Romulus, Remus and Lupa (she-wolf) by lamplight.

The altar to Roma Mater revealed.

First night, gathered around the campfire.

The mysterious Celtic girl, who was brought in for "questioning" and given the run of the fort.

Innocent, isn't she? She later slaughtered three Romans on guard duty...

Morning, day two. Some of the huge pile of equipment hauled in by Dan Peterson overnight.

Some of Dan's Legio XIIII GMV shields. Note the use of light metal and leather applique wings and thunderbolts.

Morning assembly for address by the host centurio.

Quintus Valerius Germanicus (Mark Saddler), centurio of our host legion, II Augusta.

A member of Legio XIIII tries on a Gallic I helmet.

Nate Bell, aka Brionnach, crafty leader of the Celts. He wears a proper tartan scarf, maille shirt, and Port helmet.

Flavius of examines Brionnach's beautiful (and properly made) maille shirt.

Nice black crest and crest box, featuring Greek key pattern.

Praefect Julius (J.D. Feigelson), sporting a magnificent plumed Attic helmet, reads dispatches from Rome.

The Praefect crafts a carefully-worded reply.

Back view of he Attic helmet, which Julius crafted himself.

Centurios Marsinius (Craig Nordquist) of Legio XXII and Justinus (Rusty Myers) of Legio VI Ferrata.

The Celtic girl is brought in for questioning. Flavius, of Celtic roots himself, acts as translator.

The Praefect's HQ, guarded by a pair of auxiliaries.

Legio XXII standard, crafted by J.D. Feigelson.

The Praefect politely interrogates the mysterious girl, Flavius translating.

Dan Peterson's impressive row of Legio XIIII gear, lined up before three (count 'em!) leather tents.

Centurio Marsinius leads the garrison cohort in a drill session.

Lining up for a four-on-four engagement.

Marsinius goes mano-ad-mano with Marius (Mario Padilla) of Legio IX Hispana.

More combat training.

Needlefelts at ready...

Parrati percute...

Close-up of Dan Peterson's beautiful Mainz gladius scabbard, lorica plumata, phalarae harness and greaves.

Primus Pilus Dan enjoys a visit to the vicus, where officers take their meals.

Dan Peterson with the California contingent, from left Flavius, Dan, Marius, and Valerius (Jim Whitley).

Lee Holeva (Titus Neuraleanus) has a word with the Praefect.

Valerius tries on the Praefect's Attic helmet.

Side view of the Attic helmet. J.D. started with a basic Valentine Armory helmet, stripped it to the bowl, and built this masterpiece from it.

Dan Peterson joins Flavius in a little game of "dicing for denarii."

Flavius collects his winnings...

Lineup of leather tents, looking back from the forward parapet.

The main barracks building, capable of housing 18-20 legionaries.

Dan, Marius and Valerius on the front parapet, examing Legio XIIII's scorpion.

Unfortunately, we couldn't shoot it, since the torsion skeins and bowstring needed work.

One of the greatest things about Fort Lafe is that you could turn 360 degrees and not see a single modern structure, road or telephone pole.

Praefect and Centurio question Brionnach, who has come to the fort seeking a certain missing girl from his tribe.

The Centurio makes sure this chieftain gets his point.

Officer's meeting before the front gate.

Front gate, parapet and forward wall.

Flavius stands guard duty.

The Praefect in all his glory. Note the eagle-headed sword!

Communing with the common soldiers.

Late afternoon get-together around the campfire. It was true heavy cloak weather, with daytime highs in the damp 50s, plunging to below freezing at night.

Relaxing by the barracks block.

Leather tent line up. The big tent at the end is a Deepeeka Centurio tent.

Camp interior, late afternoon. Our peace would be shattered by a Celtic night attack that killed every Roman save two...

Nice Coolus G helmet, of proper A.D. 40s vintage.

Needlefelt pila stacked for use on the parapet.

Marsinius climbs the staircase...

Valerius and Flavius survey the surrounding woods for signs of Celtic activity.

Legio VI VPF on the Empire's new frontier!

Gotta love that scorpion!

Wonder how far we could shoot this thing from up here....

Flavius, bearded and bundled up.

Centurio Justinus on guard duty. We later learned having a big red crest sticking up in a crenellation wasn't such a great idea...

Torches lit for night watch.

Standing guard by night. If only we'd known...

Benificiarius spear by Deepeeka.

Morning, day three. Working out the kinks from a cold night's sleep.

The Praefect has new orders: Don't let the whole garrison get slaughtered again!

A rather suspicious-looking Roman merchant, aka Caius Fabius, pays a visit to the fort.

Dan Peterson, sans his finery, checks out some auxiliary shields.

Two Roman saddles, Deepeeka's new model in front, original Peter Conolly-built example behind.

Side view of the Deepeeka saddle. Not badly made, though the horns seem a bit too long.

Front view of Deepeeka saddle.

Bleary-eyed legionaries spill out of barracks into a cool morning.

