Roman Re-enacment Evolution

[rusty myers]

Anyone else notice that with few exceptions, we have progresssed far beyond the "Deepeeka" helment debates of a couple of years ago? I mean, they still pop up from time to time, but it seems we are maturing as a re-enactment genre... units adopting time periods, people trying to do early or late Romans, Cavalry, Auxiliaries, and even Civilian impressions.<br>
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Just an observation. It is fun watching and learning with all of you!<br>
<br>
Rusty <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

Yes, we really enjoy doing it!<br>
And here we are, we'd surely come to hands if we'd discuss on politics or religion but we can exchange ideas and learn from the others!<br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

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Sure! We're matured! Hands are slaves' suff...<br>
In the first RAT times discussions we'd have obtusely used just hands, now only accurate gladii (sharpened or not?).<br>
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Valete,<br>
Titus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

It's true, yet at the same time the fires of our early growth are missing. Gone are the threads where the posts number over 100 and people posted with passion. Gone are some of the great members of this forum, Sander, Casca...I would say that RAT is coming off of it's peak, and is coasting downhill, or on a plateau. <p>Magnus/Matt<br>
Legio XXX "Ulpia Victrix"<br>
Niagara Falls, Canada</p><i></i>

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

<br>
Hey Tib, bad mood today? Sure, any new thing brings fresh enthusiasm, anyway I don't see a so flat or downhilling situation. Many new very good members are arrived and the discussions are always interesting and fun. We all know you miss Casca, but try to survive anyway<br>
BTW, what about Sander?<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
Titus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I'm not unhappy about RAT's situation, believe you me. I think though the surge of reenactors that came here after "Gladiator" have left because of the direction RAT's upper echelons of leadership wanted it to go more towards the "scholarly" debate aspect. There were other issues too, some of which have made people like Sander shy away. The index of threads was one of the main issues...while RAT remains a good source of knowledge, it's a mere shadow of what it can be without that index of threads. It's simply too hard to go through each thread to find information.<br>
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This forum isn't nearly as active as it was say, a year and a half ago. Since there were some changes or lack thereof in this forum, the number of hits and posts has declined. Check the stats.<br>
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I think part of it has to due with the fact that as a reenactor, we need not do quite as much research as some of the amateur scholars here. We do what is necessary to do our jobs, and make the kit. However, it was the influx of these reenactors that truly gave RAT it's peak...without these, you're lucky to have one new post a day. <p>Magnus/Matt<br>
Legio XXX "Ulpia Victrix"<br>
Niagara Falls, Canada</p><i></i>

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

<br>
<br>
Yes, some recent problems helped to keep away some people too and I've been sorry about it. For example, even if I respect the Jenny's decision to limit the discussion, avoiding politics and religion, <span style="text-decoration:underline">in my opinion</span> it was a wrong choise, because people sometimes need to be "passionate" or, why not, to have some "light" personal talking. It is a good "engine" to the "presence" in the forum. Oh, sometimes insults happen, but the members know how to condamn the bad manners, asking for stopping them or ironizing on them, without restrictions.<br>
<br>
Sure, there are many specialized forum about politics and religion, but we like to discuss them HERE with our "roman" friends/members. You know, we largely "feel" Romans... and mainly for that reason we are here: re-enactment is the fine way we have to <span style="text-decoration:underline">practise</span> our feeling and DIFFUSE it.<br>
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Moreover, we all know that rivalries in re-enactment are damaging this forum too and some members prefer to leave or ignore rather than give satisfaction to their rivals. I really like it was not so...<br>
Lastly, don't you think we are here to do more ACTIVISM and (ugly term) ADVERTISING for the roman world. Don't you think that the members' EXAMPLE be the best way to make this forum grow (if we love it and personally I love it).<br>
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Vale,<br>
Titus<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[JRSCline]

Well, I would have to disagree with the statement that without re-enactors there wouldn't be more than a post a day at RAT, but there's no question that re-enactors have brought a lot of enthusiasm to the forum, and continue to do so.<br>
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The fact that new groups are being founded all over the world -- especially in the U.S. which has no Roman heritage --and that these startups are due in part to the support and knowledge shared here, is an enormously satisfying thrill for me as an Admin.<br>
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Some people have asked me why I don't post more often. I tell them I never wanted to be a star on my own little stage. I created RAT years ago for fellowship and friendship, and have made some true friends along the way. RAT is beyond anything I expected it would ever be, so I'm just grateful for all the members and the flow of high-quality info. If RAT went offline tomorrow, I'd consider it a success and bid farewell without regrets.<br>
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Our forum won't be all things for all people -- for instance, it just can't be an indexed encyclopedia, due to the technical limits imposed by our hosting service, Ezboard. And it can't, as we've discovered, be a good place for discussion of current events.<br>
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Communities are full of diverse personalities which mix and match, or don't, and people are always coming and going. We have lost many members, and gained many new ones, and it's like that on every board, no matter how carefully tended. If one thinks all the interesting people have gone, IMO one isn't giving the new people enough of a chance.<br>
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He never shared his reasons, but as far as I can tell, Sander dropped out due to frustrations with technical aspects of Ezboard -- the fact that Ezboard does not indefinitely preserve threads. I gave him Admin-level powers in order to manually archive them here, or better yet, to extract and preserve them in essay form at RomanArmy.com, but that power went unused. Perhaps it was too disheartening to have to "start over."<br>
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I could relate to that feeling; I have many projects -- some Roman, some not -- and more often than not they are on the back burner while I serve my country as a soldier.<br>
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Cheers,<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>