• The Lugdunum and Gallo-Roman Museum are offering a Roman Festival on the Fourvière site on October 9 and 10.

  • The Pax Augusta association staged the reconstruction of a Roman village and camp, with its ceremonies and extras.

  • Precise historical sources have made it possible to achieve a reconstruction that is as authentic as possible.

Greet a Roman emperor, follow the maneuvers of Septimius Sévère's troops, visit a village such as it existed in Fourvière in Gallo-Roman times ... It is on this journey through time that the Lugdunum museum invites the 9 and October 10 to accompany his new exhibition

In Search of Power

. A free Roman Festival for the general public, which gives an unprecedented glimpse of Lyon's history.

At the helm of this large-scale reconstruction: the Pax Augusta association, created in 1989, which brings together around thirty enthusiasts of Lyon and its region.

"Our vocation is above all educational, we are not a show company", specifies François Gilbert, historian and president of Pax Augusta.

“We want to share our passion and our knowledge of Gallo-Roman antiquity, and more specifically in Lyon.

"

First event "so grandiose"

A quarter of the group is made up of historians and archaeologists, professionals or students, the rest being made up of amateurs, who work on sites with a strong ancient heritage. If the association proposed this festival on the Fourvière site, it is because strangely, it had never been done. “Lyon is the capital of the Gauls, with an extraordinary heritage and museum, but this is the first time that we have organized such a grandiose event, on which we have been working for months. "

The Roman Festival will set up a permanently animated Gallo-Roman village and military camp on the esplanade.

“There will be religious ceremonies, riders will make demonstrations, we will present maneuvers, we will show how a Roman soldier lived, in a mix of troops who were stationed in Lyon at different times,” explains François Gilbert.

“There will also be civilians, with a small village like those who settled near the camps.

"

Authentic and tailor-made costumes

Valerio Bello, a well-known reenactor in the field, will play the emperor, with his imperial court, his decorum, his flamboyant outfits. Costumes are also at the heart of any historical reconstruction, and the members of Pax Augusta make them themselves, "whether it is civilian or military clothes, cooking equipment ... And also because it is interesting to find gestures, to understand the know-how of the past ”.

The sources of these reconstructions could not be more authentic: François Gilbert, researcher associated with the CNRS, specializes in the uniforms of soldiers and gladiators.

“Our sources are iconographic: frescoes, archaeological pieces, but also literature.

Ancient society is very codified, there are many color codes, shapes that allow us to know who is who and to recognize their status, by observing the color of gowns or the shape of shoes.

»On Saturday evening, by the light of the braziers, Roman dishes will be offered, made with products used 2,000 years ago.

According to the sources, it was better to share the emperor's table than that of the soldiers.

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