PHOTOGRAPHS                                   4/23/16

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The Baltimore Greek Independence Day parade, April 2016.  I'm at far left, Cheryl B. at center with the spiffy shield.  Vince, in the back, has his own shield and helmet, while Matt D. and Jeffrey are borrowing mostly my gear.  Nippy day with a brisk wind, but we had a good time!         At right is our whole contingent marching up to the reviewing stand.  David and Pam looked fabulous in their Mycenaean kit!         Athena and our Thracian were out of town this year, unfortunately.

	The Baltimore Greek Independence Day parade, April 2015.  I recruited four Romans and a Celt to wear my clothes and equipment for the day.  Odysseus on the far right (David M.) is wearing his own wonderful clothes and boar tusk helmet, and has a lovely bronze sword. A few people are wearing their own (Roman) tunics or footwear. All the rest of the stuff is mine!  Jeffrey at far left as the Macedonian pikeman (with spear instead of sarissa in consideration of power lines!); Giuseppina as Athena; my humble self in my Archaic gear; Vince who actually wasn't late this time (in spite of getting lost repeatedly!); and Chris in a stunning Thracian ensemble. Thanks to Ray C. for the excellent photo!        Thanks also to the Myrmidons, a friendly group that hosted us for the day.
	Parade in progress.  The Myrmidons are all in black and red.  Photo by Ray C.
	Wooden comb, copied from an example from the agora in Athens.  I used cherry, with a coat of linseed oil.  Didn't break any teeth!
	I made this knife for Cheryl B.  It's based on one from Isthmia, which is actually over a foot long, but she said "little knife" so I scaled it down.  The handle is bone, and the blade is just mild steel, ground to shape.
	A pair of voting discs or ballots.  They're kind of approximations, since they aren't cast--I cut them out of 18-ga bronze and soldered a piece of rod through a hole in the center.  One I drilled through, the other is solid.  I didn't bother giving them a fine finish. More likely they were left rough from the casting, but that's a guess.  Each voter coming to the assembly would get a pair of these for each vote to be taken.  The ballot with the solid axle might be assigned the "yes" vote, the hole for "no", or whatever.  The voter would hold each between his fingers, covering the ends of the rods, and drop the ballot of his choice into the voting box.  The other would go in a discard bucket.  That kept the vote secret.
	Chris and I at the St. Theodore's Greek Festival in May 2015.  Father Tim at right.  VERY warm weekend, but great food and good folks.

	My kit at Roman Days, September 2014, George Mason University.  This chiton (tunic) is blue linen, about 41" wide by 44" tall, simply a rectangle of fabric folded and sewn up one side to form the body.  There are no armholes at the sides; instead, the back is pulled forward and pinned or stitched to the front at two places, forming the neckhole in the middle and the armholes on either side.  Originally I ironed pleats into the bottom half, though they had to be re-done after each washing so eventually I gave up on them!  My tie belt is made of a folded and stitched strip of linen.  The fullness of the chiton can be seen below.  Helmet by Joe Piela of Lonely Mountain Forge.  I made my own crest, cuirass, greaves, sword, and sandals--see the links above to other pages with more details.
	Showing inside of my first shield.  My helmet was made by Joe Piela (Lonely Mountain Forge) of 18-gauge bronze.  The exact alloy of the bronze is unknown, being some large sheets of scrap I picked up for a song.  Ancient bronze was copper with 10 to 15 percent tin, but modern bronzes usually have little or no tin.  To most people, the color is the important part, modern brass (copper and 25 to 30 percent zinc) being more yellowish than bronze.  I made my greaves and the hoplon porpax (armband) from the same bronze, but the shield rim is brass.
	Cheryl Boeckmann (Ampelios) and myself at the Virginia Junior Classical League convention (VJCL), November 2014.  It was a BLAST, 2200 enthusiastic high school Latin (and Greek!) students.  (We were actually there as part of my Legio XX.)  Cheryl painted the inside and outside of her shield, and made her own spolas.  I'm wearing my Archaic kit, c. 650 BC, with bell cuirass, Naue II sword, and early Corinthian helmet.  My chiton is the earlier narrow style, made of blanket wool with wool embroidered decoration and fringe.
	Our spread at VJCL.   Cheryl's glorious shield and helmet at right, and her "fou-fou" or charcoal barbecue in front of the basket at left.  Most of the rest is mine (except the Roman shields).  Note that I have used the sacred Roman battle standard as a hat rack.  (Part of the fun of being Greek is that even the Romans are barbarians!)
	On the second day, I seduced two of the Romans over to the Greek side!  Chris as a thureophoros, and Quinton as a peltast.  I'm in my Macedonian rig, with spolas.  That's my long spear, since the sarissa was just a little dangerous to be swinging around in a lobby full of students!
	Part of Joe Balmos' display at Roman Days 2014.  He has a lot of excellent gear, and goes through a LOT of metal polish!
	Marching Through Time (MTT), April 2014.  Here I am being civilized and sharing my sunshade with a Roman (Richard Campbell of Legio XX).  Note the spiffy and very functional petasos hat.
	"Hellenic Warriors" at the Baltimore Greek Independence Day parade, March 2009.  That's me with the blue shield with the eye.  Cheryl Boeckmann carries the black shield with the scorpion, and Dan Zeidler is the Thracian peltast at far left.  John Trikeriotis, the group leader, carries the shield with the red, white, and black radial pattern.  http://300spartanwarriors.com/
	Dan Zeidler as a Thracian peltast.  His pelta shield is made from two wicker door matts stitched together, cut to shape, and covered in leather.  Unfortunately his really nifty patterned cloak isn't visible here.  His boots are converted from "Apache" or "Minetonka" boot moccasins, with the fringe removed and flaps added.
	Photo I took at the British Museum in 1984.  Corinthian helmet at top left, with some sort of pilos helmet below.  Greaves at center, with an nice pair of articulated footguards in front!  Right is a Thracian helmet and a muscle cuirass, presumably either Macedonian or (more likely) Italian.  Also a couple cute little bronze spearheads and 4 sling bullets.
	Another Corinthian helmet at the British Museum, dating about 550 BC, at a guess.

	George Marcinek of Staten Island, NY, has made and bought enough gear to equip his own phalanx!   Shown at left with his brother at a local Greek festival.  His home would rival the arsenal at Athens.  (I am NOT trying to catch up with him.  I'm not!  I'm not!  I'm not!)  See his website and join his group: http://www.thegreekwarriors.com/
	George with his son and brother in a local parade.

	My own little knife, made from a leftover tip of an old sword blade, with a cherry handle.
	A nice big ceramic flask from Cheryl (with hand-twisted cord!), and a lyre from Joe.  Got the wine and song covered!
	Jon Martin's Spartan kothon field cup and canteen were made by Matt Zehr of The Ole Adirondack Pottery Shoppe,  http://www.oleadirondackpottery.com.  His greaves are by Joe Piela of Lonely Mountain Forge.