ADLOCVTIO
NEWSLETTER OF THE TWENTIETH LEGION
Vol. XVIII, no. x, October 2008


ROMAN DAYS 2008

    Avete!   With this issue badly overdue (no, really!), I literally can't say enough about Roman Days.   Tremendous thanks go to Richard Campbell, Deb Fuller, Allison Campbell, Alec Cunningham, and Dan Zeidler for all their amazing work in organizing the event, and to Donna Winstanley, Beth Campbell, and all the other teachers who brought over 600 Latin students on Friday.  Amazing.  Thanks also to all the participants who came from so far away to make this event a success.  

    In spite of some rain now and then all weekend, we persevered and had fun.  This was our first time at George Mason University, and all things considered it turned out pretty well.  Yeah, we could use more space and more signs and advertising, but we have a whole year to work out the wrinkles for next time.  

    Anyway, here are some photos.

From Sean Edwards and Dan Zeidler:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sean.j.a.edwards/RomanDays2008Sept27# 

http://picasaweb.google.com/cnaeusvalerius/RomanDays08# 

From Richard Campbell:

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=23636 


CHRISTMAS SHOWS

    Where has the year gone!  It seems like only yesterday that we were oppressing provincial scum at Bethlehem, and it's already time to do it again.  We already have two Christmas shows lined up, two days each, and I expect we'll be invited to the big one at Adventist World Headquarters soon (5 or 6 evenings).  We should have enough manpower to send troops to all of these without anyone having to do too many.  Please let me know which ones you want to attend.  Lots of fun!

--The Bethlehem Market Place at Saint Luke Lutheran Church will be on Friday December 5 (6PM to 9PM) and Saturday December 6 (1 to 4 PM).  Two or three soldiers are needed for that.

--Parkwood Baptist Church needs one or two soldiers for their Bethlehem Walk on Saturday and Sunday, Dec 13-14, 2008, 4-8 pm.  The address is on Braddock Road at  8726 Braddock Rd, Annandale, VA 22003.  (On the right side at the forth light coming from the Beltway before Kings Park shopping center, next to the Catholic church.)  Spouses and children are invited for a family event, and complimentary child care and dinner is provided for those that need it.  Please contact Sam Roberts if you are interested, 703-462-0042, and let him know if you will need child care.



TIMELINE EVENT, NJ--June 2009

My name is Jim Stephens and I am the Deputy Director of the Historic Cold Spring Village living history museum. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization located three miles north of the center of the city of Cape May. HCSV  recreates life in a rural South Jersey community of the early 19th century. We have a collection of 26 locally significant historic buildings (the oldest was built in 1691) on 22 wooded acres of land. If you would like to learn more about us, you may visit our website at www.hcsv.org.
 
On the weekend of June 20th and 21st, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Military Timeline Weekend. For last year's event, we had reenactors and displays representing the English Civil War, American Civil War, Second World War, Korean War and Vietnam War. We hope to make the '09 event even bigger. We would be pleased if Legio XX would be able to participate. I've visited your website and was impressed with your impression. I have attached a copy of the registration form. If you and your unit are interested in participating, just complete the form and return it to me at your earliest convenience. No registration fee is necessary. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
 
Kindest regards,
 
Jim
 
Jim Stephens, MA
Deputy Director
Military Timeline Weekend Coordinator
Historic Cold Spring Village
720 Route 9
Cape May, NJ 08204
http://www.hcsv.org  

[Quintus notes:  Any interest in this?  It's a little farther than we usually go, but there has been noise about having an event in June.  This year we did the Potomac Celtic Festival in June, but I think a timeline event is more our thing.]



GREASE AND ROME by Tony D.

Lanolin is the secret to rust free armor and swords, relative comfort in wet weather, supple well preserved leather, and general happiness.

Yes, lanolin, that nasty sheep grease.  We know the Romans had it.  Hell, it comes free with every sheep.  We know that Roman rain cloaks were greasy with it to help keep out the rain.  It is impossible to wear a greasy, lanolin saturated cloak over armor without getting lanolin on your armor.  I have done experiments demonstrating the
protective value against rust.  It is inconceivable that Legionaries failed to notice that the parts of their armor that were greasy didn't rust.  It is a small step from there to deliberately applying additional lanolin to the armor in order to protect it.

I have had good results with lanolin on my segmentata and on my sword.  I have been very minimalist in terms of care taken with the armor and the sword.  Partially due to laziness and partly due to experimenting.  Both still remains in good condition. Lanolin also does a great job of waterproofing a wool cloak.  Perhaps not as good a plastic rain
coat, but pretty good, and it's warmer.

The lanolin to use is "Lanolin Anhydrous" (meaning without water).  You can special order it from pharmacies but it can be a bit expensive that way.  I found that you can also get it in bulk on the internet.  I purchased a gallon and it hopefully will last the rest of my life unless I decide to "lanolize" some more cloaks, which uses quite a lot.  Pure lanolin is a dark yellow and has the consistency of vasoline.  My understanding is that chemically it shares some of the properties of oil and some of the properties of wax.  Since it is hydrophilic, it is able to "breath" moisture in and out, as opposed to waxes and oils which can trap moisture (bad for metal, leather, and comfort).

