04-24-2008, 12:16 PM
A lot of this is going to be extremely speculative simply because we don't really know the mannerisms of the Roman military. As others pointed out - physical fitness, scars, possibly old war wounds. Then there's the gear - veternans still wearing the military belt (and I'm sure nobody would have objected too loudly to dagger and sword, either, in their case). If he is recently out of service, maybe the way if forehead is whiter than his face (helmet and/or cap), though that's probably not going to hold water before the 3rd century.
Now, forgive my ignorance, but who is Flavia Gemina? Lower, middle, upper class, Roman or peregrine, girl, matron, spinster? If she is upper class, she might notice that a soldier behaves with greater assurance around her than is consistent with his clothes and appearance. If she is lower-class or peregrine, he may be downright arrogant. Generally, Principate-era troops seem to havec been accustomed to the idea that they represented power, and that authority cfame down on their side when the chips were down. The stereotypical soldier of literature is brave and hardy, but also headstrong and short-tempered, a bully and a thief.
Many soldiers at the time would, of course, have been accustomed to violence and hardship, but that is not a given - this man could as well be a navy veteran with long service in Italy or a legionary carpenter, scribe, or equitation teacher. Not every miles ever saw action (in detail, this will depend on the timeframe. Shortly after the conquest or the civil wars, he's probably a war veteran. In the late 90s or the 120s, maybe not. Also, bear in mnind Roman society generally featured much more direct and overt violence than ours. Being used to fighting would not necessarily be an exclusive feature of soldiers.
Finally, while we don't really know what it sounded like, we know that there was a kind of 'military Latin'. Soldiers throughout the Empire write a remarkably similar style and use relatively similar vocabulary. Like with mannerisms, you could just make up something.
"The man wore his paenula hitched up at the sides, hands free despite the biting wind. His left held a small codex of wax tablets suspended from a carrying string held loosely between thumb and forefinger, the right thumb hooked into the cape's bottom toggle, studiously avoiding the place along the belt where obviously had been used to wearing hiw sword."
Now, forgive my ignorance, but who is Flavia Gemina? Lower, middle, upper class, Roman or peregrine, girl, matron, spinster? If she is upper class, she might notice that a soldier behaves with greater assurance around her than is consistent with his clothes and appearance. If she is lower-class or peregrine, he may be downright arrogant. Generally, Principate-era troops seem to havec been accustomed to the idea that they represented power, and that authority cfame down on their side when the chips were down. The stereotypical soldier of literature is brave and hardy, but also headstrong and short-tempered, a bully and a thief.
Many soldiers at the time would, of course, have been accustomed to violence and hardship, but that is not a given - this man could as well be a navy veteran with long service in Italy or a legionary carpenter, scribe, or equitation teacher. Not every miles ever saw action (in detail, this will depend on the timeframe. Shortly after the conquest or the civil wars, he's probably a war veteran. In the late 90s or the 120s, maybe not. Also, bear in mnind Roman society generally featured much more direct and overt violence than ours. Being used to fighting would not necessarily be an exclusive feature of soldiers.
Finally, while we don't really know what it sounded like, we know that there was a kind of 'military Latin'. Soldiers throughout the Empire write a remarkably similar style and use relatively similar vocabulary. Like with mannerisms, you could just make up something.
"The man wore his paenula hitched up at the sides, hands free despite the biting wind. His left held a small codex of wax tablets suspended from a carrying string held loosely between thumb and forefinger, the right thumb hooked into the cape's bottom toggle, studiously avoiding the place along the belt where obviously had been used to wearing hiw sword."
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!
Volker Bach
Volker Bach
