Today’s guest post is by Andy Volpe. If you’re interested in bringing him to your school or meeting, consider applying for a CANE Discretionary Grant or an Educational Programs grant.
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You might have remembered a Roman Legionary wandering the CANE Conference at UMass Boston a few years ago. You may even remember a Roman soldier presentation at Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester MA (where I started this whole Roman thing) a while ago….That Roman, is me!
But I’m not just a ‘reenactor’, I give presentations to schools, colleges, and libraries, and I’ve been doing this for a little over 10 years now. One thing you won’t see me do is a “first person impression” presentation. Why? Well, first of all I think it is really difficult to try and “be” a Roman soldier when we actually know little about them, even as archaeologists are still digging up Roman stuff today. So I’m always trying to keep aware of the newest discoveries, newest research, theories and ideas about what was going on, how these artifacts were being used. That’s really what I bring to the [classroom]. I try to utilize as much of the current research as I can, and try to reference period sources like Josephus and Vegetius, while trying to dispel as much of Hollywood as I can, since despite their efforts, they always fall flat. Secondly, I don’t feel I’m that good of an ‘actor’ to begin with. I’ve also run into so many reenactors of various periods who take a modern sense of culture and morals and gloss it over ancient attitudes and culture/society – I think that is a misguided approach and more of a disservice than anything, so I’d much rather explain the differences as best I can than to try to pretend the ancient Romans thought and viewed their world ‘exactly’ as we do today. Even your Latin textbooks are probably going to have information that is different than what I present. But there lays another reason to bring me to your school or classroom: I’m more than happy to engage the students and have them ask questions…Any question. (I also have no problem saying “I don’t know” rather than come up with an answer to sound authoritative) But, I’m not here to take over your class or your lessons, Think of my programs as an embellishment, a way to make the lessons and this history come more to life and place it in a greater context for the students to learn from. We know the Military was a major component of Roman culture, so even though your students will know Latin far better than I could ever hope to learn, they may not have a full understanding of how the Roman soldier looked or acted. That’s what I’m here for. I really like being able to show the armor and weapons ‘up close’ so they can see how it’s made and how it ‘works’, because it’s all made by hand not by machine like so many things are today. That itself shows that Romans were not robotic, mindless beings, but that they had a real connection with the artifacts we find now. I can also bring in extra gear like helmets, wax tablets, reproduction coins for the students to examine. Just ask me to include that in my presentation.
I don’t just talk lecture-style in my presentations, I try to shake it up a little with some “hands-on” components. I bring some wooden weapons and have some students (and even teachers, principals) come up and help with this. Everything is done step-by-step so it’s pretty safe (and remember I’m in armor, so I’m not too worried) but I also try to make it pretty fun while still showing what we know, what we think or thought we knew, of how the Romans and their foes fought.
I’m flexible with the program arrangement. Maybe you’ll want more of a question-and-answer, maybe more hands-on, or maybe just my presentation for a large group in the auditorium. I also know schools have varied classroom times and limited space, so I’m willing to work with you and your schedule.
Now, here’s the twist, I’m not a History, Latin or Classics scholar, I’m actually an Artist by trade. I earned a B.A. in Fine Arts, so why would an Artist have any interest in the ancient Romans? Well, the short and easy answer is because I’m a history nerd! There is a lot of information that can be gleaned from surviving Roman artwork, so there is a part of me that when examining a sculpture of say a soldier, I’m looking for the details to compare to what has been dug up, which presents its own crazy adventures which I won’t elaborate on here. If you think you’d be interested in a program, please do not hesitate to contact me. My webpage is Andyvolpe.com, my email is palusbuteo AT hotmail.com . And remember that CANE has a program offering funding to help pay for something like my program. I try to be as flexible as possible as I know money can get really tight. But, I hope to hear from you!
Some upcoming events: I’ll be with Legion III Cyrenaica presenting at the Mass. Junior Classical League in Williamstown on Oct. 12, 2013, and Leg. III will also have a display for the Archaeological Institute of America’s Archaeology Day at the Museum of Science in Boston, Oct 18 & 19.
Higgins Armory Museum is closing on Dec. 31, 2013. The collection will move to Worcester Art Museum, So the last public Roman presentations I’ll be giving there will be November 9 and December 14.