Re enactment and age

[M. Demetrius]

Greek? Roman? What kind of groups?

[Gaius Colletti]

According to this link Joe: http://www.legionxxiv.org/legionlinks/ (at least a few groups seem to be disbanded)
There is Legio V in Ft. Bragg, NC (their website still works) from all I can tell, Rusty's Legio VI in S. Carolina is the next closest

[Ghostmojo]

I think it is great that you guys do this, so far away. It shows how small the world is. When I lived and worked in America, old Europe and its history and culture were not regularly on my mind at all. I was busy experiencing what the US had to offer (I lived in North Carolina for about 6 months in 1995 and in New Jersey for longer in 1998/99). Whilst there, when I actually ever considered military matters it was either the local AWOI or ACW and I made trips to places like Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown as well as the excellent Williamsburg.

When I see Roman re-enactors here (UK), it is usually at places like Chester or Hadrian's Wall etc., which is where Romans actually where, and somehow that makes some kind of sense. I wasn't at all surprised to see guys wandering around (for the benefit of tourists) when I visited the Colloseum in Rome. But I do wonder how it is viewed over in the States when you give displays etc.? I'm curious as the weird kind of cultural and historic disconect and what kind of sense or relevance it makes over there?

When I find the photo I took of some re-enactor guys in Rome, I will post it here - because it is both interesting and amusing!

[M. Demetrius]

What you describe is accurate. And it's one of the greatest difficulties in getting people out in the field doing Things Roman. It just isn't US history, and the great majority of folks simply look puzzled and ask, "Why?". Recruiting is an uphill struggle...perhaps akin to getting a Ghengis Khan Mongol warband together in Dublin. Romans lived in Britannia for around 500 years. None ever came to Virginia, as far as we know.

Most of the time, when we put on a public access outing, people are interested, but when a group of us marches up, we hear, "Look, Dad! Knights", or "Is this the armor that the Greeks wore at Thermopylae?", or "Hey, it's gladiators...which one is Spartacus?". Our classics departments do nearly no job at all in teaching Roman History. It's touched on in the 12 year old history in some school districts, but that's about it. Until you get to university, nothing much else is said. So basically, the public is completely ignorant of Rome, Rome's input into the foundation of Western Culture, how Roman society was structured, what they ate, or anything else. Recruiting is an uphill struggle for that reason. Now and then, though we can interest someone, and we're glad.

[Ghostmojo]

It is also an odd thing that so many images we take for granted are either Roman or Greek derived with much well-known architecture and scuplture of classical revival style. This is the case in Britain and much of Europe. Tellingly, it is also the case in the USA where let's face it - the most famous iconic buildings: the Capitol, White House, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials are all neo-classical (via renaissance reinterpretations). They were carefully chosen to represent a strongly Republican message - drawing upon perhaps the most famous republic of them all. All sorts of interesting parallels exist between the US and Rome I always thought, but this isn't the right place to develop the republic-into-empire dimension.

In fairness to, and in support of the American education system; it is not the same scenario as in Europe. Here, many of us were directly touched by Roman rule and therefore it is a part of our actual history with monuments and ruins left for all to see. There, also bearing in mind the truly cosmopolitan make-up of society, it is really just part of general world history (from somewhere else). It would clearly have different cultural values to a mixed class of say African-American; Irish-American; Korean-American; Russian-American and Native-American kids on the one hand, than it would to perhaps Anglo-American; Hispanic-American; Greek-American and Italian-American children on the other.

[Robert Vermaat]

I've split the replies about US groups and subsequent info to a new thread.