Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

280 Appendix 3
‘Scyths’ was used for tribes of the Iranian Sarmatae and the nomadic tribes
who lived around the Black Sea.
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route was a famous ancient trading route, which
was used for trading many desired luxury goods such as silk, pottery,
mirrors and pigments but also facilitated the exchange between different
religions and cultures. The Silk Road extended from China across the
oases of the Tarim River valley to the West. It went through Samarkhand,
Merv, Ekbatana (Hamadan) into Mesopotamia, from there it continued
to Syria, via Palmyra to Antioch on the Orontes or Tyrus to the Eastern
Mediterranean.
solidus
Because of the increase in the price of gold Constantine replaced the previous
gold denomination, the aureus, with this slightly lighter gold coin,
which during the course of late antiquity became the main Roman denomination.
The solidus weighed 1/72 of a Roman pound of gold.
tabularius
In the Roman Empire a tabularius was responsible for dispatching and
delivering letters or other written communications. He could be commissioned
by private individuals or by public institutions. Because of their large
numbers, imperial messengers (tabularii Augusti) were organised according
to the example of the military and belonged to the respective fields of imperial
administration. When they dispatched particularly important official
communications they were allowed to use the cursus publicus, the imperial
mail system.
Tetrarchy
The modern term tetrarchy refers to the simultaneous rule of four emperors,
two Augusti and two Caesars, with the latter of lower status than the former.
This system was introduced by Diocletian in ad 293. Each of the four
tetrarchs was in charge of one of four geographic areas within the Empire.
By way of adoption all four tetrarchs were closely related. The reigns of
each were carefully fixed beforehand in order to secure and determine
succession. Although this system was abandoned in favour of dynastic rule
after Constantine had defeated Licinius in 324, the model of ‘multiple rule’
clearly influenced the character of imperial government in late antiquity.