Roman Style Signalling at Segedunum

Evocatus - Victor the Veteran

As part of Segedunum's celebration of  Connecting Light Victor the Veteran demonstrated how the Roman passed messages along Hadrian's Wall - or at least that's what the publicity blurb at Segedunum stated!
The day was a little quiet, being the last weekend of the Summer Holidays, but we still had fun.
How we did it
There's a good book by David Wooliscroft (see below), which looks at signalling from an archaeologist's point of view and relates it to the remains on Hadrian's Wall.  However we needed something children could make work across the fort

The Flags are  dipped rather than raised

Using 2 sets of 3 flags, rather than the banks of 5 usually used in the reconstructions and by adapting a code Julius Arfricanus in the 3rd Century.  If all the flags are raised and the message sent by dipping a flag, it makes it easy to spot which flag is moving.

By changing the alphabet from the original Greek and dropping the 'J' and 'U' gives 24 letters.  All the receivers need to do is to count the number of time a flag dips and use the grid to note the letter.  With practice we could send a letter every few seconds.  The flags are just large enough to be obvious over 100m or so, but to be visible over longer distances, they would have to be much bigger and further apart.



Some of the 'Connecting Light' balloons were being stored in the bathhouse - that led to a couple of surreal encounters...

I am NOT a NUMBER!!!!!

I am Rufus Aelius Victor and I will have my revenge...

Enough said.....

if you're interested -
David H Wooliscroft, (2001)  Roman Military Signalling,
Adam Hart-Davis, Discovering Roman Technology

from Slave to Evocatus...

... in one weekend!

On Sunday I was Rufus, a slave to Bellicus the Master Potter at Coria (Corbridge).  Gosh it was cold, I did wish my Master could have issued bracae to go with the thin linen tunic, the locals wear them, why shouldn't I.  Still slaves can't choose to follow fashion.

The next day back to being Rufus Aelius, Evocatus and Signaller for the beacon lighting celbration at Arbeia Roman Fort, much warmer!

Didn't get a photo (it was dark), but here's the link   http://www.enews-twmuseums.info/microsite/flyer.php?nid=674 

Rufus Aelius Victor, Evocatus

I'm getting more inquiries from schools looking for a 'Roman Army' session so here is a quick session plan for what I could do for your school.

 

I introduce myself as Rufus Aelius Victor, I am in costume and describe myself as an Evocatus or Veteran Soldier back in the Army after 25 years service. I try to work as interactivity as possible, with plenty of movement, almost all of my equipment and armour is replica and can be handled by the children, I have tunics for the children to wear and wooden shields and either foam 'spears' or wooden swords to use when drilling the group.

A typical session could be

• Introduce myself and talk briefly about the people living in the area before the Romans, question and answer as to why they might want to join the Army.
• I recruit them and check if they are fit for duty (with as much movement as the space will allow)
• Using a couple of volunteers show the dress and equipment of a Legionary and Auxillary soldier.
• Dress the group in tunics, issue them with shields and weapons and drill them as recruit using Latin commands.

This session could be run either indoors (for example, in the school hall) or outdoors.  I know almost all of the Roman Sites in the North east and across Hadrian's Wall, so I could run this session as part of your visit.

If this brief description has stimulated your interest, why not drop me a line, either to  rlwsn@btinternet.com  or on 07960 125218.

Thanks,

Roy

25th July - Yak Yak on the Wall

Towards the end of July the YakYak group from Tullie House walked the Hadrian's Wall Trail.  Yak Yak is Tullie's group for 14 to 19 year olds (see http://www.tulliehouse.co.uk/yak-yak ).   They began at Bowness-on-Solway and by the time they reached Once Brewed they had been joined by  BMuse, a similar group from the British Museum.  Here they had a day free from walking to visit Vindolanda and then to join me and Gaius the Potter (Graham Taylor from Potted History) for a  afternoon of Roman Army Activities.

The courtyard outside the Youth Hostel rang to shouts of "Poro!" and "sin-dex-sin-dex" as they drilled, they tried the armour and weapons and discovered a little about the soldiers that garrisoned the places they explored on their trek.  Graham Taylor from Potted History ran a pottery workshop where they group made mini altars to be fired and delivered later.  

A few days later the group successfully completed the journey to Segedunum, you can read all about it on their Blog   (visit http://www.yakyakonthewall.wordpress.com/ )

Rounding up 2010 - The Eagles Have Landed

Hello,

A New Year and time to tidy up last year and begin anew.

September and October saw the TYNE TEAM working on 'The Eagles Have Landed' a schools and community event programme to complement the touring exhibition of the same name. http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/time/roman/ART308897897 for more info and where the exhibition is now.

We ran a 2 day public event at Segedunum (4/5th September), and a more in depth schools project involving Burnside Business and Enterprise College in Wallsend, then we followed the exhibition over to the other side of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site at Maryport. We ran another 2 day public event at Senhouse Roman Museum and on the . We wanted to highlight the impact of the sudden appearance of the sophisticated and intimidating Roman Legions would have had on the locals.

