EASTER 2026 Newsletter – Travel Updates, Out and About, Research and Resources, Films, Games and Gaming, Theatre, TV, End of Term Activities……
Χαίρετε! Salvete! Greetings! Happy Easter! Καλό Πάσχα!
Should you be preparing to travel during the forthcoming Easter break, whether school study trip or private holiday, why not undertake a little pre tour planning with the amazing ORBIS?!
It’s a fascinating tool by which to compare today’s costs, duration, mode of transport and level of (dis)comfort to that of the ancient world. Not only a valuable educational task for pupils in particular …….. it’s quite a revelation for all!
ORBIS is one of several online RESOURCES featured on our Web Page – have fun!
Travel Updates – alterations, persistent irritations and a state of flux
At Check-In, an airport employee asked:
‘Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?’
To which I replied, ‘If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?’
He smiled knowingly and nodded, ‘That’s why we ask.’
An apocryphal story perhaps (I never know any more!) – but a humorous reminder to always keep your wits about you!
Recent feedback from Group Leaders
i – Fingerprint and Biometrics on Arrivals and Departure are unsurprisingly suffering ‘teething problems’.
Even at the same Airport, and within 24 hours of each other, school experiences differed considerably. Yes, there were delays, particularly on arrival (which we have allowed for) but on departure some schools were fingerprinted and photographed twice, others were not.
“Return Travel – This was hairy. We got to the airport and through security in good time but had to wait for the gate to be shown on the information boards. It was a trek to the gate through more duty free, which became an issue this time because we all had to have our photos taken, passports scrutinised and fingerprints checked again. This took AGES. And it’s on top of the existing checks that were done when we got to the airport 2 hours before.”
These glitches will abate, but for now – do not dawdle and keep as a group!
John travelled back from the same Airport the following day and sailed straight through, although he was delayed on arrival by a complete computer meltdown at Passport Control.
ii – Liquids at airport. Although some UK Airports now have no liquid restrictions on departure, nor manual checks of hand luggage, the same cannot be said across Europe. Strict regulations often still apply but without the availability of zip lock see through plastic bags! This has caused considerable delay and much aggravation; please be prepared.
iii – Grumpy and awkward Guardians at Sites.
Greece – Delphi Guardians continue to be the worst, insisting upon proof of ages and in some instances, School Stamps on Letter Headed. Please be polite but very firm, the documentation we have issued is correct! Always ‘phone the Agent if you experience difficulties.
Italy – Herculaneum Guardians win the booby prize!
“Staff at Herculaneum have been a nightmare ever since I did my first trip there in 1998. They would not allow the children in with their backpacks and said they had nowhere to store them. I said I would sit on the grass outside with all their backpacks while the other 4 staff took them round. When they saw me doing this, they let them put their backpacks in lockers. This wasted 30 minutes. Most of the sites did not allow the children to bring in backpacks.”
Please report back such instances as we are recording all issues, with dates, for our Agents to make a formal complaint on our behalf after this travelling season.
iv – Greece aims to cut queues at ancient sites with new portal Travel operators raised concerns about being able to harmonise the new tool with their own bookings systems. “If everybody tries to log in on April 1, the system will crash,” one operator warned. This does not affect you as a School Group, so please ignore any apparent mayhem.
v – Trevi Fountain – From Feb 1st, 2026, €2.00 pp due in situ. Access is restricted to a maximum of approximately 400 people at a time. Entrance is via the central staircase; exit is on Via dei Crociferi, please check before scheduling your visit: fontanaditrevi.roma.it
Visiting hours are usually
Monday: 11:30 – 22:00
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 9:00 – 22:00
Friday: 14:00 – 22:00
Saturday & Sunday: 9:00 – 22:00
Last entry at every day 21:00
However (!), on some days, entry times may vary due to maintenance operations and/or public order reasons, eg: Mondays, March 16th, 30th, April 13th, 27th, May 11th, 25th entry will be from 2:00 pm
After visiting hours, the fountain remains visible for free but as you can see, it’s wise to quadruple check!
For a pre visit glimpse of the new experience, do visit –
a – New Ticketing at Trevi. Video on X/Twitter
@salviamoroma on X: “#Roma #FontanadiTrevi #ticket La grandezza di questo monumento era il colpo di scena: sbucare dai vicoli e ritrovarsi in un teatro a cielo aperto. Oggi tra ticket, gazebo, nastri neri e transenne, venditori abusivi di magia ne è rimasta poca. Sembra l’ingresso di un supermercato?”
And
b – @mamboitaliano__ Video on X/Twitter
The first unappealing images of the Trevi Fountain, now behind a paywall
Farewell, Dolce Vita
OUT and ABOUT – Blogs and Suggestions
The Hellene Team haven’t been out and about much, so far this year……….. but exciting plans are in the pipeline!
John did make a flying visit to Rome in January, before our first schools arrived, to check possible new Hotels and update Risk Assessments on existing ones………. but his photos really aren’t very exciting!
