The names of historical characters are given in upper case. Only those who appear, or are referred to, in more than one part of the text are included.
Corvinus’s household
Bathyllus: the major-domo
Meton: the chef
Perilla, Rufia: Corvinus’s wife
Imperials, senators, civil servants and the military
ASIATICUS, D Valerius: Gaius’s former brother-in-law; a wealthy senatorial recluse
BASSUS, T Herennius: a junior finance officer (quaestor), friend of Sextus Papinius
CAESONIA: Gaius’s wife
CALLISTUS, Julius: Gaius’s freedman-secretary, de facto head of the imperial fiscal department
CAPITO, C Herennius: Bassus’s father, an imperial fiscal officer (procurator)
CERIALIS, Anicius: a backbench senator
CLAUDIUS, Tiberius: Gaius’s uncle
CLEMENS, M Arrecinus: co-commander of the Praetorian Guard
GAIUS CAESAR: the emperor (Caligula)
GRAECINUS, Julius: senator and philosopher, currently a city judge (praetor)
LONGINUS, Cassius: Surdinus’s erstwhile colleague in the consulship. Currently governor of Asia, but recalled to Rome by Gaius
MESSALINA, Valeria: Claudius’s wife
PAPINIUS, Sextus: a tribune (officer) in the Praetorian Guard
PAPINIUS, Lucius: his brother; also a Praetorian tribune
Surdinus, L Naevius: the victim
Surdinus, L Naevius Junior: his elder son
VINICIANUS, L Annius: a respected and influential senator, friend of Gaius, and Marcus Vinicius’s nephew
VINICIUS, Marcus: a literary friend of Perilla’s, married to Gaius’s sister Livilla
Others
Cilix: a garden slave on Surdinus’s estate
Crispus, Caelius: Corvinus’s acquaintance in the foreign judges’ office; an expert in scandal
Felix, Julius: Gaius’s freedman-spymaster
Gallio, Naevius: Surdinus’s bailiff
Hellenus (Marcus Naevius Surdinus): Surdinus’s estranged younger son
Leonidas: Surdinus’s estate manager
Otillius, Titus: Tarquitia’s husband
Postuma, Naevia: Surdinus’s niece
Secundus, C Vibullius: Corvinus’s friend in army admin
SOSIBIUS, Valerius: a freedman
Sullana, Cornelia: Surdinus’s ex-wife
Tarquitia: Surdinus’s mistress
Trupho: a heavy