Events

2025-2026 EVENTS PROGRAMME

Exploring Ancient Greek Culture and Mythology

Friday 29th May 2026: Lower Ground Seminar Room 1, The Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen
In collaboration with University of Aberdeen Collections and with the support of SPHS, this workshop will explore ancient Greek culture and mythology drawing upon objects and volumes in the University’s Collections.
11.00-11.30am: Welcome and refreshments
11.30-12.30: Heroic archetypes: Herakles and Theseus
12.30-1.30pm Lunch
1.30-2.20pm: Mythology and rare volumes
2.30pm-3.00pm Break
3-4pm Visualising the ancient Greek Symposium
4pm-5.00pm Wine reception
All are very warmly welcome. For further information and to register your interest,
please contact Sam Newington: s.newington@abdn.ac.uk

Joint Event: Hellenic and Roman Societies

Pots, Gods and Gold: new research at the British Museum

Tuesday 17 March, 2026, 6-8pm
Room G22/26, Senate House, London

What was served and stored in Greek finely-decorated pots? What would small copper-alloy (bronze) statuettes of deities have looked like in the Roman period, and why do they look the way they do now? And what was happening in the jewellery workshops of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 7th-6th centuries BC, at the time of the proverbially rich King Croesus? Join us for an evening where researchers from the Departments of Greece and Rome and Scientific Research at the British Museum will present exciting new results from three current projects addressing these themes.

6- 6.15 Tom Harrison: Introduction
6.15 - 6.45 Nelly von Aderkas: Containing Commodities: Determining Organic Residues in Greek Decorated Pottery
6.45 - 7.15 Katie Manby: Roman gods through time: the decoration, display and later restoration of ‘bronze’ statuettes in the British Museum's collection
7.15 - 8.00 Aurélia Masson-Berghoff, Frederik Rademakers and Aude Mongiatti: Gold jewellery in the time of Croesus.
8.00 – 8.30 Reception

Autumn Lecture

Thursday 20 November, 6pm
Room G7, South Block, Senate House, London

Professor Richard Janko: Deciphering the Herculaneum papyri

This is an in-person event. All welcome. No booking required.

Conference: Colour, Texture and Sound: Experiencing the Ancient World
Friday 19 September

The Classical Collections Network, in partnership with the Hellenic Society and the Great North Museum: Hancock

The conference will be held on Friday 19 September at the Great North Museum, from 10am to 5pm.

The programme is available here: Colour, Texture and Sound - Experiencing the Ancient World conference programme

Places are limited and registration is essential; please contact connectingclassicalcollections@gmail.com to reserve your place. Priority will be given to members of the Hellenic Society, and the Classical Collections Network which is free to join – for more information please see https://classicalcollectionsnetwork.co.uk/get-involved/

Please indicate if you are a member of the Hellenic Society or the Classical Collections Network when you apply.

There is no charge for attendance. We have a small amount of funding available to contribute towards travel costs; if you would like to apply for this, please contact the CCN on the email address above.

In addition to the conference, the CCN is partnering with the Great North Museum: Hancock on a Great North Nights event, also held on Friday 19^th September from 6-8pm. Tickets for this event are charged at £8 (£10 with a donation). Details are below – tickets are available here:

Great North Night: Sensory Ancient Worlds | What's On | Great North Museum: Hancock

We have a sumptuous treat for you this September at the Great North Museum: Hancock, planned in collaboration with The Classical Collections Network, The Hellenic Society and Newcastle University. This event will open your senses to the sights, sounds, aromas and tastes of ancient cultures. This is an opportunity to travel back in time and experience a life as it might have been thousands years ago. How did people relax and socialise in Ancient Egypt and what did an Ancient Greek home smell like? Would the tastes of family meals be similar to those today? There is only one way to find out: come along to this sensational event.

Here are some highlights you can experience at the event:

Look in delight at the pigments, pattern and designs used in ancient monuments and artwork.
Hear music inspired by Ancient Greek culture including field recordings from the ancient city of Perge.
Feel the clay used in household items from Ancient Greece and Rome and have a go at creating your own clay object.
Smell the day to day aromas of ancient cultures and learn about the properties of the plants and spices used in these the perfumes.
Hold objects and costumes that would have been used by people thousands of years ago.
Taste some samples of ingredients often used in family meals in ancient cultures, thanks to the Magic Hat Café.
Experience the surrounding of an ancient temple worshiping the God, Mithras, God of the Sun and Justice.