Some 20 years or so ago a young man, namely me, joined the SCA. He had only one aspiration, wear armor and learn to fight with a sword. Several years passed and I started becoming a person who was interested in history and the arts, several more passed and I needed to move from the Barony of Stargate, Ansteorra (Houston, Texas) to the Barony of Three Mountains, Antir. This afforded me with the rare opportunity to change personas. Not that I really had a personae, just a 14th century Italian name, a tunic or two and some tights. So, set your way back machine for AS 22.
Day one as a Roman started when I tracked down the location of fighter practice and introduced myself to everyone I met as 'Titus'. No one knew me as 'Antonio' (though that name was later resurrected as my late period fencer name) so it was easy. Suddenly, I was a Roman, now what?
At that time I knew just about what everyone who has watched Ben Hur, Spartacus and I Claudius knows, almost nothing true. I loved the ideal of Rome and I liked the short tunics because they were cool. I don't mean cool in the 60s since, I mean 'not hot', remember, I came from Houston, 98 degrees, 98 % humidity. Little did I know that Antir was the land of Vikings in wool, and that my personae was some 500 or more years earlier than the earliest personas playing in the area at the time.
Which brings me to the first challenge; How to dress like a Roman in the "frozen" north. It took two things, one, developing a tolerance for the cooler clime and two a bit of research into what Roman soldier wore when on campaign in Britain. It turns out that wool cloaks were standard issue, both the rectangular type that I wear and a type of semi- circle cloak with a hood called a 'paenula'. There is also a military cloak called the 'sagum' that was sometimes waterproofed by soaking it in oil, I passed on that be of realism. Later, I learned, while reading translations of letters home from Roman soldiers that they wore socks, yes it's quite touching to read "Mom, please send me more socks and underwear, the marching is wearing them out and it's cold here, Love Gaius." One more item and I was set. Calvary soldiers wear pants! Yes, I'm aware no one see's me in pants, but after the sun sets, it gets really cold, so, I do wear them as well as knee high soft leather boots, which were also worn (at least by the upper classes). The idea is to strike a balance between what looks Roman and what is necessary for comfort in, shall we say, inhospitable climates.
Now, lets talk about Latin pronunciation. When I became a Roman, I did not speak Latin, shameful considering my catholic education, but true. So I pronounced my name 'Tight-us'. When I registered the rest of my legal Roman name T. Antonius Archelaus, I found three things, my praenomen should have been pronounced 'Tee-Tuus" and that most people should be calling me by my cognomen "An-Tone-ius" and that no one could pronounce my nomen 'Ar-kay-Lay-uus' correctly. That hasn't changed. A few people caught on the Tee-Tuus pronunciation and that is cool. In Rome only your closest family and friends call you by your praenomen, so guess what, you are my closest friends! We'll leave the formal stuff for formal occasions.
The Romans are a proud race and my personae is circa 90CE, making me part of imperial Rome under the emperor commonly known as Trajan, but really known as Marcus Ulpius Traianius, a Roman citizen from Spain. However, Romans at that time, still considered themselves a republic and the emperor thing, a phase. As a subject of his majesty here in Antir, this posed a problem that was mentally very hard. How do I show respect for the King & Queen and still keep my Roman-ness intact? No Roman would, lightly bend a knee or bow to a King or even their own emperor, yet, the SCA makes that action a very important part of all ceremonial occasions. What I decided would work was to replace bowing with a firm, military salute. That worked for me, because, I am and always will be a soldier. As to kneeling, mostly I don't do it. When I do, I take one knee. I have been known to slip and take two knees, that's usually a good indication that I am overwhelmed by the situation and my ability to maintain the personae has gone out the window.
Over time I decided that, if I looked like a Roman, and acted like a Roman, I should fight like a Roman. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done and yet it has been so rewarding. I fought and even won the title of Champion of Three Mountains, fighting with a Heater shield, standard edged sword and mace. Now I was determined to fight with a gladius, (very short thrusting sword) and a scutum that was "right" for a Roman soldier. It took a lot of experimenting, but I finally settled on an oval or nearly oval center grip shield as a good compromise. Later I added a Dacian Falx to my collection so I could fight in two handed battles. Then it took a long time to get good again.
Finally, there is the issue of titles and rank in the SCA. The game we play is primarily centered on the Middle Ages and the (Roman) Renaissance. Traditional hereditary titles such as Lord, Lordship, Master, Knight, Duke, Count etc. are a key part of SCA life. There are some equivalents in Rome, Lord can be dominus (which in Spain later became Don). Master can be magister (it means teacher). Knight is a particular problem that I, thankfully, have never had to struggle with. The common practice is to use equitae which the histories usually translate as Knight because they were a originally class of wealthy people who owned horses. However, in Rome, the equites were primarily merchants of wealth and status, not military and certainly not the right hand of the emperor. Some things you just have to take in stride. I have struggled with how a Senator of Rome fits into the SCA and I think that perhaps, anyone who has a birthright (as we all are assumed to) and is involved in the beauracracy of the Kingdom, could, perhaps style himself as a Senator. This would, in my opinion, predominately be Seneschals and Barons, but could include a wider range of SCA jobs. Sorry, there were no female Roman Senators to my knowledge, but plenty of influential women behind the scenes, for sure.
Being Roman in Antir is an amazing journey though history and the differences between Roman ways and Medieval ways make for good conversation and good excuses to read more and to finally learn that Latin I skipped in school.
Vive Valeque!