12-07-2010, 10:47 PM
There is also Pliny's mention of how many calf hides it takes to make a tent, and depictions of tents made in panels (as they would not be if fabric or felt), as well as numerous finds of leather tent parts (and finds of fabric which are *never* tent parts if they are big enough to interpret). The use of leather as the primary material is therefore better documented than many other "facts" about the Roman army!
Textiles and felt were absolutely used for other sorts of awnings and flies at times, and for tents in other cultures. So what? Those are different uses or different ways of life. There's no need to make up items such as ponchos or "dog tent" halves, since the mule wouldn't care what the tent was made out of! Nor would the legatus care how hard it was for the grunts to set up his tent.
Matthew
Textiles and felt were absolutely used for other sorts of awnings and flies at times, and for tents in other cultures. So what? Those are different uses or different ways of life. There's no need to make up items such as ponchos or "dog tent" halves, since the mule wouldn't care what the tent was made out of! Nor would the legatus care how hard it was for the grunts to set up his tent.
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
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