Children -Re-enactment on the March

[Robert Vermaat]

My daughter is 13 and not really interested now, but my two sons are 11 and 10 and would like to be involved. A group trying to get organized locally (later Empire - 320AD to 370AD) wants to restrict military re-enactment to those old enough to be realistic - understandable. The two kids and their cousin want to do something with the group, but are too young to be soldiers. So, what to do?

I'm in the exact same situation.
My daughter is 13 and my son 10, and they've been involved for years now. And indeed, my daughter is less and less interested, but since we have a female member in the group she is much more involved. The problem for girls (especially teenagers) is that we are mostly military-oriented, and there's little or nothing to do for them.

Me and my kids, back in 2004:


My kids in 2010:


The problem about how to portray the kids is a lot easier. You don't have to be a 'vexillation on the march', you can be any unit in the Late Roman army (on the march or not), since we know that they kept their families with them. Apparently, the units of both Limitanei and Comitatenses were accompanied by their families, and especially in the case of the latter they would have moved with them across the province. Julian's troops rebelled (and raised him to Augustus) when they were forced to join Constantius II in Persia (and leave their families in Gaul), but later went with Julian anyway - they must have been allowed to take their families with them (somehow). Anyway, it's no problem to have kids around LR troops. My son has begun archery training and can throw a javelin. I'm going to make his first (rawhide) armour soon.

Shoes have been a problem due their small size. After they got to a certain age they cheap 'Iron Age shoes' were no longer suited for their feet, and I've so far been lucky to find a source for good shoes (thanks Martin Moser!) for them. I'm still mystified why regular re-enactment shoe vendors don't sell smaller sizes, btw...
Caligae are of course (as Jurjen rightly remarked) the wrong shoe, but on the other hand, LR troops do not wear any 'military shoe', so you range of choice is a lot bigger (just not caligae). Just choose good shoes, as they have to walk on them all day, and shoes are important for kids (my son has to wear his support soles in them).