Furca

[Titus Amatius Paulus]

The furca

Sometimes I think about how can the ancient legionaries carry their equipment (20 roman miles), now when we go to live to another cities we carry big suitcases most of them filled with our clothes, and we make a single trip in car of plane but the legionaries march during days and days carrying their live´s possessions on their backs. The roman legionaries were most austere, most of their near 40 kilos of personal luggage was their armour and weapons (Helmet 2 Kg., Mail Lorica Hamata 12 kg., belt/cross belts 1.2 kg., Scutum 10 kg., Gladius and Pugio with scabbard 3 kg., 2 pila 4 kg.), the another 10 kg. were their personal luggage which they dressed, shaved and cleaned, cooked, worked and played. I complilate the personal luggage of the legionaries using the ancient references and the minimum military request divided the day´s necessities in four parts: dress, bath, food and sleep.

Containers of the furca: My furca is formed by tow tied cross sticks which carry one big leather briefcase (30x45x5 cm) and one leather bag like main containers of my personal effects

DRESS: At least the legionaries carry a mute (tunica, and shoelaces) when their clothes was dirty they change and cleaned it. But for winter times they have to carry at least one paenula or sagum, a pair of braccae (short trousers) and protections for the feet (tibiale or udones (socks)) In my furca´s briefcase I carry one “winterâ€

[Titus Amatius Paulus]

More photos

[Gaius Longius]

Hi Titus,

Great kit you have obviously spent a lot of time over it.

Now you've gone and shamed me into working on a set of my own.

Thanks for the inspiration.

[jvrjenivs]

Great stuff! But I've a question on the furca. I've made my own about one year ago, and I like it, but I got the problem that my bags, with are attached with some leatherstraps slip out of the furca. I've tried to prefent this by making some holes about 3 cm from the ends of the t-bar, but it doesn't help. How dow you prefent this?

[Alexius]

Dear Titus Paulos,

Congratulations, it’s a very good work. Not only at the re-enactment work area but an “artist workâ€

[Titus Amatius Paulus]

To jvrjenivs

I solve the problem of the continuos falling of the leather pocket making a small notchs 3 cm from the ends of the horizontal stick (for the leather straps) and adding a handle in the top of the pocket (about 30 cm long) which I lean in the top of the long stick.

To Alexius

Alxius scipsit (wrote)

>I will give your example (if you don’t mind) to my group have a good re->enactment idea about the Legionas Furca

By no means I don´t mind if you give to your group my example, I am glad to be a help, if you need some photos I can post more?

[Carlton Bach]

Titus, that is amazingly good equipment. I wish I had something like it.

The furca

Sometimes I think about how can the ancient legionaries carry their equipment (20 roman miles), now when we go to live to another cities we carry big suitcases most of them filled with our clothes, and we make a single trip in car of plane but the legionaries march during days and days carrying their live´s possessions on their backs. The roman legionaries were most austere, most of their near 40 kilos of personal luggage was their armour and weapons (Helmet 2 Kg., Mail Lorica Hamata 12 kg., belt/cross belts 1.2 kg., Scutum 10 kg., Gladius and Pugio with scabbard 3 kg., 2 pila 4 kg.), the another 10 kg. were their personal luggage which they dressed, shaved and cleaned, cooked, worked and played.

This is something that I don't think quite holds up except perhaps for the fighting forces of the Late Republic. Roman troops had to live out of their satchels on campaign, but not at all times. Even the veteran legionaries of Caesar - men who lived for war if ever there was such a thing - had somewhere to stash their loot. For the imperial era, we have evidence that soldiers owned civilian clothing, tableware, slaves and animals. I think the analogy of modern proifessional armies is more apt: most professional soldiers I've met tend to live 'lighter' than civilians because they can always find out at a few weeks' notice that their new home is in Aviano, Landstuhl, Anchorage, Fort Benning or Okinawa. Nonetheless, they have something similar to a household and personal possessions. What goes on the furca is the combat pack. I don't know if we have any evidenbce for what the long-term transfer of a legion looked like in the Principate era, but I suspect it must have been much like it was later, involving marching troops, baggage trains or ships, and families with personal possessions. I also imagine - though I have yet to find evidence - that all non-wartime troop redeployments even for a limited time must have involved a complex game of soldiers trying to sneak extra stuff into unit baggage or bringing along their own transport, and officers trying to stop it.

I don´t solve the problem of carry water: the iron bottles oxidize and pumpkin bottles are fragile. Somebody have a historical or arqueological reference in the use of skin or leather bottles in roman times.

