ADLOCVTIO
NEWSLETTER OF THE TWENTIETH LEGION
Vol. XX, no. iii, March 2010
MARCHING THROUGH TIME
Our first *big* event of the year will be April
17-18, Marching Through Time. The Legion will be encamped at
Marietta Mansion in Glenn Dale, MD, with about 30 other historical
groups. Get your gear out and make sure it's all there and not
too moldy, eh?
As in previous years, you may drive into the camp
area on Friday or on Saturday morning until 9:30 AM, but by 9:30 am on
Saturday all vehicles must be offsite. Parking is available at the
Glenn Dale Community Center, 11901 Glenn Dale Boulevard; it is on the
left about a mile north of Marietta on Route 193. There will be a
continuous shuttle running from the site to the parking area. Everyone
parked at the Community Center must put their name and license plate
information on the list posted in the Pole Barn (in the middle of the
camp area). That list will be sent to the Park Police. Any vehicle not
listed will be towed and any fees incurred are the owner’s
responsibility. Many of us park along the road outside the
site, which is "at your own risk". Please use caution especially
at the intersection of 193 and Bell Station Road--there have been
accidents there in the past!
Public hours are from 11 AM to 4 PM both days.
Please try to be there by 10 AM. Note that there is no Pass in
Review scheduled for this year, but our field demonstration is usually
right after opening, so it would be nice if we had more than 2 guys for
that! Some "marching rations" will be provided, along with
drinking water, and there will also be a food vendor for more
substantial fare.
Otherwise, nothing new about the general rules and
regs. Weapons must be under control of a reenactor at all times,
and certainly visitors should never handle any *sharp*
implements. Do not leave weapons unattended. Best to leave
weapons in camp when roaming around the site. Feel free to tour
the house, but no hobnails may be worn inside.
This is one of our major events of the year,
so I hope to see a great turnout and lots of fun! Please let me
know your plans. Thanks!
LUPERCALIA--IN MAY?
The annual party of Legio XX is going to be Saturday, May 15 at Allison
and Richard Campbell's house. It may not technically be
Lupercalia, but blame that on Caesar and his new calendar: everything
off by three months. Those who have been here know that this is a
fun party: we shifted to May so we could open up the porch and spread
out further!
Further information will follow. Roman and barbarian costume
encouraged but not required. We certainly have spares, but if
you're inventive, we'll accept it. About 5pm to whenever.
More to follow, including directions.
May 15 is actually the Roman holiday Mercurius. This is
traditionally the birthday of the Patron of Merchants (this day is also
sacred to Maia, his mother). Merchants draw water from the aqua
Mercurii--a sacred spring tied to Mercurius--in jars cleansed by
fumigation. With a bough of laurel, the merchant then sprinkles
both his merchandise and himself with water from the jars.
Mercurius is closely associated with merchants and traders, and they
hold this day as a feast day.
ROMAN DAYS!! --by Deb Fuller
Friday I had a meeting with the staff at Riversdale, the new site for
Roman Days. As I mentioned before, they are listing RD as "Rome
at Riversdale" on their calendar but it will still be centered around
the same RD that we all have come to know and love. The street
address is: 4811 Riverdale Rd, Riverdale, MD 20737, http://www.riversdale.org/
Dates are set for the first weekend in June, 5-6. Hours will be
10-4 on Saturday and 12-4 on Sunday. The reason for the shorter
hours on Sunday is that Riversdale is that is their normal operating
hours and they are worried about getting enough volunteers to staff the
grounds for both days. Not to worry! This means we have
extra time on Sunday
so we can all sleep in a little bit, do some drill or just hang out and
socialize. The public usually doesn't start showing up in force
until noon on Sundays anyway.
Arrival and set-up is on for all day Friday. Friday night is also
open for "caligae camp" and pizza social if there is enough
interest. I'm assuming there is since it seemed to go really well
2 years ago at Marietta. The nice thing about Riversdale is that
it is more urban and there is a pizza joint around the corner so
Allison and I won't have to go on a major expedition to get
stuff. (Wasn't there someone else that went along on the great
pizza trek as well?)
