06-07-2012, 04:36 PM
Why do you wear a Tunica with Laticlavi but do not have a clavus on your Toga ?
No idea, ask me one on sport! It was one made for us very quickly for one of the first Roman Festivals in Chester about 10 years ago. Is it authentic? no; did it do the job? yes. Now I know that the comment will stir up the blood of every purist Roman re-enactor, but get over it. You be purist if you like, let us do the best we can.
I go back to my statement made elsewhere...THE PUBLIC DONT CARE!....they want to see spectacle not 100% accuracy. I used to be a purist but then I realised that the approach doesn't do much for the public and scares a lot of possible recruits away. You can see their interest disappear when some one starts talking about the different types of mail.
As for misinformed, always possible. After all, the public have been misinformed about what happened in Judaea for a long time, but that is for another forum! That really boils down to individual units having their authenticity officers keeping an ear out, as well as people doing as much research as possible. There will, however, always be bullshit, it is a human condition!
This slight disagreement between the purists and non purists does not however detract from the fact that we can all work together, learn from each other and strive for authenticity without spouting off about everyone else. I agree that nitpicking, if done in the right way, is not arrogance. As a military officer I used to have to inspect the troops, I had to nitpick. After I had inspected them I got one to inspect me, let them nitpick at me, but I had made sure that my uniform was 100% before. Done in the right way, constructively, it is good. But the comment which started off this whole thread (from the "Deva 2012" Thread) was not given in that light.
"The problem I have with superlarge events is not that the general audience does not get enthousiast about Roman re-enacting or even the Roman world for that matter" - a lot of the general audience do not want to get enthusiastic about the Roman world, they want a day out and to keep the kids entertained for a while. I do not know if you were at the Chester Roman Festival, but if you had been in the Amphitheatre for the displays you would certainly retract that statement! 5000 people cheering, and not just for the Gladiators, but also the British and Roman Army displays
No idea, ask me one on sport! It was one made for us very quickly for one of the first Roman Festivals in Chester about 10 years ago. Is it authentic? no; did it do the job? yes. Now I know that the comment will stir up the blood of every purist Roman re-enactor, but get over it. You be purist if you like, let us do the best we can.
I go back to my statement made elsewhere...THE PUBLIC DONT CARE!....they want to see spectacle not 100% accuracy. I used to be a purist but then I realised that the approach doesn't do much for the public and scares a lot of possible recruits away. You can see their interest disappear when some one starts talking about the different types of mail.
As for misinformed, always possible. After all, the public have been misinformed about what happened in Judaea for a long time, but that is for another forum! That really boils down to individual units having their authenticity officers keeping an ear out, as well as people doing as much research as possible. There will, however, always be bullshit, it is a human condition!
This slight disagreement between the purists and non purists does not however detract from the fact that we can all work together, learn from each other and strive for authenticity without spouting off about everyone else. I agree that nitpicking, if done in the right way, is not arrogance. As a military officer I used to have to inspect the troops, I had to nitpick. After I had inspected them I got one to inspect me, let them nitpick at me, but I had made sure that my uniform was 100% before. Done in the right way, constructively, it is good. But the comment which started off this whole thread (from the "Deva 2012" Thread) was not given in that light.
"The problem I have with superlarge events is not that the general audience does not get enthousiast about Roman re-enacting or even the Roman world for that matter" - a lot of the general audience do not want to get enthusiastic about the Roman world, they want a day out and to keep the kids entertained for a while. I do not know if you were at the Chester Roman Festival, but if you had been in the Amphitheatre for the displays you would certainly retract that statement! 5000 people cheering, and not just for the Gladiators, but also the British and Roman Army displays
Dea Gratia, Sum Quod Sum
