On Tuesday 6th December, we were delighted to welcome 22 Year 5s and 6s from local primaries to our ancient weaponry workshop. Children were greeted by a Greek hoplite soldier, before receiving a Conrinthian helmet-shaped badge. They were then led across to the classics centre, where tables had been laid out with assorted weaponry artefacts from our collection, including a lithic arrowhead (approximately 10 000 years old), a Roman onager shot (dating between 1 - 400 AD) and a World War One shell case. The children were asked to explore and handle the artefacts, and try to guess at what they were, before being introduced to each one in detail.
After this, the workshop explored the weaponry of the ancient Greeks with the help of our replica Corinthian helmet which the children were all able to try on, and the aspis shield. They were then able to choose a design from the many used by Greek city states, and to decorate their own miniature shield to take away.
Finally, they were introduced to the Roman gladiators through a thrilling re-enactment of two pairs of gladiator fights, acted by our Year 9 Classical Civilisation students at Cheney. The Roman emperor presided over the show, and the Year 5s and 6s cheered for their favourites!
We really enjoyed introducing our original and replica weaponry artefacts to the group, and are very grateful to our brave Year 9s who entertained with their carefully choreographed contests!