Heads up for a trip back in time! The three classes of CE2 went back to year 98 during a fascinating visit to the Xanten archaeological park !
The programme included a visit to the museum and the beautiful areas laid out around the remains of the Roman colony, and three workshops for our pupils: making a Roman wax coin, making a wax tablet to write like the Romans, and finally a fancy dress workshop: all the paraphernalia you need to dress up as a Roman legionary! There was even a centurion in the group!
Visitors were also given a tour of the amphitheatre. The luckiest of them even climbed the benches!
They learned all about the lives of the gladiators, and even listened, in the dark corridors of the amphitheatre, to the furious growling of a bear ready to unleash the wrath of the underworld in the arena…
They were also explained the functioning of a Roman colony, the layout of the town, the aqueducts that brought in spring water, and even the port on the Rhine, where boats unloaded goods straight from Rome: dates, olive oil, etc. …. Did you know that the Roman garrison was also homesick and that the Rhine bed has moved several kilometres in 2000 years?