What do you do if someone steals your clothes while you’re swimming? (Apart from going home in your bathing suit, that is.) Is there any way to get the clothes back, or to find out who took them? The Romans had a solution: they could write a curse asking the goddess of their local swimming pool to make the thief give the clothes back. How did that work? And what about preventing stomachaches? Certain Romans could have dealt with that by being more careful about what they ate, but were there any other solutions? Yes: they could get help from the god of tummy ache. How did that work?

An ancient magical gem showing Chnoubis, the god of tummy ache.

In this workshop, you will explore Roman magic, focussing particularly on curses and gems, and make replicas to take home. You will:

·         examine some replicas of curse tablets from Roman Britain,

·         learn when, why and how Romans used curses,

·         hear (or tell, if you know them already) some stories from Roman mythology,

·         compose a Roman-style curse that characters in those myths might have wanted to use,

·         inscribe your curse onto a replica tablet using a stylus,

·         seal up your curse and deposit it in a replica Roman shrine,

·         learn how and why ancient people used magical gems,

·         hear about the strange deities pictured on the gems,

·         design your own ancient-style gem,

·         carve your design onto a wax gem replica using a stylus,

·         activate the magic in the gem and see whether it works.

Tickets £25, or £50 total if combined with Vindolanda workshop to make a full day (in which case children will be supervised over lunch)

Carving a magical gem.

This workshop is designed for ages 8-16, but older and younger participants may be welcomed on a case-by-case basis. All participants must be able to read. The workshop will be held at the reconstructed Roman villa at Butser Ancient Farm, admission to which is included in the workshop fee. There will be a lunch break and two snack breaks, for which you can bring your own food or purchase sandwiches, snacks and beverages from the farm’s shop. If the weather is good, you can picnic in the villa garden; if it rains, in the villa itself.

The formal Roman garden at Butser Ancient Farm.

The workshop will be led by two scholars from the University of Reading, Professor Eleanor Dickey FBA and Adél Ternovácz. Eleanor did her D.Phil. at Oxford and is now Professor of Classics. She has published numerous books about the ancient world and its surviving texts and has taught in six different countries. Adél is a PhD candidate in the Department of Classics, where her research focuses on the re-use of ancient gems as seals in medieval Britain. She earned her BA in History and MA in Classical Archaeology from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and also holds a Master’s degree in Museum Management from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest.

This workshop is offered in partnership with the Reading Ancient Schoolroom, an educational charity started at the University of Reading in 2014 with the aim of bringing Roman schools to life and sharing them with today’s children. The Ancient Schoolroom will be in residence at Butser’s Roman villa from 19-25 August 2026, offering a range of workshops and drop-in activities.

 If you have any mobility concerns, special requirements, or other practical questions, please contact admin@butserancientfarm.co.uk. For questions about workshop content or participants outside the expected age range, please contact the Reading Ancient Schoolroom at E.Dickey@reading.ac.uk.