07-11-2020, 09:13 PM
Hello, I'm Tony Sampson. Been interested in the Roman era since childhood, amplified by watching/reading 'I Claudius' in the mid-70s (like many people in my generation) and sustained this as a largely armchair interest ever since. Did a bit of Latin at school, which I tried (not very sucessfully) to revive later, but have visited many Roman sites across Europe on my travels. I grew up not far from Hadrian's Wall (Chester-le-Street) - my school was on top of the Roman cavalry fort (Concangis) and I was a volunteer digger at the Bowes Museum excavations there in 1978 (led by the late Percy Turnbull). I'm very impressed by the very many knowledgable people here on RAT and currently as a newbie enjoying following up so many great links and leads in all sorts of directions.