Roman Mysteries - Romans at the British Museum

Rome Goes East
at the British Museum
20 & 21 July 2002

On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July, Roman soldiers came to the British Museum in London. And not just Roman soldiers. Their wives and children came too. Plus soothsayers, philosophers, lawyers, doctors, even the Emperor! This was a weekend called 'Rome Goes East' in honour of the Queen of Sheba exhibition currently on at the British Museum. There were stands, displays, talks and re-enactments. right: some of the lovely ladies from Palmyra

The re-enactors are the people who put on clothes like Romans would have worn and use weapons and tools forged in the Roman way. They know better than anyone living what it really felt like to be an ancient Roman and I get some of my best ideas from talking with them. On days like this, I can see, hear, feel, taste and smell aspects of ancient Rome. So, armed with notebook and camera, I go along. Here are some of my highlights of the weekend:

10.15 am The Emperor reviews a Military Parade in the East.
Douglas Arnold is a brilliant scholar and businessman. He makes an absolutely convincing Emperor. You can read his reviews of my books on the website of the Second Augusta Legion of re-enactors. Find it here: www.legiiavg.org.uk

Trajan was a Spaniard. He became emperor in AD 98. Flavia would have been 29 years old by then and married! Maybe even with grandchildren. (There's a thought!) Here the Emperor Trajan sits in the forecourt of the British Museum to review his troops.

The excellent Roman soldiers are played by re-enactors of the Legio II Augusta, whose members come from all over the south east of Britain. During the week they have regular jobs: dentists, nurses, museum curators...

Here are some of them in attack formation, with the short sword - or gladius - ready for stabbing, never slashing.

10.30 am One of my youngest fans, Elizabeth, aged 6, has come all the way from Hertfordshire to meet me and to see the Egyptian mummies. (Maybe not in that order)

Elizabeth dresses up like a Roman with some other young re-enactors, Rebecca, Amy and Alexander.

10.45 am - Afterwards, Elizabeth and her dad and I have a snack in the Great Court of the British Museum. right: photo by Nick Easterbrook

Elizabeth goes off to see the mummies and I go out to see the displays. There are archers, merchants, doctors, Roman ladies, gladiators and even a caupona - an ancient inn or snack bar...

11.30 Chris the Potter -
Chris Lydamore is curator of the Roman Department of the Harlow Museum. He is here with his whole family, eager to try out a replica potter's wheel housed in the British Museum. It is difficult, he tells me, to keep your upper body steady while your constantly moving feet keep the wheel turning. Chris was at an archaeological conference when he first read 'The Thieves of Ostia'. This is what he wrote to me afterwards:

'I found "TheThieves of Ostia" to be a thoroughly enjoyable and compulsive read ...Having spent a full day and long evening discussing the diverse glories of Romano-British pottery and archaeology I thought that a few chapters before I went to sleep would help to clear my mind - not so. At midnight I looked up and thought that I really should put the book down as I had another big day ahead of me in the morning. At some time after 2am I finally finished the last page!'

11.45 Tim the Medicus and his wife Julia -
Another familiar Roman at the displays is Titus the camp doctor (or maybe he's Greek: Timotheos).Titus promises to give me lots of good ideas for book seven of the Roman Mysteries, 'The Apothecary from Athens'. Here Titus holds a copy of 'The Secrets of Vesuvius' and a cupping instrument. The bronze cupping instrument was heated then placed over a wound. It would then draw out all the poison and infection. These cups were also used for blood-letting, a common treatment for many illnesses in Roman times. If you felt ill the doctor cut a vein and drained away some of your blood.

Hmmmn. I wonder if Jonathan's father Doctor Mordecai uses that method? 'No, doctor, I feel fine! Really I do!'

12.00 Gladiatorial Training - Rotundus (the one on the left) is a cheerful trainer. He announces the gladiatorial fights. He didn't volunteer for this job, he tells us, rather he was asked to do it after a certain matter of...ahem... tax evasion. Later, he arms with the help of a female gladiator named Amazonia. Female gladiators were known but they were a bit of a novelty item: a warm-up before the real fights between male gladiators got underway. In the same way, children were occasionally known to fight in the games. In book eight of the Roman Mysteries, 'The Gladiator of Capua', Flavia and her friends go to Rome for the grand opening of the Colosseum in the spring of AD 80. I wonder if one of them will end up in the arena?!
(You can find out more about these gladiator re-enactors here: www.ludus.org.uk)

13.00 Augury on the Museum Steps - The priest drapes his head with his toga, in order to show respect and to cut out all possible distractions. With bay leaves smouldering on the brazier, he prepares himself. In a moment his assistant pours water over the priest's hands to cleanse him. Then the priest sprinkles incense on the coals. I can smell the fragrant bay leaves and soon the sweet mysterious aroma of frankincense. The fire flares up, orangey-red, and smoke billows as the priest intones a prayer to whatever god or goddess watches over this place: si dea deus es... Finally he calls on Jupiter to show his favour by sending a sign from the skies...The Emperor takes his seat, facing east, and scans the heavens for a sign. Will a fierce eagle drop a hare in his lap? Or a dozen vultures fly from left to right? OK, can we get a few pigeons, then?

