Through the generosity of the Gladstone Memorial Trust Omnibus is again in 2026 able to offer prizes for excellent essays on classical themes. The competition is open to anyone under 19 and still in full-time pre-university education. Entries must contain a statement from a teacher, containing the teacher’s e-mail address, confirming that this is the case. This statement should be included in the same e-mail that you send to submit your entry, otherwise it will not be entered into the competition. Entries should be submitted as e-mail attachments, preferably in Microsoft Word format, to: cowper.tl@gmail.com. Deadline 7th July 2026.
The first prize stands at £200, the second at £100. Essays must not exceed 2000 words.
The topics for 2026 are:
- Discuss the role of speeches in the Odyssey, or the Iliad, or the Aeneid.
- What makes Aristophanes’ plays funny? (You may, if you wish, discuss a single play).
- Why are dysfunctional families so attractive to Greek and Roman tragedians? (Discuss not more than three different plays).
- How democratic was classical Athens?
- What made a Roman emperor a good emperor?
- Is Roman love poetry misogynistic? (You may, if you wish, discuss a single poet, Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus or Ovid).
- What has archaeology contributed to our understanding of Republican Rome?
- Either Is there anything ‘British’ about the art of Roman Britain? Or Is there anything Greek about Greek art?
The judges decision is final: no correspondence will be entered into. Please give your name, school, and e-mail address on your essay, and keep a copy for yourself.