Glossary of Roman terms and phrases - 'D'

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Damnatio	A condemnation bestowed on an disliked emperor after he died
Deification	A status given to an emperor after his death. This raised his standing to the status of a god
Denarii	Plural of Denarius. A silver coin of which there were 25 to a gold piece
Denarius	A silver coin of which there were 25 to a gold piece
Depinti	The writing on a vessel indicating the nature and volume of the contents
Deposita	The money in a bank that belonged to individual soldiers"
Deus ex machina	God from the machine' In a Roman play, the author would often reach the end of the performance and be totally stuck for an ending. So he would write in a sequence where a god would appear and magically solve the problems of all the characters
Dilectus	A man chosen for military service
Dimacheri	Gladiators who fought with two swords
Dioceses	Administrative groups created by emperor Diocletian. When they were set up there were 13 dioceses, but this number increased later. They were governed by a Praetorian Prefect
Diocletianic	A code of pricing. This set the standard prices for goods and services
Discentes signiferorum	A trainee standard bearer
Divi Nervae Filius	Son of the deified Nerva' A title assumed by many emperors to indicate their descent from a previous emperor
Divus	A term meaning 'God'. This was applied to an emperor after he had died and had been deificated. (Promoted to the status of a god)
Dolabra	A long handled tool with a metal head having a pick at one end and a hoe at the other. This was carried by soldiers and used for digging ditches
Dominus noster	Literally 'Our Lord.' A term applied to emperors from the 4th century onwards
Domus	A roman family house
Duplicarius	A junior officer in an auxiliary military unit";

Terms starting with :

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z