Ancient greece
Coalitions of the willing
Whatever the result of the election, it has become clearer by the day that our ‘democracy’ is run by politicians…
Start-up culture in Ancient Greece
Honduras wants to establish start-up cities to experiment with alternative economic, regulatory, and legal systems. Could this concept help stop…
Demosthenes vs Michael Fallon
Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon’s claim that Ed Miliband, having practised on his brother, would also stab his…
Voting for heroes
To judge from elections, the purpose of politics is to win power by promising to make people better off. Plato,…
Survivors
Martin Gayford visits two new surveys of Greek and Roman sculpture at the British Museum and Palazzo Strozzi. Reimagining what’s lost is as much of an inspiration as what remains
Greeks vs Greens
The Green party’s manifesto appears to make saving the planet only a small element in its otherwise painfully unoriginal agenda.…
High life
Athens I am walking on a wide pedestrian road beneath the Acropolis within 200 meters of the remaining Themistoclean wall…
Hyperides vs Jack Straw
In responding as they did to the Daily Telegraph ‘sting’, Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind may well have done…
What real debate looks like
Ancients would have been astonished that parties never debate against each other in open, public forum except on the telly…
Greek tragicomedy
The German chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her desire for Greece to remain part of the European ‘story’. Since Greeks…
Socrates and Charlie Hebdo
What would the ancients have made of Charlie Hebdo? The First Amendment tolerates the expression of opinions, however offensive, but…
Law, democracy and rape
‘This was the rule for men that Zeus established: whereas fish, beasts and birds eat each other, since there is…
Oaths for MPs
Before taking their seats in Parliament, all MPs must swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Mark Durkan, MP…
How the Romans taught Latin
Barely a week passes without someone complaining about the teaching of English or foreign languages, usually because it involves too…
Aristotle on David Mellor
Andrew Mitchell and his ‘effing pleb’ of a policeman, David Mellor and his ‘stupid sweaty little shit of a taxi…
Aristophanes on the Fake Sheikh
Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, otherwise known as the Fake Sheikh, has been accused of dodgy dealing in luring the innocent…
Demosthenes vs Russell Brand
Voters explain their apathy about politics on the grounds that the politicians do not understand them. No surprise there, an…
Pain, brains and space planes
Explaining the death of a pilot testing a Virgin Galactic rocket-ship, Sir Richard Branson intoned: ‘I truly believe that humanity’s…
The Greeks and rape
A footballer serves his sentence for rape, insisting on his innocence. Debate rages whether he should play again. To us,…
Hannibal vs the Islamic State
Whatever the Islamic State hopes ultimately to achieve by its current onslaught on all and sundry in the Middle East,…
Nicias vs Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond claims to be thrilled that so many people in Scotland are suddenly gripped by politics. The importance of…
Aesop on ageing gracefully
A drug has been invented to halt what is known as middle-aged spread. But it would be so much better…
Demosthenes on Johnson and Salmond
The ancient Greek word for ‘ambition’ was philotimia: ‘love of high esteem in others’ eyes’. Both Boris and Alex Salmond…
The Ancient way of death
There is something mildly unexpected about religious groups’ hostility to euthanasia. After all, in the ancient world one of the…
Brussels vs Sparta
The EU is a federation of states (Latin foedus, ‘treaty’, from the same root as fides, ‘trust, good faith’). But…
