N. American Roman Military Conference/Seminar, feasibility

[richsc]

I think there is interest in a North American Roman Military conference/seminar, so Matt Amt's Legio XX is determining the feasibility of hosting such an event in conjunction with our Roman Days event in 2005. Hopefully, the board of the Journal of Ancient Military Studies will agree to their imprimatur.<br>
I am not sure that a full conference could be arranged in only one year; there is a lot of scheduling that has to go on for any conference, but a strong seminar is entirely practical.<br>
<br>
I would like any conferenence/seminar to be successful, so I'd like to ask the RAT members what they would consider to be the main success points of such a conference. Dr. Bishop has already suggested that a mix of half academics and half reenactors makes for a lively and successful mix.<br>
If it is at all possible, the attendance of Dr. Bishop will be a primary goal.<br>
Since this is wide open, what would be topics and events that you would like to see that would be of interest to you, and to your groups? What sort of seminars would you like to have? Consider at this point for the floor to be wide open.<br>
<br>
<p>Legio XX<br>
Caput dolet, pedes fetent, Iesum non amo<br>
<br>
</p><i></i>

[JRSCline]

Conferences often feature panels on the direction that a given field is heading. Since ancient military history (particularly Roman) is considered to be a modernist dinosaur by more "progressive" ancient historians, including the social history types and the theoretical archaeologists, a panel packed with traditionalists and critics of the status-quo could be fascinating -- and memorably controversial!<br>
<br>
Do not start out with too large a proportion of fun n' games as opposed to the hard, dry stuff, or you won't be able to get any Illuminati from Europe to show up. (Chances are slim, anyway, but you don't want to kill them outright.) The academic value of making the flight over has got to be there.<br>
<br>
The FAMS board will undoubtedly support this project.<br>
<br>
Jenny <p><br>
--------------------<br>
<br>
"The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they are realities, and are often even more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are."<br>
-- Niccoló Machiavelli, <em>The Discourses</em>, 1517. </p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

just having the opportunity to meet and chat a bit with Dr. Bishop (I have your book!), would make such an event worthwhile for me. I'm curious, what makes an historian "progressive"? <p></p><i></i>

[mcbishop]

<em>I'm curious, what makes an historian "progressive"?</em><br>
<br>
Perhaps they have lots of Yes and Pink Floyd albums...<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

certainly a mix of re-enactors and acedemics can make things interesting<br>
<br>
<br>
i remember one stating that butt spikes could definately not be used for putting spears etc upright in the ground.....................<br>
<br>
with half the audience being re-enactors it came as a bit of a surprise that they had been doing the impossible for years<br>
<br>
<br>
<p><img src="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.martin/forum/mark.gif
" width="100" height="100" align="right">
</p><i></i>

[Matthew Amt]

Avete!<br>
<br>
One basic point I'd like to push is to make this not just Roman but ANCIENT. True, it would be mostly Roman, but would be more inclusive of folks interested in Greek, Macedonian, Egyptian, bronze age, or other ancient military stuff. There are very few reenactors from those periods around, but I can tell you that they would LOVE to have a milieu like this to bring their toys to! Planning on wearing my Mycenaean stuff, myself.<br>
<br>
We could call it "Ancient Military Topics"--makes for a catchy acronym, yes?<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
<br>
Matthew AMT <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

If broadened, would such an event be better held in conjunction with, or separate from, Roman Days, 2005?<br>
<br>
Aaron. <p></p><i></i>

[richsc]

Broadened, it would probably be better apart from Roman Days; after all, Marietta mansion does not have any conference facilities. However, if it were in conjunction with the USNA or UMd, then they could be linked.<br>
<br>
Below is the link to keep up with RomanDays2005 planning and the potential conference:<br>
groups.yahoo.com/group/romandays/<br>
<br>
I invite anyone/everyone to join, as what we figure out here that works may be applicable everywhere else. <p>Legio XX<br>
Caput dolet, pedes fetent, Iesum non amo<br>
<br>
</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=richsc@romanarmytalk>RichSC</A> at: 6/25/04 2:52 am<br></i>

[Caius Fabius]

I am trying to see why the East Coast has to be the "Place". There are direct flights from the UK and Europe to places more centrally located, and many interesting museums and universities throughout the USA (and Canada)! I would vote for the Getty Museum, in California, which is a recreation of a Roman Villa! What museum or university has the greatest Roman military collection? (Of course, somewhere in Florida, or along the Gulf Coast beaches would be great!) And what if we invited some Movie producers/directors to attend and learn about actual Roman equipment. Maybe a display of Roman military equipment from different time periods, and the publication of a helpful costuming book that they could use, with a listing of re-enactment groups that already have equipment and training... invite Mel Gibson, Ridley Scott and some of that crew.... anyway, I would separate a professional conference from the Roman Days, although they could complement each other by the conference being during the week, preceded or followed by a Roman re-enactment event.<br>
<p>"Just before class started, I looked in the big book where all the world's history is written, and it said...." Neil J. Hackett, PhD ancient history, professor OSU, 1987</p><i></i>

[richsc]

No reason in particular about the east coast. No reason why Dave or Sean could not do a similar thing for the west coast or anywhere else. This is a good time to figure out what things you would plan for to make a good conference. I think Mike Bishop's first point about having a 50/50 mix of scholars and reenactors is a great first goal. I have some ideas on the others:<br>
<br>
cost - make it inexpensive to get to and participate in.<br>
expertise - scholars and reenactors<br>
numbers - a critical mass of attendees<br>
location - facilities for panel discussions, demonstrations, lectures and tours<br>
demonstrations - artifacts and reconstructions<br>
public - dependent upon location, but if it were eg. Getty Museum or Univ of Penn museum, they'd appreciate extra paying crowds in return for their space.<br>
vendors - not sure if the conferences in europe have these, but sometimes people get excited and like buying things. If the venue is a museum, the museum shop appreciates all the extra people.<br>
timing - academics in US teach Sept-May, so I would think most would be available june-aug. Is this also a reasonable assumption for Europe?<br>
<br>
Those are just my thoughts for planning guidelines. What do you think?<br>
<br>
The idea of the artifacts makes me think of Dave Michaels handling all that Guttman stuff; think of having some of that available for examination and discussion on site! <p>Legio XX<br>
Caput dolet, pedes fetent, Iesum non amo<br>
<br>
</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=richsc@romanarmytalk>RichSC</A> at: 6/26/04 11:35 am<br></i>

[mcbishop]

<em>vendors - not sure if the conferences in europe have these, but sometimes people get excited and like buying things.</em><br>
<br>
Sometimes?! ;-) The European conferences have usually had a bookstall of some kind, and I'm sure David Brown Books (or if not them, some local outlet) could be approached to provide temptation for the weak-willed!<br>
<br>
<em>academics in US teach Sept-May, so I would think most would be available june-aug. Is this also a reasonable assumption for Europe?</em><br>
<br>
Much the same over here, with minor variations.<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>