02-02-2011, 05:01 AM
I have tent camped for fifty years. Some of the tents I've been in were roped and pegs (most of them, actually) and some were supported by various frames, poles, etc. Those that have external guylines and pegs are very much more stable in bad weather, as the stresses put on the fabric by wind is distributed over a much wider surface area.
When we first pitched a Roman camp, without knowing any better, we put the row of papilios in such a way that the wall pegs of one were the guyline pegs of the tent next to it. The ropes made Xs between the pairs of tents. Very stable, minimized the space needed, and looked neat and "military". Did the Romans do this? I don't know, but we'll continue to do so, nevertheless.
The frame to support a leather tent of the size of a centurion or higher rank (bigger tent) would be an amazing amount of wood to carry around. Not every location for a camp had sufficient trees to cut, so tons of wood would have to be carried from place to place. They certainly could do this, but some of those poles would be longer than a single mule could manage. So how, then would they be transported?
I think the tent ropes were omitted from Trajan's Column, simply because showing all the ropes to put up a tent would obscure much detail, and would not be necessary to the composition. We see the tents, and understand they are tents. (We see the lorica segmentata and --- never mind) That's just my opinion, though. Interesting discussion!
When we first pitched a Roman camp, without knowing any better, we put the row of papilios in such a way that the wall pegs of one were the guyline pegs of the tent next to it. The ropes made Xs between the pairs of tents. Very stable, minimized the space needed, and looked neat and "military". Did the Romans do this? I don't know, but we'll continue to do so, nevertheless.
The frame to support a leather tent of the size of a centurion or higher rank (bigger tent) would be an amazing amount of wood to carry around. Not every location for a camp had sufficient trees to cut, so tons of wood would have to be carried from place to place. They certainly could do this, but some of those poles would be longer than a single mule could manage. So how, then would they be transported?
I think the tent ropes were omitted from Trajan's Column, simply because showing all the ropes to put up a tent would obscure much detail, and would not be necessary to the composition. We see the tents, and understand they are tents. (We see the lorica segmentata and --- never mind) That's just my opinion, though. Interesting discussion!
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
