ancillary

ancillary - noun - subordinate; subsidiary; auxilliary; helping

ex officio

ex officio - adv, adj - By virtue of office or position.

I have nothing in particular to say about this term, so I'll give an example and move on: The president of the United States is ex officio commander in chief of the military.

Now on to Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). The most widely read part of his Comedy is Inferno (you should read the whole thing), and the best known part of Inferno is the inscription above the gates of Hell:

Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.

Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.

Before me things create were none,
save thingsEternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.

Dante's Hell has nine circles, each more terrifying than the last. The ninth circle is reserved for traitors. There we find Satan gnawing eternally on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.

I've read the Comedy twice, and I'm not done with it yet. I've also read the Inferno with my son Michael as part of his education. There are many good English translations; I use the one by Mark Musa in the Portable Dante. Check out the notes and commentary provided before you select a version to read; the poem contains names and references that would have been common knowledge to Dante's contemporaries, but which a modern reader (myself included) probably won't get.

Dante's Comedy gives a powerful picture of the world as seen by an educated man of the High Middle Ages. I can't recommend it too strongly. (Note: The poem is usually published as The Divine Comedy, but Dante's title was simply La Commedia. How's that for pedantic?)