Talk about Culture Shock!

Each of our characters took a view on this, from the soldiers extolling the virtues of the Army and recruiting with the promise of an easy life and wages, to the local craftspeople who may have seen new business opportunities and those who would have viewed all this with suspicion and fear. After all what did the Romans ever do for us?

The schools project involved working closely with all of Year 7 from Burnside College, we ran drama and storytelling workshops, explored the identity of those who may have lived near Segedunum and created a ceramic 'sculpture' which will follow the exhibition to Tullie House in the Spring. Watch out for the 'Teacher's Pack' based on our work.

Romans on the Railway

The Head of Steam - Darlington's Railway Museum at North Road Station held a Roman Festival in the 18th July.
Why? I hear you ask.
Darlington looks after the site of Roman Piercebridge and this is the second year they have held a Roman Festival complete with bus trips to the site of the fort and bridge at Piercebridge. I was providing Roman themed craft activities, this year we made 'signaculum' or 'little identifiers', the Roman equivalent of dog tags. Along with herbs and fish sauce to sniff and artefacts to handle, we had a very busy day.

Advanced Learning Centre - History. June/July 2010 at Segedunum

Based at Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend the Advanced Learning Centre is now in it's fourth year. For six weeks in June and July around 25 children each week ,gave up 6 of their Saturday mornings to find out more about History and Archaeology. We studied maps, aerial photographs, took part in a simulated 'dig', recorded finds and explored the ancient techniques of dying and weaving under the expert hands of 'Textiles through Time' - Ruth Hicken.
By using archaeology we developed new skills and hopefully inspired curiosity in the children, most of whom will start secondary school in September.
"Thanks very much - that was so much fun"

The Advanced Learning Centre is part of the North Tyneside Councils, Gifted and Talented provision.

Epic Epiacum

May saw a new venture to a new fort - Epiacum. Known locally as Whitley Castle, the fort lies on a hillside a few miles north of Alston, Cumbria and the site could well be described as the North of England's best-kept Roman secret. There have been just two recorded excavations, about 1810 a part of the bath house was exposed and in 1957/8 a trench was dug across the northern ramparts.

From the 18th to the 21st May 2010 over 200 primary school children visited the site. The living history event was organised by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in partnership with Elaine and John Edgar, the owners of Castle Nook Farm and the land where Epiacum sits.

Firstly the children 'travelled back in time' using a train from the South Tynedale Railway. After a sort walk from the halt at Kirkhaugh up to the fort the children took part in a series of activities investigating the people who have been involved in landscape around Epiacum through the years. They discovered what life was like for the Roman soldiers stationed in the fort. Paul Mercer from the North Pennines Heritage Trust explained the lifestyle of the Miner/Farmer from the 18th Century. Archaeologist, Paul Frodsham and Naturalist, Heather McCarty brought the landscape up to date.

For Elaine Edgar of Castle Nook Farm, the event was the realisation of her dream of turning her farmland steeped in history into an education and visitor centre. She said: “This will be the first time we’ve had school groups visiting the Roman fort and bastle house. We’ve still got a long way to go, but the AONB Partnership events have got everything off to a terrific start.”

"Days like these stay with children forever and can inspire a lifelong interest.” Fiona Knox, Education Officer with the North Pennines AONB Partnership

It's a New Year

Hello,
it's a New Year so a new skill - blogging. The aim of this blog is to let people know what I do for a living.
I'm a Freelance Heritage Educator, at least that's what I tell the Taxman, but it's quite difficult to describe what I do. Basically I try to link Museum and Archaeological sites and collections to adults and children. I do costumed interpretation. I devise and deliver workshops and series of workshops, aiming to

• explore the past
• discover what the significance is
• and learn how this is important today

I've worked with English Heritage, Tyne and Wear Museums, North Tyneside's Gifted and Talented Summer Schools, Find Yout Talent, Northumberland National Park and the Head of Steam (Darlington Railway Museum) among others. Over the couse of last year I've

• dressed as a Roman Soldier to lead Discovery Visits at Housesteads, Chesters and Corbridge
• been involved in Burnside College's Wall to Wall project, investigating identity and heritage [ www.wall-to-wall.org ]
• ran a Summer School where primary age children made film - Segedunum, it's the Fort that Counts - and found out about life in Roman times
• was Victor the Beneficarius in Touching the Wall - a living history event run by the Tyne Team [ www.tyneteam.co.uk ]
• ran an Advanced Learning Centre for North Tyneside's Gifted and Talented programme. Over 6 weeks Year 6 children discovered Archaeology and experimented with textiles and made their own pottery.
• turned Medieval for a day, interpreting Harbottle Castle in Northumberland.

I hope this has given you a feel for the things I do, if you want to know more or have a project I could help with, drop me a line at rlwsn@btinternet.com

Over the coming weeks I'll add the things I'm involved with at the moment.

Thanks,

Roy