How to sleep in a contubernium

[Quintius Clavus]

I, too, have done winter camping, many years ago in scouting. We did lay straw down as ground insulation.

We have to remember, as I think was mentioned earlier, people before modern times were far more used to sleeping very close to each other. I personally don't see that every single contubernium would have one or two men on guard duty at night all the time. Certainly the more warm bodies in the tent, the warmer it would be just because of body heat. Could Roman soldiers have shared blankets, without it implying anything more? Again, in pre-modern times, people often shared blankets and beds for the warmth.

Having been to Lafe the one time in 2009 (financial woes have kept me from being able to get back - to my regret), I slept with my Roman socks on and sandwiched between wool blankets. In late October 2011, we had a freak snowstorm and I had no heat for several days and temperatures in the low 30's for several days. I was nice and toasty with socks on - keeping my feet warm seems to help the rest of me stay warm - and with wool under and over me. Wool retains body heat like nothing else. I keep my bedroom at between 50 and 55 degrees F and that is how I sleep through winter these days.