1 November 2022
Abingdon pupils and staff enjoyed a very successful trip to look at the Roman remains in Spain. We quickly discovered that we were pioneers as a Classics department in visiting Spain; local guides were somewhat surprised that we were not university students of archaeology, and, conversely, that our students already knew a lot about the ancient world despite their age!
We found sites virtually empty and could explore the stunning buildings and artwork at our leisure, another boon of visiting a less well-known part of the Classical world. As is our custom on Classics trips, the older pupils gave prepared presentations to the rest of the group on important aspects of the Roman presence in Spain, such as Romanisation, the Imperial Cult and military colonia; we were even entertained in the theatre at Medellin to a modern reworking of Plautus’ comedy: Mostellaria (The Haunted House), with topical references from the editorial team of Pupil Voice, which nobody expected.
In the course of the trip we were able to see examples of all the different buildings which might come under the bracket of ‘what the Romans did for us’, particularly at Merida, which boasts a theatre, an amphitheatre, a hippodrome and a majestic aqueduct (as well as one of the best laid-out museums we have visited). It was also a joy to get to know two of Spain’s most beautiful cities, Cadiz (the oldest city in Western Europe) and Seville, with the beautiful Plaza de Espana and Gironda tower.
The trip ended with the usual fiendishly difficult quiz in teams, and, on the final drive back to Madrid, a stop-off at the picturesque temple at Bohonal amongst the Spanish oaks beside a reservoir lake. The pupils and staff are fortunate to have seen sites few students of Classics ever get to see.
