Women roles

[Matthew Amt]

Avete!<br>
<br>
Well, the auxiliaries were considered a regular part of the army, just like the legions. My assumption would be that the same rules applied, unless there was a solid reference to the contrary. There were times when troops from allied states or tribes fought alongside the Romans, so those would be subject to their own laws and customs and not to Roman law. But they were not part of the Roman army!<br>
<br>
If the goal here is to rationalize a woman's presence among other Roman reenactors, I'd go one of two ways. One is to portray a MAN in the Roman army, NOT a woman in a man's army or a woman disguised as a man. Some groups forbid this, of course, and much will depend on how convincingly the lady in question can portray a man. (Heck, some of us guys aren't too convincing, these days...) I have no inherent objection to the concept, since it's a hobby and I think we should be allowed to portray what we like as long as we do a good job of it, generally speaking. But it's not a question my unit has had to answer, yet.<br>
<br>
The other option is to dig up some good documentation for one of those cultures in which women DID fight in battle, and portray one of those. You could be an ally of Rome or an opponent, or vacillate as needed, however that works out best for your group. You could even pick something like one of those Scythian "warrior" women whose graves have been excavated and recreate one of them. If there is still debate about whether those women were actual warriors or not, no problem, tell that to the public, then for the battle demo take the position that they were! I think that would be really neat, if done well.<br>
<br>
I certainly want to encourage everyone to participate in some way if they can!<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>