Pertinax

This is no problem, I think we are at cross purposes. My suggestions: 1.AC and NN to co-ordinate a definite "Northern" meet centred on the Wall (Autumn). 2.Meantime we discuss location(s) of a "Southern Meet " at a different date for those who cannot travel to the icey North. 3.Suggestions for planning ahead for UK Forum meet as an "annual" event , be it York or possibly Bath /Chester 4.any other met suggestions possibly co-ordinated with re-enactment or inviting re-enactment representatives to be our guests (depending on era of specialisation). Please feel free to pm me on this topic.Please post your thoughts also.

Indeed as AD has pointed out elsewhere , the pig was a prized animal because of its usefulness as a provider of storable processed products . I dont however see the Romans stuffing hams with a selection of nitrate, colourants sand stabilisers , merely salt. The retention (indeed potentiation) of vitamins in naturally made bread and beer are major positives in the Roman diet.

Thank you to AD and AC , I feel a warm glow all over! That might be the keema madras I just ate . The Forum members who attended all played a good team game , I think that was the secret of the weekend.

No, Hadrian's Wall is too far away. WW do you wish to suggest a "Southern" itinerary? Maiden Castle etcetera etcetera?

The likely grains? Spelt (red wheat), rye and barley .Please refer to my blog (Grains in the Ancient World ) regarding grains and the book review here: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/famine-food-supply.php Lupins as well (no kidding).

The best suggestion I have for grain in Rome and the Attic sphere also , (from considering the nature of the grain supply , and its self-fulfiling imperative to expansion) is that : if provision of grain was maintained with reasonable fluency then (if free or subsidised or even at a supported price) the urban populations were likely to be reasonably well satisfied as far as the vital staple went. However (and this is particularly apposite for Rome) when supply was disrupted by strife in particular then instability and possibly violence ensued. Now those are wide generalisations, but I dont think they are innacurate. As regards the daily fare served I think ADs post above hints at what would be a decent staple mix. Scarcity dogged supply, so a dullish diet would seem reasonable for an economy based on peasant subsistence "conservatism" (that is the State (rightly) assumes that rational peasant cultivators will take great care to micro-manage against famine , as it is the defining nature of their existence) , but famine (and our favourite periods of turmoil illustrate this well ) broke the structure of "careful personal storage". Now, how far advanced might an unemployed plebs diet be over that of his rustic cousin? Would the townies have merely had a wider choice of puls/breads ?

Thank you Neil for that exposition . Now the second part of my report: Sunday The 15th . The bedraggled hungover survivors of the previous days route march met once again. The first venue being the Roman Bath museum, (being the underfloor area of a pub). This is the partly excavated site of the bathhouse attached to the Legionary Fortress, where the curator gave a short discursive talk on the likely history of the site and its discovery and restoration. .Caldrail was unable to reastrain himself from arming as a Thracian gladiator and demanding a match pait to the death with any passerby, oddly no one took up his invitation. Interestingly Caldrail had one of those

Greetings and Many Happy Returns Antiochus! Where did that x-wing come from?

The development of "baker" as a trade is a mid to late Republican era event. The topic of bread making has been covered in frightening detail on the Apicius Yahoo group (enter if you dare). I venture to suggest the rise of the trade as a co-factor of expansion of the state (acquisition of grain supplies external to Italy ) and rapid population rise .

Some links to consider regarding re-enactments that might firt into our schedule for the next Forum Meetings: http://www.romanarmy.net/events.htm http://www.vicus.org.uk/ http://www.legiiavg.org.uk/group/calendar_index.html please add any further such if they cross your path. Obviously events on or near The Wall will be of major interest for the Northern Meet.

