Roman Specula

In the early years of the Common Era, the mighty Roman Empire holds sway over the known world. Her unrivaled armies press ever outward, achieving victory after victory against the "uncultured barbarian hordes." But if the world is to one day be only a map of Rome, the legions must secure the lands they have conquered. Hence, the speculae, or watchtowers. This one, like so many others built along the borders between Rome and savage Germania, keeps a careful eye with its garrison of loyal legionaries for any trouble that may come crawling out of the dark forests. But of course, not everyone is so happy at the prospect of Rome "enlightening" their lands, so when a brave northern warrior sees his blood brother captured by a scout and brought before the outpost's commander, he may have to throw himself into harm's way and teach these invaders a lesson.

Join the forces of this little cohort manning the watchtower as they go about their daily lives in an ancient era of danger and warfare! On the first floor, see the group's commander, or dux, as he pores over maps, trying to narrow down the location of a pesky barbarian village so the nearby legion can root it out. The group's food stores and some spare weapons are also kept down here. Going up to the second floor, there is a small space where the soldiers can sleep, as well as survey the area in relative safety from behind stone window frames. Up on the top floor, the resident sāgittarius, or archer, keeps a careful eye on the treeline for approaching allies and enemies alike, all while keeping the tower's signal fire burning with the nearby stockpile of wood. Suddenly, he blows his horn -- the young antecessor, or scout, is returning on horseback, and he seems to have brought someone with him! A barbarian warrior, it seems, no doubt doing a little scouting of his own! Perhaps, thinks the commander, he can persuade this new prisoner to give up the location of his troublesome brethren... but before he gets the chance to apply a little pressure, another barbarian charges in to rescue his friend! Will the two of them be able to make a swift getaway in the chaos, or will Rome's peerless soldiers win the day once more?

While LEGO Castle and other medieval themes have long been popular, there exists equal global interest in the period before the Middle Ages, that of the great Roman Empire. LEGO has touched upon Rome's architecture before, such as the Colosseum, or given life to some of her people with the Roman Legionary, Commander, and Emperor Minifigures, but there has not yet been a full-scale set depicting life in Rome, whether civilian or military. This set aims to accomplish just that, providing a set with appeal to fans of ancient architecture, military history, or just those hoping to get their hands on that hard-to-find Legionary!

As a longtime student of the Latin language and Roman history, I've paid careful and loving attention to the construction of this model, matching the details as best I could with some of the academic reconstructions of Roman speculae. Granted, I'm not the best LEGO architect myself (I just follow the instructions, not write them!), so there are some details that aren't quite perfect -- namely, the ladders between floors and the railing around the platform up top, not to mention that the overall dimensions I went with for the floor plan made construction difficult. I also would've loved to build the roof with slanting tiles and give it a weathered, shingled appearance (as in the LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith), but alas this technique escaped me for a four-sided roof. This particular tower is also a bit flashier than they probably would have been, with intricate stonework around the door and a few other places, and golden ornamentation on the roof (those owls are supposed to be eagles, haha), but we can just say that these soldiers are proud of their little home away from home! In spite of that, you can tell that the tower has some nicks in the stone from weathering, and maybe wasn't built with perfectly-cut stones all the way around, but hey, when you're on the front lines and in the wilderness, you work with what you can get! The signal fire on the top floor is also speculative, but I thought it made sense and looked better than a blank grey floor (please excuse my other blank brown floors.) I also forgot to make the model so that the floors can be removed and played inside, also like the Medieval Blacksmith. Whoops! Ideally, that would be a feature in the finished model, and I may try to go back and edit it in if I can.

As much as I love the finished model itself, I love collecting minifigures, so in my opinion, they're the real stars of this set. Along with reissues or perhaps updated, modern versions of a Roman commander and three (3!!) legionaries, you also get a lightly armored cavalry scout and two Germanic warriors (whose land this specula is conveniently squatting on.) The Romans carry their traditional gladiī swords, as well as their squarish shield, the scūtum, and a long spear piece that came with the original Roman Legionary, standing in for the pīlum javelin (I think I could probably design a closer representation of the pīlum using part 57467a somehow... if I come up with anything, I'll be sure to post an update!) The "barbarians" meanwhile wield their traditional circular/ovular shields made famous by the Celts; one carries a typical spear, and the other a longer, La Tène-style sword which the Romans would later adapt into a cavalry weapon. This set isn't meant to necessarily be "set" at any one point in Roman history, even though I had in mind the first century CE when I created it; hence, the styles of armor printed on their torsos could vary, and the barbarian warriors could very easily be Gauls or other tribesmen. (The potential for cool new shield prints is infinite!)

Ultimately, this set is born of my love for antiquity, and I know that there are so many other LEGO fans who would enjoy sets that focus on this pre-medieval time. It's untapped potential! I hope you'll join me, friends, Romans, and countrymen, in rebuilding the Empire's glory in small plastic bricks! After all, in addition to its Danish meaning, lego also happens to mean "to gather/bring together" in Latin! So, let's bring together lovers of ancient history, LEGO architecture, and army building! Ad glōriam!