Armilustrium March 2012, posted by Meroe

The official start of the Roman Campaign season found us in Lancaster (or Roman Calvnivm) to celebrate the Armilustrium.  This was a festival in honour of Mars, the god of War, and marked the beginning of a new campaign season.  Ya Raqs were there to provide an escort for our emperor, Domitianus, and some entertainment for the Roman soldiers and the good people of Calvnivm.

Phoenece and Mish Mish with the Emperor Domitianus

We started the day with a procession down from the castle to the museum.  Phoenece and Mish Mish were our two beautiful flower girls who made sure that the emperor stayed out of trouble!  Kebi, Aisha and I, donned all our best Tunisian finery.  Modern day Tunisian was part of what was Carthage, and our Tunisian costumes (called a melia) are very similar to togas that would have been worn in Roman times.

Kebi, Meroe and Aisha

We arrived at the museum in time to do our first set of the day – two Tunisian routines.  Then it was all change into our black and red Bedouin costumes, ready for our second set which comprised a Bedouin routine and a Nubian routine, which is new for this season.

The crowd was, as always in Lancaster, very warm and welcoming although we couldn’t persuade quite as many of them to get up and dance with us as we have in previous years – but we did try.  The rest of the day was spent adding a bit of colour for the visitors to the museum and providing a more decorative back-drop to the Roman military displays!

It was a very good day, albeit a tad on the chilly side.  We finished with a procession back up to the castle and then home.  Our thanks to Roman Tours and Deva Victrix for inviting us to join them, and also to the staff at Lancaster Museum who looked after us all day and provided us with an excellent lunch!