Shipwrecks and treasures from the Sicilian seas

IF you’re beginning to run out of ideas of things to do with the family during the summer holidays, or just a curious adult with a couple of hours to spare in Oxford, there’s a fascinating exhibition on at the moment at The Ashmolean featuring relics left behind from sunken ships off the Italian island of Sicily.

Dr Jeff Royal of the East Carolina University, in front of the-the Rome: Total War display and battering rams

Oxford-based Freelance writer, Nicholas Newman, has written this review after a visiting the exhibition on its opening day, June 21st, but there’s plenty of time yet to see for yourself, as it runs until September 25.

Nicholas writes: “For over 2500 years, Sicily was fought over by many great powers including the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines,the Arabs and the Normans. As a result, a huge number of wrecks have been discovered in the waters that surround this island.

Some of the exhibits on display

For computer game players and fans of Rome: Total War, they will be especially pleased to see an excerpt from Battle of the Egadi being portrayed on a screen. This historic battle, that took place between the Romans and the Carthaginians on March 10, 241 BC, eventually led to Rome’s domination of the Mediterranean. The clip being played certainly demonstrates the effectiveness of the battering rams affixed to such triremes.

In addition, the exhibition illustrates the work of Honor Frost (1917–2010), who was one of the pioneers of early underwater archaeology. Sicily is where she did much of the work that was to make her a world leader in her subject. Well worth a visit!

This exhibition, Storms, War and Shipwrecks, has been curated by Dr Paul Roberts, Keeper of the Department of Antiquities and Dr Alexandra Sofroniew, Exhibition Curator at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and supported by The William Delafield Charitable Trust and the Honor Frost Foundation.”

FULL DETAILS, including ticket prices and information, can be found on the Ashmolean’s website HERE