28th August 2006

The Hoplites Do It Again!

Once again we have to congratulate the Military Odyssey contingent who braved both the long journey and the rather incliment weather to meet the people of Detling and, against very stiff competition from some of the brilliant reenactment groups there, come home with the trophy for the 'Best Public Interaction' for the third time in 5 years eventing at that event.

The members would say that they did nothing special and simply got on with what they would do at any other event, and that may well be true, but no-one would deny the warm feeling inside to learn that their efforts were appreciated.

Our thanks to the public and fellow reenactors alike for the kind words of support during the weekend and the congratulations passed on to us as we were preparing to leave for home. Very, very much appreciated

August 2006

New Text on Thermopylae features the Hoplite Association

A new book hit the shops this month, throwing yet further analysis on the battle of Thermopylae and attempting to provide a wide analysis on both the battle and surrounding context. What really differentiates this from other texts on the market though is the nature of some of the illustrations used to demonstrate the text.

Nestled within the centre pages are a number of pictures taken of Hoplite Associaton members at the Clivedon event in 2005. Although most are taken from the crowdline during an arena display and are more 'snaps' than detailed studies, the author has used them to good effect and has also incorporated some of the lessons learned from reenacting within the text itself. One for the bookshelf?

5 August 2006

Oaklea Trust

The Oaklea Trust is a charitable organisation whose sole purpose is to support and assist children and adults with disabilities to lead fulfilled lives within their communities. They work with people of all disabilities and operate in Cumbria, Lancashire, County Durham, Northumbria and Greater Manchester and once a year they pull together the staff and clients from each area to compete in a fun based games activity.... this year, the theme was ancient Greece and the events were based on an 'it's a knockout' format.
Now the Hoplite Association has a couple of links with the Trust. One member is a member of staff, another is one of their clients and together with a couple of other members we went along to add a bit of colour to the activities and, in our own way, help with the 'games'.

A good day was had by all, nobody really seemed to take the competitions that seriously... apart from us.... and we were well and truly beaten in anything we got involved in!

16 March 2006

Hoplites infultrate TV advertising!

This month has seen a new TV advertisement aired on UK television for Tetley Bitter. A parody drawn around the film Gladiator, it features a roman army trecking across the countryside (and it was filmed in the wilds of Yorkshire), led by a mounted general in full kit... courtesy of the left-over film props from the Gladiator film.

He then halts his army, and pops into the local pub! It then becomes clear that it is a fancy dress night and that he has dressed up for it. Tetley, we are told, like its drinkers, does not do things by halves.

Now you have to look really closely, tape the ad, have a pause button on your TV and be able to blow up sections of the Roman army, but patience, we are told, coupled with very careful searching will result in glimpses of a HA members - Andy J, Daz, Paul A and Ash braved the (very) cold weather to be a part of that filming.

19 November 2005

Will 2006 see the largest gathering of citizen Hoplites to take place since the 4th Century BC?

Be there or you're a Persian!... actually, Persians welcomed too.

3 /4 June, 2006 is the scheduled date for an Ancient Greek Festival, currently being organised by Paul Allen, a professional re-enactor and member of a number of re-enactment groups, including the Hoplite Association.

One of the common themes of 'Greek' re-enactment internet discussion groups is, 'if only'. 'If only … someone were to start a group I would join...'. 'If only … someone were to arrange an event, I would go..'.

Well someone has, and excuses are now no more.

Australia has the Sydney Ancients, the USA has the Greek Warriors from New York and the Spartan Warband are shortly to add re-enacting to their ASCA activities… and there are many individuals and small groups of friends around the world starting to equip themselves as ancient Greeks, their allies and enemies.

Equipment and guidance for the 5th Century BC re-enactment is becoming easier to find, but when you have your kit, what next?

Well Paul thought, 'If only we could try to get them all together?'.. and then decided to have a go at doing it.

So, if you are an up and coming 'ancient' and would relish the opportunity of mixing with fellow enthusiasts from around the world and joining together to form one big phalanx (to date he already has promises of attendance from Greece, the USA, France and the UK amounting to around 50 people) then contact Paul at paul_a_allen@hotmail.com

Persians, Thracians, Scythians, Civilians, Psoli… indeed all representations welcomed…. even academics!

