Roman Re-enactment - Legions In New Zealand

Hans, so we're here at Armistice in Cambridge this year, and you're here with a great-looking bunch of Romans. Can you tell me a little bit about your group? It's actually not just one group, it's actually three different groups, and we all joined together this weekend. We're all working together, so we have on the one side the six legions, and they also do the gladiators. Then we have on the other side, this is our old Consul Rob, the second legion, and he is in the business for a very long time. And then we are the tenth legion, which is newly formed, specific for this Armistice event. And we have a lot of people that also do other medieval re-enactments that have joined us for this weekend. Okay, so the members of the group aren't just Roman re-enactors, they're possibly re-enactors across the whole spectrum, is that right? Some of them are, yeah. We call it sort of a multi-period syndrome, so some people just enjoy doing different things at different times. Fourteenth-century pikesmen one day, and Roman legionary the other. So what is it that attracts people in New Zealand to Roman re-enactment? I think it's still very much part of the whole European heritage. I mean, it's one part of New Zealand has the European, through the colonnades, the European heritage, and Rome was an enormous formative period in European history, and therefore it's quite natural that people in New Zealand sort of are interested in that period too, because it's part of their heritage too. So you're obviously here at Armistice, what other activities do you attend throughout the year? It's a variety of different things. We had, Taupo was a big one where we attended, and it's Nama, it's sort of like, that's not for the public, it's more between us, but then there are smaller activities of some of the groups that take part in Christmas parades. We sit at schools, it's one of the big ones, and it's a very educational tool for the classics departments and some of the schools, when you actually turn up with all the gear, so you're not just talking about it, but you're actually doing it. Right, so they must get a bit of enthusiasm up with the kids, does it? Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and we had many a time sort of whole classes storming at us, which is good fun. Right, so they get to be the Celts or the Gauls, do they? No, it's just like, they're the ones trying to kill the Romans, and it's always good fun. So are you happy to take on new members? Absolutely, yeah, always welcome. Especially the second legion has a lot of gear that's from the club, because it's the longest club that is in New Zealand, and so we can always kit out new members until they slowly build up their own gear, because it's quite a lot of work doing it, some of the stuff is expensive to buy, and so it usually takes, if you're committed to it, two or three years before you have actually the full personal kit there. So what's the best way for somebody who is possibly interested in talking to you guys about joining, what's the best way for them to get in touch with you? Both the second legion and the sixth legion have websites, and I think it's the easiest way is just googling something like SBQR or Imperium Romanum, and you'll find us, if you sort of hang and Z at the end of it, then you'll find one of these two groups. The tenth legion, as such, we're not a real formed group, so we don't have a website and we don't have a president or so, but we're just coming here to enjoy it. But it's easy to get in contact through those two groups. OK, Hans, thank you very much. You're welcome.