Blogging from: London, England on October 22nd, 2019
Bloggers: Leo and Alex
Steps taken: 27,000
Our day began with a full English Breakfast at the Royal National Hotel. After weeks of Italian breakfasts of cornetti and shots of espresso, nothing was a more welcome change than a truly hearty breakfast. We stuffed our plates with copious portions of fried eggs, hash browns, toast, roasted tomatoes, and baked beans.
Fueled up for the day, we hopped on the tube and travelled over to the London Mithraeum. The site housed a temple for the worship of Mithras. Adherents of the Roman mystery cult built underground caves to worship a Greek-Persian-Roman divinity whose slaying of a bull offered its cultists divine salvation. As we descended into the dark underground, we stood in the basilica-like chamber where the cultists would have practiced their mystery rites. A symphony of chanting, mist, and lights coalesced to create the effect of the temple’s atmosphere.
While most museums we visited are owned and managed by the state, the London Mithraeum museum is owned and operated by Bloomberg in a private capacity. This prompted an interesting discussion of how museums can influence our perception of materials, and who should be responsible for preserving cultural patrimony and making it accessible. This Bloomberg Mithraeum museum was visibly better-funded and staffed than most of the state-managed Italian museums, yet its spin on antiquity was palpable. Should the state or individuals take the lead in preserving the cultural patrimony?
After ascending back into the earthly realm, we went to see the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre in the City of London. This amphitheatre dates back to 70 CE. Much like the Mithraeum, its ruins are housed in a distinctly futuristic facility. Like something out of an off-brand Matrix film, the amphitheatre rendered combatants as neon green outlines. We took a moment to pose with the gladiators before escaping with our lives.
Our journey led us to the Museum of London, where we learned about the development and history of the City of London, a Roman city. We were accosted by swarms of schoolchildren who were enjoying the kid-friendly exhibit on Roman Britain a bit too much. We soon discovered that the entire museum was designed for children. What a dreadful insult to our intellect! To think that children can truly appreciate classical antiquity is laughable. But I digress…
Our museum tour intensified as we returned to the British National Museum, which we had visited the day before. Although it is unrelated to Roman Britain, we briefly posed as typical tourists and briefly viewed the Rosetta Stone, the legendary centerpiece of the museum. Mack, the Hellenist, attempted to hog the monument for himself and block out hordes of tourists as he crouched in front of the stone reading ancient Greek. We then saw the Parthenon marbles, or Elgin marbles, which are the sculptures that were removed from the Parthenon atop the Acropolis of Athens in the early 20th century under Ottoman occupation. The British Museum denies the Greek government’s repeated requests to return them. Professor Stewart remarked that the marbles looked sad because they were away from home. Quite finished with this controversy, we retreated back to our “safe space”: the Roman Britain room of the British Museum.
We further ensconced ourselves in the British culture by enjoying British high tea at the British National Museum. We were delighted by the towers of sandwiches, biscuits, and pastries. Out of the blue, we were approached by a Japanese film crew hoping to film Ben as he chowed his way up the tower. The camera loves us! We ended our day unexpectedly early, our brains full and our bodies thoroughly museum’d out.