ADLOCVTIO
NEWSLETTER OF THE TWENTIETH LEGION

Vol. X, no. x, October 2000

EVENT!
       The Roman Festival at Franklin & Marshall University will be on October 28.  If you have not already communicated with Dave Michaels about your attendance and accommodations, DO SO RIGHT AWAY.  Other groups and individuals have been invited to participate besides the Twentieth Legion; obviously we only require our own members to adhere to our usual standards of authenticity.  The schedule so far:
  9 AM -- Arrival and set-up at Heartman Green (or, if it rains, in the Atrium of the Steinman College Center).
 10:30 AM -- Opening ceremonies, parade and remarks.
 11 AM -- First tactical demonstration.
 12-1:30 PM -- Luncheon at Dissler Commons.  (This is a closed affair, unfortunately, since only 50 people can be accommodated.  We'll take turns being "on guard" at the campsite throughout the luncheon.  There are numerous eateries in the immediate vicinity, and the College will provide some "Roman snack food," including Roman-style bread and cheese, for the general public, although we're not sure how long the supply will last since we don't know how many people are going to show up).
 2 PM -- Second Tactical Demo
 2:45 PM -- Kiddie Cohort (as at Roman Days)
 3 PM -- Roman Comedy presentation, F&M students (a selection from a Plautus comedy)
 4 PM -- Fashion Show  (Both military and civilian "fashions," including different types of tunics, togas and stolas, will be displayed and described).
 5 PM -- Closing parade and comments.

DIRECTIONS:
       From DC-Baltimore area: Take I-95 North to 695/Baltimore Beltway North/West towards Towson.  Take I-83 North to York, PA, to 30 East.  30 East will take you to Lancaster in about 20-30 minutes.  Once there...

      To VILLA MICHAELS, 1998 Pickering Trail, corner of Heatherstone & Pickering:  Stay on 30 East. You may pass an early exit for a Route 23-Marietta Ave on the eastern outskirts of town. IGNORE IT. Stay on 30 East (through all kinds of road construction) to 23 EAST-- NEW HOLLAND exit.  (Note: This is IMMEDIATELY (within 30 yards or so) after the 23 WEST--LANCASTER exit. DO NOT TAKE 23 WEST.)
       Take 23 East (also New Holland Pike), to the second traffic light, the BUTTER ROAD intersection. Turn LEFT on Butter Road (it's the only way you can turn).  Take Butter Road to HEATHERSTONE. Turn RIGHT. Go to PICKERING (first cross street) and take another RIGHT. Turn RIGHT into the first driveway (or park along the curb on Pickering).

       From Route 30 to Campus: Take Route 30 to the Harrisburg Ave. exit (there should be a sign saying Franklin and Marshall College, unless road construction has removed it).  Turn left off the exit ramp onto Harrisburg Ave.  (If you pass a big shopping mall called Park City on your right, you've gone the wrong way!)  Stay on Harrisburg Av. about 1.5 miles to Race Ave.  (These streets are very poorly marked, so keep a sharp eye).  Turn right on Race; the College will be on your left.  Pull into the second parking lot enrance you see.  Heartman Green and the Steinman Center are both centrally located on the campus; if you get lost, ask for directions or just head to where all the noise and activity seem to be happening.

        From New Jersey, the easiest way to get to Lancaster and the F&M Campus is to take the New Jersey Turnpike to Highway 76 West (Pennsylvania Turnpike).  Stay on Highway 76 to Exit 21, Route 222 South.  Take 222 to Route 30 West.

       From the Philadelphia area, you've got two choices on driving to Lancaster:  You can take Highway 30 all the way, which takes you directly to Lancaster, but  it's a two-lane road for most of the route with numerous stoplights and heavy traffic.  Or, you can take the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Highway 76), which is faster going, but takes you a bit out of the way.  Stay on Highway 76 to Exit 21, Route 222 South.  Take 222 to Route 30 West.