More details are in the attached link and scheduled events include a race in armour (with the prize of an Aspis to the winner!) and long jump with weights (graciously supplied by Manning Imperial and donated as a prize for the winner) together with both static and arena displays.

Some sponsorship has already been received and additional sponsors are most welcome as well! Olive Oil manufacturers, Greek Corporations and Olympic Athletes take heed - a one off opportunity not to be missed???

28th August 2006

The Hoplites Do It Again!

Once again we have to congratulate the Military Odyssey contingent who braved both the long journey and the rather incliment weather to meet the people of Detling and, against very stiff competition from some of the brilliant reenactment groups there, come home with the trophy for the 'Best Public Interaction' for the third time in 5 years eventing at that event.

The members would say that they did nothing special and simply got on with what they would do at any other event, and that may well be true, but no-one would deny the warm feeling inside to learn that their efforts were appreciated.

Our thanks to the public and fellow reenactors alike for the kind words of support during the weekend and the congratulations passed on to us as we were preparing to leave for home. Very, very much appreciated

August 2006

New Text on Thermopylae features the Hoplite Association

A new book hit the shops this month, throwing yet further analysis on the battle of Thermopylae and attempting to provide a wide analysis on both the battle and surrounding context. What really differentiates this from other texts on the market though is the nature of some of the illustrations used to demonstrate the text.

Nestled within the centre pages are a number of pictures taken of Hoplite Associaton members at the Clivedon event in 2005. Although most are taken from the crowdline during an arena display and are more 'snaps' than detailed studies, the author has used them to good effect and has also incorporated some of the lessons learned from reenacting within the text itself. One for the bookshelf?

5 August 2006

Oaklea Trust

The Oaklea Trust is a charitable organisation whose sole purpose is to support and assist children and adults with disabilities to lead fulfilled lives within their communities. They work with people of all disabilities and operate in Cumbria, Lancashire, County Durham, Northumbria and Greater Manchester and once a year they pull together the staff and clients from each area to compete in a fun based games activity.... this year, the theme was ancient Greece and the events were based on an 'it's a knockout' format.
Now the Hoplite Association has a couple of links with the Trust. One member is a member of staff, another is one of their clients and together with a couple of other members we went along to add a bit of colour to the activities and, in our own way, help with the 'games'.

A good day was had by all, nobody really seemed to take the competitions that seriously... apart from us.... and we were well and truly beaten in anything we got involved in!

16 March 2006

Hoplites infultrate TV advertising!

This month has seen a new TV advertisement aired on UK television for Tetley Bitter. A parody drawn around the film Gladiator, it features a roman army trecking across the countryside (and it was filmed in the wilds of Yorkshire), led by a mounted general in full kit... courtesy of the left-over film props from the Gladiator film.

He then halts his army, and pops into the local pub! It then becomes clear that it is a fancy dress night and that he has dressed up for it. Tetley, we are told, like its drinkers, does not do things by halves.

Now you have to look really closely, tape the ad, have a pause button on your TV and be able to blow up sections of the Roman army, but patience, we are told, coupled with very careful searching will result in glimpses of a HA members - Andy J, Daz, Paul A and Ash braved the (very) cold weather to be a part of that filming.

19 November 2005

Will 2006 see the largest gathering of citizen Hoplites to take place since the 4th Century BC?

Be there or you're a Persian!... actually, Persians welcomed too.

3 /4 June, 2006 is the scheduled date for an Ancient Greek Festival, currently being organised by Paul Allen, a professional re-enactor and member of a number of re-enactment groups, including the Hoplite Association.

One of the common themes of 'Greek' re-enactment internet discussion groups is, 'if only'. 'If only … someone were to start a group I would join...'. 'If only … someone were to arrange an event, I would go..'.

Well someone has, and excuses are now no more.

Australia has the Sydney Ancients, the USA has the Greek Warriors from New York and the Spartan Warband are shortly to add re-enacting to their ASCA activities… and there are many individuals and small groups of friends around the world starting to equip themselves as ancient Greeks, their allies and enemies.

Equipment and guidance for the 5th Century BC re-enactment is becoming easier to find, but when you have your kit, what next?

Well Paul thought, 'If only we could try to get them all together?'.. and then decided to have a go at doing it.

