Mainz is cool. So is nearby Bad Kreuznach, or at least its Römerhalle. It's all even better with friends who share a crazy interest in the Roman army

The RomanArmyTalk (RAT) conference is slowly becoming a tradition. It first took place in Augsburg, Germany two years ago, was then followed by an iteration in Nijmegen and now got its third tradition in the city of Mainz (Moguntiacum). The purpose of these conferences is first and foremost to provide an occasion for those who love to study the Roman army to meet with others burdened by a similar interest. It's a social event then with two mornings of lectures. However, unlike proper academic lectures, there is no pressure to present a fully rounded, academically researched paper. Instead, we try to make sure that anyone who has researched a topic can present it and get feedback on his ideas. No need to put reputations at stake here. Despite this 'open door' policy, the quality of lectures has always been high and they have always been interesting to hear.

The afternoons, generally the Friday and Saturday, are used for excursions in the city and area we're visiting. Mainz is of course exceptionally suited to that, even if the Landesmuseum is currently closed for renovation. So, while a winter storm raged over western Germany, we took ourselves to the above mentioned Römerhalle in Bad Kreuznach, to see the famous tombstones of, among others, Pantera, Hyperanor (I've got better photos now) and the wonderfully well preserved Oceanus and gladiator mosaics. On the Saturday afternoon we took a city tour, walking to the Drusus Cenotaph, remnants of the city walls, the reconstructed Jupiter column and arch of Dativius (for the monuments in this city, see Jona Lendering's blog). Of course, with the Wiesbaden and Mainz regional museums closed (yes, the density of Roman army related museums in this area is phenomenal), we just had to visit the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. That too is undergoing renovations, but the early and late Imperial Roman collections were still open. Much of what is on display here is actually a copy of the original, but we'll forgive them. These copies are actual casts or electrotype copies in the case of metals, which really makes this museum a summary of top-pieces from museums all.
Finally, on Sunday morning, we visited the museum for ancient shipping, about which I wrote before.

Now, for the lectures:

• Svenja Grosser, 'Gladiators as soldiers'.
  Svenja listed the occasions from Roman history when gladiators were used outside of the arena for their muscle and knowledge of weapons. Starting with the famous example of Marius' use of gladiator trainers to get his new legionaries up to scratch, she showed how the Romans took recourse to gladiators in emergency situations. Better a 'low class' gladiator who knows how to fight, than to lose, after all.
  
• Hans van Lierde, 'Praetorians in Mainz'.
  Mainz has given us a great collection of Roman military inscriptions. Among them, there are (actually, were, some have disappeared by now) a small number of Praetorians. Mainz was visited several times by emperors, taking their guard with them. Some died and were commemorated. Others made a career as a legionary centurion having started as a simple soldier in the guard and then settled in this city.
  
• Jona Lendering, 'Ancient Mainz'.
  From its origins as the 'tax district of Mogon' with two small Germanic villages and a sanctuary, Mainz grew into one of the most important Roman cities north of the Alps. Always heavily military in character with a double legionary camp until the revolt of Saturninus, it played a crucial role as a kingmaker & breaker.
  
• Christian Koepfer, 'Reconstructing the Haltern pugio'.
  Christian had a wonderful slideshow that showed how an exact copy was made of one of the daggers found at Haltern. Interestingly, it appears from recent research that all Roman blades were of the Damascus type , that is to say, two different qualities of steel are folded over and over, to provide a good mix of toughness and flexibility. Christian's blacksmith copied this process exactly, bringing out the folds as decoration in the finished blade, which went around the room.
  
• Jasper Oorthuys, 'Legionaries afloat'.
  It is well known that Roman legionaries served as marines in naval battles, but they have a reputation for being otherwise useless on water. An investigation of literary evidence shows that legionaries were sometimes used to build and power galleys as well. In fact, both on the Danube and Rhine there were legions that probably had their own ships, perhaps to compensate for a lack of actual fleets or to take over some of the latter's tasks if they had been used to reinforce army units. When it comes to naval tasks, Roman legionaries took to it, like they seem to have done to all others: they did what was needed to get the job done.

It was another great RAT conference and I look forward to next year, either in Gent (Belgium), Windisch (Switzerland), or perhaps somewhere else. Thanks to all who were there, it was great!