How to live morally (according to the Romans)
‘Make America Great Again!’ cries Donald Trump. ‘Do Britain Down Again!’ (DOBRIDA!) screech our academic historical institutions. That was not…
How the Romans handled rival religions
A hadith attributed to Muhammad said that there would be 73 sects of Islam (of which only one would reach…
Does might make right?
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both believe that might is right. The whole question fascinated the ancient Greeks. In his…
The Roman approach to ending a war
We await the full details of Donald Trump’s ‘take it or leave it’ solution to the Ukraine war, but at…
Aristotle and the leisurely pursuit of education
Nearly six million people are on out-of-work benefits. It is claimed that, for most of those, going back to work…
The ancient art of making friends in high places
‘I get along with him well. I like him a lot,’ Donald Trump has said of Sir Keir Starmer. ‘He’s…
Do Gen Z really want to be ruled by a dictator?
Generation Z(oomer), aged roughly between 13 and 28, have expressed a desire to be ruled by a dictator. That term…
What Bridget Phillipson has in common with Plato
One does not like to disagree with one’s editor, but while the image of Rome salting the earth of its…
The Greeks, not Labour, should be teaching children oracy
The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wants schools to teach oracy, i.e. the ability to present orally a clear and cogent…
Lessons for Keir Starmer from Cicero
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and his chosen Attorney-General, Baron Hermer, both professional lawyers, seem to take the view…
The curious cures of ancient Greek medicine
Ancient Greek thinkers tried to explain every natural phenomenon in human terms, without reference to magic or gods. That was…
How Aesop’s fables apply to today’s politics
Aesop’s animal fables, as Robin Waterfield points out in his new translation, were certainly not written for children: the animals…
Anger management, ancient Greek-style
A professor of neurophysiology has announced that anger is a good thing with a ‘very useful purpose’, unless it turns…
There was more to real-life gladiators than fighting
Many commentators have criticised the film Gladiator II on technical aspects of the fighting. But there was so much more…
What Kemi Badenoch can learn from her enemies
Kemi Badenoch, in an act of unusual awareness for an MP, intends to learn from her own party’s mistakes as…
The ancient answer to the welfare state
Such is the increasing cost of the welfare state that at some stage a government – never this one –…
Boris Johnson is no Pericles
Boris Johnson’s Unleashed imagines him, like Cincinnatus, leaving his plough, saving Rome, and returning to it. But given that Boris…
Plutarch’s lessons for Labour
The lives of those daily in the public eye are bound to attract attention, especially when they are politicians telling…
What would the Romans have made of Keir Starmer’s freebies?
An ancient Greek, counting up the value of the gifts that Sir Keir Starmer had received over his spotless political…
The ancients knew the value of practical education
The welfare state was designed to serve everyone’s needs. But those needs were defined by the state. So schools teach…
The lessons of Grenfell
We have been told that committees will meet, urgent discussions will be held, the guilty will be punished, and steps…