Luckily, many enthusiastic Classicists are out and about and report back with exciting Blogs with some interesting twists! I hope you decide to follow at least one, if they are new to you.
i – The World of The Hearts of Heroes – Mona: Rome and the Isle of Anglesey
ii – Exploring the Tombs of Via Latina! – Ancient Rome Live
iii – Agnes Crawford – Understanding Rome. Blogs and Newsletter
You really all should be following this lady, no excuses – a positive wealth of information!
a – A Wander through Ostia Antica, part 1 From the via Ostiense to the Theatre
b – A Wander through Ostia Antica, part 2 From the Theatre to the Forum
c – Never far from Rome VI. The Amphitheatre of Londinium
d – March’s Monthly Postcard from Rome (and Tuscia)
e – April’s Postcard from Rome – by Agnes Crawford
iv – Mount Hymettos, Athens: A Holy Place For Writing | EGI – Epigraphy Graffiti Iconography…………… and the follow up re-enaction! Writing on Mount Hymettos… in Duplo! – The VIEWS project a Duplo tribute to writing on Mount Hymettos, in honour of International Lego Classics Day. Along the way, there was also a very exciting intervention by way of a Lego research session led by Visiting Fellow Helen Magowan
v – We have this marked down for our next trip. Far from the scooter infested streets and airbnb flats stands an unusual sight: a functioning Temple of Jupiter.
It is not a reconstruction, but an active sanctuary. Built by the Associazione Tradizionale Pietas, a contemporary neopagan group reviving ancient Roman religious traditions, the temple serves as a living connection between antiquity and the present.
vi – Phallephoria, Athens – we last attended five years ago and had a smashing time Reports of this year’s celebration recently popped into my mailbox. Enjoy!
“Λάβρυς” Λατρευτική Κοινότητα “Falliforia” the sequel, through the eyes of Thodore Θοδωρής Παπαπετρόπουλος we warmly thank him for the unique shots he shared with us!
More images on Facebook – it would make for an excellent Departmental Exeat!
vii – On location: Algeria
This week Darius is on the ground in Algeria, exploring the ancient lands of Numidia and Mauretania—where indigenous Numidian cultures, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, and early Christians once thrived. The ruins are vast, the history layered, and many of these extraordinary sites remain largely untouched by tourism.
viii – Finally, a well-deserved shout out to Olivia McPhee, a young Classicist based in Scotland who approached us when we were last recruiting. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and we are quite chuffed that she has kept in touch! If you have the time, check out her Web Site Olivia’s Odyssey and offer a few words of encouragement and advice – she’s been impressively busy, including a ten month stint as the library/archive intern for the British School at Athens! I do hope someone can offer her a position within the Classics world, as she says, “no matter how small”!
RESOURCES AND RESEARCH
i – Interview Belonging in/to Lakonia
“Belonging in/to Laconia. An archaeohistorical study on the Sanctuary of Apollo at Amyklai and its surroundings”, at the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” explores this question. The subject of the study is the hill of Agia Kyriaki, 5 km south of Sparta.
ii – Aes Grave MuX Grant Approved! – Liv Mariah Yarrow
Stable Currency? Variable Cu:Pb:Sn Alloys and the Value of Rome’s Cast Coinages
iii – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
a – How Could I Overlook Odysseus!? Theme and Fit in Iliad 10
b – Time, Feet, and Serious Wounds: Starting to Read Iliad 11
c – The Beginning of His Trouble: Characterizing Achilles in Iliad 11
d – Dawn, Reestablishing Space and Time: Beginning Iliad 11, Again
e – Insidious Inception? Nestor’s Speech to Patroklos in Iliad 11
f – Looking Up and Out: Starting to Read Iliad 12
g – Why Must We Fight and Die? Reading Sarpedon’s Speech to Glaukos in Iliad 12
h – Scarcity and the Iliad: Thinking about Similes in Book 12
i – Hektor and the Beast: More Similes in Iliad 12
j – The Iliad’s Longest Day: Starting to Make Sense of Book 13
k – Epic Narratives and their Local Sidekicks: On Cretans in Iliad 13
l – Poseidon, Divine Hypocrite: Impersonation and Interpretation in Iliad 13
m – What A Dangerous Thing to Say! Politics and Absurdity in Iliad 14
n– Thematic Unity in Iliad 14 – where did Homeric book divisions come from?
o – Falling Asleep after Sex and Other Cosmic Problems: The Seduction of Zeus in Iliad 14
p – Zeus and ‘Righting’ the Divine Constitution: An Introduction to Reading Iliad 15
q – Brothers, Sisters, Wives, and Divine (Dis)Order: Setting things Straight in Iliad 15
iv – HOPLITE WARS – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
a – Part IVb: Training Hoplites?
b – Ancient Mediterranean Mercenaries!
v – In Pursuit of Peace, Ancient Athens Created a Goddess
In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, Athenians worshipped Eirene. Her cult reflects the political role of religion in Ancient Greece.
