Greek and Roman life

A gladiator’s helmet brings one kind of bodily protection into a gallery full of things made for people to use. Room 69 groups Greek and Roman objects by subjects such as childhood, music, trade, warfare and burial. Those themes let you compare different parts of a life rather than follow the reigns of rulers. Small tools and ritual objects can preserve actions that large public monuments leave out. A change in material or form may follow a very different use, even within one society. Choose a familiar activity and begin with the objects connected to it. Consider where a hand would hold something or how it would sit against a body. The gallery occupies two levels, and some displays are reached only by steps. Keep that change in level in mind while choosing what to explore.