Les Grands Jeux Romains

Yesterday we drove out to the city of Nimes to participate in a Roman reenactment day.  It all began with the Emperor, Hadrian, orating in Latin. 

He was then settled into his chariot and the parade began, down the main drag in town, from the Maison Carrè to the Arenes at the other end.  Lots of armor, gold, marching soldiers and fawning townsfolk.

After filling up with a picnic lunch, we entered the arena and started participating. 

Julian explored every nook and cranny of the arena, finding the best way to get from point A to point B.  He has loved to do this in the Arles arena as well.  Noah was a bit freaked out by all the weaponry, hairy guys, and general mayhem so he wandered with Ed and Julian. 

And Micah, along with two of our neighbours, joined the ranks of idolizing kids willing conscripting themselves into both the Gaulois and Roman armies. 

First the Gaulois: the underdogs, long-haired and rascally.  They had the kids each take a sword and shield and line up shoulder to shoulder.  They would yell back on command, pound their shields with their swords, lunge with their swords.  They would bunch together, shield covering shield, to march in an impenetrable line and shove aside the enemy.  And they did this over and over again.  Heaven!

The Romans:  This time the kids took lances or shields.  In the lancing group they got to yell on command (like all good soldiers) and then hurl their lance at the crowd of shielded Romans.  As our neighbour so aptly stated, “That is SOOO cool!” The shielded group got to cluster together with the shields in front of and over them, all working as a tight-knit, compact group.  They were the impenetrable ones this time.  It was so cute to see our three-year-old friend in the center of the crowd, too small to hold up any part of the shields, yet flanked by all of the bigger soldiers.  And then there was the sound of the lances barraging the shields.  Thump.  Thud.  Bang. 

We then set up in the stands and relaxed for a bit until the games began.  The emperor paraded in, along with all of the armies, horse brigades, etc.  And then the games really began.  They emphasized that the games were being held to thank all of us plebians for our loyalty to the emperor.  Along these same lines, at various points during the Games we, the people, were tossed tasty morsels from fair maidens.  Rolls to feed the hungry masses…

To start the entertainment there was a telling of the story of Helen of Troy and the Trojan Horse.  You can only imagine the looks on everyone’s faces when, not just one or two but eight soldiers climbed out of the horse.  The battle was gruesome, but fast, with all of the damsels carted away.  (Micah leaned over to me and explained that he thought there was a law that women were not allowed to be hurt in battles.)  

Then came the prisoner games.  Each prisoner was shown to the crowds and given an opportunity to gain back his life.  If the prisoner could run across the entire arena without being caught and re-imprisoned then his freedom would be restored.  Before coming to France I never could have imagined sitting in a Roman arena, surrounded by the French, chanting, “Libertè, libertè!” as a practically naked man raced across the stadium. 

Next up were the horse-riding competitions, where the Gaulois took on the Romans in wounding the wooden dummies.  The Romans were clearly the lesser opponents, and the crowds went wild (yes, WILD) each time a Roman missed, or a Gaulois made a particularly stunning move.  They then switched from heads to cabbages, first green, then purple, and finally to apples.  The rider had to stab or slice off part of the veggies.  When the Gaulois finished I had to lean over to Ed and feign a faint… “My hero!”  They were just amazingly skilled riders.  The Gaulois were proclaimed the winners, and the Romans skulked off in their golden gear. 

The next part of the games were the gladiator games.  There were different types of weapons, ranging from varying types of swords, to knives, to tridents and nets. 

There was a declared winner, who was allowed to live, and the loser was put up to the whim of the crowds and the emperor.  After the MC asked the crowds multiple times, “La vie, ou le mort?” the emperor would give his grand judgment.  If allowed to live, the losing gladiator simply left the arena.  If sentenced to die, he would be thrown to the ground and the Pick, painted in blue and just ghastly crazy, came in with his sledgehammer and killed the man.  Let’s just say that I was fiercely shouting “La Vie” but I was pretty about the only one.  Not something that my kids had ever really seen before….

Finally there was the grand finale… the all-encompassing battle between the Gauls and the Romans.  The Romans were all lined up and orderly and the Gauls, well, just not.  They were so spirited and clearly out-numbered that it was impossible not to root for them.

They did fabulously against the single brigade of Romans but, when the other troops were called in, they were surrounded and killed mercilessly.  There were only three left standing, one of whom was gored through, one of whom fled, and the boldest of all took his own life while taunting the Romans.

.  The Romans celebrated, and then the MC, in a gesture of good will, called all the Gauls back to life and the whole arena went wild. 

 

Depending on how one feels about dress-up games, the event might have come across as a bit hokey.  But really, you couldn’t help but have fun because everyone was so INTO all of it.  The crowds were there, many also in costume, set up for the day.  We all waved white napkins, did the wave, chanted loudly and cheered wildly.  It was a really fun way to experience France because, although the French love their order and pomp (the Roman side) they also foster a joie de vie lawless side as well (the Gaulois side).  In the Grands Jeux Romains we got to celebrate all of that. 

And, of course, as one might imagine, the role-playing at home that has gone on since the Games has been all about, yup, you guessed it, sword-play, wrestling and general battle cries.  Long live my little conquering heroes!