Visitors in Room 70 photographing the Portland Vase

Room 70

Roman Empire

The Wolfson Gallery

Visiting the gallery

Opening times

Daily: 10.00–17.00
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Advance booking advised

Gallery audio guides

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Find Room 70

The objects in Room 70 illustrate the rise of Rome from a small town to an imperial capital that controlled the Mediterranean basin and north-western Europe and the Near East, extending from Scotland to Syria.

The gallery covers a period of about 1,000 years from Rome's legendary foundation in 753 BC to AD 324, when the emperor Constantine founded his new, Christian capital at Constantinople (Istanbul).

Objects on display come from all over the empire, reflecting both its vast scale and its diverse geographical, cultural and ethnic nature. They range from stone and metal sculptures of emperors and gods to jewellery, silverware, pottery and glass, including the famous cameo glass Portland Vase.

Take a virtual tour

Get closer to the objects on display in Room 70, ranging from stone and metal sculptures of emperors and gods to jewellery, silverware, pottery and glass.

Room 70 at the British Museum as viewed on Google Street View, showing two Roman heads and a vase.

Highlights

  • The Portland Vase, Roman, AD 5-25.

    The Portland Vase

  • A silver cup with relief decoration of homoerotic scenes

    The Warren Cup

Explore ancient Rome

  • Bronze figure of Romulus and Remus with the she-wolf who is said to have nutured them, mounted on a rectangular base.

    Introduction to ancient Rome

    From statues and coins to intricate engravings, take a closer look at the culture of ancient Rome through eight objects in the collection.
    Read more
  • Funerary relief of two headed figures, husband and wife.

    Slavery in ancient Rome

    It's believed 10% of the Roman empire's population were enslaved. Find out more about their lives in this collection story.
  • A writing tablet made of wood and covered in lines of script in ink. The tablet is in fragments and laid out on cloth.

    The Vindolanda tablets

    1,700 tablets from Roman Britain tell us intimate details of fort life in the words of the people who lived there. Here's why they matter.

Shop online

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Accessibility

  • Some objects in this collection feature on the British Sign Language multimedia guide. This resource is temporarily unavailable. You can access a selection of BSL films on your own device.
  • Some objects in this collection feature on the audio description guide, available on Soundcloud.
  • Seating is available.
  • Step-free access.
  • View sensory map.

Visit Accessibility at the Museum for more information.

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  • A visitor photographing the display cabinet

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