The Gladiators School in Rome
© Luca LocatelliGruppo Storico Romano is an association founded almost 20 years ago.
Today this association includes about 200-250 members of all ages, social class and political orientation, hold together by the pride of being grandsons of the Eternal City, and of the first great empire of history.
For each of them, the seat of the Gruppo – meaningfully situated on via Appia Antica, one of the most important roads of the Roman Empire – is a second house where they can live like ancient Romans, studying and interpreting with absolute historical precision the habits of Augustus Ceasar’s world, the art of war, pagan rituals and even cooking with the recipes of Marco Apicio. The activities of Gruppo Storico Romano include a “scuola gladiatoria”, a school for gladiators, where ludi gladiatorii, the violent games having been the most renown sport of roman antiquity, are recollected with incredible realism; military training as it was at the time of XI Legio Claudia; the reconstruction – for women only – of the sacred celebrations of the Vestal Virgins, the virgin holy female priests of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth; and representations of the Roman Senate and the Imperial Court.
Gruppo Storico Romano organizes shows for important occasions like the 21st of April, the date of the foundation of Rome, and for recollections of historical battles between Romans and Gauls in many european countries, but it is the “private side” of the association members to provide an outstanding human experience. Sergio is Egerius Licius, Fabio is Marcus Aquilius Felix, Sabrina is Serpia: all of them have a roman name and behave in their daily life today with the personality they created for themselves in antiquity
Recently the prime citizen of Rome and his staff gave to GSR more chances to show them on public situation like for 21 April, anniversary Rome foundation, they have all they need to organize a big march on the ancient main roads of the city.
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