I have found the best way of applying lanolin to metals is with a chamois leather (split oil tanned sheep skin).  It is very absorbent and will take up quite a lot of lanolin.  Chamois doesn't leave lint behind as woven fabrics do, and it doesn't snag on the fancy bits.

The process I found for lanolizing a cloak is a bit complicated.  I wrote up the procedure on RAT a while back.  See:
http://www.romanarm ytalk.com/ rat/viewtopic. php?t=8818 

I have also found lanolin useful for softening and preserving leather.  Oils and waxes can trap moisture in leather causing it to rot.  Apparently lanolin tends to "breath" and therefore does not have this problem.  I found a site on the preservation of German military helmets that strongly discourages the use on helmet leather of anything except lanolin and "Pecard's Antique Leather Restorer".  Since lanolin is indisputably period, and Picard's is not.  I say use lanolin.
(see: http://www.german-helmets.com/LEATHER%20BALMS.htm)

Down sides:

1. Well... dust does tend to cling more to armor covered in a layer of lanolin.  This does not seem to cause any problems, beyond the cosmetic.  Though I understand that in general dust tends to aggravate rust issues, I haven't noticed this with lanolin.  Perhaps this is because of the breathing properties I mentioned earlier.

2. Cloaks get a bit stiff in cool weather.  Not really a problem per se.  I have worn mine while shoveling snow in a snow storm.  It kept me a little too warm.  The stiffness was odd at first.

3. Some people claim it makes you smell like a sheep.  Just don't stand too close to a horny Scotsman, and you'll be fine.

On a side note, some people recommend the use of nut-oils for the prevention of rust.  I will admit that I have absolutely no experience with these products.  I have children with severe nut allergies.  Consequently, I avoid all nut oils.  However, I am highly suspicious as to whether these would perform as well lanolin.




MORE DISTANT EVENTS


FILMING--California

Historical Entertainment is looking for the following warriors to be in a TV show that will be filmed in CA in mid November.  This will be a paid job, and will last for 3 days.  The persons applying will need to be very knowledgeable and be in proper costume/wardrobe.  Please send us pictures of yourself, in proper wardrobe as soon as possible.  Thanks a lot and hope to hear from you soon!
 
We need:
 
Gladiator
Apache
Viking
Samurai
Pirate
Knight
Delta Force
SAS
Comanche
Mongol
Yakuza
Sicilian Mafia
Highlander
Aztec
Barbarian
Zulu
 
Please forward this information along to anyone who might be interested!

cheyenne AT hetvfilm DOT com

-----------------------

TERMINALIA--Legio X, Florida

Avete Omnes- I would like to announce Legio X s first hosted event.  We would like for ALL of our Roman Brothers and Sisters to join us.  We plan for this to be a success and will be working on making it an annual event.  It promises that a good time will be had by one and all!

In acknowledgement of being at the Terminus of the Empire we are naming the event after the Festival of Jupiter Terminalis.  The original date of Terminalia being Feb. 23 our event will be held Feb. 7 & 8, with set up on the 6th.

http://www.terminalia.net

Location :

Quiet Waters Park
401 S Powerline Road
Deerfield, FL 33442

We have joined our event with the Florida Renassaince Festival--I say we show the Renassaince People that when it comes to festivals there's no Festival like a Roman Festival!

http://ren-fest.com/ 

Think of first week of Feburary.... think of the cold......cant wait
2 more months....

How does Beaches and sunny balmy weather sound?

Come to the Terminus of the Empire for a great event and an wonderful
time.

So what can be expected at TERMINALIA?  So far - Set up on Friday, camping at Period Camp located right off a large lake, cook fires permitted, for those wishing a more comfortable Domus there are Hotels, Beaches near by so after set up on Friday hit the Beach!  Saturday night feast.  More in the works.

For more details, contact Johnn, fjfgkradfahrer AT bellsouth DOT net, or Paul,  paul AT academyofartsinc DOT com .  Please put "Terminalia" in the subject line.

----------------------

-- REENACTOR FEST 5: February 5-8, 2009 at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel in Wheeling IL.

http://www.reenactorfest.com/ 

-------------------


CALENDAR
   
   November 1-- Monthly Workshop at Matthew and Jane's house, Laurel, MD
   December 5-6-- Bethlehem Market Place, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Silver Spring, MD
   December 13-14-- Bethlehem Walk, Parkwood Baptist Church, Annandale, VA
   December ? --Presumably the Walk Through Bethlehem at the Adventist World Headquarters, Silver Spring, MD
   February, 2009-- Lupercalia party!
   April 18-19, 2009-- Marching Through Time, Marietta Mansion, MD

------------------------------

ADLOCVTIO is the Official Newsletter of the Twentieth Legion, supposedly published on the Ides of each month.  I am Quintus, aka Matthew Amt, the Legion's Commander and Editor of the Newsletter, matthew_amt AT yahoo DOT com, http://www.larp.com/legioxx/ .