I CAME, I SAW, I TWEETED STORY OF ROMAN INVASION

By Steph Johnson

Published at 11:34, Wednesday, 27 October 2010

THE 2,000-year-old story of the Roman invasion of Cumbria is being retold through the eyes of a young soldier – via Twitter.

Legion of followers: Robin Brown uses an iPad

‘Marcus Julius Latinus’ will use the social networking site to give daily updates on the march to occupy Carlisle.

Under the user name i, Tweetus he will give a first hand account of a soldier’s life during the winter of 72/73 AD.

The city’s Tullie House Museum is behind the project and the role of Marcus will be played by two enthusiastic local historians.

First up was Robin Brown, a Carlisle based Roman re-enactor, who made the first tweet yesterday.

It said: “It is 5am, it’s dark and cold. We are leaving Deva (Chester) for the wild Northern lands of Luguvalium (Carlisle).”

Robin told the News & Star: “I think the best way to bring history alive is to make it relevant.

“This will certainly be interesting, it’s nice to find new ways to engage with the public.”

To help dramatise the story, experts at Tullie House have invented a background for Marcus.

He’s 26, 5ft 10ins, with brown eyes and brown hair.

Originally from Rome he’s in the Second Legion ‘Adiutrix Pia Fidelis’ who had been stationed at Chester.

Part of an 80-strong group, Marcus shares a tent with seven other men.

He carries a shield, spear and 40-kilo pack with enough food to last for three days.

Every effort is being made to make sure his character, and tweets, are historically accurate.

But Tullie House is happy for Marcus’s followers to have an online debate about how likely his posts are.

Archeologist Tim Padley, the museum’s keeper of finds, will be sharing the tweeting duty with Robin.

He said: “The joy of Twitter is that it’s interactive. It’s not just giving information one way, we hope that conversations will develop.”

Marcus will be tweeting until March and he already has 312 followers waiting to see how he fares during the campaign.

To join their ranks visit Twitter.com.

SJohnson@cngroup.co.uk

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