To celebrate the opening of the new Mithraeum Museum in the City of London, a range of Roman themed events is taking place throughout the late summer months.
The Mithraeum Museum is being built under the new Bloomberg Building next to Mansion House and will see the Temple of Mithras being returned to its original location after it was moved during post war rebuilding.
The new museum will show off a range of Roman finds, as well as the restored Temple itself, and a festival of Roman London will herald its opening.
As with many themed festivals, many are things that would have happened anyway — such as walking tours and the like, but here are some of the more interesting highlights.
July 28th – 29th October – Free
In the atmospheric surrounds of London’s Roman Amphitheatre, come face-to-face with a Roman skull uncovered during excavations in the Walbrook Stream.
Swords and Sandals: Outdoor Cinema Season at Guildhall Yard
August 7th – 15th – £10
An evening of Roman themed films projected onto an inflatable cinema screen in the open air Guildhall yard.
- Life Of Brian – 7th August
- Pompeii – 8th August
- Roman Holiday – 9th August
- Jesus Christ Superstar – 10th August
- Carry On Cleo – 14th August
- Gladiator – 15th August
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August 9th – Free
Explore a pop-up exhibition curated by top archaeologists and handle objects used in the reconstruction of the Temple of Mithras. Learn about how the 14,000 archaeological finds were processed during excavations on the site of Bloomberg’s new European Headquarters, and gain an insight into one of London’s most important new heritage sites.
August 25th – 28th – £22
A recreation of the ancient gladiatorial games, staged right on top of the original Roman amphitheater that sits underneath the large courtyard outside the Guildhall.
August 30th – January 1st – Free
David Roberts’ painting The Forum, Rome forms the centrepiece of a new display in Guildhall Art Gallery which explores why the forum was so important in the Roman world, how it would have looked, and what exactly happened there.
Trowels at Dawn: Protecting the Past in Post-war London
September 2nd – £8
Join archaeologists Peter Marsden and Max Hebditch for a discussion on what it was what like to excavate in the post-war period and how iconic sites such as Billingsgate Roman House were discovered and preserved.
The History of Roman London to the End of the 2nd Century AD
September 21st – £5.90
Join Roman London expert Simon Elliott to hear about the early history of Roman London. Learn how it was founded, its destruction during the Boudiccan Revolt and subsequent recovery, and how it matured to become a key commercial and administrative centre.
October 3rd – 29th – Free
View rarely seen excavation photographs and discover the sites that were uncovered during the post-ware rebuilding of London, including the Temple of Mithras and the remains of the Roman fort and City wall.
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Roman London
October 5th – Free
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain outlined a fraudulent ‘British History’, accepted as genuine for over 400 years. There was no place in it for the Roman conquest of Britain. London was never Londinium, but instead ‘New Troy’, founded by Trojan exile Brutus and ruled by independent British kings. Join John Clark to hear how medieval Londoners and London’s historians responded to Geoffrey’s version of history.
Hallucinatio at Leadenhall Market
October 19th-24th – Free
Seems to be a sort of VR headset event, which lets people see the Leadenhall Market as it would have been in Roman times.
October 20th & 21st – Free
Watch a 3D-video projection onto the front of the medieval Guildhall building with music composed by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
The video will run for 20 minutes, and be repeated thoughout the evening.
A review from a similar sort of event in 2016
I’m not convinced that the display of Gladiators’ killing with bloodshed is a good idea.
But on the other hand there’s something of an ejaculation in this spurting blood. Perhaps was it the reason why Romans were so attracted by violence. And why we are. Such is the world that blood sheeds are not only more moral than sperm sheeds, but also quite less frustrating and so painful for spectators, and even quite more likely to happen because less selective in their conditions.