The Tyrant's Tomb (The Trials of Apollo, #4)(111)

Bellona a Roman goddess of war; daughter of Jupiter and Juno

Benito Mussolini an Italian politician who became the leader of the National Fascist Party, a paramilitary organization. He ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943, first as a prime minister and then as a dictator.

blemmyae a tribe of headless people with faces in their chests

Britomartis the Greek goddess of hunting and fishing nets; her sacred animal is the griffin

Burning Maze a magical, puzzle-filled underground labyrinth in Southern California controlled by the Roman emperor Caligula and Medea, a Greek sorceress

cacaseca dried poop

Caldecott Tunnel a four-lane highway that cuts through the Berkeley Hills and connects Oakland and Orinda, California. It contains a secret middle tunnel, guarded by Roman soldiers, that leads to Camp Jupiter.

Caligula the nickname of the third of Rome’s emperors, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, infamous for his cruelty and carnage during the four years he ruled, from 37 to 41 CE; he was assassinated by his own guard

Camp Half-Blood the training ground for Greek demigods, located in Long Island, New York

Camp Jupiter the training ground for Roman demigods, located in California, between the Oakland Hills and the Berkeley Hills

Celestial bronze a powerful magical metal used to create weapons wielded by Greek gods and their demigod children

centurion an officer in the Roman army

charmspeak a rare type of hypnotism power that chosen children of Aphrodite possess

Cicero a Roman statesman who was renowned for his public speeches

Circus Maximus a stadium designed for horse and chariot racing

cloaca maxima Latin for greatest sewer

clunis Latin for buttocks

cohort groups of legionnaires

Colosseum an elliptical amphitheater built for gladiator fights, monster simulations, and mock naval battles

Commodus Lucius Aurelius Commodus was the son of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius; he became co-emperor when he was sixteen and emperor at eighteen, when his father died; he ruled from 177 to 192 CE and was megalomaniacal and corrupt; he considered himself the New Hercules and enjoyed killing animals and fighting gladiators at the Colosseum

Cumaean Sibyl an Oracle of Apollo from Cumae who collected her prophetic instructions for averting disaster in nine volumes but destroyed six of them when trying to sell them to Tarquinius Superbus of Rome

Cyclops (Cyclopes, pl.) a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his or her forehead

cynocephalus (cynocephali, pl.) a being with a human body and a dog’s head

Dante an Italian poet of the late Middle Ages who invented terza rima; author of The Divine Comedy, among other works

Daphne a beautiful naiad who attracted Apollo’s attention; she transformed into a laurel tree in order to escape him

decimation the ancient Roman punishment for bad legions in which every tenth soldier was killed whether they were guilty or innocent

Delos a Greek island in the Aegean Sea near Mykonos; birthplace of Apollo

Demeter the Greek goddess of agriculture; a daughter of the Titans Rhea and Kronos. Roman form: Ceres

denarius (denarii, pl.) a unit of Roman currency

Diana the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon; the daughter of Jupiter and Leto, and the twin of Apollo. Greek form: Artemis

Dionysus Greek god of wine and revelry; the son of Zeus. Roman form: Bacchus

dryad a spirit (usually female) associated with a certain tree

Eagle of the Twelfth the standard of Camp Jupiter, a gold icon of an eagle on top of a pole, symbolizing the god Jupiter

Earthborn a race of six-armed giants, also called Gegenes

Elysium the paradise to which Greek heroes are sent when the gods grant them immortality

Erythraean Sibyl a prophetess who presided over Apollo’s Oracle at Erythrae in Ionia

eurynomos (eurynomoi, pl.) a corpse-eating ghoul that lives in the Underworld and is controlled by Hades; the slightest cut from their claws causes a wasting disease in mortals, and when their victims die, they rise again as vrykolakai, or zombies. If a eurynomos manages to devour the flesh of a corpse down to the bones, the skeleton will become a fierce undead warrior, many of whom serve as Hades’s elite palace guards.

Euterpe the Greek goddess of lyric poetry; one of the Nine Muses; daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne

fasces a ceremonial ax wrapped in a bundle of thick wooden rods with its crescent-shaped blade projecting outward; the ultimate symbol of authority in ancient Rome; origin of the word fascism

Fates three female personifications of destiny. They control the thread of life for every living thing from birth to death.

faun a Roman forest god, part goat and part man

Faunus the Roman god of the Wild. Greek form: Pan

Field of Mars part battlefield, part party zone, the place where drills and war games are held at Camp Jupiter

First Titan War also known as the Titanomachy, the eleven-year conflict between the Titans from Mount Othrys and the younger gods, whose future home would be Mount Olympus

Forum the center of life in New Rome; a plaza with statues and fountains that is lined with shops and nighttime entertainment venues

fuerte Spanish for strong

fulminata armed with lightning; a Roman legion under Julius Caesar whose emblem was a lightning bolt (fulmen)

Gaea the Greek earth goddess; wife of Ouranos; mother of the Titans, giants, Cyclopes, and other monsters

Gamelion the seventh month of the Attic or Athenian calendar that was used in Attica, Greece, at one time; roughly equivalent to January/February on the Gregorian calendar