Roman Marching Kit
|
The army reforms of the great general Marius around 100 BC saw the Roman soldiers expected to carry most of their own gear so they were nicknamed "Marius's Mules". A contubernium of eight soldiers and two auxiliary "servants" shared a tent, and they had a single pack-mule to carry the tent and the cooking equipment.
The soldier carried a furca, a 4 ft long pole with a T-shape formed by a crossbar. The pack (a leather bag) was strapped to the crossbar. His digging-tool was the dolabra, which got a lot more use than his sword did! He carried a bronze patera (an all-purpose cup, cooking pot and food bowl), and a water-flask. Sometimes a hollowed-out gourd with a wax-stopper made a lightweight water-flask, carried in a string net. He also carried several days food-rations, including buccellatum, a dried hardtack that could last for years. The Roman handbag was a leather loculum ("little-place") of the design below. Below, our legionary Marius Dacius displays his marching pack of the VI Ferrata. |
Camp display items
Pera (square leather furca bag), loculus, and net bag (with linen bags) red wool blanket paenula and fibula patera (cooking pan), stitula (pot), and canteen ceramic jug and drinking cup knife, seive, andduck-handled spoon spice jar and daily ration of red wheat-berries oil lamps and flint striker Mithras statue writing tablet sling and sling bullets tessarae (dice) coin purse with actual coins braccae, and fascia ventralis. |
