AFTER-ACTION REPORT: ROMAN DAYS
Another great success! The
men and women of Legio XX were joined by Legiones III Gallica (New
Orleans),
XXIV (Philadelphia), and XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix (New York), plus
folks
from Nova Roma and the fine cooks from Settmore Swamp. Imperium
Ancient
Arts and Merchant Adventurers peddled their wares, and KET public
television
from Kentucky filmed us at our various activities. In all, there
were roughly 30 participants in period clothing--we massed 15
legionaries
for our displays on Saturday. Public attendance was down a bit
from
last year (apparently the local media let us down), and naturally there
was rain, a 5-minute shower or cloudburst about every hour on
Sunday.
But we had a couple pop-up flies to shelter under, and Legio III had an
excellent new tent of painted canvas, so I think most of the rustables
survived. And the temperature was delightful.
In our Olympic competitions on
Sunday morning, two of the men from Legio III whose names I neglected
to
note won the armor race and javelin throw, in stiff competition.
Your Commander was closing rapidly on the leaders in the race when he
was
RUN OVER by one of his own men! (Kiss that promotion goodbye,
Jason!)
Heck, I'd been trying to do the same thing to someone else. It
was
a lot of fun, and the crowd loved it. We also discovered that 15
legionaries marching on bricks sounds great! The visitors seemed
to be very enthusiastic, and included a few who are becoming "regulars"
to our events.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to
everyone
who attended and helped out, particularly those who traveled from afar,
and to Susan Wolfe who didn't have to travel at all because she's the
site
manager and arranged all the facilities. And thanks to the
cooks!
Roman Days will happen again next year, and suggestions for
improvements
in the arrangements or activities are welcome.
By the way, if anyone thinks they
left something behind, contact me before my next yard sale.
ALBION UPDATE
A lot of people have been asking
me about this--guess I shoulda put something in the last issue!
On
May 15, Mike Cope and I met with Howard Waddell of Albion Armorers and
the two Gupta brothers from International Steelcrafts in India.
We
spent 6 hours going over a number of items in detail, with the Guptas
taking
notes, tracings, and photos. Howard supplied them with a couple
books
and numerous photocopies made by him or myself, and I gave them lorica
hinges and lacing loops, a lorica buckle, an apron stud, and a dagger
hilt
plate. The items they will be producing include an Imperial
Gallic
type G helmet, Coolus type E and G helmets, Corbridge type A lorica,
Pompeii
gladius hilts and scabbards (Del Tin in Italy will be producing the
blades),
pilum heads (tanged and socketed, with buttspikes and ferrules), 2
sizes
of pugio with different scabbards, scutum rim pieces, 2 sizes of
patera,
dolabra heads (with edge sheaths), spearheads, apron studs, and iron
canteens.
They are also working on a Greek Corinthian helmet and a muscled
cuirass.
In addition, I have sent Albion models of belt buckles, dagger frogs,
hamata
chest hooks, and a pack ring for the Indians to cast, and I'll be
making
models for belt plates and apron terminals. Albion intends to
offer
finished belts as well as parts.
The first prototypes of these
items should be arriving within a couple weeks. When Howard gets
them, I will inspect them for accuracy; anything that is not
right
will go back to India (or we may simply be able to tell them what needs
to be fixed), and whatever is right will go into production. Most
likely, the more complicated things, at least, will have to be revised
a couple times before they're acceptably accurate. The cast items
will be no problem, however, and the pilum heads should be usable even
if the first batch isn't perfect. (Howard is having someone else
produce the wood shafts.)
The upshot is that in a matter
of months it will be much easier and quicker to get equipped.
This
whole process is taking less time than it would to get just one item
from
a regular armorer. Albion intends to expand their line to
include,
well, just about everything a Roman reenactor needs, plus ancient Greek
back to the Bronze Age, other Roman periods, etc. As I mentioned
before, their later Roman helmets are already excellent, and can be
seen
on their website at http://albionarmorers.com . So hang in there,
and I'll let everyone know as SOON as there are further developments!
ITER from Dan Hight, Kentucky
"Ave Quintus, just got back from
England and Spain. Went over the first of May with the II
Legio
Augusta and did some filming with them on location with the BBC on a 16
part series coming out next year. It was fun, the battle scenes
where
really good. Then the Legion packed up and we ferried over to
Spain
for several days to do a show at the town of Targonna (well-preserved
Roman
city). It was a lot of fun. I played Vespasian which was a
different role for me. The Gemini Project guys were there also
and
they put on a slightly different show, but got to see how the units
differ
in their performances and style. Also the Colchester group was
there,
in all about 30 Brits, 15 Hollanders and one American. They are
going
back in September for Spain and possibly France. Also some more
filming
to do."
