. |
| clibanarii | Cataphract. There is some debate about whether a clibinarii ed a cataphract are the same thing. If an author uses both, clibinarii usually implied a more heavily armoured, more Asiatic style cataphract, typical of the Sassinid Persians. |
| cohors (L) cohort |
One tenth of a Marian legion. |
| dipylon (G) | A large oval shield con cutouts on the sides. A figure eight. From the Homeric and Mycanean periods. |
| dromon | A round-bottom sailing vessel. The most common ship type used by the Arabs and the Bzyantines. |
| equites (L) | Roman cavalleria. |
| falx | A two-handed cutting weapon used by the Dacians. Similar to the rhompia used by he Thracians, con a curved blade e long haft. |
| foederatii (L) | Barbarian units serving in the Roman army. |
| gaesati (L) | Celtic fanatics who often fought naked e make berserk charges. |
| hasta (L) | Spear |
| hastatii (L) | The first line of the Republican army. Armed con pila e sword. |
| hepteres | A rowed warship con due rows of oars, tre men per oar. |
| hermiola | A combination rowing e sailing ship, created by pirates. |
| hetaeri | Full Macedonian citizens, known as companions, serving in the army. |
| hipparch (G) | The commander of Greek cavalleria. |
| hipparmostes (G) | A commander of Spartan cavalleria. |
| hippeis (G) | Greek cavalleria. |
| hypaspist (G) | Foot companions. Macedonian heavy fanteria equipped e trained to act as the hinge between the units picchieri e the Macedonian cavalleria. The best morale. |
| kontos (G) | Lance |
| liburna (L) | A rowed warship that the Romans copied from the Illyrian pirates. It became the standard rowed ship for the later half of the Empire. |
| lochos (G) | Any group of Greek fanteria, 1/4 of a mora, o a 100 man company. |
| lorica (L) | Shell. Body armour. Lorica segmentata - overlapping, segmented plates (lobster), lorica hamata (chainmail), from lora, for leather thong. |
| maniple (L) | Half of a cohort. |
| mora (G) | One sixth of the Spartan army. |
| onager (L) | Mule. A catapult con a scoop propelled by a torsion bow. |
| palton (G) | A light spear used by Greek e Persian cavalleria. |
| parma (L) | A small, round shield used by fanteria leggera. |
| pedites (L) | Foot soldiers. |
| pelte (G) | The round Thracian shield con a cutout on top that gave peltasts their name. |
| petasus (G) | A flat felt hat con a broad round rim worn by Thessalian cavalleria. |
| pezetairoi | The free but not noble Macedonians who served as heavy fanteria. |
| principes (L) | The second line in the Republican Roman army, first armed con a spear, they were later armed con pila e sword, after the Camillan reforms. |
| prodromoi (G) | Medium cavalleria in the Macedonian army. Usually Greeks o allies. |
| rhompia/rhompaia (G) | The sickle-like two-handed cutting weapon used by Thracians. |
| rorarii (L) | The Roman precursors to velites, lower class citizens who fought con only a dart ed a sling. |
| sagitarii (L) | Archers |
| sagum (L) | The cloak of Roman soldiers. |
| sarissa (G) | The Macedonian picca. Usually 18 feet long. |
| sarissophoroi (G) | Lance(sarissa)-armed Macedonian cavalleria. |
| sciritae (G) | Spartan fanteria leggera. |
| scorpion (L) | A catapult based on a giant horizontal bow shooting large bolts. |
| scutum (L) | A shield, any shield, although usually a big square one. |
| soldurii (L) | The elite e well armoured bodyguards of a Celtic chieftain. |
| strategos (G) | A Greek general. |
| takabara | The Late Achamenid Persian imitation of peltasts. |
| testudo (L) | Turtle. A box of shields tridimensionale formed by a unit of fanteria during siege operations. Also used to refer to sheds protecting battering rams. |
| thorakitai (G) | See thureophoroi. |
| thorax (G) | Una corazza made of linen, leather, o metal. |
| thureophoroi (G) | A type of pike-armed peltast o picchiere leggero developed in the Hellenistic period e named after their shield, the thureos. |
| tremiola | A combination sailing e rowing vessel designed by the Romans to overtake and catch pirates using hermiolas. |
| triarii (L) | The third line of the Republican Roman army. Veteran spearmen. |
| trierarch | The commander of a warship. Originally the commander of a trireme. |
| velites (L) | Roman skirmishers. |
| xiphos (G) | The standard Greek sword. |
| xyele (G) | The curved Spartan sword. |
| xystonphoroi (G) | Xyston-armed cavalleria, where a xyston is a long spear o lance. |
Domande più frequenti
Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.
– Pubblicato: 1997 – Aggiornato: 17.11.1997© 1997-2012 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati. Donne | Uome | Selfness | Fiera natalizia | Incontro di Colazione | Love & Fun | Internet
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