Ancient Rome
The Romans liked a stylish death
World Mental Health day raised again the issue of suicide, still regarded as happening only among those ‘whose balance of…
Where does authority really lie in the UK? The ancients would have known
Forget David Davis, Boris, the cabinet, the commentariat. It’s time to concentrate on the big picture and the central question:…
If Trump seems bad, remember Caligula
Whatever one makes of the accuracy of the journalist Michael Wolff’s depiction of President Trump, it cannot all be the…
When armies take over democracy dies
While the military is running Zimbabwe, there is no hope of anything resembling a functioning democracy replacing the tyrant Robert…
The wily courtesans who won more respect than modern-day feminists
Some MPs have been exploiting their power by their sexual fumblings with the lower ranks. The result is that when…
Silent films
On 15 September 1888 Vincent van Gogh was intrigued to read an account of an up-to-date artist’s house in the…
The treasures of Alexandria revealed: British Museum’s Sunken cities reviewed
It was not so unusual for someone to turn into a god in Egypt. It happened to the Emperor Hadrian’s…
The best guide to being an EU politician – from 1,900 years ago
Boris Johnson argues that the current European Union is yet another failed attempt to replicate the golden age of a…
Why confront the ugly lie of Islamic State with a tacky fake?
There is fakery in the air. And maybe the French are done with deconstruction. A drone operated by a French…
On immigration, are we doing as the Romans did?
Last week it was suggested that the questions asked of London mayor Sadiq Khan had nothing to do with racism,…
Romans, racism and Sadiq Khan
‘Racism’ refers to the belief in racially determined inferiority, most often recognised in body-type, about which, by definition, nothing can…
Elephants are special – the Romans knew it too
In order to deter poachers, hundreds of tons of elephants’ tusks are being incinerated in Kenya. But even for Romans,…
The Camerons of the ancient world boasted about the tax they paid
As Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell whinge away about how rich David Cameron’s family is, they might consider that in…
Ancient Roman advice on how to deal with bouncers
The papers are full of top stories about important people who cannot get into important parties because the doorman does…
Long live ENO!
The three most moving, transporting death scenes in 19th-century opera all involve the respective heroines mounting a funeral pyre —…
Oscars goodie bags should take a tip from the Roman emperors
There was something admirable about the spirit of careful mockery behind the doggy bags on offer to the finalists in…
A short history of statue-toppling
One of the stranger disputes of the past few weeks has concerned a Victorian figure that has occupied a niche…
If he’s lucky, Jeremy Corbyn might be as good on defence as Nero
Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nicholas Houghton is worried that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will never use the existing…
Egypt: where gods are born and go to die
Over the stupefyingly long course of Egyptian history, gods have been born and they have died. Some 4,000 years ago,…
The fall of the Roman republic – and the rise of the EU
As both sides of the great EU debate line up their forces, it is worth reflecting on the implications of…
John McDonnell’s true economic guru: the emperor Nero
John McDonnell, shadow chancellor in the Corbynite splinter-group, has announced that £120 billion is waiting to be reclaimed from tax…
What Tiberius could teach Jeremy Corbyn about democracy
The virtuous Mr Corbyn is insisting that New Old Labour should return to its traditional republican ways and take decisions…
How ancient Rome turned immigrants into citizens
In the migration crisis, the EU is currently acting just like the ancients, as if border controls did not exist,…
Jeremy Corbyn and what a real plebeian revolt looks like
Last week, guru Corbyn was invited to reflect on the 2,500-year-old Roman origins of the republicanism to which he is…
How to tell if Jeremy Corbyn is a proper republican
True to his antique, bearded ideology, guru Corbyn is a ‘republican’, a form of government invented 2,500 years ago. ‘Republic’…
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