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Ancient and modern

Ancient & Modern: the rumour mill

Fomenting revolution since 411 BC

19 July 2014

9:00 AM

19 July 2014

9:00 AM

Geoffrey Dickens’s ancient dossier of (alleged) paedophiles in high places cannot be found among the 138 miles of government files, and rumour immediately takes wing. The ancients knew all about rumour: phêmê in Greek, fama in Latin, both words relating to ‘speech’.

In 415 bc, the Athenians sent an expedition to Sicily, and Syracuse was rife with rumours about it.

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