No evidence for leather bottles (other than satsobek's painting), but waterskins were found in Isarael, dating to Roman times. They were quite common throughout the ancient world and I can't imagine why soldiers wouldn't use them. At the same time, fragility wouldn't really have been much of an issue with pottery or gourd bottles at the time. The Romans lived in a world where these things were ubiquitous and cheap. Think Coca Cola bottles - would you worry about breaking one? It's just us unfortunate moderns for whom smashing a Venetian Cat original is a tragedy.

[Titus Amatius Paulus]

Carlton Bach

This is something that I don't think quite holds up except perhaps for the fighting forces of the Late Republic. Roman troops had to live out of their satchels on campaign, but not at all times. Even the veteran legionaries of Caesar - men who lived for war if ever there was such a thing - had somewhere to stash their loot. For the imperial era, we have evidence that soldiers owned civilian clothing, tableware, slaves and animals.

Our spanish legio VIIII Hispana reproduces the legion from the 50 BC to the 0 BC (ending republic, starting empire) one of the moment of highest expansion and movements of the roman army. Our legion fits better with the firts model, the second are more close to the late imperial army not to the early principate.

I think the analogy of modern proifessional armies is more apt:

Care with the modern analogies, the roman army is different from modern profesional armies.

most professional soldiers I've met tend to live 'lighter' than civilians because they can always find out at a few weeks' notice that their new home is in Aviano, Landstuhl, Anchorage, Fort Benning or Okinawa. Nonetheless, they have something similar to a household and personal possessions.

In a world with trains and plains we can return to home from another countries in hours, with the cellular phones we can take care of our homes in any part of the world in real time and the modern wars for the modern profesional Army (F.E the US ARMY) last weeks or mounths and the soldiers will be replaced in a fixed period. But in the ancient the travels tooks weeks or mounths walking or riding similar to the postal system and the campaign last for years or decades. In the roman army you can´t know when you can retourn home or make plans for the future because you can´t know when your unity will move in campaign: you can´t have a personal household because you aren´t secure for how much time you can have it... and the legionaries were forced to sleep in the camp until Septimus Severus.

What goes on the furca is the combat pack.

I am agree with you but when you live marching in campaign your furca is all of your personal possessions

I don't know if we have any evidenbce for what the long-term transfer of a legion looked like in the Principate era, but I suspect it must have been much like it was later, involving marching troops, baggage trains or ships, and families with personal possessions.

An example, my legio, the legio VIIII Hispana in our reenactment period:

44 BC: Refounding , take part in the battle of Mutina

42 BC: Take part in the battle of Philippi

42 BC - 32 BC: Garrison

32 BC: Take part in the battle of Actium

29 BC - 28 BC: Campaign in the lower Danube against Scytians

28 BC - 25 BC: Pacification operations in Aquitania

25 BC - 19 BC: Cantabrian Wars

19 BC - 16 BC: Transfered to north Italy

16 BC repel the invasions of the Panonians with the legio XX

16 BC - 12 BC: Garrison in Illyrcum

12 BC - 11 BC: Panonian campaign

11 BC - 14 AC: Garrison in the Danube

I also imagine - though I have yet to find evidence - that all non-wartime troop redeployments even for a limited time must have involved a complex game of soldiers trying to sneak extra stuff into unit baggage or bringing along their own transport, and officers trying to stop it.

I think so but I don´t have any historical evidence, I think that the officials didn´t allow the using of the "impedimenta" (baggage train of the legion) as personal effects transport because a legion have to carry too much

No evidence for leather bottles (other than satsobek's painting), but waterskins were found in Isarael, dating to Roman times. T

I was talking about the waterskins, sorry for my bad english

They were quite common throughout the ancient world and I can't imagine why soldiers wouldn't use them.

Why do you say that? The waterskins are flexible and ligth, is a god form to transport water or posca.

At the same time, fragility wouldn't really have been much of an issue with pottery or gourd bottles at the time. The Romans lived in a world where these things were ubiquitous and cheap. Think Coca Cola bottles - would you worry about breaking one? It's just us unfortunate moderns for whom smashing a Venetian Cat original is a tragedy.

I ear this argument about the use of potery as individual waterbottles in the roman army. The pottery was comon in the ancient times (was really comon but think that you have to equip 5000 mens with pottery) but it is fragile: it breaks easily and you lost the water and where is no water there is no pottery. The waterbottles in a marching army servers not to transport water from the point A to B but to have water to drink in the travel from A to B; if your waterbottle of pottery falls in march, it breaks and you lost the water and you will be thirsty all the journy and in the end you can´t know if you will have water. Another reasons agains the use of the pottery as water container in the roman army march if the pottery will extended used we could reconstruct the ancient marchs of the legions following the tracks of broken pottery.

