06-08-2011, 07:54 AM
Hi all,
I am a new member of this forum and would like to present myself, and an idea I have.
My name is Pavel, I am originally from Bulgaria and now have lived in Australia for around 10 years. In Bulgaria, I grew up in what is probably the best preserved Roman town, now called Hisar (the Turkish word for "fortress") due to the fact that most of the 2.5 km fortress around it is still there. It used to be called Diocletianopolis and Augusta when it was Roman, and several emperors spent time there (e.g. Septimius Severus) because it was a major resort, with more than 20 hot mineral springs.
Anyway, what has always bugged me about it is this: out of this 2.5 km of wall, not a single meter is in "original" condition. The local council spends money to "preserve" it, but that just involves patching it up here and there, not restoring anything as it was. There are the foundations of many buildings just lying around everywhere - a perfect specimen of a Roman villa, army barracks (multiple-storey, unknown how many), amphitheatre, baths, private houses with central heating (through ceramic pipes in the walls, carrying hot water from the mineral springs, some of which are 70C), some of the earliest Christian churches in Europe (III century) etc. That's all sitting on top of earlier Thracian stuff, still visible here and there (part of the fortress is built from enormous stones not typical for Romans, the wall is built on top of, and going across, the foundations of an earlier tower etc.). And that's sitting on top of even earlier stuff, such as a pre-historic village at least 7 thousand years old. And what... nothing! You can see absolutely nothing "as it was", you can just listen to somebody explaining what this stone means, or how there was something in that hole but it got removed 50 years ago. And I've always been thinking - is it too much to ask to get something restored so as you wouldn't have to imagine, but would just be able to see it?
Anyway, that led me thinking to this and that, and then came my idea for the Roma IV project. Situated in Australia, as (after much thinking) I decided Australia is the best place for it, although the Romans never reached it.
Briefly, the idea is this:
- get sufficient land somewhere for a medium-size self-supporting town
- build there a medium-size self-supporting town
- while building it, use only Ancient technology, and following Ancient architecture, furniture designs, landscaping etc.
- get people to live there as the Ancients lived, using no modern technologies: grow their own food by "low-tech" agriculture, make their own stuff: everything from spoons to carts etc.
- in general, try to model the society on the Roman society (their peculiar form of democracy, as practised in the late Republic)
- and... well, there's much more to it really.
I have started a web site for this at http://www.romaiv.com/
There's almost nothing there yet, but I have posted my original description of the idea (a dozen pages) in a members-only area, and have tried to start some discussions. *Many* discussions are needed for all sorts of aspects of the idea, and it needs a good strong virtual community going before anything is to be done "in the real world". However, I think in the long run it is a very realistic project, which will be a) fun, and b) a solid business.
Please visit the site, have a read of the (small) list of FAQs I have assembled, and if interested - register there and participate in the discussions (or comment here).
Best,
Pavel
http://www.pavka.com.au/
I am a new member of this forum and would like to present myself, and an idea I have.
My name is Pavel, I am originally from Bulgaria and now have lived in Australia for around 10 years. In Bulgaria, I grew up in what is probably the best preserved Roman town, now called Hisar (the Turkish word for "fortress") due to the fact that most of the 2.5 km fortress around it is still there. It used to be called Diocletianopolis and Augusta when it was Roman, and several emperors spent time there (e.g. Septimius Severus) because it was a major resort, with more than 20 hot mineral springs.
Anyway, what has always bugged me about it is this: out of this 2.5 km of wall, not a single meter is in "original" condition. The local council spends money to "preserve" it, but that just involves patching it up here and there, not restoring anything as it was. There are the foundations of many buildings just lying around everywhere - a perfect specimen of a Roman villa, army barracks (multiple-storey, unknown how many), amphitheatre, baths, private houses with central heating (through ceramic pipes in the walls, carrying hot water from the mineral springs, some of which are 70C), some of the earliest Christian churches in Europe (III century) etc. That's all sitting on top of earlier Thracian stuff, still visible here and there (part of the fortress is built from enormous stones not typical for Romans, the wall is built on top of, and going across, the foundations of an earlier tower etc.). And that's sitting on top of even earlier stuff, such as a pre-historic village at least 7 thousand years old. And what... nothing! You can see absolutely nothing "as it was", you can just listen to somebody explaining what this stone means, or how there was something in that hole but it got removed 50 years ago. And I've always been thinking - is it too much to ask to get something restored so as you wouldn't have to imagine, but would just be able to see it?
Anyway, that led me thinking to this and that, and then came my idea for the Roma IV project. Situated in Australia, as (after much thinking) I decided Australia is the best place for it, although the Romans never reached it.
Briefly, the idea is this:
- get sufficient land somewhere for a medium-size self-supporting town
- build there a medium-size self-supporting town
- while building it, use only Ancient technology, and following Ancient architecture, furniture designs, landscaping etc.
- get people to live there as the Ancients lived, using no modern technologies: grow their own food by "low-tech" agriculture, make their own stuff: everything from spoons to carts etc.
- in general, try to model the society on the Roman society (their peculiar form of democracy, as practised in the late Republic)
- and... well, there's much more to it really.
I have started a web site for this at http://www.romaiv.com/
There's almost nothing there yet, but I have posted my original description of the idea (a dozen pages) in a members-only area, and have tried to start some discussions. *Many* discussions are needed for all sorts of aspects of the idea, and it needs a good strong virtual community going before anything is to be done "in the real world". However, I think in the long run it is a very realistic project, which will be a) fun, and b) a solid business.
Please visit the site, have a read of the (small) list of FAQs I have assembled, and if interested - register there and participate in the discussions (or comment here).
Best,
Pavel
http://www.pavka.com.au/
www.romaiv.com - a Roman town in Australia? Why not?
Man saying it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it. (Chinese proverb)
Man saying it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it. (Chinese proverb)
