Ancient and modern
Demosthenes’ lessons in ambition for Boris Johnson
The ancient Greek word for ‘ambition’ was philotimia: ‘love of high esteem in others’ eyes’. Both Boris and Alex Salmond…
Roman emperors understood more about democracy than Hamas
There must be some reason why Hamas seems to remain quite unfazed by Israel’s merciless slaughter of its people. Perhaps…
Hadrian’s advice for a new Defence Secretary
Michael Fallon, the new Defence Secretary, is a classicist by training. What lessons, if any, might he take from his…
Plutarch on smartphone addiction
Adults, we are told, as much as children, become gibbering wrecks if deprived of their mobiles or iPhones for more…
Ancient & Modern: the rumour mill
Geoffrey Dickens’s ancient dossier of (alleged) paedophiles in high places cannot be found among the 138 miles of government files,…
Assisted dying? Ancient religion was all for it
There is something mildly unexpected about religious groups’ hostility to euthanasia. After all, in the ancient world one of the…
Brussels will treat Britain as Macedonia treated Sparta
The EU is a federation of states (Latin foedus, ‘treaty’, from the same root as fides, ‘trust, good faith’). But…
Of course fish are smart. Even the Romans knew that
Dr Culum Brown of Macquarie University, Australia, has been doing some research on fish, and concludes that they are intelligent,…
How ancient Athens beat tax avoidance
The taxman will soon be ordering those planning dodgy tax avoidance schemes to declare them beforehand and pay the full…
The true gods of football (hint: they don’t work for Fifa)
The World Cup has started, and the gods of football will be in their heaven for a whole month. Not…
What Julius Caesar would have done about Nigel Farage
Our politicians are desperately keen to turn the toast of the people, Nigel Farage, into toast himself. But is that…
How the Ancient Greeks did wealth taxes
After 685 tightly argued pages, the ‘superstar’ economist Thomas Piketty unfolds his master-plan for closing the gap between the rich…
How Plato and Aristotle would have tackled unemployment
Labour is up in arms because many of the new jobs currently being created are among the self-employed. This seems…
Xenophon's answer to a budget crisis – more non-doms!
Nearly half of Britain’s billionaires are foreigners, and government hopes many more will now come in on the government ‘start…
Ukraine vs Sparta
As rebels, terrorists, fascists, foreign forces, activists, separatists, militants, militias, nationalist groups, Neo-Nazis, Right Sector forces — take your pick — spread…
What Boris and Pericles have in common
What is Boris’s great secret? Does it lie in the bust of the Athenian statesman Pericles (c. 495–429 bc) that…
Ancient and Modern: a war for ‘human rights’
What a splendidly liberal leader Mr Putin has turned out to be, desiring nothing other for his fellow Russians than…
MPs should be grateful not to be in ancient Athens
If the continuing rows over the expenses and lifestyles of certain MPs cast all of them in a bad light,…
Socrates on Maria Miller
Our former culture secretary, Maria Miller, is still apparently baffled at the fuss created by her fighting to the last…
Is David Cameron trying to imitate the Delphic Oracle?
Nigel Farage rather missed a trick in his debate over the EU with Nick Clegg. The Prime Minister has promised…
Epicurus on particle physics
According to a top TV scientist, in the beginning there was ‘empty space’ and ‘energy’. After a big bang, the…
On teaching, St Jerome is with Daisy Christodoulou
Last week in The Spectator, Daisy Christodoulou argued that, contrary to current educational theory, children learned best via direct instruction…
Cicero would have agreed with Putin
Last September Russian President Vladimir Putin warned against a ‘unipolar’ world, saying that the national revival of Russia was in…
What Socrates and Harriet Harman have in common
Since apologising has recently been all the rage, refusing to apologise, as Harriet Harman has done over the NCCL’s connection…
From Caligula to Yanukovych
Tyrants never learn, do they? From Caligula through Gadaffi to the ex-Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, they rule not to…
