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Classical reenactment tends to focus on portrayals of the Greco-Roman world, and especially on modern recreations of Roman legions and ancient Greek hoplites.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2016) |
Classical reenactment tends to focus on portrayals of the Greco-Roman world, and especially on modern recreations of Roman legions and ancient Greek hoplites.
Most Roman reenacting groups generally portray one particular Roman legion; nearly all of the legions portrayed actually existed historically, and most reenactors strive to recreate the legion as accurately as possible. This attention to realism generally extends to the equipment worn and displayed, and to the behavior displayed to each other and especially to the public; indeed, many public demonstrations attempt to recreate Roman military drills, marches, and even staged mock battles.
Roman reenactment groups usually welcome women and children, in an effort to both accommodate entire families and to portray Roman civilian life. Additionally, it is not unknown for reenactors to portray consuls, senators, or even a Roman emperor.
The Roman Army composition, equipment and tactics changed notably through the centuries and whilst some groups seek to demonstrate some of these changes in displays, most groups focus on a particular time period, often associated with the peak period of the legionary unit they represent. The most popular period is probably the 1st-2nd century, with legionaries wearing the characteristic segmented armour illustrated on Trajan's Column. However, some groups portray the Late Roman legion, after the army reforms of Diocletian. A minority of groups depict the eastern continuance of the empire after the fall of Rome in the west, known popularly as the Byzantine Empire.
Roman reenacting is popular in both the United States and Europe. One of the largest military-themed Roman reentacment groups in the world is Legio XXI Rapax based in Europe, demonstrating the heritage of a real ancient unit – Legio XXI Rapax (21st Rapacious). Their group, claiming over 100 active members, includes participants from Poland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands & Czech Rep. [1]
There are also other significant reenactment and living-history organizations that not only specialize in Roman military but include all other aspects of ancient Roman society with a holistic approach: the most notable example is Nova Roma, an umbrella organization with thousands of members [2] which is currently the largest network of Roman reenactment groups. Founded in 1998, Nova Roma focuses on ancient Roman reenactment, and connects the reenactors with their audience in a general spirit of Roman cultural education and cultural revivalism with particular attention to the study of the Latin language, Roman culture and politics, the reconstruction of Roman ceremonies, and supports chapters in numerous countries, like that of Australia Nova Romana in Oceania. [3]
A smaller subset of Roman reenactors attempt to recreate Roman gladiator troupes. Some of these groups are part of larger Roman reenactment groups, and others are wholly independent, though they might participate in larger demonstrations of Roman reenacting or historical reenacting in general. These groups usually focus on portraying mock gladiatorial combat in as accurate a manner as possible.
Greek reenacting groups concentrate mostly on classical era hoplites, though the Archaic, Hellenistic and Mycenaean eras are becoming popular as well. Most reenactors focus on Greek hoplites and tend to depict the classical era, particularly the period around the Peloponnesian wars, but accurate depictions of Greeks in the earlier Mycenaean and other eras have become increasingly more common, especially the era of the Persian War and reenactments of the Macedonian phalanx. Aside from groups, there are individuals who sometimes reenact the heroes of ancient Greece.
International conventions are being held, with the first being in Watford, Britain, in summer 2006.
Some groups stage mock battles such as the [Spartan warband] that equips its members with durable aspis and other period equipment, reenacting Phalanx formation tactics to their fullest extent by depicting two hoplite squads of reenactors clashing with each other. The Spartan Army is very popular as a theme, as can be evidenced by the group called The Hellenic Warriors, [4] who appear at museums, schools, and universities on the east coast of the United States.
Greek reenacting is popular in the United States, Europe and Australia and whose members from around the world will gather at the International Ancient Greek Hoplite Festival [5] [6]
Continental and insular Celts and Gauls are the subjects of some reenacting groups, with a focus on anything from tribal warfare to even domestic re-enactment of Pre-Roman Celtic societies. Many specific tribes are being re-enacted, as are important events such as battles and festivals. Typically, Celtic groups are sister groups to a Roman legion, and are sometimes created originally to portray the Roman invasion of Gaul under Julius Caesar.
The Roman legion, the largest military unit of the Roman army, comprised 4,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic and 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of the Roman Empire.
Carnuntum was a Roman legionary fortress and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became a large city of approximately 50,000 inhabitants.
Historical reenactments is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge presented during the 1913 Gettysburg reunion, or as broad as an entire period, such as Regency reenactment.
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to reenact a specific event in history, living history is similar to, and sometimes incorporates, historical reenactment. Living history is an educational medium used by living history museums, historic sites, heritage interpreters, schools and historical reenactment groups to educate the public or their own members in particular areas of history, such as clothing styles, pastimes and handicrafts, or to simply convey a sense of the everyday life of a certain period in history.
