A trip to Coventry - 'Roman Empire: Power and People'

The latest British Museum touring exhibition doing the rounds is currently residing at the Herbert in Coventry, and having failed to make it down to Norwich to see it at its previous venue, I was very pleased to be able to head across this evening to not only look around the exhibition, but also attend a very good lecture on Roman numismatics, of which more later.

I have to start with a tiny grumble, though not one that the Herbert has any control over.  Its something that afflicts every BM touring exhibition - a ban on gallery photography.  I get why some exhibitions have copyright problems, but the archaeology in this show doesn't suffer from this hindrance.  Likewise, some material is susceptible to light damage, but only allowing non-flash photography is now standard in most institutions.  There are no photographic restrictions when the objects are on display in the BM or in their local galleries, so why the change in policy when they are part of a formal exhibition like this?  It feels like such a backward step when we should be encouraging people to share their gallery experiences and promote the subject in the process.

But enough with the grumbles as the exhibition is very good, and strikes a lovely balance between BM material (British and international in nature) and local material.  This is a nice parallel with the study of Roman archaeology in general, which can vary hugely in scale between the truly classical and international and the incredibly local picture encountered in the different parts of Roman Britain.  A particularly nice example of this was the film of the Herbert's archaeology curator, Paul Thompson, teleporting around the Midlands to talk about local sites, which I really enjoyed.

Some of the objects on show are wonderful, and the selection for a touring show is adventurous.  Items like the gilded bronze Hercules from Birdoswald, the stone carving of Horus in armour, the flourite 'Crawford Cup', and the variety of fine marble tomb monuments and altars are objects of the highest quality and benefit from the detailed attention they are given.  Also to be lauded is the decision to place so many of them on open display.  The lack of a pane of glass between viewer and object, as we all know, enhances the experience immensely.

On a more local level, it was an unexpected thrill to see items such as the Mars rider figurine from Norton Disney and a votive plaque with Vulcan from the famous Barkway hoard - both items I only knew from photographs and had not expected to come face to face with during my visit.  I was also very happy to see the coins and pot from the Selby coin hoard, which I have previously blogged about because of the funky science used to examine it.

One area where photography was allowed was a neat section where visitors can step into a Roman coin and become the Imperial portrait of Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great.

The second element of the trip was a very enjoyable evening lecture by Dr Clare Rowan of Warwick University.  Her topic was 'Coinage and Communication in the Roman Empire', which she tackled with palpable enthusiasm, keeping a good balance between the development of Roman coinage and its myriad imagery and social contexts.  Her blog on Roman numismatics can be seen here, and is well worth checking out.

Tweet

Reconstructing Rome - The Lunt Roman fort

Not content with my stroll around the pastoral delights of Chatsworth Park earlier this week, I headed out again today to see the site of the Roman fort known as The Lunt, near Coventry.

The Lunt is a site I've wanted to go to for a very long time but its opening hours are sadly, shall we say, not that friendly and it never seems to coincide with my schedule.  Thankfully, however, I've now managed to break that duck and get across to see it.  And I'm very glad I have.

The main attractions of the site are the reconstructed elements - namely a gateway and section of wall, a horreum (a storehouse / granary) and a gyrus (a horse training ring).  These were very well done and added a sense of realism to the site that few others can match (except perhaps Arbeia).  Although the metal fencing around a section of the wall was rather ugly and incongruous and it worryingly looks like some of the site will need some TLC soon, that doesn't detract from the impact of seeing a large timber Roman military gateway and imagining how imposing it would have been when implanted on the native landscape.

The fort was probably constructed as a direct consequence of the Boudican uprising in AD60/61, and was in use until the late AD70s, interestingly also about the same time that the IInd Adiutrix Legion left Lincoln to go to Chester.

The singular most important discovery at the site is the gyrus, simply because it is currently the only example known from Britain.  The large, circular arena is 34m in diameter and has a double gated entrance.  The structure was designed for training horses and various items of cavalry equipment were discovered during the excavations.  The existence of the gyrus even affected the shape of the fort's defences, which bow out on one side to echo the gyrus' form.

The horreum is the only internal building to be reconstructed.  The term is usually translated into English as 'granary', though horrea could actually be used to store a variety of goods and produce.  The timber example here is lifted from the floor on wooden stilts - a style employed to allow air to circulate and potentially keep out pests, though anyone who has ever had pet rats or mice might doubt that a foot of timber would stop them.

The interior of the reconstructed horreum is being used for something far more interesting than wheat, as it forms the museum and education centre for the site.  The displays are simple but effective, and give a good account of life in the Roman army and a basic overview of subjects such as religion and coinage.  The large reconstruction model of the fort was a favourite of mine, as I'm always a sucker for some good old fashioned model making.

The museum contains a number of objects excavated at the site, but my favourite has to be their very fine example of a 'penis and fist pendant', worn as a good luck charm.  These are often found in military contexts, but this copper alloy example is in fantastic condition, and was very well made originally with some lovely detail, particularly on the fist, which is making the usual 'manus fico' symbol.

Tweet