New Nova Britannia Weblist

  For anyone who would like to sign up for Nova Britannia's email list, M. Cassius Julianus has created a new version of this list (due in part to changes to Yahoo Groups) at https://groups.io/g/NovaBritanniaProvincia/.
  If you find the information on this blog helpful, then you are likely to find membership in our weblist even more so, as the same events advertised here are discussed there as they are being planned. Members can share their own ideas for activities to be taken here in New England and any interesting facts about Rome about which they happen to learn.

Nova Britannia Yahoo Group Restored!

Thanks to the tireless efforts of M. Minucius Audens, the Nova Roma yahoo group is working again. M. Audens has promised to keep the list active with some of his great articles on Roman studies. The group can be found here.

Ides of March Meeting Highlights (Nova Britannia Ulterior)

1: 00 p.m. I found Marcus Audens and Gnaeus Floccus by the door. They were meeting for the first time. We discussed past experience within Nova Roma. Marcus Audens offered a suggestion to send certificates of citizenship to those residents of Nova Britannia who would like them. A similar program was well received in Sodalitas Militarum. M. Audens gave me a stack of prototype certificates, mentioning they could be further elaborated as desired. Computer issues were also discussed: M. Audens described the issues of the Nova Britannia web list and the possible solutions he has considered; Cn. Floccus mentions similar difficulty with modifying the wiki page, which requires updating.

            Once we got the agenda, we began with a short presentation by M. Audens. This consisted of a description of several model siege engines he is constructing, including one that can fire a dart several yards!

            The next point on our agenda was a discussion of the Etruscans, which quickly wandered to Rome’s ability to apply ideas in innovative ways, with the development of the arch being a key example. M. Audens pointed at the evolution from fairly uneven early arches to what we know today. Cn. Floccus mentioned the dome as another derivative of the arch, and the senator described the astonishing amount of weight a small model of the Pantheon was able to bear.

            Next we began a round of trivia. Each of us took coming up with obscure (or not so obscure) facts to question the others about. The final score (by my informal count) was Audens – 3 ½, Floccus – 1 ½, Paterculus – 1. This took us to about 2:30 p.m., over which time we also ordered appetizers & drinks.

            Following this, we offered a toast to Gaius Iulius Caesar. Cn. Floccus joking added, “May he live long.”

            We attempted to play tali using modern d4s and some rules I had printed off the internet. The substitution seemed to go well, but we were hampered by uncertainty of how to handle scoring or the number of rounds we were to play. M. Audens mentioned that the neck of a turkey could be boiled to create something resembling knucklebones.

            Cn. Floccus mentioned that he is a Latin teacher and currently studying Catullus. M. Audens mentioned some reading of Vegitus, Frontinus, Vitruvius, and Julius Caesar. We had already spoken about architecture, but we did talk somewhat about neoclassical architecture, both in Coventry and Ledyard, as well as around the world.

            We discussed the potential for a Make-&-Mend meeting such as M. Audens had suggested in the past, as well as the problem of distance. Cn. Floccus accepted the challenge of organizing activity in Massachusetts and expressed some interest in Legio II Cyrenaica.

            I left in some haste at 3 p.m., leaving behind all the money I’d brought for my share of the bill, which was not entirely covered.

Book Review: "After Rome" by Morgan Llywelyn

Since this is apparently the day I choose to link to literary reviews, I thought I might link to one of my own: a historical fiction review written for the Nova Britannia weblist. However, it turns out that some technical issue prevented it from reaching that group, so here is the full text:

  This work of historical fiction uses the writings of historians such as Gildas and Stephen Johnson to imagine life in Britain just after the recall of the Roman army. The novel alternates between two members of the Romanized provincial elite from the city of Viroconium, each trying to cope with the anarchy caused by Rome's departure, and perhaps become involved in the formation of a new society.
   Although the author takes time to show the the implications of contemporary international events, the characters and the interactions between them are given at least as much attention. Perhaps to emphasize the contrast between the two protagonists, the storyline of Cadogan revolves around his relationships to his father, the other citizens of Viroconium, and a stranger who comes to live with him, while that of Dinas looks more into the psychology of each of each of his allies and less into how they relate to him.
   The best points of this book, in my opinion, were the evolution of the conflict between Cadogan and his father Vintrex, the exploration of why each of companions of Dinas  follows him, and the scenes showing how ordinary lives were affected by the loss of imperial government. A cameo appearance by the semi-historical King Vortigern is also a nice touch. The main weakness was some clumsiness in introducing some of the background material, particularly toward the beginning. Cadogan's dealings with his unwelcome guest Quartilla seemed implausible to me, but some may think differently.
   This book would be a fair choice for non-experts interested in Late Antiquity/the Early Medieval Period, or even fans of post-Apocalyptic literature, of which this could almost be considered an example.