PICTURE THIS
Illustrations at last!
Several
good people have supplied me with photographs from Roman Days, so I’m
spreading
the wealth. Those of you who receive Adlocvtio on paper will find
a couple prints or color copies enclosed; most email subscribers will
get
a little something in the mail. If you don’t get a picture or two
and would like one, I probably don’t have your mailing address--let me
know! There are also a number of photos on the Nova Roma website,
www.novaroma.org (go to Via
Romana
and then Historical Reenactors), which may satisfy your cravings.
Enjoy! Thanks to Judy Ridgely, J.W. Shaver, and George Metz for
donating
photos, and to the other people who took pictures.
EVENT
On September 26-27, 1998, the
Legion will be encamped again on the lawn at Marietta Mansion, as
guests
of La Belle Compagnie, a 14th century group. The usual gig,
military
and civilian. It won’t be as hectic as Roman Days, so we should
be
able to do more practice drilling and javelin-chucking. Can we
really
fit eight men in the tent? That sort of thing. Camp
overnight
if you like. Tell Quintus your plans.
STUFF
I have built a new scutum press,
and it works very well. Instead of a simple row of ribs to which
the layers of the shield were screwed, the new press has a row of
“male”
ribs hinged to a row of “female” ribs. Each set of ribs is held
in
place by several longitudinal beams (2x4s, etc.). Operation is
very
simple: glue the two layers of shield wood together, place across
the female ribs, close the “lid” of male ribs, latch it shut, and
tomorrow
morning you have a curved scutum blank! Two are done already.
In the past I’ve used 1/8” wall
paneling, which works pretty well but the glossy finish must be sanded
off before the glue will hold. It also has those fake seams which
can crack during bending. The two new blanks are made from a luan
door that the gods left in a dumpster, but “hollow” doors have a
lattice
core of corrugated cardboard which is almost as hard to remove as the
finish
on wall paneling. So I started hunting for 1/8" luan plywood, and
found that Wood World in Rockville can get it, slightly cheaper than
paneling.
(Several places stock 1/4" luan, and doors made of 1/8" luan, but not
1/8"
sheets.) So it looks like scutum-building just got easier.
My other hopeful summer project
is some beginning blacksmithing--my forge is operational and I bought
an
old pair of tongs and a couple other basic tools. No ballista
parts
or pugio blades planned yet, just shield bosses and hopefully some
pilum
points, maybe some spearheads and other simple things.
Mark Graef has made some advances
in casting, refining his methods and increasing production, and his
finished
products are, basically, perfect. Buckles, dagger frogs,
brooches,
pendants, coins, even a preliminary batch of apron studs (get back,
those
are MINE!), available either finished or rough-cast for you to clean
and
polish yourself. Mark’s phone number is 703---
.
CONTACT
I got a call from Steve Greeley,
former optio of Dan Peterson’s Legio XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix in
Germany,
and currently living in Maryland. During his years in Europe,
aside
from being co-founder of the best Roman group in the world, he was able
to study and fondle many Roman artifacts, so we are planning to kidnap
him and use hypnosis to find out All He Knows. We are honored to
welcome you to our distant province, and we hope you’ll enjoy marching
with our Legion in the future!
An artist in Indiana specializes
in portraits of reenactors, and is looking for photos of individual
Romans
to work up a drawing for his future website. If anyone
would
like to loan a likely photo (it will be returned) or is interested in
commissioning
a portrait, perhaps, I can give you more details.
Yesterday I got an email from
a filmmaker just up the pike who asks if any of us would be interested
in any future film projects. He's also connected with a
church
drama group, so we could get mixed up in that, too.
Numerous other people have been
contacting me for Handbooks, patterns, advice, or just to say Ave.
CALENDAR
August 1-2--George Metz is hoping to trek up to Ontario for the
Fort Malden Military Time Line event, but other than that the Legion
will
not be attending this year. (Not officially or in force, at
least--doesn’t
mean you can’t go.)
August ?--Workshop, right?
September ?--ditto
September 26-27--Leg. XX encamped at Marietta Mansion with La
Belle Compagnie (14th cent.).
October 11--Columbus Day parade and festival, Piermont, NY.
Quintus and Titus can’t go, but is anyone else up for it? Hotel
rooms
for Saturday night and all meals will be provided.
November--Legio III Gallica appearing at Destrehan Plantation,
New Orleans. Legio XX has been invited. Road trip?
December--Probably Bethlehem Market Place show at St. Luke’s
Lutheran Church, Silver Spring, MD.
---------------------------
Okay, let's wrap this up--I got a dozen emails to answer.
ADLOCVTIO is the monthly newsletter of the Twentieth Legion, and is
written mostly by the Editor and Commander, Matthew "Quintus" Amt.
Valete!