Rome Goes to War... Pennsic Home Page



	Rome's Legions

All adults camping with Rome at Pennsic will pay $25 camp dues to the Quaestor or Camp Prefect upon arrival at the war. Children under 16 are exempt. All Pennsic camping dues will be spent on Pennsic.
EXCERPT FROM DOMINUS ON PENNSIC: "Pennsic is a nonstop, two-week party with over ten thousand people. Plan on being there for the second week at least, that's when the battles all happen. Pennsic sprawls over countless acres that will take you all of a full week to explore. The parking lot itself is bigger than Ragnarok was, covering a square miles of dusty cars. It will probably be over a mile from your tent in camp, and you won't see your car for the whole week. And you won't need it. Pennsic has a dozen fine, inexpensive restaurants set up in pavilions right in the market place. The market place is sprawling, about the size of the Ragnarok site last year. You will get lost in it, among countless shops that sell clothing, armor, jewelry, weapons, leather gear, camping supplies, books, weapons, anything and everything an avid medievalist could possibly want. Every camp for miles has a huge party every night, with dancing girls, wine, liquor, kegs, and anything else you could hope for. There are two thousand scantily clad medieval women worth looking at, and they've all been drinking for days. You won't even need your car for anything the whole time you're there. There are hay wagons that run back and forth all day like a medieval bus service. Pennsic is the penultimate, it's the Disney World of medieval combat."
"Rome wasn't built in a day, but they took over in a week." -Minimal of the Tuchux DOMINUS, ON ROME'S PARTICIPATION AT PENNSIC XXIX There’s a moment from the Pennsic bridge battle that will live forever with the two Legions who fielded that day. Rome stood as the Tuchux vanguard, a position that made us recognizably among the elite reserves. As elite shock troops, we were held in reserve until such time as our side’s forces wavered on a bridge. As our forces wavered on the middle bridge, Rome marched in the Tuchux vanguard up the field at double time. Cheers sprung from a thousand throats, roaring their acclaim for us. Their cheers were for us, the first Roman army to ever take the field at Pennsic. The cheer went up and stayed up, and literally thousands roared for us as if with a single voice so powerful that it shook the earth and sky. I am hooked. Looking back at the ranks of Romans, I could say nothing, no speeches or words of encouragement to my countrymen who stood beside me ready to charge into the gaping throat of hell. I was charged with the power of that unanimous assent of a thousand unified voices, cheering for Rome. I looked around at my hard-bitten comrades, veterans of so very, very many campaigns. I knew they needed no words from me. I knew they felt as I did. I knew that every battle, every moment of combat, every time any of us had ever swung a sword, had led up to that very moment. As we charged into death and glory, I was shaking so giddily with adrenaline that I almost wept for joy. I was home. I want to share that feeling with all of you. I will never forget how that felt, and I will forever lust for more. Friday, after the Pennsic XXIX field battle, Tobias and I could not stop grinning like schoolboys on the first day of summer break. That was one of the happiest days of my life. I saw my countrymen hip deep in the terror of true war. In the most epic battle any of us will ever see, my fellow Romans, almost three Legions of them, fought with an uncanny competence. Pennsic could not have gone better. Tobias and I, Harn and Gurrundi, everything we’d worked on and planned for and fought for these many years came to fruition in that week. The SCA is full of little Households our size. (Households are what they call units, and many don’t even fight.) Pennsic is full of Households our size and bigger. But of them all, we got noticed. We were the ones who made the real splash. Everyone knew about ROME. We visited many camps Friday and Saturday nights. People asked who we were and I would respond, "We’re Rome." And hear, "Oh! You guys are the Romans fighting with the Tuchux!" Everyone saw us or heard about us. I hope you understand the significance of what we’ve done. I’m only beginning to really grasp its full implications. On a battlefield of literally 3,000 combatants, 13 Romans stood out enough to get everyone talking about us. Next year there will be 20 Romans. And a lot more alae, whether auxiliaries, provincials or friends. This year we made a big splash. Next year we’ll be a tidal wave. I have such gigantic dreams for us. For you! For Rome! -Allaricus Xirinius Dominus, Imperator, Commentaries 24, October 2000