Shoppers were caught off guard in Great Yarmouth's busy Market Place this week when dozens of Greeks and Romans invaded the shopping hub.

But there was no need for alarm.

The cheerful raid was mounted by toga-clad school children who wanted only to hold a civilised discussion about which empire was best.

Some 96 youngsters were marched from the gates of St Nicholas Priory Primary School to hold a 'conscience alley' where each made claims about why everyone should join them.

The battle of civilisations marked the culmination of a more than a term's work for the Year 4 children who finally got to decide which one they would rather be.

Taking into account issues like democracy, literature and, importantly, the style of clothes – Greece emerged triumphant, its student champions managing to recruit the most supporters to their superior culture.

Emily Lamacraft, aged eight, said she chose to be Greek because she had an outfit at home that was similar to what they would have worn. She was happy to dress up in public and take her work to the streets and enjoyed the performance aspect of being on show.

She said the whole project had been fun and that she liked learning about history. Dressing up helped to bring the ancient world to life, and ultimately she decided Greeks were best. Teacher Charlotte Thornhill said the school always liked to create something 'real' at the end of a topic for the children to work towards.

Each side had to take on board all they had learned and to argue their case convincingly in public.

Ultimately it was a chance to answer their topic question which was 'Who would you rather be a Roman or a Greek?'

Many children, she added, had really got into the spirit of the event supplying beautiful costumes and wielding super props they had made in school.

Previous topics had resulted in a public exhibition at Great Yarmouth Library galleries and a documentary showcase at St George's Theatre attended by broadcaster and actor Tony Robinson.