TRAC 2006 SESSION
Presenting the Romans
Philip Bethell (National Trust) philip.bethell@nationaltrust.org.uk
Archaeologists develop their own perceptions of what being 'Roman' means, through an
immersion into a wide range of information sources, analysis and discussion. It is very
easy for us to assume everybody else knows what we are talking about, but the reality
is different. The ways in which 'the Romans' are presented to other audiences mean that
the public perceptions of Romans and their Empire is often markedly at odds with
prevailing academic theory.
This session will look at a number of ways in which the Roman period in Britain is
presented to a range of public audiences, through Museum displays, schools education,
re-enactment, the broadcast media, and so on. The theme will stimulate debate and
hopefully reflection on how we, as archaeologists, convey our messages to a wider public,
and whether the gulf between academic theory and the prevailing public perceptions can
ever be truly bridged.
Paper titles
Phil Bethell (National Trust)
"Presenting the Romans"
Andrew Gardner (University College London)
"Playing the Roman Empire"
Pete Wilson (English Heritage)
"Fiddling with old bits of Romans: How the public got involved with the Groundwell Ridge excavations, and their resonses to it"
Sarah Talmage (National Trust)
"What has the National Curriculum ever done for us?"
Jenny Hall (Museum of London)
"Displaying the Romans at the Museum of London"
Abstracts
"Presenting the Romans"
Phil Bethell (National Trust)
A brief overview of the ways in which "The Romans" are presented to "the public": through the media of TV, cinema,
factual books, fiction, toys and games, a multitude of images and perceptions of the Romans are presented to a wide
variety of audiences. Is there a true image?
A look at how the Romans are presented at the Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire will provide a case study.
The interpretation of the archaeology is filtered through the lens of income-generation and the need to feed an
audience with something it can relate to. This involves re-enactment, 1st-person interpretation, and various visual
and audio media.
"Playing the Roman Empire"
Andrew Gardner (University College London)
Computer and video games have begun to take over from Hollywood movies in terms of the amount of money they make,
and are reaching ever-wider audiences. A significant number of computer games falls into the 'strategy' genre,
and of these many are set in the ancient world. From 'Age of Empires' and 'Caesar III' to 'Rome: Total War', the
Roman empire has proved a particularly popular focus for such games. In this paper, I will cast a sympathetic yet
critical eye over some examples of the presentation of Rome in computer games. While primarily forms of entertainment,
an educational sub-text is often quite apparent in the pseudo-academic trappings attached to many of these games
(such as historical notes in instruction manuals), and yet they present very partial and Modern accounts of the Roman
past. I will conclude by arguing that a more holistic approach need not be
incompatible with entertainment, particularly though alternative genres which are becoming increasingly popular,
such as online role-playing games.
"Fiddling with old bits of Romans:
How the public got involved with the Groundwell Ridge excavations, and their responses to it"
Pete Wilson (English Heritage)
The Groundwell villa was found during development and after a public campaign to save it was purchased to save the
site from further destruction. From the start the intention was that the site would be 'for the people of Swindon'.
It was incorporated into an area of public open space and protected as a scheduled monument. How do we square that
circle? Working with Swindon Borough Council, English Heritage organised two seasons of community archaeology that
investigated a bath suite with deposits up to 1.7m deep, excavated by a team in which the volunteers were an integral
part. How did people respond? A new archaeological group - 'The Friends of Groundwell Ridge', a community website,
a digger's blog, 2000+ visitors, and one attempted nighthawking attack ; everyone's responses were different and, with
the exception of the last, almost all entirely positive.
"What has the National Curriculum ever done for us?"
Sarah Talmage (National Trust)
According to the definition provided by Directgov, an official government website, "The National Curriculum sets out
the stages and core subjects [a] child will be taught throughout their school life. Children aged five to 16 in
state or maintained schools must be taught according to the National Curriculum."
This paper looks at the way in which "the Romans" are taught at various Key Stages, and the knowledge, skills
and understanding required of school students. A case-study at a primary school in Suffolk outlines how this works
in practice, and how using visits to heritage sites can create problems of understanding.
"Displaying the Romans at the Museum of London"
Jenny Hall (Museum of London)
The Romans engender tremendous interest across all age groups and any Roman Gallery has to attempt to satisfy all
level of visitor needs. Most Roman displays, however, are heavily used by school children at Key Stage 2. So how can
the Romans be presented in museums and enjoyed by seven or seventy year olds? The Roman Gallery at the Museum of London
was refurbished ten years ago to both include the most recent of archaeological discoveries and to interpret a period
in the context of London's chronological history in such a way that it could be enjoyed by all ages.
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Last updated 13th March 2006 R.M.B.