International Lego Classicism Day 2026
The Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick are excited to be hosting the 10th annual International Lego Classicism Day, on February 20th 2026.
About the BCE - Brick Classicists Empire
The Brick Classicists Empire or BCE (previously Lego Classicists) is a growing, vibrant community brought together through shared connection to each other and the ancient world. The BCE encourages everyone with a love of the ancient world to celebrate and play! The BCE project combines pop-art and history to engage with the art and culture of the ancient world and the people who study or are inspired by it. It is a community of scholars and ancient history lovers brought together through a shared desire for and love of play, innovation and celebration. The BCE project was begun in 2016 by Liam D. Jensen, an historical archivist and 4th generation artist, with a background in filmmaking and an interest in pop-culture. You can read about the first year of BCE and the very first International LEGO Classicism Day here.
Brick Classicist of the Year 2026 - Prof Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
"Classics challenges you in lots of different ways, and it's the challenge that's good for you"
Prof Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.
This year's Lego Classicist of the Year has been awarded to Prof Andrew Wallace-Hadrill of the University of Cambridge. Prof Wallace-Hadrill is renowned for his pioneering work on ancient Rome including the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and he was Director of the British School at Rome between 1995 and 2009.
To celebrate his award, one of our Warwick Classics students, Greta Bullman, has interviewed Andrew to find out more about his life in Classics. To hear more about his life in Classics and his views on the future of the discipline, check out their conversation here.
Our Warwick Brick Classicists
Warwick are honoured to be hosting this year's International Lego Classicism Day, the 10th celebration of all things Classics (and Lego). We have a long tradition of involvement with the Brick Classicists Empire, with three of our lecturers already immortalised with their own Lego minifigures: Prof Alison Cooley (above left outside the Colosseum overseeing a gladiatorial combat); Prof Zahra Newby (above centre with Lego Prof Michael Scott and Liam Jensen, inspecting a Roman coin); and Prof Michael Scott (above right, outside the Colosseum with his Lego Classicist of the Year Award 2022).
Our Student Lego Creations
What sets our Warwick students apart is their love and enthusiasm for everything ancient and Classical, in any form. Lego forms a part of this and some of our students have shared their ancient Lego creations below. Not only is this something they pursue in their own time, but as a Department we have also incorporated Lego building into our student activities - in 2025 our students built the Lego Colosseum as part of an exercise in wellbeing and community building.
One of our students, Oliver Brindle, has created some amazing Classics themed Lego which can also be viewed on his Instagram page Lego.loft. Above we see his temple of Dioysus flanked by some Dionysus-linked pieces in our Antiquities Room collection (vase and a replica Exekias Dionysus kylix). Below is the theatre out in the open air with some assorted revellers.
Below, Oliver has recreated some famous figures from Greek mythology - Perseus and Medusa (left) and the sorceresses Circe and Medea (right).
Egypt is always a fascination, and two of our students have built themselves the Lego Great Pyramid of Giza (below left, Martha Yeoman; right, Liv Scarll). They are being kept apart by a fierce pair of Roman soldiers (below centre, Emma Spreadbury).
Ancient Greek Lego seems to be hard to come by, and in its absence we have a couple of Playmobil Athena's, one with her trusty owl and friendly snake overseeing some essay writing (below left, Martha Yeoman), and one visiting her home in Greece, looking suitably magnificent and goddesslike in front of the Parthenon (below right, Adam Marshall).
Building Communities
To celebrate Warwick University's 60th anniversary, in 2025 the Department of Classics and Ancient History ran a competition for schools across the country with a focus on ancient buildings and the communities who interacted in these spaces.
We wanted pupils to create a piece of work on the theme of 'Building Communities' which looked at ancient buildings/spaces and how these were used by communities in the ancient world.
The winning entries each won a Lego pyramid for their school. The entries were judged by a team of our students, Prof Alison Cooley, Dr Paul Grigsby, and as chief judge, Prof Michael Scott. The winning entries can be viewed here.
As part of the competition our own students (left) built for themselves the Lego Colosseum as part of an exercise in wellbeing and our own community building.