Europeana as a Classroom Lab: Investigating the Gladiator “Ash Drink” (SOI-ES-609)

Links: Statue eines Gladiators. by Unbekannt  (Stecher) – Herzog August Library, Germany – CC BY-SA.

Author: Irina Nanu and Rita Tasa

Organisation: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d’Educació

Below is a summary of the activities, but you can download the full Story of Reuse and its annexes here in Word and PDF.

This Story of Reuse was implemented in a public secondary school in Catalonia (Spain) within an interdisciplinary framework combining Humanities and Science. It involved upper secondary students aged 16–17, organised in two parallel groups (10–15 students each): one following a Humanities pathway and the other a Science pathway.

The activity was embedded in the subject areas of:

• History (Roman civilization and cultural heritage),
• Biology/Chemistry (human physiology and mineral composition),
• Research methodology (inquiry-based learning approach).

The central research question guiding the activity was:

Did Roman gladiators really consume an ash-based drink to enhance bone recovery?

The learning scenario was structured around the Europeana platform as a digital documentary corpus. Rather than relying on textbook narratives, students built their investigation directly from digitised cultural heritage materials accessed through Europeana. Reliefs depicting gladiators and their weapons, representations of combat spaces, and textual references (including classical sources) were selected and analysed as primary evidence.

Session 1 – Introduction and Documentary Corpus

Presentation of the research question: Did Roman gladiators really consume an ash-based drink to enhance bone recovery?

Students were introduced to the Europeana platform.

They conducted a guided search and selected materials such as:

• Reliefs depicting gladiators.
• Visual representations of combat environments.
• Textual references, especially Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis historia.

Students worked in groups (4–5) to construct their own documentary corpus.

Focus: Understanding Europeana as a research tool, not as an image repository.

Session 2 – Structured Source Analysis

Using a worksheet (see Annex 1), students analysed their selected materials:

• Type of source (iconographic/textual)
• Historical context
• Evidentiary value
• Limitations

I clarified the difference between representation and material evidence. As a result, students identified interpretative gaps and degrees of reliability.

Session 3 – Hypothesis Construction and Debate

After analysing the Europeana sources, students formulated competing hypotheses regarding the ash drink:

• H1: Gladiators consumed ash as a mineral supplement.
• H2: The ash drink had a symbolic or ritual function.
• H3: The “ash drink” hypothesis is a modern overinterpretation of limited evidence.

Students were required to justify their chosen hypothesis using specific documentary references from Europeana, clearly distinguishing between what the sources showed, what they suggested, and what remained unproven (see Annex 2). In doing so, they:

• Explicitly cite Europeana sources.
• Distinguish between suggestion and proof.
• Argue plausibility.

The session ended with a structured group debate.

Session 4 – Experimental Modelling

Students designed and prepared a safe classroom reconstruction of the beverage (see the “Experiment” section in Annex 3).

Focus: Mineral composition and calcium plausibility.

Emphasis: Modelling ≠ verification.

Session 5 – Creative Reinterpretation: Commercial Label Design

Using a graphic resource selected from Europeana and supported by AI tools, students designed fictional commercial labels for the reconstructed beverage (see the “Activity 1” section in Annex 3).

This stage introduced a creative dimension grounded in critical interpretation. Students were required to reinterpret a historical visual source and transform it into a contemporary commercial label, reflecting on how historical narratives can be adapted, simplified, or distorted in modern contexts.

The activity allowed students to integrate:

• Visual literacy,
• Creative thinking,
• Analytical reasoning,
• Critical awareness of historical representation and commercialisation.

AI tools were used as support for visual production, not as a substitute for source analysis or historical reasoning.

Label proposal based on a public domain image from Europeana. Voted as the best design of the class.

Image credit: Gladiator [Material gráfico], Biblioteca Valenciana Digital, Public Domain. https://www.europeana.eu/en/item/343/https___hispana_mcu_es_lod_oai_bivaldi_gva_es_6056_ent0.

Session 6 – Synthesis and Reflection

Students produced a short argumentative report integrating:

• Europeana analysis,
• Hypothesis,
• Experimental modelling,
• Creative reinterpretation,
• Final evaluation of the hypothesis in light of documentary and experimental evidence.

Final reflection: How does digital cultural heritage support or complicate historical knowledge?

Outcomes

The most significant outcome of this implementation was the transformation of digital heritage from visual background into analytical material. Students did not simply learn about gladiators. They learned how to interrogate evidence.

As educators, this reinforced the importance of designing learning scenarios where cultural heritage and scientific reasoning converge within a coherent methodological framework.

CC BY-SA : the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Herzog August Library