The Roman Outpost

Ab Urbe Condita: From the Foundation of the City, the idea of Rome has held a certain fascination for the human mind, and has had a profound influence on almost every aspect of human activity. Scholars and pundits are still trying to explain the City's dramatic rise, the Empire's sustained prosperity, the whole civilization's catastrophic collapse. Artists and poets have found inspiration about equally in Rome's glory and in Her ruins; authors of works ranging from opera librettos to science-fiction trilogies have borrowed Roman themes, motifs and experiences and presented them in new dress.

This site is the work of an unabashed Roman enthusiast. It documents the ripples Rome has made in one single life; in so doing, it stands as a tribute to nearly three thousand years of continuity, and may perhaps serve to demonstrate the depth and variety of the Roman influence.

Why I'm doing this

The Romans have been given a bad rap in this country, especially by Hollywood. There is so much more to their story than Ben Hur and Spartacus or Gibbon's Decline and Fall. Before Rome fell, She had existed for twelve hundred years; and for a large part of that time She governed a world in which, to quote Stephen Vincent Benet, "a man might walk from the East to the West because of it--yes, and speak the same tongue all the way."

For fifteen hundred years the Roman Peace has been seen by many as the pinnacle of human achievement; in all of history, with all of its flaws, this is as together as we ever got.

That is why, all this time later, we still talk about the Romans as if they mattered. They do. They matter to a Europe seeking to recreate those lost centuries of unity; they matter to a United States perplexed by its role as the world's policeman; they matter, above all, to those of us concerned with intercultural relationships. The Romans had a lot of practice at this. They spread their own culture while adapting to and learning from societies all over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Somehow they made it all hang together, maybe more by accident than by design...

...yet it's hard to escape the possibility that maybe (just maybe) they were doing something right.

Places to Be, or, My Roman Life

• Roman Antiquities: Links to Roman History, society, culture and daily life. Good scholarship and homebrewed Latin lessons.
• Creative Research: My personal Roman projects and pursuits. Stories, essays and other useful stuff.
• Historical Re-creation: Historical re-enactment groups, live wargamers, live role-players, and the occasional lost Legionary at the Renaissance Faire. Did you ever think Western Civ could be this fun?
• Role-Playing Games: How to adapt your Advanced Dungeons and Dragons(tm), GURPS(tm), Champions/HERO System(tm), or other RPG to a Roman setting. Lots of my GM specials here for the picking!
• The Gallery: Roman artwork, mostly by me, and photos of home life and reenactor events.
• Resources: Where to get lots of cool Roman stuff.

We have a mailing-list! --Click to subscribe to [RomanOutpost].

I have had this page up almost continuously, on one server or another, for almost fourteen years. Due to my life having gone completely wrong some years back and the time it took me to recover, the Outpost was stagnant for almost four years. I apologize for that, and wish to thank here the Roman friends who have given me the encouragement and incentive to continue; to return to the Outpost, sweep out the dust-bunnies and give it the renewed attention it deserves. Most especially I wish to thank M Octavius Gracchus at cynico.net, who hosts my humble Page; Titus Labienus Fortunatus, who lent it his spot on texas.net when it most needed it; and the good folk at the Societas Via Romana, the Society of the Roman Way, which, like myself and this site, is dedicated to the enjoyment, learning, and diffusion of Roman culture in the modern world. Multibus gratias vobis ago! >({|:-)

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