13.30 Vespasian, Trajan and Philip the Arabian come back to life -
Inside the British Museum, in the Roman Galleries, event organizer Sam Moorhouse introduces us to three Emperors. Unfortunately Vespasian is delayed in Salt Lake City, Utah... Huh?!? Luckily I have a photo from him from the last big British Museum Roman event: The Saturnalia weekend in December 2000...

Vespasian is mentioned in 'The Thieves of Ostia':

The week before, the Emperor Vespasian had passed away with the words 'Oh dear, I think I'm becoming a god.' His son Titus had succeeded him quietly and without bloodshed, much to the relief of all. Flavia's father had already commissioned a sculpture of the young Emperor to join the bust of Vespasian in the study. (The Thieves of Ostia, p 173)

When Roman Emperors died, they were deified. That means they were worshipped as gods! So Vespasian was making a joke on his deathbed. *hee* Vespasian never appears in The Roman Mysteries, but the four friends meet Titus in book three, 'The Pirates of Pompeii':

Short and stocky, with a pleasant face, he looked strangely familiar to Flavia. He reminded her of Brutus, Ostia's pork butcher. However, the richly embroidered purple toga draped around his shoulders showed he was no butcher. Flavia's jaw dropped as she looked from the gold laurel wreath on his head, to the heavy gold wrist-guards on his arms and down to his gold-tooled leather sandals. Suddenly she knew why his face seemed so familiar: there was a marble bust of him in her father's study.(The Pirates of Pompeii, p 48)

14.00 Lawyer's Talk from the Museum Steps -
Two hours past noon. In Ancient Rome, most citizens would be at the baths or enjoying a siesta at this time of year. Here in Britannia it is cool enough for an orator to draw a crowd. He is a lawyer and he complains, as people always do, that things were better in the 'good old days'. Behind him stand two soldiers, in case the crowd gets ugly. You can also see the elegant litter in which the lawyer arrived. A litter such as this would need four strong men to carry it.

14.15 pm - Detail is important in historical novels. The readers want to know that what they are reading is as accurate as possible. That's why I love events like these. Here are a pair of Roman sandals, next to a cobbler's tool. According to the re-enactors, these sandals are remarkable comfortable. And air-cooled in an age when Nike meant 'victory'... If the weather was cold, Romans often wore socks with their sandals, like the lawyer in the picture above. They also had boots, sometimes fur-lined. And women sometimes wore cork-soled platform shoes.

14.30 pm - The Emperor Reviews Allegiance to the Eagle - Trajan has another military review, this time with cavalry. I like the standard bearer with the lion skin.

In book six of The Roman Mysteries, 'The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina', one of the four friends gets a lion skin as a reward for exceptional bravery. Can you guess which one?

On the left, a legionary demonstrates his thrusting technique. Notice the horsehair crest on his helmet. And see how his shield protects the lower half of his face.

His tunic is unbleached wool. Although Hollywood films often show Roman soldiers in red tunics, dying 5,000 tunics red for each legion would have been a costly business. Modern experts think the tunics would have been un-dyed. But nobody knows for sure...

If you look carefully, you can see the front of the British Museum reflected in his shiny helmet.

15.00 The masked cavalryman - notice the mask, just like in the film Gladiator. Notice no stirrups, unlike the film Gladiator. The Roman saddle was designed to keep the rider firmly seated. He didn't need stirrups. He did need to be visible, however, so he wears two canary yellow plumes. Romans were generally suspicious of horses and often recruited auxiliries from Roman provinces, such as Gaul or Scythia, to be cavalrymen. Some Romans did ride and Pliny the Elder even wrote a short book called How to Throw Javelin from Horseback:

Tascius showed his wooden teeth in a rather stiff smile. 'We know you hate being separated from your stylus and tablets, admiral.' He turned to the others. 'The admiral's written seven complete works. At least a hundred scrolls altogether. His first book was a biography of my father. That's how we met.'
Pliny waggled his forefinger: 'Not quite accurate, my dear Titus. My first book was a manual on how to throw javelin from horseback.'
'I know the one,' said Flavia's uncle from his couch. 'It was required reading when I did my military service.' (The Secrets of Vesuvius, p 99)

15.00 More displays - I meet a Phoenician merchant. He is holding something that looks like a big white bullet. It's a sugarloaf! Imported from China or the East, sugar would have been fabulously expensive. In fact, in Roman times it was mainly used as medicine. We know this from Pliny the Elder. Again.

On the right is one of the women of Palmyra. Palmyra is in modern Syria. In Flavia's day the Romans had conquered most of the countries around the Mediterranean. This woman comes from the east, so her first language would have been Greek. Romans in the west spoke Latin, but well-educated Romans would have spoken Greek, too.

15.30 pm Gladiatorial Combat - the crowds gather. At last it's time for the gladiatorial combat! Trajan and his wife enter with a body guard as pretty girls beat tambourines and scatter the ground with rose petals. The editor is the man who has paid for the games. Here he announces the show.

Putting on gladiatorial combats and beast fights was a common way of gaining the popularity of the people, and such events helped politicians win elections so they could have more power. One of the most remarkable gladiatorial shows was the one given by Titus in the spring of AD 80 - in Rome - to mark the opening of the new amphitheatre we call the Colosseum. Flavia and her friends will be there to witness it, you can be sure!

VALE.

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