Becoming a Roman legionary
Childhood dreams
After watching the video of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, it occurred to me that once we reach the adult stage of our lives, we should not forget about our childhood dreams. In fact, I think we can find a great sense of accomplishment in pursuing them.
In my case, one of those dreams was to become a Roman reenactor. Having grown up with Scarrow's books and Rome TW, wearing the Roman lorica segmentata on a fictional battlefield would be the next step in really immersing myself in history.
Past reenactments
My first contact with reenactment events actually dates back to my childhood. Every summer, the town of Aquileia celebrates its importance in the Roman age, by setting up a battle between the Roman Republic and Celtic tribes. Fast forwards to more recent battles, Waterloo 200-hundred years reenactment in 2015 was an unforgettable experience as well.
Looking for the legion
Once I moved to Helvetia, I started looking for a reenactment group in the country and came across the Facebook page of the Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis. The historical accuracy of their outfit is impressive, as is their annual battle event in Augusta Raurica. I joined then their event in Zug, where I personally met them and expressed my interest in joining. I was invited to the summer camp of the Legio XI to try out and gladly accepted.
Impressions
Well, different from the novels of Simon Scarrow. Despite marching in the sun on a warm day, the weight of the armour and the temperature were more acceptable than expected. However, running more than 20/30 metres with such a weight is not very realistic. Hearing the echo of the war cry from inside the testudo was the most immersive experience of the day. The commands from the centurion were of course in Latin and the exercises included not only marching, but also throwing pila and simulation of fighting with the gladius. Overall, I found a friendly and relaxed atmosphere (when not concentrating on creating complex formations). The entire day flew and without any signs of the modern world, I tricked my mind into a time travel to 80 a.C.
Aequatis passibus