Museum of London

Regardless of the fire evacuation and bad weather, I found the Museum of London to be fascinating. The Roman visit was extremely detailed and full of great artifacts. I especially like the miniature recreations of the civic centre and the waters edge. I was amazed at the great detail involved that showed the various tasks the people carried out on a daily basis. For example, one section featured a group of men who were constructing a building on high scaffolding. This made me contemplate the great difficulties involved in construction of that time period. The ships also looked large and complex. I wondered if they were built in Londinium or elsewhere in the world.
The numerous exhibits showed how life was completely different for the Romans. Replicas of living rooms and dinner rooms were erected, which showed how much simpler they lived. Common tasks such as preparing a meal or transporting goods would have taken a considerable more amount of time. Although their lifestyle was different, it was very clear that they were still concerned with decor and beauty. The original mosaic floors were breathtaking and very elaborate, and I was amazed to see that they even had heating underneath the floor!
Being a biology major, I was particularly interested in the Roman horse skeleton. The exhibit stated that the Exmour pony is a modern day descendant of a roman horse, which made me think about how the horse had evolved overtime. I am very interested in evolution and would like to understand more about how this specific species was genetically altered since the Roman times. Furthermore, I was fascinated by the Roman baths but wondered how clean they were and if diseases could be spread through their use. Natural spring water was held in storage tanks and the waste water was expelled out into the Thames. However, the water could be an excellent place for bacteria and viruses to grow. I also wondered how the bathing was performed. Were people given their own separate rooms or did they bath together?
Other small artifacts were very interesting such as the locks and keys. Even with the large time gap between the present day generations and the Roman's, there was still a common concern for safety of people and belongings. There were intricate locks and keys, and the owner would usually wear the key around his neck. The entertainment artifacts were also very interesting and unusual. There was a bikini from a Roman acrobat. The Londinium Roman culture is so old that I thought it was much more primitive than it actually was. Clearly they were interested in entertainment, and they even had acrobats and theatre!