After a much anticipated and long-awaited visit to the Queensland Museum for the Heroes of the Colosseum exhibit, I was thrilled that it met all my expectations and more. I have always had an interest in history and love attending the museums to fulfill my thirst. However, as we all know, sometimes an educational visit can sometimes feel like a trip the colosseum, surrounded my running and screaming children, but are far less entertaining than the actual gladiators on display. So I was very excited to hear of the ‘After Dark’ exhibit, an adults-only night where you are able to soak in the full glory of Rome, complete with wine and toga, if you please.

After being greeted by a lion (Caitlan Strongarm & Kristian Stanic) (who seemed more like he should be across the road performing ‘Cats’ at the QPAC than chasing gladiators at the museum) we entered to see friends, Romans and countrymen alike congregated in the main foyer. After finishing our drinks, we headed to the talks.

First up was ‘Consulting the Bones’ with Damien Fegan and Linc Morse. An educational and funny talk on the how archaeologists can determine if remains are gladiators and what gladiators looked like.

Afterwards, we stayed to see ‘Four points to Consider’ presented by Dr Tom Stevenson. This talk was about some of the myths of gladiators and gladiatorial combat perpetuated by film. We were definitely entertained!

Finally, we headed up to the exhibit. It is a beautiful, and stunning collection of artefacts than illuminated and bring life to the glory of ancient Rome. The displays come from museums around the world and contain everything from gladiator helmets and bits of the colosseum, to graffiti from the Pompeii ruins. The exhibit has much fascinating information displayed as well on screens. After posing for the customary photo in my helmet, we exited through the gift shop (most of which seems to be British Museum merch). After buying my SPQR T-shirt, it was already time to go.

Caught up in the wonders of ancient Rome, time seems to fly by. If you love history, you could easily spend hours amongst the exhibits. It is a wonderful and fascinating exhibit that I would recommend to all.

Veni vidi vici! A big ‘thumbs up’ from me! 

By Jasmine Regan Feldman

Queensland Museum, Brisbane

Friday 13th Oct, 3 Nov, 1 Dec: Friday 22nd Sept, 27th Oct

Exhibition until 28th January 2018

By Dr Gemma Regan