So, if you are an up and coming 'ancient' and would relish the opportunity of mixing with fellow enthusiasts from around the world and joining together to form one big phalanx (to date he already has promises of attendance from Greece, the USA, France and the UK amounting to around 50 people) then contact Paul at paul_a_allen@hotmail.com

Persians, Thracians, Scythians, Civilians, Psoli… indeed all representations welcomed…. even academics!

More details are in the attached link and scheduled events include a race in armour (with the prize of an Aspis to the winner!) and long jump with weights (graciously supplied by Manning Imperial and donated as a prize for the winner) together with both static and arena displays.

Some sponsorship has already been received and additional sponsors are most welcome as well! Olive Oil manufacturers, Greek Corporations and Olympic Athletes take heed - a one off opportunity not to be missed???

Now, that's a serious shield design! Running away with it is the man himself, hotly pursued but the massed army of 'nanos' - the reenactors of the future.

For information on the Ancient Greek Festival please email Paul or visit: Ancient Greek Festival

30th August 2005

Military Odyssey Victory for the Hoplites

The world's largest, multi-period, reenactment event took place at Detling over the Bank Holiday weekend (27th-29th August 2005) and this is not only a chance to mix with other reenactors but it is also a wonderful venue for groups to display and 'show off' their skills

This year was the fourth year the Association attended and it was as busy as ever, with many visitors from previous years calling to see us. With only 4 members attending, due to other commitments, it placed quite a strain on the team, handling all of the enquiries and demonstrating arms, equipment and aspects of Greek and Scythian life.

To the shock of us all, in the final parade of societies it was announced that the prize for the group with 'the best public interraction' was... the Hoplite Association! The second time in the last three years and a prize made all the more precious by the stream of congratulations from other reenactors when we were packing up and by the members of the public who both called past on their way home to applaud us AND email'd their best wishes to the website.

A brilliant weekend topped-off in the most perfect way. For pictures of some of our visitors who helped make this possible click here.

27th July 2005

In the footsteps of Alexander.... or at least in the wake of his DVD!

Together with our good friends at Skirmish magazine (the only re-enactor magazine in the UK) two members of the Hoplite Association met at a 'secret location' in the north of England to review the new DVD release of Alexander for The Times newspaper.

A surreal day, to provide a photo-opportunity there was a request from the newspaper that we turned up in 'kit', we all spent a lively afternoon watching and discussing this latest release and the full report will feature in The Times supplement on Saturday 6th August.

To get the full report see the here, but suffice it to say we were not terribly impressed. The Irish accents were not as annoying as a lot of previous reviewers comment, although some actors clearly struggled to tell the difference between an Irish and a Scottish accent (we spotted at least one Sean Connery imitation), but for a story about an acclaimed military strategist whose main activity was an extended campaign of conquest there was precious little by way of guidance and explanation about the military activities and one or two important elements of context (specifically Troy) were overlooked. Oh, and shouting 'Atten...tion' to a phalanx just doesn't work!

Still, the equipment looks well and the TV advertisements for the 'Director's' cut seem to show slightly more action and might be worth a look... oh, hang on, it was the Director's cut we saw. Oh dear!

Preparing for the viewing

See the full review here

7th June 2005

In support of the Mill House Animal Sanctuary, a number of Scythian (and greco-scythian!) members of the Hoplite Association have been assisting with a planned sponsored walk along Hadrian's Wall, scheduled for late September 2005 (NOT ON A REENACTMENT WEEKEND).

This organisation also manages the Thurlstone Horse Sanctuary, and they have a large number of small cobs of the breed originally used as pack horses by the Romans when building the wall and, like all charities of this kind, have been finding it difficult to raise funding in today's economic climate.

The plan is to lead some 'period' horses, duly attired, along a substantial stretch of the Wall, accompanied by a walking support team in appropriate romano-british garb. With the assisance of association members and various 'friends' within the reenactment community the event is slowly coming together and more news will follow.

In the meantime, any offers of assistance, no matter how small, would be gratefully received.

The Sancuary website will be on line shortly and a link will be added here for anyone thinking of a donation.

Elaine.

It's a kind of Magic"

Magic the horse is introduced to some of the Scythians who will accompany her on the journey ahead.