A talk to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the discovery of Colchester’s Roman race track and the ‘Bread and Circuses’ phenomenon.

Bread and Circuses
Wheat, in the form of bread, was a staple of the Roman diet. This talk explores how the wealth generated from the rich arable land around Colonia Claudia Victricensis (Camulodunum/Colchester) generated the wealth required to support the most expensive of Roman pastimes – chariot racing. It also considers how the racing would have been organised in Colchester’s circus – thereby helping to explain why Colcheter’s circus is the only one in Roman Britain.

Colchester Archaeology Talks
Raising funds to support the Roman Circus Visitor Centre, Archaeologist and Historian Richard Bale explores different Roman topics using archaeological and historical evidence. Each talk seeks to reveal the hows and whys of a subject so that we can understand the lives and times of famous (and often infamous) Roman characters, and also explore the similarities and differences of modern life with our Roman ancestors.

Please note : This series of talks describe and discuss Roman Life from an archaeological and historical perspective. Due to the nature of the period some aspects of this topic may cause offence to a modern audience. The intention of the presenter is to be informative and to represent the Roman period as accurately as possible, both for its good elements and bad. Richard Bale, Romanist.

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