Exhausting but worthwhile. The various reports are being posted in the Forum, the images are going into the Gallery. A tremendously eclectic meeting with specialisms ranging from unusual dietary and sexual behaviour in Rome via detailed knowledge of construction techniques, medicinal practice , gladiatorial fashions, military engineering etc. This was one of those rare events where everything actually went right, and I just hope we can follow this up with additional UK meetings and a Forum meet (one day) in Italy. Everyone contributed wholeheartedly, the debate and arguments over topics great and small was continuous without any ill will. The first night set the tone, a noisy warm hearted dinner party consuming wine in abundance.I cant praise the UK members enough, for the spirit in which the meeting took place. Also I cant believe how much they drank.

Yet more images, I should particularly like to draw attention to NNs excellent villa model. I have placed a second alternative view in the gallery , perhaps Neil you could give your thoughts on the property here? Layout, disposition of rented areas etc http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1695 and, off site at my msn space I have more images in the "eboracvm 2 gallery"

On which point I quote Mr Ronald Atkinson , sometime football manager and television pundit "Mr Atkinson did you leave the club (Aston Villa) because of a personality conflict? " Reply " No , because nobody else had one " . Vibrant debate is stimulating, argument for its own sake is pointless. ps: I will continue to say ni ! to Primus until he brings me ....a shrubbery! Ni!

Just referring to The Augusta's post above , the impression one gets in Pompeii (in particular) is of inward looking dwellings that exclude any hint of the life of the street. I suggest this is for those dwellings belonging to persons of sufficient status to be able to exercise any choice in the matter.

Pertinax has arrived late due to examining a particularly interesting case of the Bloody Flux. His Aegyptian apprentice and slaves are trying to stop him tripping into the impluvium due to short sightedness. He is looking for the esteemed Pantagathus to help him decipher a barbariac text from Noricum relating to an order of Nard, he is also keen to explain how he performed a particularly difficult trephanation on a slave posessed by demons. He is aware of a number of particularly beautiful Ladies of Quality at the party , but before he can engage these beguiling creatures in conversation he is accosted by the notorious Thracian Gladiator Brittanicus Brutus Maximus who wishes to have his sword arm examined before a match pair in which 20,000 sestercii have been wagered by men of rank.He advises the brutal Thrax to desist from the consumption of biscuits as this is not pleasing to the Gods .He also notices the louche youth WotWotius (sometime drinking companion of Mark Antony) and the worthy but penurious R C Hadrianus with whom he wishes to discuss the construction of a Caldarium in his villa.By good fortune he is rescued from the surly Thracian consumer of biscuits by the efforts of worthy friend Pantagathus and conveyed to a quiet corner to discuss certain propitious Mercuric rites with the lean and saturnine Ursus, a man of brooding and portentous sensibilities.

More images in the UK UNRV gallery, to come :Augustus' Report (Brian of Nazereth included) , part two of the Legates Report and Augustus' photographs. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1686

I thought we were the Popular Front? Not the Judean People's Front? Wait a minute are you trying to abduct Pilate? Care for an ocelot spleen?

Very well , here is the first part of my own report: This is the first part of the Legates Report on the UK UNRV Meeting 13th to 15th April 2007. The Meeting was convened in Eboracvm sometime Roman Civitas established in the Tribal lands of the Brigantines. The first evening was cool and misty with a sinister fog swirling through the ancient ghost haunted streets, the delegates slowly gathered together in beer fortified knots . There were initial difficulties as the main party flit through the fog shrouded streets keeping just out of reach of a perplexed Caldrail. The King

