Will Andy Burnham open Pandora’s Box?
A Mr A.M. Burnham announced at his elevation that he would bring ‘hope’ to the country. A fine sentiment. But…
Augustus’s plans for poverty
A Mr A.M. Burnham has introduced a clear blueprint and legislative goals intended to lift hundreds of thousands of children…
The word ‘tragedy’ has lost all meaning
The Chancellor of the University of Cambridge has said the university has ‘lessons to learn from the Jason Arday tragedy’.…
How the ancients saw eclipses
By the 5th century bc, probably thanks to the Babylonians, enlightened Greeks were well aware that eclipses were natural phenomena.…
Would the ancients have considered Rod Liddle a satirist?
If the great Rod Liddle was a satirist, as many columnists have suggested, he was not one in the Roman…
Would Grok’s Odyssey be better than Nolan’s?
Elon Musk, who does not rate Christopher Nolan’s film of The Odyssey very highly, has said: ‘Before this year ends,…
Fantasticks, calash, noctivagation – the wonderful words of Anthony Wood
‘Things are just completely coming full circle here. For me to be here with you all in the heart of…
The modern hysteria about hysteria
The McKinsey Institute says that health outcomes for women are less successful than those for men, and it has been…
Does Nigel Farage think he’s above scrutiny?
If Nigel Farage is so confident that the £5 million donation he received from a friend is entirely kosher, why…
Lessons in oratory for Andy Burnham
A Mr Burnham, A.M. (Andrew Murray) fancies being PM and Labour MPs have decided to humour him. Needing to assert…
How to paint like the ancient Greeks
Last week David Hockney was cited as an example of a great English artist who insisted on working, like ancient…
Would the ancients have appreciated David Hockney?
David Hockney has died, and there has died with him an artist whose work has given those of us who…
Plato would have been appalled by Newcastle University
Newcastle University is advertising for a Director of Academic Advising, which will offer guidance that is ‘inclusive, compassionate, and genuinely…
An Ancients’ guide to sexual incontinence
King’s College Cambridge has lost (according to the papers) a ‘famous’ classicist, who resigned because he slobbered wet kisses all…
Is the Pont-Neuf bridge the new Plato’s cave?
An artist, J.R., working with something called Snap Inc., has covered the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris with a gigantic tarpaulin…
Welcome to Diocletian’s cashless society
Money is a pagan god because it has value only as long as people believe it does. Refuse to believe,…
Did Plato invent women’s lib?
One could go on endlessly about what the ancients have done for us, but one of the most interesting things…
Rome vs Jeff Bezos’s yacht
Rumour has it that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is selling his agreeable little yacht Koru because it will…
The Romans would tax anything
When Nero committed suicide in ad 68, he left Rome deep in debt after military campaigns, building himself a fabulous…
Zack Polanski must dream of Athens’s radical democracy
A Greek essayist c. 420 BC argued that Athens’s radical democracy, giving the vote to every adult male citizen, resulted…
How to become a god: a user’s guide
Even the most Magaddicted Maga supporter might have had doubts about Donald Trump depicted as Jesus healing a sick man…
Space travel, ancient Greek style
Apollo, Artemis and Orion have not been named at random. The first two are brother and sister, and all three…
What do you do with a captured soldier?
What do you do with a captured soldier? In 255 BC, fighting the Carthaginians, the Roman consul and general Marcus…
The Trumpian appeal of a Trojan horse
Given the tonnage of missiles launched at Iran, it seems remarkable how relatively few Iranians have been killed. But the…
What does liberalism mean any more?
A discussion has broken out about the end of liberalism and emergence of the age of the tyrant. Our political…