Legio XIV Gemina was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, levied by Julius Caesar in 57 BC. The cognomen Gemina (Twinned) was added when the legion was combined with another understrength legion after the Battle of Actium. The cognomen Martia Victrix was added following their service in the Pannonian War c. AD 9 and the defeat of Boudicca in AD 61. The emblem of the legion was the Capricorn, as with many of the legions levied by Caesar.
Legio I Germanica,, was a legion of the Imperial Roman army, possibly founded in 48 BC by Julius Caesar to fight for him in the civil war against Pompey. The title germanic is a reference to its service in the Germanic Wars, rather than the place of origin of its soldiers. After the Revolt of the Batavi, the remaining men of the Germanica were added to Galba's seventh legion, which became VII Gemina. The emblem of Legio I is unknown, but it was probably Taurus, like all the other legions levied by Caesar.
The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on the delta of the river Rhine. They were soon joined by the Celtic tribes from Gallia Belgica and some Germanic tribes.
Legio VI Victrix was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion.
Nova Roma is an international Roman cultural revivalist and reconstructionist organization created in 1998, later incorporated in Maine (USA) as a non-profit organization with an educational and spiritual mission. Nova Roma is dedicated to promote "the restoration of classical Roman religion, culture, and virtues" and "shared Roman ideals".
The scutum was a type of shield used among Italic peoples in antiquity, most notably by the army of ancient Rome starting about the fourth century BC.
Novae was initially one of the few great Roman legionary fortresses along the empire's border, forming part of the defences along the Danube in northern Bulgaria. The settlement later expanded into a town in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior, later Moesia Secunda.
The phalanx was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons tightly packed together. The term is particularly used to describe the use of this formation in ancient Greek warfare, although the ancient Greek writers used it to also describe any massed infantry formation, regardless of its equipment. Arrian uses the term in his Array against the Alans when he refers to his legions. In Greek texts, the phalanx may be deployed for battle, on the march, or even camped, thus describing the mass of infantry or cavalry that would deploy in line during battle. They marched forward as one entity.
American Civil War reenactment is an effort to recreate the appearance of a particular battle or other event associated with the American Civil War by hobbyists known as Civil War reenactors, or living historians.
Medieval reenactment is a form of historical reenactment that focuses on re-enacting European history in the period from the fall of Rome to about the end of the 15th century. The second half of this period is often called the Middle Ages. This multiplicity of terms is compounded by the variety of other terms used for the period.
In historical reenactment, authenticity is a measure of how close an item, prop, action, weapon, tactic, or custom is to what would actually have been used or done in the time period being depicted. For example, in most northern European medieval reenactment cotton is an inauthentic material—as opposed to wool or linen—though it would be authentic in more modern periods and events, such as American Civil War reenactment or World War II reenactment. Likewise, pop culture references and talking about modern events or objects is inauthentic.
Heavy infantry consisted of heavily armed and armoured infantrymen who were trained to mount frontal assaults and/or anchor the defensive center of a battle line. This differentiated them from light infantry who are relatively mobile and lightly armoured skirmisher troops intended for screening, scouting, and other tactical roles unsuited to soldiers carrying heavier loads. Heavy infantry typically made use of dense battlefield formations, such as shield wall or phalanx, multiplying their effective weight of arms with force concentration.
Historical re-enactment in Australia has been occurring since at least the early 1970s. With no conventional land battles and few protracted civil disturbances since the British colonisation of Australia, most military re-enactment in Australia focuses on events from other countries, including the European Feudal, medieval, and renaissance eras.
Roman infantry tactics are the theoretical and historical deployment, formation, and manoeuvres of the Roman infantry from the start of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The focus below is primarily on Roman tactics: the "how" of their approach to battle, and how it stacked up against a variety of opponents over time. It does not attempt detailed coverage of things like army structure or equipment. Various battles are summarized to illustrate Roman methods with links to detailed articles on individual encounters.
Warfare was a common occurrence in Greece from the Neolithic Period through its conquest by Alexander the Great and until its conquest by the Roman Empire. Because of this, warfare was a typical theme in many pieces of ancient Greek art. Many works of art, like the Doryphoros or the chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos, used military objects in their composition, and many others, like the Chigi vase, had warfare as their main subject. Ancient Greek art is an important aspect of not just the history of art, but the history of warfare as well, due to its frequent spot on many works of ancient Greek art. As each different period in Greek history occurred, more and more types of art formed, as well as differing depictions of warfare.
Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo were two Roman centurions mentioned in the personal writings of Julius Caesar. Although it is sometimes stated they were members of the 11th Legion, Caesar never states the number of the legion concerned, giving only the words in ea legione. All that is known is that the legion in which they served under Caesar was one commanded at the time by Quintus Cicero.