vi – Lusitania Was Not Conquered, It Was Negotiated: A Study Reveals the Complex Interaction Between Romans and Indigenous Peoples in the Tagus Valley
vii – Rethinking Troy: How years of careful peace, not epic war, shaped this bronze age city
viii – An Horizon Scholarship recipient connects ancient athletics to modern wellness. Through her research, she explores how ancient societies grappled with human health and limits, shedding light on enduring ethical questions about technology, well-being and excellence that continue to shape modern sport and medical care. She is particularly interested in the intersections of ancient sport medicine, the portrayal of Greco-Roman athletics training and muscular in sculpture, and ancient regimens for physical and psychological optimization and their impact on community identity.
ix – Aeneas transforms how historians connect the past
Introducing the first model for contextualizing ancient inscriptions, designed to help historians better interpret, attribute and restore fragmentary texts.
x – The Anti-Empathy Movement & the End of the Iliad | by Maximus Planudes
xii – Investigating the psychedelic hypothesis of kykeon, the sacred elixir of the Eleusinian Mysteries | Scientific Reports
xiii – Explore the Faces of Ancient Roman Egypt in Getty’s New Volume on Mummy Portraits Free download
xix – The Odyssey is Complicated – The Paideia Institute.
And you might be misremembering some of its major narrative episodes.
Exhibitions and Lectures
i – City of Rome | How cults shaped early Roman colonialism by Tesse Stek – YouTube. British School at Rome
ii – Who really founded Rome? Aeneas and Troy exhibition at Colosseum to shed light in 2026
iii – 
iv – The Digital “Kidnapping” of the Marbles – tovima.com
“Life After the Marbles.” The Institute’s initiative allows the public to tour a digitally transformed “Parthenon Gallery.”
v – How Greek Drama Speaks to the Modern Mind | Simon Goldhill in conversation with Josephine Quinn – YouTube
FILMS, TV SERIES & THEATRE
i – A guide to screening the Ancient World – Paul Cartledge
Films and TV series, from ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ to ‘I, Claudius’, continue to shape our understanding of antiquity.
ii – Odysseus the destroyer? Christopher Nolan’s new Odyssey adaptation revives an ancient moral question
Imagine waking up to find strangers in your home – eating your food, killing your animals, then laughing as they blind you. Later, they tell the world you were the monster.
iii – ‘Heated Rivalry’ Creator Jacob Tierney Sets ‘Alexander’ Netflix Series
iv – Denzel Washington’s Yet-Untitled Hannibal Movie Starts Filming in Rome in June – so we can now also argue about age!
v – Óresteia At The National Theatre Is Gruesome And Glorious
Theatremaker Benedict Andrews expounds on his latest undertaking with Þjóðleikhúsið (Iceland) – no arguments on the ‘scary’ bit!
BOARD GAMES AND GAMING
i – God of War: Sons of Sparta, a New Game Inspired by Ancient Greek Warrior Culture
ii – Five Lines: The Strategy Game Ancient Greeks Loved (easy classroom activity)
iii – Students Simulate Ancient Greek and Roman Empire Battle Strategy – Colorado College
After discussions, readings, and lectures, students got to put their knowledge to the test through hands-on simulations, including a video game session in the Esports Lab. Students are first given about 30 minutes to experiment with different armies and formations against an AI opponent.
“I realized the massive difficulty of moving troops to counter the opponent that the generals of antiquity seem to have done with such ease.”
WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD?
A huge amount – that’s why, this time, we are concentrating only on
New exhibitions and openings highlighted in red.
End of Term Activity Suggestions
I – Classroom Debates are always a popular way to finish up Term in a constructive fashion; those held regularly at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, may offer inspiration!
a – Hero or War Criminal? National Hellenic Museum Puts Odysseus on Trial
Was the slaying of more than 100 suitors by Odysseus an act of justified defense or a brutal massacre? One of literature’s oldest moral dilemmas argued in a Chicago courtroom setting, not by literary scholars but by some of the city’s top legal minds.
b – Helen of Troy Retried. Was she guilty of adultery?
c – Prosecutors tried to prove that Hippocrates was guilty of violating his oath when administering medical care to the dying king of the Ancient Greek city of Thebes
d – Socrates Found Not Guilty in NHM Mock Trial
II – CLASSICS CHALLENGE! I jest – not even the fittest Classicist could compete with a Roman Soldier………or can you?!
This Legionnaires’ Fitness Test Turned Ancient Romans Into the Ultimate Hybrid Athletes
“You’re looking at a near-marathon-distance ruck, completed in five hours, carrying up to 55kg. A brutal blend of strength, endurance and grit.
It’s no surprise Vegetius wrote that soldiers were selected for strength over height.
And that was just the start.”
III – Just in case you have missed this little gem; the ABSOLUTE COUNTER to Chris Nolan Odyssey saturation is of course …
Behold William Shatner as Alexander the Great in failed 1963 pilot
Enjoy reducing your pupils to fits of helpless laughter in the final lesson of term by turning to You Tube!
FINALLY, Bulgari’s New Watch Is Built Around a 1,800-Year-Old Roman Coin
What will be in your Classics Easter Egg this year we wonder? Do let us know!
Very Best Wishes,
The Hellene Team
Sarah, John, Claudia, James, Kerry, Nidhi and Vishal
