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+--- Thread: How to sleep in a contubernium (/showthread.php?tid=23049)
How to sleep in a contubernium - Vitruvius - 08-19-2013
Larry (Vitruvius) here,
If Your tentmates snore like I do on occasion, Using beeswax may not let You hear them, but You'll feel them....according to Jaqui !!! LOL. Seriously though, in proper doses, Nightshade, Belladona, Joint Fir,White Willow Tea and soft hemp. All, if made into teas, contain naturally occuring antihistamines that will stop snoring. If all else fails, attempt to bribe One's Centurio to allow One to change conturberniums, or sleep under the stars outside the tent. Something else to be concerned about: Tentmates' or One's own flatulence and Stinky Feet. If One has a tent full of Flatulent tentmates, DON'T do what several poor souls did a # of years ago @ the Pennsic: Fill the tent with Flatulence and light a candle!!!!! It happened about Pennsic 12!!! There were eyewitnesses, among whom was Jaqui (Antonia) who was pulling night watch security.
Salvete, Mi Fraters,
Larry (Vitruvius) Mager
How to sleep in a contubernium - Agraes - 08-19-2013
Make sure you drink more than they do. You will fall asleep before them and you will be the one snoring the louder :-D
More seriously, to sleep on the camp, even in (mild) cold conditions, I use one thick woolen blanket folded in two to cover the earth and both keep warmth and dampness away. I cover myself with several woolen blankets, and a sagum. Recently I have improved my sleeping kit with a few sheepskins for comfort, and stitched one of the blanket into a sleeping bag. It's very good now but it's a lot of compromise.
In realistic conditions I think roman soldiers may have covered the earth with any material they can find for a little comfort and to keep coldness and dampness away, such as hay, dry ferns, not necesserly carying extra-skins or blankets. Their sagum or paenula (or both) would be their blanket, and they would have sleep close to each other. We don't like that promiscuity nowadays but in ancient times it was another matter.
Indeed we could have a look at how soldiers slept in modern times, in napoleonic wars or in the secession war, as there is likely good evidence for it.
How to sleep in a contubernium - Quintus Claudius Scaevola - 08-19-2013
Quote:How to sleep in a contubernium...........shut your eyes and pray your fellow bedmates don't snore.
Kevin
*rimshot* :lol:
I was just thinking that! Seriously though, was there also perhaps a small brazier inside that would ward off the cold? That's obviously a fire hazard, so perhaps in a small pit? Other than that, the folliage/hide solution seems to make the most sense. For the groups that actually own a tent, give it a try with eight miltes on a Winter's day and report your findings...
...unless what happens in the contubernium stays in the contubernium?
How to sleep in a contubernium - Vitruvius - 08-19-2013
A couple of thoughts; one based on experience, the other on research: From Mine and Jaqui's experience in Winter camping, piling snow up around the outside of the tent for a space of 6-12 " helps insulate the tent quite nicely, be the tent, canvas, nylon, or goat skin. 2ndly, Napleonic era soldiers, especially Napoleon's "grunt's tended to sleep under the stars with a bedroll or two. As part of this, until the middle Victorian period, most poorer people didn't have the problems we did with literally sleeping together, be it in a tent, or a bed, part of which is due to wearing clothes to bed or a very long shirt to bed. Having slept out in a tent during the winter, I can tell You all that "fun and games" is the last thing on one's mind when one is trying to stay warm. (LOL). I don't have all the answers, but I hope these help some.
Salvete, Y"all,
Larry (Vitruvius) Mager
How to sleep in a contubernium - Valerian Pertinax - 08-20-2013
I was a Boy Scout for several years. Because of our scoutmaster's schedule, the only time we got to go camping was mainly during winter. I can tell you right now that several teenage boys in a tent will do what it takes to stay warm.
Given the choice between insecure adolescent humor and freezing, the survival instinct prevails quite clearly.
[attachment=7804]image.jpg[/attachment]
How to sleep in a contubernium - Kegluneq - 08-20-2013
Quote:I was just thinking that! Seriously though, was there also perhaps a small brazier inside that would ward off the cold? That's obviously a fire hazard, so perhaps in a small pit?:o
PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. YOU WILL DIE. The fumes from the brazier/firepit would asphyxiate anyone inside in their sleep...
