During their Classics lesson on Monday 9th December, Year 9 were treated to a visit by Sunday Times bestselling author Ben Kane who, dressed in Roman military kit, described the realities of daily Roman life. Having transitioned from vet to author of historical fiction, Ben Kane engages in vast amounts of research to ensure his books are accurate and informative whilst remaining lively and engaging. 

The topics ranged from marriage, childbirth, pets, education, trade, housing, sanitation, slaves and gladiators - all to reveal real people’s concerns from two thousand years ago and compare them with our own. He brought alive archaeological evidence and certainly made Year 9 think about how much we can learn about the diet of the Romans from investigating sewers! 

At the end of the talk, he showed a variety of fascinating replica artefacts, including a bronze purse that would have held coins inside but that would be concealed on the wearer’s upper arm to avoid being robbed on the street. After his talk, there is no doubt that we are grateful to be alive in the 21st century and to be accorded the privileges of our education, opportunities and security we enjoy in Bath today.

When providing feedback, Year 9 students commented: 

"I learnt that certain Roman women would use the oil and dirt scraped off of gladiators as love potions; coriander and pepper were sold and bought from India, making them extremely expensive and that white chalk would be put on the feet of slaves when they were sold, in order to mark where they went if they dared to run away." (Trinity)

"I particularly enjoyed his descriptions about dental care and it was interesting to see how different the beliefs in medicine were back then." (Alethea)

"I learnt how poor people live and how we mostly look at the rich people’s villas but we wouldn't see the grotty side! This includes things like toilets, where the waste goes and more!" (Amelia)

"I most enjoyed how Ben made it seem like he was a Roman, so it sounded like he was telling us from his experiences and I liked that!" (Daisy)