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**richsc** · 08-06-2003, 04:29 AM

Salve Lepidina! 
 
You know, the idea of taking the strain off the actual archaeological site is a good one. Think of a recreation of some of the streets of Pompeii next to the real thing. That might augment the average person's understanding of what the place really looked like and how it worked.

Lepidina · 09-02-2003, 05:12 AM

Ifn' you are still planning your Roman city, you might want to take a look at these people who are building an Anglo-Saxon city. Different time period but similar concept. 
 
www.wychurst.org/index.html 
 
Deb

09-07-2003, 12:17 AM

Nice plan but, 
 
Living in Holland we regularly perform at Archeon Themepark. 
Some of us work there from the very beginning 10 years ago. 
It still survives. And at the moment it is doing very well. 
But 5 years ago the bank pulled the plug. Real-estate was economically more interesting than history. 
So the parc had to ajust to parties, schools, dinners etc. 
Much to the dismay of the real historic re-enactors. 
 
This does not mean that your plans will not work. For a start americans are much more into amusementparcs than Dutchman anyway. But it all needs carefull and long planning. 
The plans for Archeon were 10 years old before the first prehistoric hut was build. I think you should try to find out more on the planning/building process of succesfull parcs in America. Disney must have some books on that. But what about this biblical themeparc that opened just a few years ago? 
In Holland you can visit Archeon to see the living proof of building historicaly correct objects and than having to adjust to (to much?) commerce. But we also have the biblical museum at Nijmegen, wich is making your plan come alive on a small but very nice basis. 
In France there is the parc Asterix but there is also another parc with a real Roman section based on livesize filmsets, 
It opens only in summer when thousands of volunteers are able to take part in the historical shows. 
In Germany there are a few freilichtparcs who are historicly correct, but they don't do touristthings. They depend on government-support. But it is still interesting to find out how they are coping with the history/money thing. 
There are also parcs in Norway and Sweden. And if I am correct England is rather full of historical places brought back to live by some form of re-enactment/entertainment. As is the US and Canada. 
Lastly there is a new parc in Spain based on Odysseus travels. 
It is situated near all the tourist-costa-resorts. 
 
So plenty of material to study in Europe. Maybe you can come over one holiday to gather ideas, take them to America, and make them better. It has been done before. First and foremost by the ancient Romans who learned much from all the peoples they conquerred. 
 
Managing a historical themeparc isn't easy, but it is also great fun. I did it myself for a year untill my doctor stopped me. 
But making a new totally Roman city work, that is a challenge I would like to take part in. 
 
Gaivs Civilis

03-28-2004, 02:38 PM

I still think it's a great idea to build a Roman re-enactment city. 
I suggest to build it in The Netherlands..... 
Why? Because it's all flat, so it's easy to build a nice city there. 
And about Archeon, it's nice, but it's a theme park, not a real Roman city like it should be. 
They used to have it realistic, but these days it's full of electricity and other modern crap. 
You can't even use the baths anymore! 
So, a REAL realistic Roman city would be so great. 
Now we have a Roman watchtower which is almoast finished, and I hope that's just the start of a full castellum. ( www.fectio.org.uk/groep/vechten.htm ) 
 
Also see my groups website: www.gemina.nl Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub27.ezboard.com/bromancivtalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=caiusmariusscipio@romancivtalk>Caius Marius Scipio</A> at: 3/28/04 4:51 pm

**richsc** · 03-28-2004, 08:24 PM

Salve Caius! 
 
We (Legio XX) had an event this weekend at a fort, where at some point someone had built a 18th century turf wall and pointy stick thing next. We Romans claimed it, as it did sort of look like a part of a marching camp. If you had the room, this sort of thing would not be too expensive to create, and pitching the tent inside would definitely look better. 
 
I would vote for a Roman recreated city along the lines of Williamsburg, Va, which is actually has houses people live in amongst the display stuff. Legio XX 
Caupona Asellinae

Lepidina · 03-29-2004, 04:14 AM

I got a picture of you guys playing king of the hill. I'll see if I can get Matt to post it on his site. 
 
Deb

**richsc** · 03-29-2004, 06:34 PM

Heck, I have a place to host it here, and have it show up in the board. Just send me a copy! Legio XX 
Caupona Asellinae

07-18-2004, 10:39 AM

I would love to see a recreated roman city/military camp here in the states. If done in Europe my chances of ever visiting, particularly with my roman kit, would be remote. My worry though is that such a venture would become like Disney World, standards would be greatly relaxed for the sake of profits. An accurate reproduction could draw the crowds though. It would be unique. Ah I can see it now, a narrow city street with two story shops lining each side, an arena where people see gladiators fight, and on the outskirts, a military camp where people may see legionaries drilling. An of course, there would have to a working aqueduct bringing water to the bath house. If only I had a few billion to spare.

Dan Diffendale · 07-18-2004, 10:37 PM

I've often considered small "improvements" to my back yard, such as roads and ramparts... and more seriously perhaps a Roman-period kiln. But the pipe on that dream is getting longer and longer, since I'm never home from college long enough to do more than turn over a few shovelfuls of sod. If you had a nice piece of land somewhere, you could start with a small rural settlement, just a hut, then another, and once you've got enough people you could start on more substantial things.

Lepidina · 07-19-2004, 02:58 AM

With the Regency era in the early 1800s and then followed by the Romantics in the 20s and 30s, recreating Roman ruins in one's backyard was very fashionable. Note that they recreated the *ruins* and not the originals. Of course in some parts of England, they had authentic ones to start with. Smile

Deb

10-30-2004, 03:05 PM

Obviously, any funders would have to ask "what's in it for me?" Would the thing turn a profit or have some other benefit? Places like Williamsburg and Plimoth Plantation have local "hooks" and in fact so does the Renaissance Faire in northern California (Francis Drake was here!) - until land prices in northern California got the upper hand. It would be tougher to find funding for a Roman city without some kind of local hook. 
 
The other possibility of it is as a non-profit playland, funded by a group of hobbyists. Other groups, such as the SCA, have similar dreams, and one supposes that if several groups band together they can have a multiperiod Disneyland. 
 
A place in California or the SW that appropriate (not necessarily Italian) weather, was far enough in the boonies to be affordable, possibly near an Indian casino if you wanted to draw in tourists... 
 
Remember Disney. He chose Anaheim because he could get an orange grove on the cheap, and the weather was good, and the nearness of Hollywood didn't hurt. 
 
How many acres do you think you would need? It would be helpful to draw up a plan, maybe make a scale model, involve some historical archtects and builders... Edited by: <A HREF=http://p088.ezboard.com/bromancivtalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=dsunlin>dsunlin</A> at: 10/30/04 5:11 pm

11-29-2005, 10:49 PM

Nice idea this ive vistited the Archeon park (Netherlands) several times and loved it...only thing that blew the illusion for me was the fact that you could look right into the Medieval town from the forum..a purely roman city would be good indeed.

I'd love to be able to take a walk in even a recreated suburba crawling with moneylenders and criminals, walking up the the forum where traders of all sorts are trying to sell their wares...hope this will become reality one day and not just a very nice dream.

andym · 11-30-2005, 08:30 PM

Interesting idea,there is a group in France constructing a Medieval Castle and Village.Not sure how far its got,last i heard was that the foundations were done on the castle and the walls going up.Its being built using replica tools and methods.

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