Ancient greece
The ancient Greek ship that was too big for any harbour
The biggest cruise ship yet builthas just been launched, but in like-for-like terms, it comes nowhere near the Syracusia,built c.…
The age-old story of strongmen
The only good news, after the massacres in Ukraine, is that so many ugly behemoth super-yachts have been seized and…
Could today’s Hollywood stars have made it in ancient Greece?
The Oscar frenzy spent, it is worth reflecting on how easy writers and actors have it these days. The ancient…
The Greek myths are always with us
Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…
Will Colston’s statue wreak its revenge?
The statue of the Bristol merchant Edward Colston is apparently guilty of a hate crime. Let us hope that the…
Would the ancient Greeks have agreed that children are born evil?
The ‘social mobility tsar’ Katharine Birbalsingh has suggested that children, born evil, ‘need to be taught right from wrong and…
Twitter has taken the place of the ancient curse-tablet
Twitter and other easily accessible means of online communication have encouraged the public to believe that Their Voice Will Be…
How the ancients handled refugees
Hardly a day goes by without headlines about immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. In the ancient world, movements of people were…
The ancients knew politicians were powerless
Why are cabinet ministers Liz Truss and Dominic Raab squabbling like children over access to grace-and-favour Chevening? Because they know…
How the ancients kept people behaving responsibly
The Prime Minister is urging citizens not to throw caution to the winds when lockdown ends on 19 July but…
What the EU could learn from the Athenian Empire
The EU has regularly been likened to the Roman Empire. But its current direction suggests that the Athenian Empire (478-404…
The best podcasts to be enjoyed at 4 a.m.
Now that all of the billionaires are going into space, the night sky holds a special new kind of allure.…
What Dominic Cummings could learn from Xenophon
On the subject of leadership, the Athenian soldier, historian, biographer and essayist Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) had much to say,…
A fantastic online show of Euripides's take on Helen of Troy
Everyone knows Helen of Troy. The feckless sex popsicle betrayed her husband, Menelaus, and ran off with the dashing Paris,…
The ancient Greek approach to mediation
Divorcing couples are being given vouchers worth £500 to settle their problems by mediation rather than going to court. It…
From ancient Greece to TikTok: a short history of the sea shanty
From ancient Greece to TikTok: Alexandra Coghlan on the pulling power of shanties
The ancients were defined by actions, not attributes
Diversity is ‘about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion,…
Modern historians take a Roman approach to history – whether they admit it or not
To what use does one put history? Romans thought it provided ‘lessons’. Modern historians rather sniff at the idea, but…
Should a Good Citizen snitch on neighbours?
If neighbours break whatever new Covid rules might soon emerge, it has been suggested that the Good Citizen might snitch…
How the Athenians would have handled the Lords
Arguments about the purpose or indeed very existence of anything resembling the House of Lords would have struck classical democratic…
How to fight a good war
Serifos There’s no high life here, only family life, so I’ve been hitting the books about great Greeks of…
Mixed messages about body weight are nothing new
Tackling obesity is the latest government initiative, universally condemned as nannying. Ask a Spartan. From an early age, Spartan children…
Does classical Athens give us a clue to China’s next move?
In 1984, China agreed a ‘one country, two systems’ treaty with the UK, designed to control the relationship between Hong…
Why stop at destroying statues?
The actor John Cleese has been wondering if we should destroy Greek statues because Greeks believed ‘a cultured society was…
Envy is the greatest blight of all
Gstaad Hippocrates is known as the father of Western medicine and he discovered and named a disease known as ‘micropoulaki’…
