Roman Rhythm

The temporary exhibition Roman Rhythm looks at music in the Roman military and civilian worlds.

As part the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Music 09 theme, you can view replica instruments at the National Roman Legion Museum and hear them being played in a film accompanying the exhibition. 

Though it is not known how music would have sounded in Roman times, we know through mosaics, frescoes and images on tombstones what types of instruments were used and when they might have been played.

Roman instruments include:

• Lyre
  A string instrument. The strings were made out of gut and played with a plectrum, similar to a guitar. The lyre was used as an accompaniment to songs and poetry.
• Cornu
  A wind instrument. Cornu means ‘horn’ and originally they were made from horn, later brass. Used by the Roman Army to signal important orders on the battlefield.
• Tympanum
  A percussion instrument. Animal skin was stretched over a wooden frame to make a drum that was struck with a wooden beater.

Music quotes

“Music is part of us, and either ennobles or degrades our behaviour.”
Boethius – Roman philosopher.

“Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.”
Juvenal – Roman poet

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and everything.”
Plato – Greek philosopher