LEGION TOURNAMENT @ SATURNALIA

at the legion gladius deathmatch we have been honored to award the following soldiers:

Decurio Petrus Cornelius (peter woody), 1st place: phalera, RAS badge, 2000 sestertii
Immunis Amazona Megara, 2nd place: 1000 sestertii

Ex Tiro Dragonofnight finished his recruitment and reached the status of Miles.

A special thank to the civilians (but not so civilians) Alexius Sejianus (Alekso Minotaur) and Senator Enamabala for partecipating the contest.

In behalf of the Centuriones I wish to tell to Decanus Ferox Ragark well done in directing the event.

Princeps Achilles Claudius (Achille Back)

CONGRATULATIONS

During the last training (11.12.2010) we had the honor to announce 3 happy news:


Decurio Petrus Cornelius Silvanus (peter Woody) earned a phalera (medal)


Miles Hywther earned a phalera (medal)


Ex-Tiro Jale got promoted to full Miles rank.


In behalf of the Centuriones I want to congratulate with you and wish you good luck for your future.


Princeps Achilles Claudius

Infos about counter

Hello to all visitors,
unfortunally the previous web counter that I had broke up; so I had to put a new one, but count restarts from 0.
We were at more than 3000 visits, last time that I checked.
Thanks for the attention

Pharsalus battle

The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War, between Caesar and Pompeo, that were rapresenting the Populares and Optimates factions. The war was born to estabilish who will have to take the power in Roma. Infact, at the First Triumvirate’s end, the Roman Senate supported Pompey as sole consul; meanwhile, Caesar had become a military hero and champion of the people. Knowing he hoped to become consul when his governorship expired, the Senate, politically fearful of him, ordered he resign command of his army. Caesar wrote to the Senate agreeing to resign his military command if Pompey followed suit. Offended, the Senate demanded he immediately disband his army, or be declared an enemy of Roma. On 10 January 49 BC, leading one legion, the Legio XIII Gemina, General Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, a legally-proscribed action forbidden to any army-leading general and challenged the Senate. Caesar’s March on Rome was a triumphal progress and so Pompey retreated to Brundisium from where he escaped to Epirus, in the Republic’s eastern Greek provinces. Before reaching Pompeo in Greece, Caesar went to defeat Pompey's army in Hispania.
Some days before the battle, some signs of good omen were noticed in favour of Caesar; for exemple a sound of drums was heard at Pergamus, in the private and retired parts of the temple, and at Tralles, in the temple of Victory, in which there stood a statue consecrated to Caesar, a palm-tree was shown that had sprouted up from the pavement and shot up above the roof.
On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies was oppoused to the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great"). Pompey had the backing of a majority of senators, of whom many were optimates, and his army significantly outnumbered the veteran Caesarian legions. Mostly the army of Caesar was formed by veterans from the Gallic Wars and by Legions levied for the civil war. However, all of these legions were 'short', and did not have the requisite numbers of troops due partly to losses at previous battles and partly to Caesar's wish to rapidly advance.
When, finnally, the 2 oppent armies were one in front of the other, Pompey ordered his men not to charge, but to wait until Caesar's legions came into close quarters.
Pompey's advisor believed Caesar's infantry would be fatigued and fall into disorder if they were forced to cover twice the expected distance. But seeing that Pompey's army was not advancing, Caesar's men, without orders, stopped to rest and regroup before continuing the charge.
When the lines joined, Labienus ordered the cavalry to attack; at first they successfully repelled Caesar's horse and began to flank his legions. Then Caesar ordered his cavalry to withdraw, and partially-hidden light troops fiercely attacked Pompey's cavalry. The first line of the Pompeiian horse were panicked by the cohort's javelins and caused the entire cavalry to fall into disorder.
Caesar's men attacked Pompey's left flank and, rejoined by their cavalry, were able to get behind and attack Pompey's army from the rear. The battle was over.
Pompey fled from Pharsalus to Egypt, where he was assassinated on the order of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. Interestingly enough, Ptolemy XIII sent Pompey's head to Caesar in an effort to win his favor, but Caesar was not pleased about receiving the head of his son in law in a box.

Legionaire of the month October

Hello all,
as it was comunicated yesterday evening, the Legionaire of the month prize goes to Hywther Horngold! He was at about all the trainings, he did a good work on leading one and he shows good fighting abilities.
Congratulations and keep it up!

Pharsalus Event

Hello all,
and so the Pharsalo event was a success!
I want first of all say thank you to all the members that took part at the event. We did lot of trainings about it, probably also a bit boaring, but the result was great!
All followed the orders and did what they had to do. I am also happy to have noticed no displeasure from those who have been chosen to take part in the army of Pompey.
It was a difficoult task to prepare this event, be we did it.
I am proud of you all.
I am sorry for the members that came and were not able to join it, but it was necessary to have done at last two trainings about it and to have joined the event on the board. I really hope to have you all for the next one!