New for RD10 - one major addition to RD will be tying the ancient
classical period to the Federal period (c. 1800-120ish).
Riversdale is a c. 1800 mansion and is interpreted pretty much
exclusively for that period. The staff is very creative about
programs and isn't completely locked into that era but their programs
have to somehow tie into the mansion and time period. No
problem. As well all know, the Federal period was all about the
neo-classical revival and there are loads of ways to tie ancient Greece
and Rome. (In other words, you guys will be able to chuck your
spears at the Celts to your
heart's content but we might have some people in other period funny
clothes wandering around.)
The schedule for both days will basically be the same as previous years
but we'll have to fill time for the two house tours that Marietta
ran. These Federal programs will help fill those slots.
We'll probably have some other activities going on around the camp as
well. So if anyone has good research on classical influences on
early America, please send them my way. The staff is really easy
to work with and is open to new and cool ideas so we have the
opportunity to do some really neat stuff here.
For example, we had the idea for an "architecture scavenger hunt" for
the kids where they try and find examples of Greek and Roman
architecture on the mansion. This will not be hard as the
mansion has a great columned portico on the front which will make a
great stage! BUT, if any of you have an urge to make models of
Greek and Roman buildings (*cough*RANDY*cough* ;), go right
ahead!! Another addition will be adding Federal costume to the
end of the fashion show to show how the two eras tie together.
So, I'm excited!! Is it June yet?
Questions? Comments? Have you all asked for time off yet so
you can come to Roman Days 2010?
Deb
http://romandays.wikispaces.com/
CELTIC FESTIVALS
June 12-13, the weekend after Roman Days, we are
invited to encamp at the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg,
Virginia. We've done this one a couple times, are we up for it
again? http://www.potomaccelticfest.org/
We also have an invitation to the Virginia Scottish
Games, September 4-5 at Great Meadows, The Plains, Virginia. http://www.vascottishgames.org/
We had a pretty good time at that one, last year, so keep it in mind.
Alec Cunningham has information on a number of other
Celtic/Scottish festivals, so contact him if you are up for any of
these:
Southern Maryland Celtic Festival, April 24 (one week after MTT)
Frederick Celtic Festival, May 8
Colonial Highland Gathering, Fair Hill, MD, May 15
Williamsburg Highland Festival, October 2
Richmond Highland Games and Celtic Festival, October 23-24
MORE DISTANT EVENTS
Castra Lafe, 43 AD, March 18-21, 2010
Hosted by Legio II Augusta, Lafe, Arkansas
http://www.ad43.org/
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Mithracon, from Jane Sibley
Mithracon will be held again this year in New Haven, CT on the weekend
of April 9-11. Please see http://www.mithracon.org
for more details; reservations are being taken now. This gathering
focuses on the cults of the Roman Empire, mainly Mithraism. We also get
a day researching out whatever you want at Yale University's Sterling
Memorial Library. Nothing like a major university library when you can
prowwwl the stacks!
Yale also owns the Dura Europos mithraeum, but that section of the Yale
Art Gallery has been under renovations for several years, with no end
in sight. Am trying to get a special dispensation with a docent to take
the group to the mithraeum, but I don't hold out much hope.
-----------------
Castra Aestivia V Tillsonburg, Ontario Canada May 29 & 30, 2010
(Memorial Day Weekend)
The event is located just south of Tillsonburg in Ontario which is 2
hours drive from Port Huron or 3 hours from Detroit and about 2.5 hours
from Buffalo. The event features military leadership, black smithing,
patrols, drill, archery, pilum, sling and rock throwing competitions at
a recreated Roman marching camp. For more information contact royals1
AT rogers DOT com
CALENDAR
April 3 --Monthly Workshop
April 17-18 -- Marching Through Time, Marietta Mansion,
Glenn Dale, MD
May 15 --Lupercalia Party at Campbells' house
June 5-6-- ROMAN DAYS
June 12-13 --Potomac Celtic Festival, Morven Park
Equestrian Center, Leesburg, VA
September 4-5 --Virginia Scottish Games
September 11 --Hartwood Days Fair, Fredericksburg, VA
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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/