[Carlton Bach]

Our spanish legio VIIII Hispana reproduces the legion from the 50 BC to the 0 BC (ending republic, starting empire) one of the moment of highest expansion and movements of the roman army. Our legion fits better with the firts model, the second are more close to the late imperial army not to the early principate.

You're right, that would be the period when the image of a soldier 'carrying his life's possessions on his back' actually comes closest to reality.

most professional soldiers I've met tend to live 'lighter' than civilians because they can always find out at a few weeks' notice that their new home is in Aviano, Landstuhl, Anchorage, Fort Benning or Okinawa. Nonetheless, they have something similar to a household and personal possessions.

In a world with trains and plains we can return to home from another countries in hours, with the cellular phones we can take care of our homes in any part of the world in real time and the modern wars for the modern profesional Army (F.E the US ARMY) last weeks or mounths and the soldiers will be replaced in a fixed period. But in the ancient the travels tooks weeks or mounths walking or riding similar to the postal system and the campaign last for years or decades. In the roman army you can´t know when you can retourn home or make plans for the future because you can´t know when your unity will move in campaign: you can´t have a personal household because you aren´t secure for how much time you can have it... and the legionaries were forced to sleep in the camp until Septimus Severus.

That last point I would question,. De-facto marriage and postings outside camp are known well before the Severan period, and given the prevailing corruption in the army, all manner of arrangements must have been possible. But of course all of this would come with the development of 'fixed' bases and camps, well after the age of Augustus.

An example, my legio, the legio VIIII Hispana in our reenactment period:

44 BC: Refounding , take part in the battle of Mutina

42 BC: Take part in the battle of Philippi

42 BC - 32 BC: Garrison

That's ten years right there! I realise we have no way of knowing what the living arrangements actually were like, but I find it hard to envision a fighting force like that, under the patronage of powerful men and not composed of men with much regard for the finer points of property, would not accumulate things and create a measure of home comforts.

32 BC: Take part in the battle of Actium

29 BC - 28 BC: Campaign in the lower Danube against Scytians

28 BC - 25 BC: Pacification operations in Aquitania

25 BC - 19 BC: Cantabrian Wars

19 BC - 16 BC: Transfered to north Italy

16 BC repel the invasions of the Panonians with the legio XX

16 BC - 12 BC: Garrison in Illyrcum

Again four years (and I don't know what Aquitanian operations were like in terms of winter quarters and garrison duties).

12 BC - 11 BC: Panonian campaign

11 BC - 14 AC: Garrison in the Danube

And another three years. This is actually a long time. I haven't been living in my current apartment for longer than that, and the place is plenty cluttered up. I think it has something to do with the 'time compression effect' in ancient history. 44BC to 27 BC doesn't 'feel' as long as 1918 to 1933, and short time spans tend to be shrugged off entirely. For a legionary on duty, four years is a long time in the same place.

I think so but I don´t have any historical evidence, I think that the officials didn´t allow the using of the "impedimenta" (baggage train of the legion) as personal effects transport because a legion have to carry too much

I wonder about that. When you read about centurions collecting 'leave money' and soldiers shaking down locals... I'm sure there were ways.

No evidence for leather bottles (other than satsobek's painting), but waterskins were found in Isarael, dating to Roman times. T

I was talking about the waterskins, sorry for my bad english

They were quite common throughout the ancient world and I can't imagine why soldiers wouldn't use them.

Why do you say that? The waterskins are flexible and ligth, is a god form to transport water or posca.

That was my point - no reason not to use them - except it's a bit inconsiderate towards archeologists, given how badly they survive. MOst waterskins are fairly large, though. I wonder if they came in 'one-person sizes'

I ear this argument about the use of potery as individual waterbottles in the roman army. The pottery was comon in the ancient times (was really comon but think that you have to equip 5000 mens with pottery) but it is fragile: it breaks easily and you lost the water and where is no water there is no pottery. The waterbottles in a marching army servers not to transport water from the point A to B but to have water to drink in the travel from A to B; if your waterbottle of pottery falls in march, it breaks and you lost the water and you will be thirsty all the journy and in the end you can´t know if you will have water. Another reasons agains the use of the pottery as water container in the roman army march if the pottery will extended used we could reconstruct the ancient marchs of the legions following the tracks of broken pottery.

Broken pottery is one of our best indicators for Roman presence, isn't it? But how often does a pottery bottle or gourd actually break? I've been to a fair few medieval events, and I think we averaged less than one broken item per event. The stuff isn't that fragile, and the ancient world was used to lugging it around. I can't see why Roman soldiers wouldn't. Though personally I'd prefer a gourd or waterskin.