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Classics’ trip to London’s British Museum – July 2011

London was a Roman creation. There was no settlement there prior to the Roman invasion. Roman London was very like the modern day capital – a lively, cosmopolitan place with a strong financial sector. Just before the summer vacation, a group of students, ably led by Cathy Plumb and Andrew Kettle, made their way down there to investigate the treasures the Roman invaders had left behind.

The British Museum has a vast array of artefacts worth seeing including the grand stairway which has a fine collection of mosaics adorning its walls. The Year 2 students have studied the Roman art form of the mosaic during their A2 course and learned about how British craft workers adopted this new art form and made it their own with their own distinct provincial style. It was good to see finished professionally crafted pieces in all their glory up on the walls.

The main area of exploration was the Romano-British gallery which gave the students the chance to see, and in some cases, to touch key artefacts covered on their syllabus such as The Battersea Shield and the Towcester Head.

The group then proceeded to the Roman and Greek galleries and explored the worlds of Emperors, Gods and Gladiators. Most of the deities we’ve read about on the course were immortalised in sculptured form including the god Mithras. Mithras originated from Persia. According to the creation legend, all life sprang from the blood of a bull which the god, Mithras slayed within the darkness of a cave – and so from an act of destruction comes creation. Worshippers of Mithras had to be extremely committed and were expected to undergo a series of demanding initiation rituals to prove their devotion to the god.

Holly, pictured second left, in taking up Classics after hearing recommendations from friends. Pictured here with the highly motivated Oliver Hubball , Eleanor Broadhurst and Zak Bennett ( right ) “ A fantastic day out ”, enthuses Holly who is looking forward to taking up Classics as an AS and A2 in one year. “ It’s great to see the artefacts in the flesh” , adds Eleanor. An equally entralled Zak feels “ it’s fab coming face to face with ancient civilisation” whilst Oliver concludes , “ this has been a great way to finish the course”.

The end of a long and happy day – relax time in Russell Square Gardens.

The trip to the British Museum , which has been a long-standing annual event , was well-summed up by Tom Beech , third to Cathy’s right , who described the day as an enjoyable learning experience.