Roman legionaries demonstrated their fighting skills over the weekend as Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna held its annual Roman festival, Romanus, at Fort Rinella, in Kalkara.

Drawing on over seven centuries of Roman occupation in Malta, the festival included a combination of talks, hands-on displays, static exhibitions of weapons and equipment, food and wine tasting and large scale re-enactments depicting different forms of Roman warfare in the field.

Displays included foot and mounted troops, which, for the first time, were assisted by a live-firing catapult.

Also on display was a museum-quality period chariot.

The event was organised in collaboration with Legio X Fretensis, a local historical re-enactment group dedicated to recreating the early Roman empire legionaries of the first century AD.