Another Report , this time from Caldrail: giving some good guidelines on the City and its appearence and sights. Caldrail says as follows: What a magnificent place York is. Forgetting for the moment the tourist traps and commercial exploitation that the romans would smile knowingly at, the history of the place stares you in the face and is found around every corner. Roman remains are nestling amongst the medieval construction that permeate every corner of the old town. Traffic is banned from those ancient flagstone streets at certain times which accentuates that timelessness. The medieval wall and its gates mark the boundary of the city as it was. They even saw action, as the royalist defenders surrendered to the parlimentarians in the English Civil War. The Castle Museum contains a wonderful collection of antiques from that period. Dominating the skyline is that massive monument to christianity, the York Minster. A truly stunning building that was built in the 14th century to replace the collapsed norman church on the same site. The Minster might have collapsed too - The medieval builders ignored the need for foundations and only recent work underneath has kept the place from coming down. A very sobering thought when you find out that the central tower alone weighs in at 16,000 tons! Yet that work in the Minster Undercroft has opened up the remains of the roman Principia, the headquarters of the fort first created in AD71. One of the columns from that building is now erected outside, and gives a good impression of how grand the original was. Elsewhere a corner of the original fort wall is exposed, and a ten-sided tower blends in with medieval work and victorian restoration. The Roman Bath Museum hides beneath a tavern, revealing another glimpse of the life of common soldiery in Eboracum of the 1st century AD. In York Museum we find many items that date from roman occupation. Tombstones record the passing of loved ones, and domestic items hint at the daily life that people led. For some, the daily life was one of privilege, well illustrated by a collection of silver dinner service. For others, it was a life of hardship and poverty, and in the crudity of some items one thinks of how valuable this ordinary piece must have been to someone. As you can probably tell, it was the medieval period when York flourished on the back of beef and wool. Everywhere you find plaques describing details of places and events from that period. From ordinary day to day matters like winching chains across the River Ouse at night, to a shameful event when jews were massacred at the norman tower that still stands today, adjacent to an old prison where the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin met his end centuries later, now a museum that records the social history of York right up the 1980's! It was there I came across a display of military and classic vehicles assembled on a warm sunday evening. Spotless and shining Ford Mustangs rubbed shoulders with matt green amphibious trucks whose owners took the trouble to dress accordingly and delighted in talking about their prized exhibits. For those interested in military matters, take the time to peruse the Regimental Museum. The displays carry a deep impression of the lives of soldiers since the foundation of the regimental system right up to the present day. If you study closely, you will notice that the uniforms have not only been worn, but used in action by their owners in times past. But in other places are glimpses of more recent changes. Wandering along the River Ouse on a sunny evening I discovered an industrial narrow railway for hand trucks that led from some demolished warehouse or factory to a riverside wharf, also long gone. York can be a lively place yet loses none of its charm by night. If you should visit at some point, take your time and investigate every nook and cranny. Hidden away are some real gems and insight into the past. Thank You Caldrail! Please note that I am now official publicity agent for Caldrail aka "Brutus Brittanicus Thrax" to his female fans ( "Lions dismembered, Retiarii slaughtered, small children a speciality!"). For competitive hire rates contact "Ignavus Entertainments". http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1674 Join our "name that Thracian" competition!

No need to worry Skarr, though it would have been wonderful to have a visitor from the US. There are more events to follow. Just to keep people happy for now , may I refer you all to my previous Eboracvm gallery: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...um&album=20 and a personal favourite of my own: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...=si&img=272 the "team" photos for the event are being drawn together as we speak, but this album hints at the atmosphere of the City.

I have to put forward Ralph Bates in "The Caesars" - truly disturbing, sociopathic menace. http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/B000EWOO3I/...;pf_rd_i=468294

Pan Ive deleted the offending item.It adds nothing to the thread.

Very well here we are the first of the Reports from York: what I shall do is leave the various items in the parent thread for now , but when the rioting and looting have died down I will gather together the "respectable" posts and leave them in a separate thread as a memento of the visit. So here speaks The Augusta: Grated Pearls and Pony-girls

plenty to follow, I intend to load the best shots from several members in roughly chronological order. Im waiting for a selection of shots to place into a single gallery. We have at least three reports to intergrate, then I can link photos into the text .

Ok Ok -just this once, we are saving our ammunition for a frontal assault on your collective sensibilities, here is Caldrail, be afraid.Beer and weapons do not mix. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1674 Anyone think of a good Gladiatorial "fighting name" for this dangerous beast?