Gaius Fortunatus
The Roman Recruit is Gaius Fortunatus, a Roman soldier serving with the Sixth Legion in Roman York. This site details the story of his life, his daily routine, his weapons and equipment, what he eats, where he sleeps and where he's been. Find out what life was like for a Roman legionary in Britannia at the start of the Third Century AD (more specifically in the year 210). Although Fortunatus is fictional, the events and places that are part of his life are real. All of the equipment he uses is reconstructed, based on artefacts dug up by archaeologists. Fortunatus is Paul Elliott; re-enactor and writer living in East Yorkshire. All text copyright P. Elliott 2022. All images copyright Paul Elliott unless otherwise attri-buted. To request use of an illustration in print or on the web, please contact him at: [email protected] |
Assistance, Past and Present
The following organisations and individuals deserve thanks and praise for their assistance over the past few years as I created kit, discovered new skills and set out to get a taste of life in the Roman army.
Individuals I owe a debt of thanks to, for various favours and help over the past few years, include Robert Vermaat, Jens Horstkotte, Paul Carrick, Jamie McLean, Gary Shaw, Andy Harriss, Paul Atkin, Dave Atkin, Steve Kenwright, John Brayshaw, Kurt Hunter-Mann, Sandra Garside-Neville, Julie Harriss, Sarah Harriss, Lee Steele, Sarah Steele, Johnny Shumate, Denis Gvozdikov and Florian Himmler. Thanks also to Graham Sumner for use of line drawings.
Quinta - A small group of Roman re-enactors operating out of Arbeia, the Roman fort at South Shields. Several photographs of this site were taken at Arbeia, which features some extraordinary reconstructed Roman buildings. Quinta recreates the soldiers of Cohors Quinta Gallorum, circa AD 220.
The following organisations and individuals deserve thanks and praise for their assistance over the past few years as I created kit, discovered new skills and set out to get a taste of life in the Roman army.
Individuals I owe a debt of thanks to, for various favours and help over the past few years, include Robert Vermaat, Jens Horstkotte, Paul Carrick, Jamie McLean, Gary Shaw, Andy Harriss, Paul Atkin, Dave Atkin, Steve Kenwright, John Brayshaw, Kurt Hunter-Mann, Sandra Garside-Neville, Julie Harriss, Sarah Harriss, Lee Steele, Sarah Steele, Johnny Shumate, Denis Gvozdikov and Florian Himmler. Thanks also to Graham Sumner for use of line drawings.
Quinta - A small group of Roman re-enactors operating out of Arbeia, the Roman fort at South Shields. Several photographs of this site were taken at Arbeia, which features some extraordinary reconstructed Roman buildings. Quinta recreates the soldiers of Cohors Quinta Gallorum, circa AD 220.
Other Periods
The Roman army survived for centuries, but did not remain the same. Over time, decade after decade the army and its equipment evolved. Clothing, armour, belts, shield types and weaponry all changed to suit the new tactics, and fashions, of the day. Although The Roman Recruit is devoted to the life of a soldier in the early Third Century (around 210AD), it also shows what the equipment is like for a soldier at two other time periods. One is 130AD, during the reign of emperor Hadrian's construction of the Wall in northern Britannia; the other is 380AD, only a a decade or two before the Roman army left Britain for good, never to return. Click on the two dates to the left to see how the equipment from those two eras contrasts with that of a Third Century legionary!