Fredb

The point of a tatoo has always been the same. Wether it was Caesar with a wreath on his head and his spoils of war behind him or Shaka and his stamping dancing Impis. It's a public display and it's for the people. It's about pride and a "show" of strength and so on. It's meant to be entertaining. The British army do it, I watched one only last year.

Lots of gold uniforms, impractical costumes, big wide hats and silly shiny shoes. It looked like a procession of clowns. Yet nobody would take the actual army itself for a joke. Just because they marched without fatigues and in a marching band with children and girls doesn't mean you arern't looking at an actual squad of killers.

It's all about impressing your people and making them feel not only linked to you but proud of you. Mothers and sons, wives and their husbands and so on.