Roman Traders Tent

[Pegasus]

Hi has anybody made or have any Pics of White Canvas Traders Tents ( If that the correct term for them ) . Wea re looking to make something for our group to Maybe change in or as part of our Display , It does not have to be Big For Transport reasons , even some sort of Box Tent with an Awning .

Any Help would be great .

Thanks ,

Paul .

[Emeraldweapon7d]

i'm interisted in this sort of thing as well and would like some visual reference too.

[richsc]

We are accept that army tents were leather, but would everyone else's be as well? If you're in the baggage train of the legion, would you have a leather tent or something else?

[Titus Amatius Paulus]

In our legion we are finished a cloth roman tent:

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=9093

It is made of cotton (we tried to looks like leather because we can´t buy one of leather) but can be make of canvas

[Carlton Bach]

I would assume that cloth was commonly used for nonmilitary tents (in fact... naaah, can o'worms, not going there )

I did my first Roman even this past weekend as a field cook under an improvised awning. We based the setup on images from the Pompeii arena riot fresco which shows awnings suspended between four vertical poles, presumably itinerant sales stalls or popinae. That is the direction I would go. The most likely material IMO would be linen (better waterproofing qualities for weight and bulk) and the most likely colour off-white to brown, as dyeing linen was a relatively expensive proposition. Unless you have permanently installed poles you need guyropes which the fresco doesn't show, but I assume that was simply done to avoid visual clutter.

In the absence of heavy rain (which we didn't have) and chill wind (which, unfortunately, we did), an awning like this is quite comfortable, creating an enclosed space, shade, and a modicum of privacy. You can (but I did not) fold down one edge to make a 'back wall', and a similar rectangular cloth (or the same, if you're willing to go through the trouble of doing that every day) can be placed over a simple tent frame to make the kind of A-frame tent seen in the Vienna Genesis and Ambrosian Illiad. Yes, these are late antique sources. Can't give you better than this.

The thing is, I suspect Roman traders would not normally have used a tent. Travelling within Italy or the more civilised provinces, they could fall back on an established network of inns and waystations for accomodation. Travelling into the less civilised areas, they are more likely to be going by ship or wagon asnd thus already have a place to sleep. The only people I could see sleeping in tents are traders coming to very big events (festivals or such) where accommodation can't be had, or those going overland with mule trains. In either case, a tent could just be improvised from any large piece of cloth and available sticks and/or
anchoring points, as was commonly done until the twentieth century by itinerants.

EUR 0.02

[Pegasus]

Thanks Carlton ,
What Iam looking for is an Awning with a back and Two Side Panels More or less like an open Box , Do you have a Photo of the Awning you used ? just to visualise something of what Iam After .

Cheers ,

Paul .

[Caius Fabius]

Not to beat a dead goat, but there are plenty of references of ancient tents made from wool. The tents of goathair or felt are still used today in some parts of the world.

[Cacaius]

What do you think about my version. Made of thick linen (flax).

[Pegasus]

That is what Iam After , Thanks Cacaius .