07-30-2009, 03:01 PM
Ave Fratres,
Among other things , I am supposed to be a sort of Minority Community representative. Really more like an innocent bystander than active participant in minority community affairs. One of my minority communities are the Roma andI have great difficulty keeping their numbers up in the Defence and Intelligence Sectors . As far as their origins go , they have multiple stories....some seem very fanciful and romantic , others seem to have an element of truth about them. Some of the more colorful stories that give the Roma a place in the earlier history of europe, is that are the descendants from the defeated Persian armies that tried to invade europe. Another story is that they were originally expert iron workers imported from egypt by Alexander to supply his armies with weapons. I have a sub group here of those folks in my part of the Balkans that call themselves Aegypti and have their own political party. True to the story of their heritage most of these families are blacksmiths, iron workers and some have moved into large vehicle repair. Not all of the Roma here are migratory, there are some established agricultural villages that are 100% Roma,...and they are quite prosperous.
So if you believe a peoples own origin stories the Roma have been in Europe for a very long time. To bring this back closer to the original thread , I always thought that maybe there was a bit of historic truth to the stories. An interesting side note is that a favorite Roma symbol is the wheel. It has been incorporated into the Roma flag, Blue over Green field with a wheel placed in the center. To me it is reminescent of one of the shields depicted in the Notitia Dignitatum under the Magister Peditum, the Legion Romanensis shield depicts a wheel.
So political chicanery or cultural memory. I am not qualified to say, other than they are a fascinating people with a long and complicated history,...that may or may not be closely intertwined with the empire and it's dealings with India.
Regards from a sunny and pleasant Balkans, Arminius Primus aka Al
Among other things , I am supposed to be a sort of Minority Community representative. Really more like an innocent bystander than active participant in minority community affairs. One of my minority communities are the Roma andI have great difficulty keeping their numbers up in the Defence and Intelligence Sectors . As far as their origins go , they have multiple stories....some seem very fanciful and romantic , others seem to have an element of truth about them. Some of the more colorful stories that give the Roma a place in the earlier history of europe, is that are the descendants from the defeated Persian armies that tried to invade europe. Another story is that they were originally expert iron workers imported from egypt by Alexander to supply his armies with weapons. I have a sub group here of those folks in my part of the Balkans that call themselves Aegypti and have their own political party. True to the story of their heritage most of these families are blacksmiths, iron workers and some have moved into large vehicle repair. Not all of the Roma here are migratory, there are some established agricultural villages that are 100% Roma,...and they are quite prosperous.
So if you believe a peoples own origin stories the Roma have been in Europe for a very long time. To bring this back closer to the original thread , I always thought that maybe there was a bit of historic truth to the stories. An interesting side note is that a favorite Roma symbol is the wheel. It has been incorporated into the Roma flag, Blue over Green field with a wheel placed in the center. To me it is reminescent of one of the shields depicted in the Notitia Dignitatum under the Magister Peditum, the Legion Romanensis shield depicts a wheel.
So political chicanery or cultural memory. I am not qualified to say, other than they are a fascinating people with a long and complicated history,...that may or may not be closely intertwined with the empire and it's dealings with India.
Regards from a sunny and pleasant Balkans, Arminius Primus aka Al
ARMINIVS PRIMVS
MACEDONICA PRIMA
aka ( Al Fuerst)
FESTINA LENTE
MACEDONICA PRIMA
aka ( Al Fuerst)
FESTINA LENTE