Stepping Back in Time to Roman London

The Latin trip was a great success, despite the heat on the tube! Students from Year 9 and Year 10 visited a number of the Roman galleries in the British Museum to learn about primary sources concerned with next year's GCSE Roman Civilisation topic of Slavery.

After a leisurely lunch in the British Museum rotunda, we travelled to the Roman Amphitheatre under the Guildhall Art Gallery near Bank, where the epicenter of Roman London would have been at that time. Students got a sense of the scale of the amphitheatre, both from the basement remains of the walls and from the tile outline of the circumference of the ancient structure built into the plaza in front of the Guildhall.

Finally, we walked over where the Walbrook River would have flowed in ancient times to the London Mithraeum Bloomberg Space, where we were greeted by a blast of most welcome air conditioning and a lightshow in the building's basement recreating the ambiance of the ancient temple.

Students completed a learning booklet based around slavery and a fun activities booklet (and rainbow pencil!) provided by Bloomberg. Hopefully some students will bring their families to visit the Roman Amphitheatre and Mithraeum, as it was a first visit for many of them!