Classics Trip to Italy

Saturday 29th October was the beginning of the 5-day Classics Trip to explore the ancient sites of Italy. After exploring the Naples Archaeological Museum, which houses an amazing number of famous Classics artefacts, mosaics and statues, the group made their way to the beautiful town of Sorrento where they were staying for the first night.

The first task on the second day was to climb to the top of Mount Vesuvius on the dusty path, where they looked into the crater and contemplated the destruction caused by the eruption of 79 AD. They explored the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii and were amazed by the preserved state of the amphitheatre.

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The group travelled on the third day to Herculaneum, a smaller town preserved in a different way to Pompeii. As a coastal town, they saw the commercial areas and the caves by the shore, where the gruesome remains were seen of the citizens who had sheltered there in hope of rescue.

On the fourth day, the first big site in Rome was the Colosseum, the truly massive size of the Amphitheatrum Flavium allowing a full appreciation of the often gruesome entertainments that went on there. They explored all the famous historical sites where the Classical Civilisation students could see the buildings they study as part of their course on Life in Rome for GCSE.

On the final day, the group visited the Ara Pacis and Augustus’ mausoleum, and discussed the nature and power of the Julio-Claudian emperors, another important part of the background for Classical Civilisation and Latin students.