BETHLEHEM
       This December the Legion has been invited to two different Christmas displays, the Bethlehem Market Place at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, and the Walk Through Bethlehem at the World Headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  Luckily, they don't overlap.  We always have a LOT of fun at these!
       The St. Luke's show runs from 6 PM to 9 PM on Friday Dec. 1, and noon to 4 PM on Saturday the 2nd.  (We'd need to be there an hour early to get equipped and catch the pre-show briefing.)  Admission for the public is a non-perishable food item.  After closing on Saturday is an hour or two of tearing down the sets, followed by a pot-luck supper for the participants.
       Tickets are required for the Adventist show, though I don't recall what the cost is.  They sell out fast!  It runs from 6 PM to about 10:30 PM on each of these six evenings:
 Wednesday December 6
 Saturday and Sunday   9, 10
 Thursday the 14th  will be all in SPANISH (but Romans can speak English!)
 Saturday and Sunday  16, 17

       As usual, this is restricted to soldiers, though if civilians really want to get involved I can put you in touch with the organizers to see what might be done.  The crowds pour through in a non-stop stream, and the focus is on the remarkable events of the first Christmas, so there's none of our usual living history.  We act in a generally oppressive fashion, and do a little real crowd control, too.  Anyone who wants to participate can come to as many of the shows as they like.  Three or 4 men at each show seems to work well, but it's flexible.  Let me know if you need more details, and contact me when you have an idea of what days you want to attend.

BOOK REVIEW by Derek Forrest
Simon Scarrow, Under the Eagle
       The author's aim is to do for the Legions what Sharpe did for the Rifle Brigade and create an exciting Roman Military story.
       It is set in 42 AD with the 2nd Augusta in Germany and later in Britain.  We meet Macro a Centurion and Cato his young Optio as they try and raise taxes from a recalcitrant village and then on the invasion of Britain.
       There is plenty of vivid action; a turgid political sub plot and the minimum love interest.  It is well written and difficult to put down.
       The reenacter will get a believable view of life in a Legion using a British /US army model.  There is a lot of "f---ing " with recruits addressed as "ladies".  There are a few inaccuracies.  He has adopted the Holywood chest thump and the cavalry are shod.  He refers to helmet "straps" and Scarrows legionaries have too short tunics to be punished by having to let them down.
       Interestingly, he has one Centurion removing dog tags from his dead soldiers in a scene reminiscent of Private Ryan; he cites as his authority Campbell on the Roman Army who quotes 5 Acts of Maximilianus: "Give him the military seal" is the line which may have lost something in the translation.  Where are these thousands of seals?
       This is the first of three books contracted for and I rather suspect there will be many others after these taking our heroes to Jerusalem and beyond.

CALENDAR
 October 28 --Classical festival, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA.
 November 4 --Monthly Muster at Roger Moskey's, 10 to 5.
 December 1-2 -- Bethlehem Market Place at St. Luke's Church, see above.  (Since this is the first Saturday of the month, there will be no December Muster.)
 December 6, 9-10, 14, 16-17 --The annual Walk Through Bethlehem at the Seventh-Day Adventist headquarters, see above.
 February 2001 --Lupercalia, tentative.
 April 14-15? --Marching Through Time, Marietta Mansion
 April 28-29 --Universal Soldier, Fort Washington
 Date Change--The large timeline event in Paris, France, scheduled for Sept 29-Oct 1, has been postponed again, to September 2001.  Contact Bruno Dienot.  (This isn't an official Twentieth Legion event, but a number of people have expressed interest.)
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Directions to the monthly workshops/musters at Roger Moskey's house:
       From I-495 Capital Beltway, take Exit 12 B Route 267 Toll Road West towards Dulles Airport.  After paying toll (50 cents), take the first exit--Exit 16 Route 7 Leesburg Pike West for about 11 miles.  Go past Cascades Parkway, and at the next light take a right onto PALISADES Parkway, then an immediate left onto "Triple 7" (Route 777).  Pass Calvary Temple on right, take the next right onto Regina Drive; follow it to the end and take a right onto Markwood Drive.   At stop sign take a left onto Terrie Drive (culdesac).  #304 is just to the right of the middle.
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Late!  Short!  Adlocvtio Newsletter Leg.XX, Matthew Amt, Valete!