To celebrate the release of Centurion on DVD, ZOO were challenged to become a Roman solider for the day.

Kicking off with a nice cup of tea, ZOO were quickly introduced to the crew: five huge, hairy, scary blokes calling themselves The Deva Victrix.

These weren't just men in skirts. These were full-time, full-on Roman soliders - with proper swords and everything. 'First we'll get you in the kit' one of them growled, 'then: we march.'

Gulp.

The first thing we discovered about marching like a Roman solider is that it isn't easy. You've got to be in line and in time - all while carrying your own body weight in chain mail, helmets and weapons.

The second thing we notice is that when you march through the street as a Roman soliders, other people notice. Hysterical children, unimpressed teenagers and some tripped-out Grandmas all had a good gawk.

But before long, wearing all that gear started to feel... well... sort of, cool.

Hang on. Reenactments? Fantasy? Pretend names? Surely ZOO wasn't being drawn in by this sort of geekiness.

But then it occured to us: we sit at home all the time in our pants, watching war movies or pretending to fight in battles on our PS3 - and now we're doing it for (sort of) real!

This is brilliant! Game on!

Soon, the Deva Victrix had ZOO throwing spears, clashing swords and running around like a blood-thirsty (if weedy) warrior.

We even get a special Roman solider name: 'Octavius', which may or may not translate as 'pathetic wimp'.

By the end, we were a sweating, trembling wreck - all of which goes to prove that those Roman boys deserve our respect.

After all, ZOO was finished after four hours of it. The real Centurions and their men were on the road for 25 years at a time...

Check out the picture gallery from ZOO's Centurion day.

Centurion is out now on DVD and Blu-ray

The fantastic Deva Victrix crew can be contacted at the Roman Tours Ltd official website.

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