HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DEJA VU EXPERIENCE ? TELL US ABOUT IT !
IN ADDITION to being a PHYSIO I work in a SALON which caters for Beauty Therapy and Non-sexual Massage etc. It was a Friday Evening about 8pm and i was just locking up - when a Young Man walked in dressed a Roman Soldier ! He was limping and there was blood on his arms & legs and he looked distressed ! He spoke to me in Latin ! Fortunately I had studied Latin @ School (GCSE) so I understood what he was saying ! I asked him (in a mixture of Latin & Italian !) what had happened ? The gist of his answer was - that he has been *Trampled by a Horse !* His wounds were consistent with *Horse Trampling* which I had seen in the Clinic following an accident in a Gymkhana !
I told him to get undressed (behind a screen) and gave him a pair of boxer shorts and put him in the Shower ! He didnt seem to know what a shower was but he enjoyed it and kept saying *Waterfall !* I gave him some antiseptic soap and was pleased to note that his wounds we more Bruises than Cuts and there was no continuous bleeding. When he was dry I gave him a clean pair of boxers and told him to lie on towel on the couch. I knew a quick *top to toe* with a mixture of Almond Oil & Pine Oil would get him back on his feet again ! He loved it and was muttering all sorts of Latin words - which I wont repeat ! I should mention that in Essex we do get Roman Re-enactment Groups (who do speak in Latin for effect) so I just presumed he was one of those who*d got detached from his Legion. At the Hospital we do get a plethora of Characters - Clowns - Drag Artists - Disney Characters etc so I was not phased by my Legionnaire ! He was much more mobile than when he came in and he was smiling. He dressed himself kissed my hand and was about to leave. I wanted him to fill in a form but it seemed to phase him - (mild concussion ?) so I filled it in for Him ! What a charade ! OCTAVIUS MAXIMUS - Age 27 - No address or phone or email etc. He had a Leather Pouch and a draw string purse and gave me some coins as payment they were Roman Denari ! I was sorry to see Him go there was something very ephemeral about Him ! I watched his departure - through the glass doors and he just seemed to evaporate into the Evening Mist. I realised he had left his pouch -I ran outside - BUT He has disappeared !
I looked in His Pouch - there was no mobiles phone or wallet etc - just the leather bag with draw strings containing the Roman Coins ! Friday night I always have supper with BRIAN and I had phoned him to say I would be a bit late. When I arrived at the FLAT I told Brian all about *My close encounter of the Third Kind* and showed him the Leather Pouch and the leather bag with the Denari ! BRIAN being a Man - knows everything about everything and he was amazed when he saw the coins ! These are real he said - we must take them to the Museum in the Morning ! I drew a picture for BRIAN similar to the one above.
We visited the Museum and the Curator was awestruck especially when he saw the coins which were almost mint in condition ! He showed us a Roman Pouch which was identical to the one the Legionnaire had left behind. *I would love to have these items in our collection* he said *I will get them valued and let you know !*. A week later we returned and he said said the estimated value - because of their condition - and some of them are Silver and two Gold - is £6000 ($8000) and we would love to buy them ! I smiled and said *Well we wont give them to you - but we agreed on 10% so you can have them for £600 - provided you display them with my story !* The CURATOR wrote a cheque for £600 and said *I believe you that was not an ACTOR yu met - HE WAS A REAL ROMAN LEGIONNAIRE FROM THE FIRST CENTURY !*