When in Rome

Ermine Street Guard - April 2008

It's not often you get to see so many bare legs since the demise of the British Seaside knobbly knees contests , but at the Gloucester Historical Fair they were on parade! The Ermine Street Guard, a Roman re-enactment company were taking part in the fair along with Vikings, Medieval, Civil War and World War re-enactment groups.


Gloucester is an old Roman town and when the Romans built their wall around the settlement (remains of which can still be seen today) they called it Glevum. When I first spied them, they were camped next to the cathedral, going about everyday tasks and due to the cold, chilly and grey April day, trying to keep warm! Later on, I was at the dockside where most of the World War re-enactors were situated and I turned to see the Romans marching towards me. It seemed like a second invasion as they marched with purpose to the sound of a large circular horn which was being blown by one of the soldiers and heralded their arrival. They then proceeded to the parade ground and put on a most convincing demonstration of Roman drill and fighting.


Last weekend I posted the image above. I had been taking a few photos of the Romans at their campsite and this shot made me laugh as I later reviewed the shots. It seemed perfect for a caption competition so that is what I did. It had a great response with many witty, amusing, imaginative and downright funny captions. A big thank you to everyone that took part. I was surprised to find there were no Monty Pythonesque jokes about 'Biggus Dickus' and the best I could come up with was 'Is that your spartha or are you just pleased to see me?".

It was difficult to choose a winner so I didn't just choose one. There are three winners who will all receive postcards from me:

Neptharia for: "I *told* you to go before we left Rome!" and
Panthergirl with: "Jimmy Choo sandals??? Drop and give me 20!" and
R. Sherman for: "Local 'Men In Skirts' Dancers Finalize Preparations For Musical Homage To Edward II's Alleged Poofiness Outside Gloucester Cathedral."

These ones just appealed to my sense of humour the most. Winners, if you would like to receive your postcard then please send your postal address to my email (link on my profile page). Honourable mention goes to everyone else who entered and their captions can be viewed *here*. Thank you again to everyone who had a go and for visiting me!