Events that allow women portraying soldiers?

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

As I already mentioned, before someone butchered the thread, I see three! :wink:

[M. Demetrius]

Well, we talked it over. More talking yet, but here's what we came up with.

1. There were no women in the Roman Army.
2. There were women in several of the Gallic/Briton/other armies.
3. Women could be in an auxiliary "warband" numerii or foederati
4. Men ought not to wear women's clothing and be impersonating women in the camp

That's where we are as of this time. We are probably going to write the rule soon, but more discussion is needed. To be historical, we want to have gender roles appropriately represented.

We do mock combat, so with that in mind...women can be in the army if they portray women who were in a non-Roman army, and can be attached to the auxilia. We're trying to cover the bases so if/when the issue comes up in our group, we have on paper already what the response is.

[Brent Nielsen]

I thought the original thread specifically asked for no discussion on whether women did,could,didn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, ought'nt, never could never would be allowed to serve in a re-enactment group. Appius was very specific in asking WHERE his bunch could find groups or events that were not so anally retentive on gender. I am fairly certain Appius has unsubscribed from this discussion by now. I know I will!

[caiusbeerquitius]

4. Men ought not to wear women's clothing and be impersonating women in the camp

So, no performances of classical theater. That´s a bit narrow-minded, methinks.

[M. Demetrius]

Theatre would be certainly be allowed in our groups with actors portraying opposite gender, as was frequently the case in ancient times. That's not what we were talking about, of course.

We're not anally retentive, Brent, and what I was doing was showing that women COULD SERVE in our group, and the context in which we will probably allow that to happen. Each group is free to make its own choices. All threads evolve, and after this many pages of writing it's reasonable to assume that the topics may circle around, go past the original, and take new tacks.

[Robert Vermaat]

Each group is free to make its own choices.

The main conclusion. If you want do, by all means do it (but be prepared to answer questions). If you don't want to, don't do it. Simple.

[M. Demetrius]

Either way, there will eventually be questions. And proper answers at the time of the asking are required. So while we're still small, and still forming, we hope to get answers on paper before people ask to join us, so that if the questions come up, we are ready with our answers.