Renaissance Festival? What About Rome Festival?
Renaissance Festivals are popular all across America, but the Romans are popular all across the internet
Lets face it, the internet and the historical loving parts of the internet love the Romans. Yet there are no Rome Festivals, and if there are, they are so small almost no one knows about them. There are over 50 Renaissance Festivals across America, and chances are you've been to one if you are reading this, but have you ever been to a festival just dedicated to Rome? I doubt it. Yet in historical circles on the web love Rome, for example just look at r/HistoryMemes on reddit, and you are bound to find a few memes about Rome. You might have even come across a historical youtube channel like Historia Civilis. You might be thinking then, "But who would actually come to a Romefest?" Well that brings me to my next point.
Renaissance Festivals are already popular
Like I said above, people already go to Renaissance Festivals, so why would it be so absurd to test out a Rome Festival? For example, in my home State of Minnesota, our Renaissance Festival already draws 300,000 people annually, and you don't think any of those would be interested in stepping a little further back in time? I would bet my bottom dollar that at the very least some of those 300,000 would want to go to a Romefest!
Rome is already popular outside of the internet
I don't know if you've seen it or not, but HBO's Rome is already a popular show. As a side note, if you haven't seen Rome you really should as it's a must watch and one of the best show's I've ever seen! Also don't underestimate movies such as Gladiator, or even a show like Spartacus. Sure these are older shows and movies, but they still have staying power and that's what makes them invaluable to pulling off something like a Rome Festival. The lay person that has watched any number of these would probably be interested in going after seeing one of this hits!
So, What would happen at Romefest?
First off there would be Roman Legion Demonstrations
Lets face it, this would probably be one of the coolest things that would occur at one of these purposed festivals! Just imagine, on an open field, a group of reenactor's in full gear, and proper formation of a century. Changing battle positions, like to testudo, or others. Hell it would be cool to see a mock battle take place. On one side you would have the Roman century and on the other you would have some Gaulish reenactor's or something of the sort. Then you could also have weapon demonstrations, and even have people get in a line and show them how the Romans would have fought. It would just be so cool to see and experience. Then you could have the Centurion explain how the ranks in the Roman Legion worked, and what his job was. Tell me you aren't imagining how cool that would be? So I guess it's time for you to garb your lorica segmentata and get ready for the march!
The Roman Food would be awesome!
Just imagine getting yourself into a Roman Banquet! You could have wine (For adults of course) served, you could have garum served, or boiled eggs with pine nut sauce, don't forget the asparagus! Also the different verity of eggs and fish and meats that they served. Some of the food would be sectioned off in just a Banquet section, where you could lay down on the couches and be served like a Roman and enjoy some music while you eat. Of course we would have regular vendors for everyone walking around, and they would sever some very Roman foods too. You could get some olives and grapes, and some of those eggs too. Don't forget the Posca, that would be an experience for some people! Trying a drink like Posca is something new all on it's own.
Don't forget about Roman Music & Dance
Admit it, you would be jamming out to this too! How cool would it to have some musicians on a stage preforming some Roman music and dance? It would also be in the banquet area, because you know, the Romans did have performers when they ate. Between certain performances you could have a separate session where the public is taught how to do some of the dances. It would be a fun and exciting way to get the blood flowing and keep people on there feet and they could experience history just by moving there body a bit. Plus for some dance instructors they probably would get some idea from this and maybe try and teach it, which would also help spread our love for Roman history. It wouldn't necessarily be a big area you would need to pull this off, besides the banquet you could only need one other stage.
Learn Latin the Roman way
If there's Rome, then there's Latin. I'm not talking about going full on hour long lectures, but I am talking about inviting your local Latin club to come and give little half hour bites of the language. Just some basics, like, Hello, How are you? I am fine, and you? you know, stuff like that, and maybe just a few fun words to say. This group would only need a tent or two depending on how big of an area we could get. Don't deny that it would be cool going up to the staff and saying, "Salve!" and them replying back to you. This one just add a little more immersion to the whole festival, that most other festivals don't.
Gladiator Fights!
Well of course not real Gladiator fights, but still we could set aside a small area for gladiator reenactments. No one can deny how cool the Gladiators are, and you might even remember reading about them as a kid, but wouldn't it even be cooler if we dug out a pit and had trained fighters go at it in a reenactment of gladiatorial combat? Hell yes it would! Gladiators would be so cool! But you could also have the reenactors talk about the Gladiator training and what their life was like in general. Other stuff like how people became Gladiators and how they retired too would also be some cool information to be presented. But come on, you know just as I do that you would really like to see a Gladiator fight. There's just another cool factor that you could add to the festival that would elevate the whole thing into another realm.
Roman Games
Imagine this, you and the family sitting down at the benches at Romefest. you're enjoying a nice glass of Posca, and the kids are eats some grapes, while you're sitting there, what could make your perfect day even better? Games! You could have games like latrunculi at the table with a small sheet explaining how to play the game. Or you could even a dice game like Jactus. How cool would it be to have something like that as an option for you and the kiddos? You could even have some of the games present at the Banquet section as an option for people. Granted you don't have to play the games, but they should be there for those that want to relax and learn a fun historical game!
Mockup of the Roman Senate
As we all know, the Roman Senate was a very important part to the history of Rome. So, imagine a mockup of the Roman Senate where you could go and watch a debate over something. For example, you could have the "Senate" debate over wether Cesar should come back to Rome and face trail for his (accused) crimes in Gaul. Then you could have people come in and sit next to the "Senators" and some of them would talk with the crowd while they sat next to the reenactors and say something like, "You there! Young Senator! What is your take on this?!" Then you could get the crowd involved and have the average person debate on if Cesar is a criminal or not. I just think this would be a little fun example of something that could be added to the Romefest. Getting people involved in the history is one way to garner more fans of said history, and who knows, they may even want to eventually help out one year!
Romefest Ending Thoughts
The time period that Rome existed as a powerhouse, was without a doubt one of the most interesting parts of all history. I think if the Renaissance period can get it's own festival, then gosh darn it! Rome deserves it's own festival as well. All of the ideas that I brought up here are just suggestions, but don't deny that it would be fun to go to something like this. I know I would want to be there, and experience history in the way it should be experienced. So, will Romefest actually happen? Who knows? Only time will tell, but as for this history buff, I sure hope that one day it does!
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