PHARSALUS TRAINING

Waiting for the Pharsalus battle reenactment, last training (19 sept 2010) was mainly based on the practice for that event.

Here are a few pictures of the training:

The two teams are positionating (G.Iulius Caesar's team on the top, Pompeus Magnus' team on the bottom of the picture)

Infantries are meeting on the battlefield while cavalries fight on the background (Caesar's cavalry supported by a reserve of infantry)

HARPASTUM Game

On Saturday 18 September (1 PM SLT) our Legio will reenact the play of Harpastum, one of the main ancestors of modern football/rugby.

The rules of the game were probably very simple and it was surely very rude. Legionairs loved it, but also civilians did, as watchers, but also as players. The ball was quite hard, in leather stuffed with wool or oakum. The number of players was variable, depending on their availability and on the dimensions of the field, that was often extemporary, the best being in sand. They were divided in 2 teams and the teams had maybe to carry or launch the ball beyond the farest side of the opposite field. Another interpretation is that the players had to keep the ball in their own half-field avoiding the opponents to take it, a sort of inverted football.

The version we are adopting is quite similar to an intermediate ancestor, the so called Soccer in costume, that is still played in Florence, Italy, assuming that it is the closest game to harpastum, from a chronological and topographical point of view: its first documentation in fact is in the 2nd half of the XV century.

All the citizens are invited to watch the game, or to take part in it. In this case they have to sign themselves on the apposite board in the fort of the XIII, in Ostia.

Legionaire of the month of May

The Legionaire of the month for May is Conny!
(The post will be rewritten better as soon as possible)

LEGIONAIRE OF THE MONTH OF APRIL

Hello all, finally we have the winner of the Legionaire of the month prize!
This time is Jo Soler! She did a great work as always to the Legio but this time did a very nice work also with room renting at the fort!
Congratulation1

Skilled archer badge assigned

Hello all, I am happy to announce that Foxtrot Fyanucci earned the skilled archer badge for have showed great ability during last archery constest.
Congratulations!

Legionaire of the month March

Salve all,
it is again time to choose the Legionaire of the month.
I am very happy and I was also a bit touched by my proclamation as Legionaire of the month.
I always do the most for the Legio and Roma SPQR just as an hobby, a pleasure; however this prize make me happy because shows that people like the work that I am doing.
Thanks to all!

Legio Badges

1) Skilled archer
Assigned to the soldiers that won an Archery tournament

2) Skilled gladium fighter
Assigned to the soldiers that won a Legio tournament

3) Skilled pilum thrower
Assigned to the soldiers that won a pilum tournament

4) Very disciplined soldier
Assigned to the soldiers that show a very hight respect of rules

5) Active soldier
Assigned to the soldiers that are judged most active in the group

Matronalia festival

Matronalia (or Matronales Feriae) was a festival celebrating the goddess of childbirth ("Juno who brings children into the light"). A celebration of motherhood (mater) and of women in general. Prior to the reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar, this was the first day of the new year. It was also shared with the first day of the Feriae Marti.

The date of the festival was associated with the dedication of a temple to Juno Lucina on the Esquiline Hill circa 268 BCE, and possibly also a commemoration of the peace between the Romans and the Sabines. On the day, women would participate in rituals at the temple, although the details have not been preserved other than the observation that they wore their hair loose (when Roman decorum otherwise required them to wear it up), and were not allowed to wear belts or to knot their clothing in any place.

At home, women received gifts from their husbands and daughters, and Roman husbands were expected to offer prayers for their wives. Women were also expected to prepare a meal for the household slaves (who were given the day off work), as Roman men did at the Saturnalia.

Murmillo Gladiator

The MURMILLO (left) was a type of gladiator during the Roman Imperial age. The myrmillio-class gladiator was adopted in the early Imperial period to replace the earlier Gallus, named after the warriors of Gaul. As the Gauls inhabiting Italy had become well-integrated with the Romans by the time of the reign of Augustus, it became politically incorrect to portray them as enemy outsiders; the Gallus-class gladiator thus had to be retired.
The distinguishing feature of the murmillo was the high crest of his helmet which, together with its broad rim, was shaped somewhat like a fish. The murmillo took his name from this fish-shaped helmet; the word comes from the Greek word for a type of saltwater fish.
Otherwise, he wore a loincloth (subligaculum), belt (balteus), very thick wrappings on the lower part of his left leg (designed to protect the top of his feet from attack and from his own shield), a gaiter on his right leg, a linen arm guard (manica) to protect his right arm, and the curved rectangular shield (scutum) of the Roman legionary. He also carried the legionary's short, straight-blade sword, or gladius, from which gladiators derived their name.
The murmillo usually fought the thraex or hoplomachus, with whom he shared some of the equipment (notably arm guards and all-enclosing helmet, and the dangerous short sword). A number of ancient authors, including Valerius Maximus and Quintillian, assert that he also regularly fought the retiarius. It would certainly have been an unusual pairing, contrasting a slow but heavily armoured gladiator with a fast but lightly equipped one. However, this pairing is disputed; visual depictions of murmillones show them fighting the thraex or hoplomachus rather than the retiarius.

