Ancient greece
The lesson of Athens: to make people care about politics, give them real power
Voters explain their apathy about politics on the grounds that the politicians do not understand them. No surprise there, an…
No, Richard Branson, our greatest achievements don’t come from our greatest pain
Explaining the death of a pilot testing a Virgin Galactic rocket-ship, Sir Richard Branson intoned: ‘I truly believe that humanity’s…
Why the Ancient Greeks thought adultery was worse than rape
A footballer serves his sentence for rape, insisting on his innocence. Debate rages whether he should play again. To us,…
Hannibal (and Alexander the Great) vs the Islamic State
Whatever the Islamic State hopes ultimately to achieve by its current onslaught on all and sundry in the Middle East,…
Would Alex Salmond give up his job to a heckler? It happened in Athens
Alex Salmond claims to be thrilled that so many people in Scotland are suddenly gripped by politics. The importance of…
Why the Ancient Greeks didn’t have middle-aged spread
A drug has been invented to halt what is known as middle-aged spread. But it would be so much better…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Sorry, Rory Stewart, but you don't understand the Greeks
In last week’s Spectator, Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith, was reported to be proposing that we should create in Britain…
Ancient and modern: Modern Egypt vs ancient Athens
Whatever problems Greeks and Romans faced, a politicised priesthood was not one of them. They might have made three observations…
Ancient and modern: Herodotus on 111
The NHS 111 line, designed to deal with problems that do not count as emergencies, is in financial and organisational…
