Hollywood Rome: Reel Life in the Ancient World Exhibition

8 July - 23 September 2023

Discover Ancient Rome through a spectacular interactive exhibition of original film props & costumes from Gladiator, Spartacus, Ben-Hur, King Arthur and more. 

This exciting new exhibition revisits one of the most popular periods of history, Ancient Rome, for an entirely new take on one of the world’s great civilisations. The Roman era has interested storytellers from William Shakespeare to Stanley Kubrick. From AD 2000 with the making of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator the Hollywood Roman epic was reborn. This exhibition brings together Pop-Up Exhibition’s outstanding collection of screen-used cinema and television props, costumes and armour, from films such as Gladiator (2000), King Arthur (2004), Centurion (2009), The Eagle (2011) Ben-Hur (2016) and Spartacus (2010-13). It interprets them in the context of the history and archaeology that have inspired the filmmakers, presenting historical figures in a way that will connect with modern audiences and fans of historical cinema. The exhibition includes interactive and handling elements, original cinema posters and banners, screen-used fabric hangings from Gladiator and museum-standard graphic interpretation. It also includes a section on classic sword and sandal cinema of the 1950s and 60s.