This is the homepage of the Gemina Project, a Dutch re-enactment society that portrays Roman soldiers and civilians as they would have appeared in the last quarter of the first century AD when the legio X Gemina was stationed at the castra  of Nijmegen. Currently the society can field about two contubernia of legionaries with the associated officers and NCO's, a couple of auxiliary archers and about a dozen provincial Roman civilians. In accordance with the educational aims of our group, members regularly participate in public displays and lectures at museums, schools and sites of historical value, often in cooperation with similar re-enactment societies from all over Europe.

 

The objects we use are reconstructions based on archaeological finds, scientific research and literature and are made as much as possible by the members of the Gemina Project themselves. To make these reconstructions with the highest possible degree of authenticity the members of the Gemina Project spend much time studying on Roman clothing, military equipment and daily used objects. Our equipment and the objects we use are constantly improved and adapted to the most recent finds, to create a picture as accurate as possible. Much of the reconstructions we use are reproductions of finds in the Netherlands which are often displayed in Dutch museums.
Here are some photos to show how we produce and repair our equipment (for pictures click here).

 

The unit that our society has chosen to recreate is the centuria secunda pili prioris, the 'second company of the front spearman', of the legio decima Gemina, the 'tenth double-' or 'twin-legion'. This legion was stationed from AD 71 to about AD 104 at the legionary base established at the Dutch city of Nijmegen after the Batavian revolt. Its abbreviated name, LEG(IO) X GEM(INA), and legionary symbol, the bull, decorate the cross-barred flag at the standard known as vexillum. Although a late fourth century shield emblem is preserved for the legio X Gemina in the Notitia Dignitatum, no evidence directly linked to this unit has survived for the first century AD. The unit shield decoration used by the Gemina Project is therefore a conjectural reconstruction derived from early imperial depictions.

 

CENTVRIA SECVNDA PILI PRIORIS
LEGIONIS X GEMINAE
EXERCITUS GERMANICI INFERIORIS