How to sleep in a contubernium - Thomas Aagaard - 08-20-2013
Unless the tent have a opening for the smoke...
Last year a handfull of students lived for two weeks in a (reconstructed) viking age house at the moesgaard museum here in denmark...(they where only really was out of it when they had classes)
They did suffer from mild smoke poisoning, but not something that was anywhere near the level needed to be life threatening.
---
Sleeping very close to each other help a lot with the cold.
How to sleep in a contubernium - Kegluneq - 08-21-2013
Quote:Unless the tent have a opening for the smoke...The only openings in a Roman military tent were the doors, and if they were left open it would rather defeat the point of the fire!
Quote:Last year a handfull of students lived for two weeks in a (reconstructed) viking age house at the moesgaard museum here in denmark...(they where only really was out of it when they had classes)That's quite interesting as houses would definitely need/have some form of internal fireplace. It shows how common a problem this must have been. (It's why Roman houses had high ceilings and windows, of course.)
They did suffer from mild smoke poisoning, but not something that was anywhere near the level needed to be life threatening..
How to sleep in a contubernium - agrimensor - 08-21-2013
Me too was a scout, and in a 8 persons tent sleep with your heads to the inside, feet at the door. So as one has to leave he doesn't wake the rest. Normaly in ancient times the soldiers had to clear the ground before pitching their tents. They could have uses the grass to make a soft bed under a blanket or skin.
An other way to stay warm is put large stone in the campfire make it hot wrap in a towel or cloth and put under your blanket. (no smokepoison) but warm.
How to sleep in a contubernium - Thomas Aagaard - 08-21-2013
Robert, can you (or anybody ells) tell me what sources we have about this?
Written description?
Have a hole tent bin found
or?
My point is, do we actually know this? and if we do, how?
How to sleep in a contubernium - M. Demetrius - 08-21-2013
Quote:An other way to stay warm is put large stone in the campfire make it hot wrap in a towel or cloth and put under your blanket. (no smokepoison) but warm.
That works. If it were done by the Romans on campaign, there would be an inordinate number of rocks in the tent area. I don't know much about those findings, but the rocks--if placed on the ground inside a tent--would not be carried along to the next camp. It's also important to consider that some places just don't have any suitable rocks lying around.
How to sleep in a contubernium - Flavivs Aetivs - 08-21-2013
I was in boy scouts and we just used good sleeping bags.
How to sleep in a contubernium - M. Demetrius - 08-21-2013
I don't think Romans were issued sleeping bags.
I once computed that it would be virtually impossible to sleep 8 men at a time in a 9 x 9 foot tent. Divide the 81 feet by 8, to get 10 square feet per person. That would mean that if all the people were 5 ft tall and two feet wide, it would be possible, but it would fill every square foot of ground with a body.
More likely, they didn't all sleep at the same time. Some would have had various duty assignments, such as fire and guard dutie. Likely, only 5 or 6 would be in the tent at a time. And no armor or other gear could be in the tent, either. Where did the armor go? Surely not out in the rain.
How to sleep in a contubernium - Robert Vermaat - 08-21-2013
Quote:Robert, can you (or anybody ells) tell me what sources we have about this?We've discussed this on RAT before, as you can read here. Plenty of ancient images to be seen.
There are images of smaller tents, we need not look for larger tents that can sleep 8, but rather for smaller tents that house 4, and another for the gear plus even more men. Shields cover the entrance turned to the wind, the remainder can easily be stored.
Our attempt can be seen here:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd28/vortigern_studies/2012-09-23%20Swifterkamp/BILD0513.jpg
How to sleep in a contubernium - Marcus Aemilius Longinus - 08-21-2013
I generally use my padded subarmalis as a ground sheet. Its sides are open so I can open it out and its long enough to cover me down to my knees. It works well enough, and moisture it absorbs over night is rarely a problem considering the ammount of sweat that is added to it during the day. After that my clothes of a tunic, cloak, socks leg wraps, scarf, wool and felt hat and waistband is usually enough, with my mail acting as a pillow.