The children from the group for full-day study in the 5th grade at “Vasil Levski” Elementary School – Razgrad, during the second term worked on the project “We, from Ancient Rome”.
The leader of the group, Neli Nikolova, encouraged them to work on researching the lifestyle, beliefs, combat organization of the Roman army, food and holidays of the ancient Romans. And the final lesson was in the “Abritus” Archaeological Reserve. There, in the authentic setting of Antiquity, the children took on the roles of Roman citizens, legionnaires, and priestesses. And a reenactment – like a reenactment! Every holiday in ancient Rome began with a ritual. So this one also began with a ritual lighting of the Fire of Vesta performed by the priestesses, and their teacher stepped into the role of high priestess and led the ritual.
On the stage were the legionnaires – the two twin brothers Koray and Tolga, Ensar and Burak. Roman citizenship was represented by Valentin, Kaloian, Damla, Melek, Christian, Emre, and Emir, who told curious facts about the Romans, about the battles in the Coliseum, about the gods, about their eating habits and feasts, about the wildest Roman emperors, about the holidays Saturnalia, forerunners of today’s Christmas holidays.
Attila and Ege took on the role of chroniclers and told of the battle between Romans and Goths near Abritus, in 251, in which the emperor Trajan Decius and his son and co-emperor Herenius Etruscan died.
The priestesses brought a lot of beauty and grace with their dance, which they worked on with great desire under the guidance of Katya Portyanova. Busse, Nil, Pavla, Simona, Elya, Simai, Eifer, Tuana and Katina – with extravagance and grace recreated the image of the mystical virgins who guarded the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta.
And to feel the taste of ancient Rome, both the participants and the audience tried Roman donuts. With this performance, Neli Nikolova’s students wished their classmates a happy vacation and showed them that history is interesting and easy when you experience it.
The group would like to express their heartfelt thanks to the Regional History Museum – Razgrad, which opened its doors and provided the necessary props for the reenactment. The exposition on that day enriched the children’s knowledge of Roman history, and the participants of the event each took home a coin – a gift for their curiosity.
You can see more photos on the Facebook page of the Regional History Museum:
https://www.facebook.com/regionalhistorymuseumrazgrad
Photos: PS “V. Levski”
