Mug’s Games
Winners at the Olympics were thought to have come as close to a god as any man could. But that…
No time for losers
Every red-blooded Englishman has believed that exercise in the open air is the finest prophylactic against popery, adultery and the…
Best behaviour
The Prime Minister is urging citizens not to throw caution to the winds when lockdown ends on 19 July but…
Diana’s strange monument
The recently unveiled funerary monument of Princess Diana prompts comparison with Greek and Roman archetypes. To many, Diana was a…
A word to the wise
The delicious hypocrisy at the heart of today’s cancel fraternity is that it is strongly opposed to censorship. Romans grappled…
Athens and the EU
The EU has regularly been likened to the Roman Empire. But its current direction suggests that the Athenian Empire (478-404…
Cancel culture, Roman-style
The mob is at work again in Oxford, protesting against the existence of Oriel’s statue of Cecil Rhodes. But this…
Follow my leader
On the subject of leadership, the Athenian soldier, historian, biographer and essayist Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) had much to say,…
Sex education
The publication of the new Cambridge Greek Lexicon reminded the comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes of her frustrations at school,…
Fathers and sons
Charles, Prince of Wales, is having a little trouble with his son Harry. Romans knew about difficult offspring. They told…
Fur and feeling
Almost no ancients cared whether animals felt pain or not. The classical Stoic belief that man’s reasoning capacity elevated him…
Nature calls
‘Georgics’ are an ancient form of poetry about agriculture and the land. The term derives from Greek gê ‘land’ +…
Talking point
Gossip appears to be good for the mental health. That should make the females of the ancient world some of…
Under the spell
Some universities have announced that spelling and grammar (i.e. morphology and syntax) are not all that important, but quality of…
In the gift
Ex-prime minister David Cameron, ignoring official protocol, though not acting illegally, went directly to the chancellor Rishi Sunak to ask…
The dutiful Duke
The reason why Greeks and Romans would have found it difficult to eulogise the Duke of Edinburgh was that he…
Models of obedience
Protests are being staged against the proposed bill to change the laws on protest. But there is a bigger issue…
Split decisions
Divorcing couples are being given vouchers worth £500 to settle their problems by mediation rather than going to court. It…
Roman culture wars
Identity politics empowers people to make all sorts of claims, not because they are true but because it makes them…
Meghan and stoicism
Meghan Markle seems to see herself as a ‘victim’. Had she called herself a victima in Rome, it would have…
Salmond’s revenge
Ancient Greeks were not slow to express their enthusiasm for taking revenge. Observing the recent proceedings in the Scottish parliament,…
Invaluable wrongdoing
Modern historians, excoriating the past evils of e.g. slavery and imperialism are taking the understanding of history back to its…
The enquiring minds of Egypt
The government has plans to fund a new research agency to back ‘cutting-edge science’. Ptolemaios (Ptolemy) I (367-282 bc), the…
Navalny vs the emperors
A Roman emperor would consider the tyrant Putin’s treatment of Alexei Navalny’s supporters as foolish but, looking at Russia as…
Natural successor
When it comes to natural history, Sir David Attenborough rules the airwaves. Pliny the Elder (d. ad 79) who, as…
