Ancient greece
How Ancient Greece handled riots
Riots are difficult enough for us to deal with, let alone for the ancients, who had neither police nor prisons;…
The Greek guide to swearing an oath
A lawyer who wished to serve on a jury but was no Christian was given permission to swear his oath…
How to crack election jokes like a Greek
As the party of the lost and the party of the losers square up to each other, the next few…
All that remains
Barnaby Rogerson on how his collaboration with a great photographer has brought the ancient world very close
The causes of gout
Medical problems come and go in the media, and at the moment the flavour of the month appears to be…
Food for thought
James Howells has spent years trying to persuade Newport council to allow him to spend millions digging up a rubbish…
The unflattering truth
The battle to be PM raises the question: in a functioning democracy, how should arguments be won? Surely, by persuasion.…
Call that a party?
The ancients certainly knew how to put on a celebration. Let us hope the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee comes up to…
Ship shape
The biggest cruise ship yet builthas just been launched, but in like-for-like terms, it comes nowhere near the Syracusia,built c.…
High life
The only good news, after the massacres in Ukraine, is that so many ugly behemoth super-yachts have been seized and…
A hard act to follow
The Oscar frenzy spent, it is worth reflecting on how easy writers and actors have it these days. The ancient…
Enduring legends
Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…
Stone cold revenge
The statue of the Bristol merchant Edward Colston is apparently guilty of a hate crime. Let us hope that the…
Nature vs nurture
The ‘social mobility tsar’ Katharine Birbalsingh has suggested that children, born evil, ‘need to be taught right from wrong and…
As a matter of curse
Twitter and other easily accessible means of online communication have encouraged the public to believe that Their Voice Will Be…
In search of refuge
Hardly a day goes by without headlines about immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. In the ancient world, movements of people were…
Power struggles
Why are cabinet ministers Liz Truss and Dominic Raab squabbling like children over access to grace-and-favour Chevening? Because they know…
Best behaviour
The Prime Minister is urging citizens not to throw caution to the winds when lockdown ends on 19 July but…
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…
Star trek
Now that all of the billionaires are going into space, the night sky holds a special new kind of allure.…
Follow my leader
On the subject of leadership, the Athenian soldier, historian, biographer and essayist Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) had much to say,…
A changed woman
Everyone knows Helen of Troy. The feckless sex popsicle betrayed her husband, Menelaus, and ran off with the dashing Paris,…
Split decisions
Divorcing couples are being given vouchers worth £500 to settle their problems by mediation rather than going to court. It…
