Search This Blog

Saturday 12 February 2011

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

I’ve really enjoyed watching Channel 4’s Rome Wasn't Built in a Day. For those of you who’ve missed it, English Heritage commissioned a Roman villa to be built at Wroxeter, home to some spectacular Roman remains. The catch was that the builders were only allowed to use techniques familiar to the Romans, so that the villa would be as authentic as possible. The builders are all great characters, and their wit and wisdom have made this a funny series as well as compulsive viewing for history buffs. It’s many years since I visited Wroxeter, but I must make a visit down there this summer and see the new villa in all its glory.



Images: Villa Otrang and Roman mosaic at Fliessem, Germany. © Sue Wilkes

2 comments:

JaneGS said...

Sounds like such an interesting show--I would love to watch it. Maybe it will come to the U.S. via Netflix someday.

Sue Wilkes said...

The builders actually had to perform some 'experimental archaeology', as some of the techniques and materials used by the Romans have been lost over the centuries. Hope you get to see it someday.