Museum calls on people power to pick new Roman mascot’s name

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Legions of history-lovers can earn their stripes by helping to name the mascot for Leeds City Museum’s new Roman-themed exhibition.

Popular character Rory the Tiger will be getting a summer makeover as he dons his armour and helmet ahead of the Roman Empire: Power and People exhibition, which starts this September.

The team at the museum are asking followers on Twitter and Facebook to vote for Rory’s new name over the next week.

Voters can choose between three names- Rorius Maximus, Emperory Tigerius or Roman Rory.

Whichever gets the most votes by August 8 will be the official name of the exhibition’s mascot.

To vote for which name you think should be chosen, visit the Leeds Museums and Galleries Facebook page at www.facebook.com/leedsmuseumsandgalleries and ‘like’ the picture of the name which you think is best.  You can ‘like’ as many as you want but only the name with the most votes will win.

Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, Leeds City Council’s executive member of digital and creative technologies, culture and skills, said:

“This fascinating look at Roman life will really showcase the important part that Yorkshire played in one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen and it’s a real honour that we’re hosting such a prestigious exhibition.

“We always try to make our exhibitions as interactive as possible, so we’d like local history-lovers, young and old, to get involved and play their part by helping us to choose the name of our new Roman mascot.”

Roman Empire: Power and People runs from September 20 until January 4.

The exhibition will feature treasures from the British Museum’s collections of Roman, Romano-British and Romano-Egyptian artefacts, which will take their place alongside items from Yorkshire’s own collections, carefully selected by the team at Leeds City Museum.

The exhibition showcases the rich history of Romans in Yorkshire, Britain and across the Empire.

Activities and lectures will be running alongside the exhibition, looking at subjects including Roman finds in Yorkshire, crime and punishment in Roman Britain, hoards of Roman coins, Roman York and new archaeological evidence courtesy of the development of University of York’s new campus.

A series of audio visuals, interactive features and family trails will also help bring alive the ideas behind the exhibition.

Katherine Baxter, curator of archaeology at Leeds City Museum said:

“It is a privilege for us to host this nationally important collection and be British Museum partners.  Being part of this tour means that we again push the boundaries on what we can achieve for our visitors.

“We pride ourselves on appealing to a wide audience and these 160 objects from the British Museum will build a picture of life as a Roman, wherever and whoever you were in the Empire.”

Leeds City Museum is on Millennium Square, Leeds, LS2 8BH, and is open every day, except Mondays, (open Bank Holidays) from 10am to 5pm and until 7pm on Thursdays. Weekends 11am to 5pm.

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