Fectio
Index
|
|
Friday
promised to become yet another hot day. With most
participants present we decided to do the full show,
practising as we went along. Spirits were high after the
pool party on thursday evening, things couldn't get
better! That was, of course, until the fates struck. One
of the  Catalans injured
his leg and one of the Germans became quite ill - enough
to start a hurried search for a doctor...
The Minervii, like last year, have their
quarters inside the baths. |
Too bad one of them was very ill. |
Publius and Maebh seem not
satisfied with the paperwork.. |
But Barbara and Authari seem
happy enough. |
A lovely lady of the court. |
13.00-13.40 Parade through
the entire park & Presentation in
the Arena (all groups), followed by live missile
firing outside the arena.
Stage
one: assembly in front of the Domus, where most
of the Romans sleep.
Forming up is always a slow affair, with milites
dropping in from all corners, getting their gear in order.
And add to that the high temperatures and the hot sun,
meaning it's not a good idea to form up too soon.
Nevertheless, it's also a problem to get everyone in the
same place in a short time, meanwhile waiting for the
last stragglers to join the rest. Staying out of the heat
and in the shadow is the best option.
Faventianus (Ivan Perelló). |
.. and his beautiful shield. |
Jordi Soler of the Septimani. |
The other Jordi (Garcia) of the Septimani. |
Pablo Amado of the Septimani. |
Again, in full view. |
Ivan and Wim discussing. |
Staying out of the heat and in the shadow: me,
Pablo, Patrick and Helge. |
On the other hand an assembling unit is
also a good photo opportunity - an group of soldiers for
sure attracts the attention of the visitors, so there is
no chance of lounging about! The Empress also made an
appearance so we made sure we all looked sharp.
    
The legion gets ready to march off throughout the town.
With the cavalry in front and the signa leading
the men, the Late Roman army sets a colourful image while
marching past towards the arena.
Stage
two: drill inside the arena.
Marching into the arena in a double column, we marched
round once and then formed up in the shadow. After the
presentation of each group and the show of all our
equipment to the public, our first formation was the fulcum,
the Late Roman version of the testudo. We had
about 15 soldiers in the role of heavy infantry, forming
two rows of shields. The light infantry (mostly Teuxandrii)
then fired at us with all  missiles present:
arrows, javelins and plumbatae (all mock versions of
course).
   
The fulcum undar attack! Plumbatae, javelins and
arrows were let loose on our soldiers, crouching behind
thier shields.
   
Re-forming after the barrage, the missiles are collected
for another one..
   
Discussing which improvements can be implemented and what
to do next.
Doesn't this look good? A line of gravis armatura
- heavy infantry, all armoured..
    
We managed only two ranks this year, but almost all were gravis
armatura or heavy infantry. With some spare shields
and helmets we still formed an impressive outfit. At
least, we received no bad comment from the grandstand
where our emperor Valentinian III and his personal bishop
Tibisius were watching down on us. The good
bishop with Christian disdain, which seeemed befitting
his stature.
   
Next we formed a single line, getting ready to charge.
Look at Publius, he's ready to go! At the
command: Percute! we all charged the public.
 
Well Jordi, better late than never!
   
Look at Chariovalda - we were all sweating quite
a bit - drilling in 30+ degrees heatwave is no fun! The
royal family, watched over by the good bishop Tibisius,
of course retreated into the coolness of the basilica.
After
the drill, most of us got out of armour beefore we went
over to the field for the throwing of javelins, plumbatae,
etc.
  
It's clear that Publius was our champion with
the javelin!
  
We all tried to come close to his shots, but to no avail!
 
Lastly we also fired the plumbatae of several
groups. I still think the underarm way gets the best
results!
14.00-14.30 Fashion Show:
Roman Army from 200 BC to 400 AD (I Germanica)
For
the first time presented by Cordvs/Wim, it went
as if all had practised for weeks before. We carried the
chairs from the baths to the dais so that the Imperial
family
     
Wim presents the soldiers to the public: a veles
from the 3rd c. BC - (Albert Ralita), a hastatus
from the 3rd c. BC (Anau Ripodas), an optio from
the 2nd c. AD (Quim Ripodas), a miles from the 3rd
c. AD (Cesar Pocinyas) and a miles from the 4th
c. AD (Ivan Perelló). They all gave that very good show
which showed the public that there was more than the
usual Hollywood-stereotype with the segmentata
plate armour. I think it also showed very well how the
Romans ended up with the 4th c. soldier.
15.00-15.30 The Cavalry training:
the infantry form uf in close ranks to be a practise
target for the cavalry (all groups).
That
was something new for all of us. The horses were new, too,
and had to get used to being so close to a group of armed
men. After several passes to accustom them to this, the
next step was to get them to ride through our ranks.
     
We formed a nice fulcum. Garrelt gave
instructions on how to open the ranks. Gavin also tried
his pony to get near to us.
    
Next, weapons training. We all marched to the back of the
field and re-formed the fulcum. Then, the
cavalry began making armed charges! Our campidoctor
Rob soon commanded the whole unit and received special
attention..
     
Garrelt on his horse, still unarmoured. Maybe next year a
cataphract? His charges were heavy enough, but
without any spears we were defenceless. After training,
the Minervii went ahead with theirs: Publius and
Authari training with spear and sword.
Next day
Saturday, and we'll do
the shows for real.
|
