Ancient reenactment
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Ancient reenactment tends to focus on portrayals of the Greco-Roman world, and especially on modern recreations of Roman legions.
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[edit] Roman reenacting
Most groups that concentrate on Roman reenacting focus on one particular Roman legion; nearly all of the legions portrayed actually existed historically, and the reenactors strive to recreate the legion as accurately as possible. This attention to realism generally extends to the equipment worn and displayed, and to behavior displayed to each other and especially to the public; indeed, many public demonstrations attempt to recreate Roman military drills, marches, and even stage 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 older male reenactors (who might have previously played Roman legionaries) to portray consuls, senators, or even a Roman emperor.
The Roman Army did not remain static and, whilst sometimes demonstrating these changes in displays of the evolving equipment and appearance of the legionary, most groups also focus on a particular time period. 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.
Roman reenacting is popular in both the United States and Europe.
[edit] Roman gladiator reeenacting
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.
[edit] See also
List of ancient reenactment groups
[edit] External links
- Britannia is one of many re-enactment societies which has provided extras for films such as Gladiator
- Nova Roma is a historical recreation society, pagan religious organization & classical studies group wishing to build a new cultural Rome.
- Comitatus is a typical Historical reenactment & Living history group portraying a range of different peoples rooted in a particular geographical location over time, in this case Late & Post-Roman Romano-British and Germanic peoples, based in northern England.