F

fabella - (Latin) any small story or drama

fabrica - (Latin) manufacture, trick, art, craft; the workshop of a Roman legion located within the legionary camp; skilled artisans and craftmen from the legion, such as engineers, carpenters, masons, wagon-makers, blacksmiths, painters, and other artificers, worked in the fabrica under the command of a praefectus fabrum; these craftsmen were excused from the normal duties and were known as immunes. At archaeological sites were legionary camps were located, many buildings have been identified as fabricae and contain iron-smelting furnaces, large water cisterns and hypocausti.

fabula - (Latin) a tale, story or drama

facina - (Latin) a crime, evildoing.

falsus - (Latin) false, deceptive.

familia - (Latin) a family, people related by marriage or blood ties.

fasces - (Latin) a bundle of rods in the middle of which is tied an axe; the fasces was an emblem of governmental power; lictors carried fasces in front of powerful people as a symbol of their authority.

Fates - three sisters named Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos; these women measure out the length of individuals’ lives; they are the daughters of Zeus and Themis.

Fatum - the god of destiny; originally the word 'fatum' meant 'the word of god' and in Greek religion it came to include the divinities of destiny, e.g., the Moirae, Parcae, and Sibyls; near the rostra in Rome stood statues of the Fata, the three Sibyls; later the word 'fata' was mistaken for the feminine singular form and became the origin of the word 'fairies'; as a general noun, 'fatum' is the idea that one’s life is already decided at birth; in Greek, this term can be “moira”; the term also becomes associated with death, that is, the inevitable; but it is important to realize that in Classical literature while the ultimate outcome of a character’s life may be decided, there can still be choices made that affect the path taken to that fate

felix sex - (Latin) "lucky sixes" a Roman board game very similar to duodecim scripta or tabula; felix sex boards contained 36 letters or squares; three dice were tossed to move 15 pieces up the center line of letters or squares and then over to the left; felix sex was played all across the Roman Empire, in taverns, brothels, private homes, and frontier forts.

• Learn how to play Felix Sex

ferula - (Latin) literally, this word means "fennel"; it comes to indicate any kind of cane or stick, including those used to punish slaves and children.

ferus - (Latin) wild, cruel.

festialis - (Latin) a priest who belongs to a college of priests whose job was to formally make peace or declare war.

ficus - (Latin) a fig tree

fidelis - (Latin) loyal, faithful.

fidem servo - (Latin) literally “to preserve faith”; this phrase comes to mean to keep one’s word.

fides - (Latin) a promise; word of honor.

fidicen - (Latin) a person who plays the lute or harp.

figulus - (Latin) potter; this word is tied to the Latin verb, fingo, which means to touch, fashion or shape; a figulus created a number of items that would be used daily in the Roman home, such as pots used for cooking and vessels for transporting water and wine.

fillet - an architectural term referring to the narrow, flat section between the flutes of an Ionic column's shaft (image).

finis - (Latin) a end, boundary, limit.

fistulator - (Latin) a person who plays the reed-pipe.

flamen - (plural flamines) a Roman priest under the pontifex maximus; the positions of Flamen Dialis (worshipper of Jupiter), Flamen Martialis (worshipper of Mars), and Flamen Quirinalis (worshipper of Quirinus) were filled only by patricians, although plebeians could be flamines for other deities.

Flora - (Latin) Roman goddess of flowers.

fluentum - (Latin) a stream; running water.

fluidus - (Latin) flowing, relaxed.

fluto - (Latin) to float, to swim.

folium - (Latin) a leaf.

Fons - (Latin) Roman goddess of water; a Roman festival held in her honor entitled the Fontinalia occurred in October.

forensic speeches - speeches given during a trial to reenact the events and decide upon justice; some of the most famous ancient speeches extant today were written and delivered by Cicero.

foreshadowing - literary device whereby the author gives hints about what is going to happen later in the story.

formula - (Latin) physical beauty, principle.

fortitudo - (Latin) physical strength.

Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste - a temple to Fortuna Primigenia (first-born chance) that was also an oracle; this oracle would be sought especially to ask for children.

fortuno - (Latin) to make happy or bless, similar in meaning to the verb beo.

forum - (Latin) civic and trade center where all manner of commerce, governmental and judicial procedings, and public assembly took place; the most famous forum was found in Rome, had been rebuilt in 54 BCE, and included buildings and landmarks such as the Curia Julia, Basilica Aemilia, the comitium, the rostra, the Volcanal, and the Lacus Curtius.

• The Forum

fossae - (Latin) canals or ditches; the Romans greatly relied upon canals and undertook large projects to dig canals in provinces such as Britain and Egypt; fossae are also ditches dug around a Roman camp of a depth of approximately five feet to protect against an invading enemy.

fossor - (Latin) a digger; someone who digs ditches; a fool, a boor.

frieze - in reference to architecture and sculpture, the section of the entablature between the architrave and the cornice on which a sculpture scene may appear. For more information, see a architectural drawing of a frieze and an image of the frieze on the Temple of Athena Nike.

• The Columns of Greece, Rome & Providence RI
• The Significance of the Parthenon Frieze, Perseus Historical Overview.

frigidarium - (Latin) in a Roman bath, this was the cold room; a bath's patron would enter this room following their use of the calidarium; the cold pool of water into which the patron leapt was used to close open pores or to wash off sweat after visiting the palaestra, where male patrons lifted weights and wrestled or just hung out and played board games.

frigidus - (Latin) cold; frigidus means the opposite of calidus, the Latin word for “hot”.

frondator - (Latin) someone who cuts or prunes trees

fructus - (Latin) fruit, profit.

frumentum - (Latin) grain, a staple of the Roman diet.

frustro - (Latin) to deceive, to trick.

frustror - (Latin) to deceive, to trick.

fuga - (Latin) flight, running away.

fulvus - (Latin) deep-yellow; this term is related to the Latin verb fulgeo, to flash, shine.

fundo - (Latin) to defeat; to scatter; to pour out.

furnarius - (Latin) baker; the furnarius literally means the one who uses the oven, or furnus.

furor - (Latin) “fury, passion”; in the Aeneid, furor unbalances events and people; Vergil creates in Aeneas a hero who wants to cling to Stoic values, but who ultimately is undone by furor in the final scene of the poem; in Book Four of the Aeneid, Dido is an element of furor that foretells the destruction of her city, Carthage; both she and the city burn and fire is one of the clearest metaphors for furor.

• Netshot: Aeneid

furta - (Latin) stolen property; trick.