Centurio Longinus addresses his troops.

Morning inspection, garrison cohort.

A pair of newly arrived Auxilia take up stations. Hmmm, can we trust these guys NOT to turn native?

Auxiliary enclave. The answer, of course, is NO!

Dan gets kitted up, preparing for a big day.

Nice unobstructed view of Dan's lorica plumata, made of thousands of tiny, silvered scales applied to a mail backing.

The Primus Pilus before his command tent.

Quintus dons his centurio gear for the pass-in-review.

Quintus gets a little help on his hamata.

Legionary on guard duty, with a nice view of the front wall beyond.

Another view, different angle.

Valerius in his subarmalis, prior to donning his Newstead cuirass.

Marsinius leads his patrol into the dense woods. "Spooky" doesn't begin to describe the experience.

Hmmm, remind anyone of any place in particular? Like the Teutoborg Forest, maybe?

Squad leaders Marius and Flavius move on through, weapons at the ready.

Inspecting an abandoned Celtic roundhouse.

A pair of possible hostiles appear in the trees, just out of pilum range.

Flavius questions the natives. They sound evasive, but not overtly hostile.

Celtic villagers, friends or foes?

Well, they seemed friendly enough... until the AMBUSH!

Aftermath of battle: A dejected Valerius inspects his bent shoulder section.

The patrol party prepares to head back to the fort.

Approaching the front gate, calling out the password.

One of Legio XIIII GMV's leather tents. This one was made for an used by Marcus Junkelmann on his famous over-the-alps trek in the late 80s.

Edge of the Junkelmann tent.

Front of the Junkelmann tent. Note the extra flap of leather long each gable, probably to help channel rainwater down the sides.

Top / side of the Junkelmann tent.

Openwork legionary emblem, like those found on shield covers, applied to the tent.

Closer view of the tabellum.

Edge of the Junkelmann tent. Obviously adhering to the "low side wall" variety of contuburnium tent.

Nice view of Legio XIIII's command tent, made by Deepeeka as a prototype.

The Primus Pilus spruces up his camp.

Medium distance view of the front wall.

Barbarian's eye view of defenders looking down from the parapet.

Flavius stands guard duty in the gatehouse. Photo by Mario Padilla.

Climbing the stairs for s shift on the upper deck.

A Celtic horseman (or horsewoman?) approaches the fort as a sentry watches warily.

Aftermath of gate battle: Checking for a pulse.

The bloody nose-bridge crew: From left, Marius, Flavius, Dan Peterson, and Scott Turbot (aka R. Suetonius Strabo) of Legio II Traiana, CO.

Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!

Mark Breckenridge, aka "Monte Fortino," Roman legionary and standup comic.

Mark strikes a pose at the gate. This guy had everyone in stitches with his historical comedy routines through most of the event!

Flavius inspects a beautiful Celtic Port helmet, ancestor of all Imperial Gallic helmets.

Prefect and Centurio atop the gate, ready for pass-in-review.

Getting set for the pass-in-review.

Assembling for pass-in-review. Further commentary unecessary for the next few frames.

Valerius takes a stroll beyond the walls.

Ready for march-out, auxiliaries at the gates.

Caius Fabius seems unimpressed by all this military finery.

A conclave of crested centurios. From left: Rusty Myers, Craig Nordquist, Dan Peterson, J.D. Fiegelson, Mark Saddler.

Valerius puts his best (undamaged) shoulder forward.

Night three: A final gathering 'round the campfire before retiring.

Fire, cloaks or no, it was coooooold out there.

Reflecting on an incredible weekend.

Final day: Nate Bell pays a final visit to his Roman friends.

Nate Bell, aka Brionnach, all decked out in maille shirt and gold torque.

Flavius gets another gander at Nate's maille shirt, made from alternating riveted and punched rings.

Legionaries gather to examine some genuine Roman military artifacts that Dan Peterson brought along from his collection.

A piece of scutum edging from the Peterson collection.

Underside of scutum edging.

Dan Peterson collection: Assorted phalarae and sword chapes.

Dan Peterson collection: Lorica segmentata buckles, hinges, tie loops, and bosses.

Dan Peterson Collection: Roman belt plates, buckles, dagger frogs and fittings, mostly early to mid 1st century AD.

Dan Peterson collection: An array of cavalry pendants.

Dan Peterson collection: Crest mount holders and embossed helmet cheek pieces.

Dan Peterson collection: Mid-1st century Roman patera, in two pieces.

Sunday: Dan loads up for the long trip to KY.

Swords, daggers, and other gear aplenty from the Legio XIIII armory.

A Legio XIIII legionary shows off his unit's beautiful vexillum, complete with applied metal letters and gamma appliques.

Dan Peterson lines up with Legio VI's Flavius, Valerius and Julius...

...and Dan gets a Legio VI Victrix T shirt to add to his collection.

Mark Saddler gets a LegioVI baseball cap for his unit's generous hospitality and a truly terrific event!