Tessera
Volume I, Number 5
May, 2007
Avete, Comilitiones.
News/Events:
Our major event for this month was a school visit to the Davis Academy, a private middle school located here in Atlanta, GA, on Wednesday, May 16th. Alex Kyrychenko and I attended and were “fortunate” enough to conduct our program for over 100 students in the 6th through 8th grades. I say “fortunate” since this was a very large group of kids with less than two weeks of school remaining – and they seemed to be focused on more than learning about the army of ancient Rome.
Fortunately, (ahem), my military background came in handy and with a few applications of my “command voice,” disciplina was maintained and the students settled down and actually asked some very good questions.
Alex and I set up the presentation with two large, blanket covered tables to our flanks, which we used to display many of the kit items we were not wearing: extra helmets, weapons, marching kit, reference books, etc. The display looked good and it is one of the “lessons learned” from this event that I intend to incorporate into future visits.
The teachers, as well as many of the students, were very complimentary towards the Legio, stating that it was “like bringing a museum to the school.” Since authenticity of portrayal is my highest priority, this was a nice compliment.
Laudes to Alex for bringing all of his kit and adding
his usual professionalism to this event.
May Workshop:
We had a great workshop this past month at the home of Paul Montello in Athens, GA. As we all know, Paul brings a wealth of kit-making experience to the Legio and we had a great time learning to make pila and hastae at his house. We learned to make pila with both post-hole digger handles as well as shafts that I had made by a local wood-turner here in Atlanta. Both worked very well, and two of our members – Brian Lauthen and Andrew Magee – now have very nice pila as a result. We also assembled three hastae, two for our loaner kits and one for my auxiliary impression. The wood-turner is Mr. Nick Cook, who has a shop in Marietta, GA. He made us 4 each pilum and hasta shafts from ash that were absolutely superb. Historical materials, great craftsmanship, and low prices -- $20 for a pilum shaft and $30 for a hasta shaft. Something to keep in mind for the future if anyone is interested in expanding their arsenals!
Laudes to Paul for opening his home to us AND for the
great chow he provided in addition to his expertise.
Member News:
In other member news, Alex has completed both a hasta as well as a pilum. For his pilum, he used one of the shafts from Nick Cook with a tanged tip from Paul Montello. We used my bandsaw and a rasp to shape the pyramidal head of the wooden shaft, and then riveted the tang into the shaft with copper rivets. Alex made a great find on E-Bay, locating a nice hasta spearpoint for very little money which we mated to the hasta shaft using my spoke shave. Buttspikes came from Mark Morrow. All in all, very nice looking weapons and I’m sure you’ll see them at the June event.
I was able to complete the two transverse crests for my
centurion impression, one with red horsehair and one with white, and
they look pretty spiffy. Currently, I am madly painting an
auxiliary clipeus for my auxiliary impression that will be
available for use as loaner gear in the future. I am doing my
best to finish it by June 14th, but the design is pretty
intricate so it may not happen. Wish me luck.
Loaner Gear and Financial Report:
The two intial loaner kits are almost complete – we received BOTH lorica hamatae this past month! This was a great surprise as I was not expecting them to show up so soon.
So far, here is what we have on-hand:
2 x hasta
2 x clipeus (still need to be painted and assembled, to include leather rims)
2 x pugio and scabbard (one SOTW, one the new Deepeeka “Plain” pugio)
2 x tunic/focale
2 x 8mm lorica hamata from Find-It Armory (I have to replace the leather on both like Alex/myself have done with out personal hamatae, and add the buttons/hooks that Matt Lukes donated to the Legio.)
On order, we have the following:
1 x Imperial Coolus “D” helmet
1 x Imperial Coolus “E” helmet
2 x linen subarmalis
Our critical priorities for the loaner kits are to finish the two clipei (assembly/painting on one and painting on the second) and replace the leather for the hamatae. After that, these should be fully presentable, lacking only gladii (which are available from several members) and caligae (which are not – members need to buy these first and provide their own). As the balance of the fiscus improves, I intend to order 2 each gladii and we’ll be done with our first two kits.
Financially, we are doing pretty well. Including the
event this past May and member dues, we have earned a total of
$1250.00, which means that we
owe the fiscus $95.00 that I hope to make up with an
upcoming church visit in July (for which we will receive $100) and by
member dues coming in. The more we make, the faster we can buy
loaner kit items and materials. For new members, dues are owed at
your first workshop.
Upcoming Events:
Of course, the big event for June is Castra Romana-Atlanta,
to be held here at Fort McPherson. So far, it looks like Rusty
will be bringing some of our great friends from Legio VI FFC,
and we will have some Legio IX HSPA members driving down from
Virginia. This will be a super event, and I hope that everyone
plans to attend. Finally, I have updated both websites with
the security requirements to enter Fort McPherson – I need to you
send me that information (some have already) since this will make your
entrance onto the installation much, much easier.
THIS IS IMPORTANT.
Upcoming Workshops:
Next workshop is scheduled for Saturday, June 2nd
at Chris Stewart’s house near Newnan, GA, and the July workshop is
scheduled for 14 July ’07 to avoid conflicts with the 4th of
July weekend at my house. Focus for the June workshop is
legionary scuta for new guys, and the July workshop focus will
also be on scuta – Chris’ brass rim, work on Brian’s/Andrew’s
legionary scuta, and the auxiliary clipei.
That’s it, Brothers.
This was a great month and I know that we will continue to grow.
Valete,
Gaius Aurelius Calvus (Edge Gibbons)
Centurio