AUCKLAND FRINGE FESTIVAL
CAESAR'S ROME: Hands-on Living History Experience
Meet Caesar at the Roman Temple and try a variety of Roman activities while learning all about ancient Rome. Splash in a Pompeii Fountain. Write on a wax tablet. Swing a gladius. Wear a Centurion helmet. Blow a cornu. Fire a Ballista. Fight as a gladiator. Or relax on a triclinium like a real ancient Roman.
Friday 23 Feb
This session of recruits joining the Roman army was aided by club members Jason Saunders, in his gold scale armor and wolf skin, and Jae Sung Park as a Syrian archer. They played the part of barbarians so that our Roman army had a worthy foe to attack and destroy.
Sat 24 Feb
This was our first matinee show, blessed by glorious weather where we could display all of the gear outdoors. In future with scattered showers we needed to keep the gear undercover, but fortunately none of those shows were rained on. We changed the format to do the outdoor stuff first while the weather was fine, leaving sitting in the Roman Temple to the end, and this turned out to be a better way to give everybody a well-deserved rest after the fights in the Gladiator arena.
Weds 28 Feb
The start of our second week, and the show was now humming along. We sure packed a lot of activities into 90 minutes, and now had developed a good story-line to go along with it. The folk joined the Roman army, conquered the world with their advanced weapons, put the prisoners into the Gladiator arena, enjoyed the fruits of their success with bread and circuses, tasting garum and drinking wine, gave thanks to the gods by tossing myrrh on the sacred flame, celebrated Bacchus with ancient music, and retired into the temple to write ion wax tablets and handle everyday objects such as bronze mirrors, scrolls, and play with the dice tower.
