Submitted by Sean Williams on Fri, 03/05/2010 - 16:44
This week campaigners reached a £200,000 target in their fight to save Colchester's Roman circus. But it's just the tip of an iceberg of red tape the circus must dodge to survive as a tourist attraction. And while the city's leading archaeologist is thrilled the landmark figure has finally been made, he warns there's much more work to be done.
Best-selling author Caroline Lawrence has added her name to a growing list of celebrities supporting the fight to save Colchester's Roman Circus.
Lawrence, the author of the ‘Roman Mysteries’ series of children’s books, joins other high-profile people backing the appeal, including authors Ronald Blythe, Guy de la Bedoyere and Adam Hart-Davis, Time Team presenter Tony Robinson, architectural historian and TV presenter Dan Cruickshank, broadcaster Peter Snow, and former MP and cabinet minister Tony Benn.
Caroline Lawrence, author of the ‘Roman Mysteries’ series of children’s books, will bring a multimedia presentation Colchester on February 19 to raise money for a public appeal aimed at rescuing the Sergeant’s Mess, a Victorian building that has the gates to the Roman Circus – the UK’s only Roman chariot racecourse – beneath it. The building could be sold to developers if £200,000 is not raised by the end of February. The kitty currently stands at £170,000 following a £30,000 donation from council.
The presentation will take place from 2pm on Friday, February 19 at the Colchester Arts Centre. Everyone attending will take home a free signed copy of one of Lawrence’s books.
Submitted by Bija Knowles on Mon, 06/08/2009 - 12:27
If I told you a story about the eighth king of Rome, the clever ones among you might notice that something doesn't quite add up. Your minds might start whirring, scanning the memory for facts about early Roman history... way back when, before the Republic even. And then you remember: of course! Ancient Rome was a city built on seven hills... and it had seven kings. Seven: no more no less. You might well be thinking: 'Anyone who tries to tell me about the eighth king is either a joker or just sadly misinformed!' Well, in that case the joke is on you, because I have learned from reliable sources that the eighth king of Rome is alive, well and living in one of Rome's more exclusive leafy suburbs.
The whole world agrees to the fact that 'Rome wasn't built in a day', yet there's little consensus on how long it exactly took our ancient romans to construct their home town, let alone when they exactly got their shovels out. A date is easy, all historic sources do agree on April 21st, but which year? 753BC is an often used year, and a recent discovery of fortification walls on the north slope of the Palatinus - Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome - dated to the middle of the 8th century BC confirms this. Anyway, enough with the boring facts. Let's bring in the cake as this week we're celebrating Rome's MMDCCLXIIth* Birthday!
(* More or less, as explained above. Oh, you want that translated? Rome's 2762th Birthday that is.)
Pazzaglia cared for the chariot’s restoration according to the logic of the antique market of his time: by assembling original and heterogeneous (by chronology and origin) parts. A recent restoration has permitted reconstruction of the chariot starting from the few elements the museum could be certain are originals.
The wooden structure, no longer preserved, was reconstructed thanks to the surviving fragments of the bronze covering and through comparisons with the study of similar vehicles of the same period. A worthy example of bronze art can be seen in the metal cap with the eagle's head that covers the extremity of the shaft, finished off with a chisel and a punch.
One of the most outstanding pieces from the Oxus treasure, the most important collection of silver and gold to survive from the Achaemenid Period, this tiny model chariot is remarkable. Pulled by four horses, the chariot contains two figures in Median dress, linking the piece with the region at the centre of the Achaemenid empire, which is now Iran. The Egyptian dwarf-god, Bes, known to be a protective deity, adorns the front of the chariot, which is strikingly similar to King Darius's chariot depicted on a cylinder seal which the British Museum also holds.
Although none of the substructure of the original chariot survives, except in one wheel, much information can be gleaned from details on the bronze pieces, other preserved chariots, and ancient depictions of chariots.
For example, the preserved bronze parts of the chariot would have been mounted on a wooden substructure and the rails supporting the three main figural panels would be made from yew or wild fig, although part of the preserved core has been identified as oak. The floor would have been made of wooden slats and the wooden wheels were revetted with bronze. This was used only for the most most elaborate chariots. The tires are iron.
Leather would have been used too in this vehicle. Rawhide strips would have connected the pole to the chariot with more reinforcing straps gathered beneath the boar's head. Plus the yoke would have been lashed to the pole. Traces of leather bands have been found at the upper end of the pole and fat attached to pigskin rings would have helped reduce friction between the moving parts of the wheels.
