History Hit’s Tristan Hughes heads behind the scenes at the British Museum to get a special look at items from their exhibition touring the UK in 2025-2026: Gladiators of Britain.
Taking visitors back nearly 2,000 years to the Roman province of Britannia and beyond, the exhibition brings together 25 items from the British Museum and Colchester Museums collections, as well as items from each local museum partner.
Join curators Dr Anna Willi and Dr Richard Hobbs as they discuss items featured in the exhibition, including the Murmillo figurine, a bone figurine found near Colchester that depicts a gladiator of the heavily armoured Murmillo class from the 1st - 2nd Century AD, as well as a rare coin with a depiction of the Colosseum on one side, a beautifully preserved gladiator themed oil lamp and incredibly, the Hawkedon Helmet (1st century AD). This is the only piece of gladiatorial armour ever found from Roman Britain.
Up Next in Ancient Rome
-
Enemies of Rome: In Search of the Picts
For centuries they were depicted as enemies and barbarians, only portrayed through the eyes of the Roman Empire. Now, through new archaeological discoveries and research, the story of the Picts is being rewritten.
Join Tristan Hughes as he travels across Scotland, meeting experts in stone-carvin...
-
Greatest Discoveries: Last Days of Po...
Tristan Hughes explores the destruction of Pompeii, using extraordinary eyewitness testimony and the revelations of archaeology to understand what really happened here nearly 2000 years ago.
In 79 AD, one of the greatest natural disasters in Roman history occurred in southern Italy, when Mount V...
-
Fire and Blood: Boudica's Vengeance
In 60 AD, the fledgling Roman town of Colchester witnessed ancient Armageddon. Thousands of British warriors descended on the settlement, turning what was then the capital of Roman Britain to ash. At the head of these attackers was one of the most well-known figures in British history - the warri...
7 Comments