Examples of the pairing between murmillones and other gladiator types can be seen in frescos and graffiti in Pompeii. In one well-preserved example, a murmillo named Marcus Atillus, who is credited with one match and one victory, is depicted standing over the defeated figure of Lucius Raecius Felix, a gladiator with 12 matches and 12 victories. His opponent is shown kneeling, disarmed and unhelmeted. The graffito records that Felix survived the fight and was granted his freedom (manumission).

Retiario Gladiator

Developed in the early Augustan era, the retiarius carried a trident, a dagger, and a net . Except for a loincloth held in place by a wide belt (balteus) and a larger arm guard (manica) extending to the shoulder and left side of the chest the Retiarius fought naked and without the protection of a helmet. Occasionally a metal shoulder shield (galerus) was added to protect the neck and lower face. A tombstone found in Romania shows a Retiarius holding a dagger with four spikes (each at the corner of a square guard) instead of the usual bladed dagger. This was previously thought to be an artistic invention or perhaps a ceremonial weapon but a recent discovery of a Gladiator graveyard found that several of the remains had four odd-looking marks that form the outline of a square on their bones which is consistent with the use of such a weapon. A variation to the normal combat was a retiarius facing two secutores at the same time. He stood on a bridge or raised platform with stairs and had a pile of fist-sized stones to throw at his adversaries and keep them at bay while the secutores tried to scale the structure to get at him. The platform (called a pons, "bridge") may have been constructed over water.
There appears to have been an effeminate class of Retiarius (retiarius tunicatus) that wore tunics to distinguish them from the usual Retiarius. Retiarii usually always fought Secutores but sometimes Murmillones.

Traex Gladiator

The Thraex, or Thracian, was a type of Roman gladiator, armed in the Thracian style with small rectangular shield called a parmula (about 60 x 65 cm) and a very short sword with a slightly curved blade called a sica (like a small version of the Dacian falx), intended to maim an opponent's unarmoured back. His other armour included armoured greaves (necessitated by the smallness of the shield), a protector for his sword arm and shoulder, a protective belt above a loin cloth, and a helmet with a side plume, visor and high crest.
He and the hoplomachus, with his Greek equipment, were usually pitted against the murmillo, armed like a legionary, mimicking the opposition between Roman soldiers and their various non-Italian enemies.

Scissor Gladiator

The Scissor (or Scizore) was a type of Roman gladiator who fought with a distinctive bladed weapon called the Roman Scissor. It consisted of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the hand end capped off and a semicircular blade attached to it. A handle inside the tube allowed the gladiator to maintain control in the heat of battle. This weapon was well-regarded because of its deadliness and versatility; the gladiator could use his protected arm to block his opponent's blows and quickly counterattack, the shape of the blade being such that even slight contact could cause a serious wound.

Quinquatria Festival

Celebrated for five days, and was for this reason called by this name: that on the first day no blood was shed, but that on the last four there were contests of gladiators. It would appear however that the first day was only the festival properly so called, and that the last four were merely an addition made perhaps in the time of Caesar to gratify the people, who became so passionately fond of gladiatorial combats. The ancient Calendars also assign only one day to the festival.
As this festival was sacred to Minerva, it seems that women were accustomed to consult fortune-tellers and diviners upon this day. Domitian caused it to be celebrated every year in his Alban villa, situated at the foot of the Alban hills, and instituted a collegium to superintend the celebration, which consisted of shows of wild beasts, of the exhibition of plays, and of contests of orators and poets

Quinquatria Legion Event

I Quinquatria duravano cinque giorni, da cui il nome. È però possibile che solo il primo giorno fosse il Quinquatria vero e proprio, e che i successivi quattro fossero stati aggiunti successivamente, probabilmente all'epoca di Gaio Giulio Cesare, allo scopo di divertire il popolo: infatti, mentre il primo giorno era proibito versare sangue, nei successivi quattro venivano organizzati giochi gladiatorii. Questa interpretazione è avvalorata dal fatto che nei calendari più antichi solo un giorno è dedicato a questa festività. Ovidio a riferisce che la festività era dedicata al dies natalis ("compleanno") di Minerva, mentre Festo afferma che veniva commemorata la consacrazione alla divinità del tempio sull'Aventino. In questo giorno dedicato a Minerva, era uso che le donne consultassero gli indovini.

Legionaire of the month of February

Ok, it is past some times, we had some problems in Gennuary, but here we are finnaly again with the LOTM prize! Where the best members are mentioned!
For February the winner is Tonina Rodenberger, for the big help that she gives everytime for the Legio. Congratulation Nina and thanks for all your work!
Primus Pilus Brodbiz Bagration