On 19th June, 50 Year 10 Classical Civilisation students enjoyed a trip to the ‘Legion’ exhibition at the British Museum.
The journey to the Museum involved a scenic tour of key London landmarks. We saw Rishi Sunak exiting Parliament and even ended up in the background of an item broadcast live on the News.
We toured the Parthenon Marbles and Bassae Frieze, key sources from Year 10, together with a pot pourri of other classical artefacts. Some recognisable from lessons included the Theseus kylix, the Corinthian style helmet and the Panathenaic amphorae, awarded to contestants at the Games.
The ‘Legion’ exhibition proved excellent preparation for next year’s course on ‘War and Warfare’. The exhibition describes life, work, war and death in the Roman army, and included highlights such as the only complete surviving Roman legionary shield, an iron cuirass found on the battlefield in the Teutoburg Forest, and a breastplate made of crocodile skin. There were also quirkier objects such as an anti-cheating device for Roman dice games, the howling, dragon-headed ‘draco’ used to scare enemies and a pair of Roman socks!
At the end of the exhibition, there was a chance to work out whether students would live or die as part of the Roman army. We all survived to tell the tale of course.
Mr Adams purchased a full set of legionary armour in the gift shop, coming soon to open morning 2024-5. Thank you to Theo who helped carry the weaponry back to the Classics Office.
This trip marked the final trip of the academic year for the Classics department, which has included tours to Sicily, Spain, Rome, Wales, Bath, Canterbury, Windsor and more.
Thank you to Mr Adams, Miss Ferstman and Miss Aitken-Burt for all their help and tours around the various sections of the Museum.
Alea iacta est!
Mr M Morrison, Teacher of Classics
