Maximus

Congratulations for a well presented new layout. This is much easier to read and looks very much more pleasing to the eye. Although I haven't quite found my way around it!! Good on you!

I would like to send my sympathies to any members or members families that have been hit by this truly disastrous weather. May you all receive help in the not to far future and may you all be safe at this sad time. Has anyone heard of any members being in distress?

Well I would recommend Len Morgan. The only problem with Depeeka gladii is that we were told that they would be too sharp for battle reenactment also that they would snap if hit with another gladius.

When this site produced a newsletter, I signed up for it but have not received any. Can anyone tell me what is going on and whether they have received any.

I like Gladiator, Passion of the Christ, Spartacus, although there are others, I am not much of a film buff but I do enjoy watching historical programmes mostly.

I don't think any religion is 'evil' but it is the people who try to influence the people of other religions. I personally am not religious but I think that if one person from Islam is not prepared to take into consideration the views of the other persons religion, then this is wrong. If religions are to co-exist with one another, then there must be give and take on all sides. With regards to the extremists (especially the Islamic), then if they are not prepared to live side by side with Christians, then they should be removed to a country where they can practise their religion without penalising others who do not believe as they. Let it be known that I do not hold a grudge against anyone unless they do something to myself that changes my view of them.

Our local museum is funded by the local council but they have a friends group who fundraises for repairs and maintenance etc. But I agree in Britain, museums are owned either privately, by the government or run by donations only. I will say that usually, the specialist museums are privately owned and the general museums are funded by the government.

I haven't been to Stonehenge for around ten years but I remember it was awesome then. Yeah, the roads do spoil it but it beats clambering over fields to reach it. Besides there is a military training area around there, so I definitely would notlike to traipse over the moor.

There was a documentary a few years back about King George III and his apparent madness. Unfortunately it was not confined to himself but, they managed to trace it back through further generations of monarchy in Britain.

Well I live approximately 25 miles away from the Royal Marines Training base at Lympstone Commando and from what I have seen and heard, I think they are better than the regular army. This is my personal opinion.

Beware Museum Replicas Javelins. They are badly constructed. Their Gladii are good quality showpieces. Their red tunics are too red. Their shields are completely the wrong size. Would you like me to go on!!! How do I know all this, we made the mistake of ordering all of the above and it was all returned at a later date. But as for Len Morgan, his goods are well researched and spot on historically and authentically. I would recommend him to anyone.

After seeing a whole range of Roman Re-enactment groups, I think that any group who portrays the civilian life as well as military deserves to be acknowledged. Which group(s) do you think portray the best and why?

Yes I can, we were a group of Roman Soldiers based in Honiton in Devon. We have decided to fold because another group local to us basically pinched our territory and our work. We have fought to keep our work for 2 years and we have no decided that enough is enough and we are selling up. If you are interested in buying our stuff, then please let me know as soon as possible.

Due to our group folding through no fault of our own, we now have surplus Roman equipment for sale. Anyone interested in purchasing any then please send a private message. Thankyou

Well you have got good taste. The best item was the vindolanda tablets. Although I thought that the pot of face cream was quite exciting, especially as they learnt quite a lot from it.

I was looking for info on Roman History suitable to use on school talks, I thought it very interesting and now I am hooked.

Oh by the way Time Team has finished now. In the end the Somerset excavation revealed that the dining room was divided into two rooms with a main reception area with an elegant mosaic and a small inner room where they could dine in a more intimate way, this was also decorated with a mosaic but in my opinion this mosaic was not as grand. There was an excavation just beyond the Antonine Wall and they actually found a tile with the Leg II Aug name inscribed onto it, suggesting that the Second Augustan Legion was partly responsible for the contruction of the wall. There was also another site (can't remember the name), where they already knew that there was a series of forts and viccas, but during the excavation, they found that the viccas actually extended right up the fort during the middle half of the Roman occupation. All in all, I certainly learnt some things that I did not know. Did anyone else learn anything interesting? If so, I would like to know.

Yes but I am sure I would have felt the same as it is so rare to see it. What do you think of the item that got voted the best item from museums around the country?

Thursdays TT showed a unique find from the Somerset site. This was a carbonised step part of a door frame that divided one room from another. They also found air vents constructed within the walls of the villa allowing hot air to travel underneath the floor and up the walls to make a hot room. Underneath the hypocaust system they found a drain with fresh water running under the villa which they believed was quite unusual in this country. The river site was closed on Wednesday mainly due to them not being able to establish what was going on. They are not always perfect!!! Some of the finds from a different site, can't remember which one, included wall plaster of bright red and blue with a possible white ceiling. Also they discovered a piece of wall or ceiling plaster which was mounted on a stud wall with a piece of stud still attached. At this site they also found fragments of a drinking glass with a Roman Gladiator scratched on the front using flint and shaded in the middle of the figure. If you want more then visit www.channel4.com/romanbigdig

Thank you that is exactly what I was looking for. Sorry I never came across this page whilst browsing through the site.

Just to give an update, the mine excavation has been closed down due to the high toxicity of the site. The Welsh excavation has found two forts on top of each other with the earlier being the largest also the two forts are facing in different alignments. They have also discovered a viccas just outside the fort. After the abandonment of the fort, the local people used the fort to bury their dead after cremation. This is why they found a whole cremation jar intact. They are also trying to excavate a possible river crossing. The problem is, they do not know whether there was a bridge or just a pull along ferry. They are finding the latter to be much nearer the truth although there could be a jetty of sorts. I will post mor tomorrow.

Thanks for this information. I now wonder if anyone could possibly tell me the latin names of the armour/equipment etc. as I was never taught latin during my schooldays (many moons ago). Thanks

I agree, I looked into the room last night about 6.00pm and there was nobody there. But don't forget the difference in time between different countries will make this awkward.

I apologise if I have misread what you said but really this programme is excellent and I will continue to watch it with great interest. By the way last night, they found the most intricate design mosaic that has been found in Britain, it is comparable with the designs that are commonly found in the mediteranean region. Tonight they will be putting the sections together to form the large reconstructed mosaic. So lets wait and see what it turns out to be of. I will keep you updated.

Lacertus, I would like to say that an item is not necessarily valuable because of what it is made of, but its value is determined by what part of history it is connected to and where in adjacent to buildings, etc it is found. With regards to how they can date finds, all sites will be visited by professional archaeologists or people can take their finds to the local museum who will date their finds and tell them of the history of their finds.