Thanks, Dan, and if you ever
happen
to have a spare plane ticket or two lying around, you know who to call!
STUFF
Lotsa new toys showed up at Roman
Days. Joe Thompson was sporting his new lorica, made by Tom Kolb,
and the scutum that I made for him. Tom himself brought along his
"Early Roman Gladius" from Museum Replicas, actually a pretty
impressive
piece, to go on the blanket of Republican Roman equipment. Tom
and
I both had our Greek Corinthian helmets on display, along with my
nearly-completed
hoplon. Greg Fabic made a new scutum and a hamata, and Mike Cope
just got a pugio and scabbard from Lonely Mountain Forge.
Newcomer
Jason Turner is working on a hamata and an auxiliary shield, and I sold
caligae to him and Ron Kenat (who also baked wonderful bread for
us!).
Jane Walker doubled the size of the awning for her herb display to
accomodate
her growing staff and stock.
It was good to look at Bob
and Pat McNamara's gear (Legio XIIII). The first thing Bob showed
me was his canteen, a ceramic flask nearly identical in shape and size
to the little iron ones that are in some of our books. He also
had
photos from museums in Germany showing 8 or 9 examples of similar
flasks,
mostly more lens-shaped, some with molded decoration (raised dots,
etc),
made of reddish or gray pottery. There was also a photo of about
a dozen very simple little cylindrical pottery drinking cups. And
those were just the complete examples! Obviously these ceramic
flasks
and cups were perfectly common items--why the heck they have not been
shown
or mentioned in any of our sources is beyond me! But I know
what's
going to be carried in MY netbag... Bob's mess kit included a
simple
wooden spoon and a flat rectangular wood plate roughly 6" by 8"--what
could
be simpler? Thank you, Bob!
-------------------------
Associate member Charles Benson
discovered that his local Home Depot carries "door skins", 1/8" plywood
measuring 3' x 7', for $5.29. They are meant for refinishing damaged
doors,
but we, of course, would use them for producing a scutum. One
door
skin will make one scutum blank with very little waste, much more
handily
than tracking down and buying a full sheet of 1/8" luan plywood.
If the Home Depot near you does not have this item in stock, see if
they
can order it.
Couple other hot tips to check
out: Gaukler Medieval Wares (www.medievalwares.com) has a new
Roman
brooch, currently listed with their Celtic items. And I received
a message that John Rose sells coins and brooches, though I have not
contacted
him about them. His web site focuses mainly on dyes and pigments
and looks VERY well-informed:
http://www.icubed.com/users/jrose/jartindx.html
GATHERING
Something else from Howard Waddell
at Albion Armorers: "We are planning a "gathering" for Sword
Forum
members and others interested in swords for the 21st of Augusts -- we
will
have John Clements, Director of the Historic Armed Combat Association
and
author of "Medieval Swordsmanship" and "Renaissance
Swordsmanship"
giving a day long seminar... Since Clements charges for his
seminars,
we will be charging participants $60 for the day-long seminar and the
cookout
portion as well (to cover his airfare, fee, and food and drinks).
We will only have about 20 slots for the seminar as participants, but
for
observers we will only need to charge $30." For more information
about this event's activities and location, or suggestions for same,
contact
Howard.
CALENDAR
July --Festa Italiano, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. No official invitation yet.
July 16-17 --Centuries Event,
Syracuse, NY. Legio XXIV has been invited and would like Legio XX
members to attend as well. Contact George Metz for more info:
610---
July 31-Aug. 1 --Military Time
Line event, Ft. Malden, Ontario (just over the border from
Detroit).
Bit of drive for most of us, but definitely a good time of year to head
north, eh? Is anyone seriously interested?
Sept. 18-19 --Legio III Gallica
encampment, New Orleans, Louisiana. Contact Darren Nunez for more
information: 504---
Sept. 24-26 --Roman Military
Equipment
Conference, South Shields, Eng. See the ROMEC website for
details,
http://pobox.com/~jrmes/romec.htm
Fall, 1999? --Possible display
at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, as part of a classics
fair. Still in the planning stages.
Oct. 2-3 --"Preserving our
Military
Heritage" at Fort Washington, MD, another timeline event. Perhaps
we can spread ourselves across several eras.
Oct. 30-31 --Dionysia of
Massilia.
Games and rites in honor of the god Dionysos, Australia. Contact
Mark Kelly
----------------------------
ADLOCVTIO is late! Even when it's on time (hey, it DOES happen!),
it is the official monthly newsletter of the Twentieth Legion. If
you need to know anything else about this publication or the Legion,
contact
the Editor/Commander: Matthew Amt, (aka Quintus Darius
Macro). Valete!