Centurion Weapons

[jvrjenivs]

(And yes, I know that there are differences in budget and differences in what we appreciate between US and EU, but aren't we here to also add some scientific notes to the kit)

I think we need also to get back to this statement I made earlier to see some differences in viewpoint. It is something different in the way you're in the hobby. But don't forget that most EU based people are often hired by museums and other official institutions to do a edutainment display. That means you/the group get sort of paid to show the public what the Roman army (or civilian life) did look like. Therefore I really is my opinion one should get it as right as possible within his reach. Thus, if there is a better way of doing it at similar expenses, why not?

(And for your comparison, I'm on the other side of the scale. You said 1 private and 1 public event a year, I did over 15 events last year, and felt there is a loss of events due to financial crisis. There have been years in the past I was in kit for about 100 days a year; all public events.)

[Robert]

Matt, the SOTW site does not claim it is based on the Guttman. For the chape plate, that would have been a vast improvement, btw. The Guttman scabbard is shown in B&C on the page they mention, but this is not the scabbard in the website picture, as they used the locket of the A549 from Oosterbeek, Netherlands. The blade, shown on another B&C page, is not the Guttman blade, but a simpler one from Newstead.
All the website says is "more accurate then ever before", which I believe looking at the examples of the previous model at the bottom of the page. They do not claim authenticity, although you may wrongly get that impression from the references to B&C. Personally, I would suggest SOTW stick to Miks alone, those two volumes have far greater detail in the drawings (no slur on B&C, it is just a different kind of book) and all swords in B&C are also in Miks, plus many, many more.

[ANTONIVS MAGNVS]

(And for your comparison, I'm on the other side of the scale. You said 1 private and 1 public event a year, I did over 15 events last year, and felt there is a loss of events due to financial crisis. There have been years in the past I was in kit for about 100 days a year; all public events.)

That hits the nail on the head right there. There just isn't that much demand for Roman re-enactors at museums over here. We do one event a year for the ROM (paid) the rest are private events or events where the Roman is mixed in with every other type of re-enactment. So yes, for the ROM we must be accurate and we strive to be because in effect we are paid to be, but for the rest of the events I see that there is some leeway given. Still there are probably only 3-5 events locally near me.

[Jori]

As someone who do a lot of public events, I must say that I was ashamed to be near a real "Maximus from Gladiator" guy (another "troop"), all in plastic and paper. It was in Belgium, I still remember.

In our team, if someone is not as accurate as the standard, he will know.

The worst thing I think (but also the best), it's the increasing knowledge of ancient gear. It can make several hours/days/months of hard work completely useless.

Because of a new archaeological find, or simply higher standards than before.

In my opinion, there is no point of reenacting with bad equipment that could lead the public to a misunderstanding of ancient roman army. In private, sure, no problem, why not, it's more like live action role playing game : only for fun.

Having said that, nobody is perfect, I'm still learning everyday, Some parts of my equipment that I was proud of not so long ago are know stored in my "wall of shame", and I still a lot to improve to have the equipment I would like. It's fun to make it. I think the trap for a beginner, is to want to have everything quickly.

I don't eve have an armour myself, I still use a lorica hamata from our association!

[Robert]

It's not a single archeological find that will change things, but I do believe the influence of recent books can be and has been significant. Before Miks, there was no overview of all Roman swords and scabbards, plus all the assorted handle and scabbard pieces. However, with the appearance of those two volumes, a LOT of data became available in a very structured way. The book "Stepping through time" gives us a great insight into the development, appearance and dating of Roman footwear. B&C show the development of equipement through time. The new book on Pugio (do not have that one yet) should also be of influence.

Unfortunatly, the knowledge of Indian producers seems to depend entirely on what the customer specifies (and even then they will deviate from spec for reasons I have yet to fathom) and there is a lot of old stock laying around. Then there is also the copying of a copy of something we once thought was OK for want of beter many years ago. I still see bone handles on new swords that are of a design totaly unsupported by archeological data. Sadly, we breed our own "re-enactorisms" that way ...