Imperium Romanum

The Imperium Romanum museum! (not really)

Added 2024-02-26 19:00:02 +0000 UTC

Last week we were invited to museum Het Pakhuis in Ermelo, the Netherlands. A year or so ago the manager of the museum, Patrick, had done a photoshoot with us, with the intent to use our photos for his permanent exposition about the Romans. We knew Patrick from the reconstructed iron age farm called Erve Eme, the location where we shot most of our early work (for the documentary about Caligae and Germanic tribes for example), and so we were happy to return a favor to him. Since that photoshoot the museum had undergone a considerable make-over, but now the time had come for a grand opening. With some drinks in our hand we were among the first to see the new exposition.

Being a (former) re-enactor himself, Patrick's focus for the new exposition was to really try and bring antiquity to life, with much more than just rusty old artefacts and information panels, but with lots of photos, videos, life-sized mannequins and hands-on examples of Roman games and other items (you can see the perfume samples on one of the photos for example).

Not only photos and items of us ended up prominently on display in the museum, but even our videos! Even though we are used to seeing ourselves on screen, seeing ourselves in 'physical' form all around a real, serious museum is a whole new experience. Outside right beside the main entrance, there's even wooden cut-outs of Marc and Alain in auxilia and legionary outfit, menacingly looking down upon each visitor – or being taunted by our secretly jealous colleague re-enactors of course.

Anyway, we haven't had the proper time to see and read everything in the museum, we're confident this one is lot more accurate and engaging then the other museum we posted about a while back. So if you’re ever in the eastern parts of the Netherlands with some time to kill, definitely check out Museum Het Pakhuis in Ermelo and say hi to us!