Through the generosity of the Gladstone Memorial Trust Omnibus is again in 2025 able to offer prizes for excellent essays on classical themes. The competition is open to anyone under 19 and still in full-time education who has not yet completed A levels or IB. Entries should contain a statement from a teacher confirming that this is the case. The first prize stands at £200, the second at £100. Essays must not exceed 2000 words.
The topics for 2025 are:
- What can we learn about beliefs and ideas from archaeological remains? Choose one archaeological site as the basis for your discussion.
- What can Greek tragedies tell us about the classical Athenian view of the human condition?
- How similar were Greek and Roman ideas regarding masculinity?
- Should study of the ancient Greeks begin with the study of Homer?
- ‘The narrative and meaning of ancient artefacts in museums and galleries is shaped not by the objects themselves but by the museum curators.’ Discuss.
- Which writer of history in antiquity do historians today have most to learn from?
- ‘The politics gets in the way of the poetry.’ Discuss this verdict on Virgil’s Aeneid.
- ‘The mosaics from Romano-British villas show that by the fourth-century A.D. Britain had become thoroughly Romanized.’ Discuss.
Entries should be submitted as e-mail attachments, preferably in Microsoft Word format, to: cowper.tl@gmail.com. The judges’ decision is final; no correspondence will be entered into.
Deadline: 7th July 2025
Please give your name, school, and e-mail address on your essay, and keep a copy for yourself.