Jimbow

There's also Soul of the Warrior, which has a really good selection: Soul of the Warrior My favourite has to be Len Morgan, who has been doing the do for as long as anyone. A really nice guy, and his stuff is top notch and very very well researched (a favourite of re-enactors): Fabrica I spoke to him last week and he's up to his eyes in work right now, but he has a load of gear lying around already. I have a scutum, Pompeii gladius, and cingulum, by him, which are all sturdy and made of authentic materials (brass and gilding metal - yes, the Romans used brass, bronze was different then to what it is now). For what you get the prices are very reasonable, especially as the dollar is gaining on the pound now. The thing about the gladii originally posted is that they are not, or at best loosely, based on genuine artefacts. You also have to beware their reliability, as they could fall apart at the first bash. If it's looks you're after then they're not bad, but they will likely be unreliable, and the re-enactment community does not like them at all. 2 rings on the scabbard for the baldric to loop into is not good either, as it will likely flop around too much when walking. My original Pompeii is a Deepeeka, but when I look at and hold Len's it's a world of difference The elaborately engraved blades on the Ebay swords must have been a real pain to clean after a battle Cheers, Jim.

Scroll down to "Swords to Avoid". Legio XX identity parade The rest of the site is used as a 'guidebook for Roman re-enactment beginners' by many. Nix Imperial Nix Imperial 2 Can't vouch for them, but it's a start. Jim.

Here you go: Roman Military Equipment Jim.

Also bear in mind Vegetius who, although often regarded with disdain, may be a more accurate source than normally believed. The Roman Army Group newsgroup (RAG) recently had a brainstorming session as to his accuracy of how many miles a legion could march in a day, which is usually held to be way further than feasible. However, after a 'Eureka' moment one of the guys worked out the amount of paces and distance possible taking into account the length of a Roman summer day (the hours split between dawn and dusk, and not using a modern clock) and Vegetius was bang on the mark. Cheers, Jim.

There is no real evidence for shields to be uniform throughout an entire legion. However, it is FAIRLY accepted that different cohorts MAY have had colours and shield designs unique to them for identification purposes. During the 2nd Battle of Cremona/Bedriacum, Tacitus tells of two legionaries who used enemy shields to disguise themselves and successfully infiltrate the opposing lines, after which they disabled enemy artillery. If this was so, then certainly different legions would have different shields. However, the shields used by the two men have simply had enemy unit names painted on them. Colours of tunics, shields, even focale (neck scarfs) is a much debated issue which never really reaches a consensus. Len Morgan has written a short article on the subject here: http://www.romanarmy.net/articles.htm Bear in mind that at this point only a time traveller would know for sure how a legion looked. Pretty much every opinion on the subject is hypothesis based on archaeological evidence to a great degree, and the result of 'archaeo-detective' work. It is not written in stone and there is a lot of supposition and educated guesswork. Also bear in mind that the ancient military was likely a very different animal to the modern military, and uniformity of dress and drill is thought to have not been too much of a concern, although standards were expected of the men in these areas; shield size being of importance as it was used to also protect your comrades, and a punishable offence if transgressed (execution in one known instance). The picture of a silent army stood in disciplined quiet formation waiting for the attack has been questioned by particularly Ross Cowan, who speculates it was quite the opposite, with the men acting more like a gang of thugs, threatening cornicens and officers for the order to attack, and centurions cajoling the enemy offering single combat There has been a lot of debate on the subject at RAT ( RAT ), but the subject is often avoided due to the potentially inflammatory nature of the subject Cheers, Jim.

Sorry, you're absolutely correct - got mixed up. However, he was defeated by Hannibal on a number of occasions, and Scipio the Younger did study and use Hannibal's tactics against him. He is also supposed to have introduced the use of the smaller and more flexible cohort, as well as the short gladius hispaniensis, and the method of forming loose ranks as opposed to tight inflexible formations. Cheers.

A young Scipio Africanus saw his father defeated at Cannae by Hannibal. Later on, an older Scipio successfully used the near exact same tactics employed by Hannibal, against the Carthaginians. The Romans plageurised everything That was part of their ability to succeed. Even their armour and arms were adaptations of other people's gear, hence 'Gallic' type helmets and mail armour. Jim.

Where do you get that info from? There are plenty of theories but nothing solid in the records. The Ninth was by no means one of the worst, gaining recognition under Augustus, and was probably one of the longest serving legions from the time of Caesar. They may have had a mauling from Boudicca's hordes, but some believe they held up Boudicca's superior numbers for a day, giving time for the rest of the legions to prepare and defeat Boudicca. They were cut from the register late on (which is also attributed to sketchy Victorian research). Maybe they were overwhelmed by vastly superior forces, and the remnants distributed to other legions - that's not too uncommon. Nor is it uncommon for defeated legions to be 'dropped' from the records in an attempt to play down a major defeat leading to disbandment, for the sake of public morale. Their omission from the list of legions at the time of Marcus Aurelius only means they had been disbanded before that time. Who really knows - it could have been retired with honours by then? Jim.

Nice draco The bull was also used as an emblem. Jim.

Ah, well, you see........ Len Morgan's opinion

lol - Go on PP I dare you!

Q: How do you start a fight on a Roman discussion group? A: Discuss military tunic colours.

Not necessarily. States through history have always found a way to make their army look more impressive. Madder red dye has always been one of the most cost effective, hence the British Redcoats. Another 'maybe', and there is no contemporary evidence of this to my knowledge. The show of blood on a white tunic could actually put off an opponent, because the bloodied guy had survived a bloodbath. Think about it. There is a good reason to believe white was worn at parades, but that is not defintitive of combat colours. Cheers, Jim.

Hi there. Where did you get that information from? I'd be interested to read it. Cheers, Jim.

Be careful not to confuse those hours as being modern hours. A Roman day could be longer during campaign season, 12 hours being split equally between sunup and sunset, another 12 for night (perhaps, depending on which period you want). Calculating marching speeds, etc, this way actually puts Vegetius bang on the mark. Here's a good reference: Lacus Curtius page Jim.

No probs. I'm dumb for the reading the thread anyway

Thanks for the spoilers

Mind-boggling and shameful. Jim.

Apparently the Gask Ridge watchtowers are within sight of each other, minus a few theoretically undiscovered ones. Not necessarily all used for signalling (some have anomalies in their structure which theoretically support them being signal towers), but certainly good for visually covering all ground. Jim.

Lol - the last thing I remember before dropping off to sleep (at some point) was the grin I still had on my face

GO ON LIVERPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Cup comes home forever Jim.

Just the nature of the game. It's the round thing going into the back of the net that counts. We've all said "not fair" about our teams, but fortune can swing either way and that's one of the reasons I like it. Jim.

So long as Man U lost, who cares. Jim. (A Liverpool supporter)

Cybernetics? Jim.

Where do you get that from, and which period are you talking about? Considering some items could be passed from one generation to another I find "severe punishment" difficult to swallow. By "different weapon" do you mean the difference between a spear and a pilum, or a Mainz gladius and a Pompeii gladius? The only scenario I can really think of for severe punishment to be given would be if new segmentata were issued and the legionary sold it to make some money, wearing his old hamata instead. But even then it's not really known how the transition came about, or *exactly* when and over how long a period. Jim.