"National Roman Legion"

[Hibernicus]

Bryan, Many of us who have criticized the idea of a "national legion" have interacted with Dan Peterson for several years. I have done so by phone, email and in person. We have exchanged ideas, commiserated, argued, disagreed, agreed, worked together in some things.... I think many others can say the same.

There is a difference between a large group and a national legion. Several US clubs recruit members across state lines including us, Legio IX Hispana, all with the intent of creating large clubs. The idea is not new and its not Dan's.

You're an experienced reenactor. What you will learn about Roman is that it is very different from later time periods in that we do not know many many things, that what we know is often opinion or perhaps interpretation and not hard fact. We might argue about tunica color from time to time because there is no hard evidence. Some postulate that we should only decorate our shields with a specific Legio's device because its the only one we know of with certainty and that since ALL other shield emblems are made up fantasy creations of the particular clubs they should logically be discarded.

The idea of a national legion has merit, but in my opinion not enough to warrant a 2nd set (partial or complete) of gear.

Also, many of us disagree about reenactment standards. Dan's national legion allows luan shields, Legio IX Hispana forbids them in favor of a more historic construction method. We also disagree about scutum size and shape. And that's all OK because so much of what we do as Roman reenactors is opinion and interpretation.

You know.. :wink: ... Legio IX has guys scattered all over Texas and they're in need of solid leadership.