Athens
What kind of empire is China building?
As Britain’s small fleet, headed by HMS Queen Elizabeth, cruises towards the South China Sea, there remains a question over…
Why I’m moving to England
Gstaad It is not exactly a stop all the clocks occasion, let alone cut off the telephone, but I’ve finally…
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…
I love Greece and the Greeks but they have destroyed Athens
Athens This ancient city without tourists reminds me of the Athens I once knew and loved, but for the…
The history of Thebes is as mysterious as its Sphinx
The Spartans were not the only Greeks to die at Thermopylae. On the fateful final morning of the battle, when…
Coronavirus and the lessons of the Athenian plague
Plagued by the past
Ancient Athens would have been horrified by Trump’s impeachment
An impeachment trial is overseen by Congress and Senate, who both make the law and (in this case) sit in…
Would the Athenians have held a second referendum?
The Athenians invented the referendum: after debate in the citizens’ assembly, they voted through all political decisions by a show…
Tantrums and a top-notch tabbouleh: Ergon House in Athens reviewed
Ergon House is an epicurean boutique hotel in downtown Athens. (I quote the blurb — I never write ‘boutique’ willingly.)…
Don’t damn the ancients for failing to give women the vote
This year will be the 100th anniversary of some women over the age of 30 getting the vote, and for…
Don’t damn the ancients for failing to give women the vote
From The Spectator, 2 January 1847: The New Year opens for England with heavy clouds in the sky, but with…
High life
I’ve stayed far away from the new barbarians with their choppers, tank-like cars, home theatres on board, and fridge-shaped super…
Athens today makes me long for an EU bigwig to strangle
Athens I am walking around downtown Athens watching as thousands of migrants field pitches from smugglers offering alternative routes…
The King of Greece tells it like it really was
Athens Viewed from Mars, this is a sunny, peaceful city. Up close, however, things ain’t what they used to be.…
Ancient and Modern
In Living with Difference, a think-tank report on the problems raised by a multi-faith UK, the chair Baroness Butler-Sloss says…
Ancient Greeks and modern entrepreneurs
There is much talk today of the enthusiasm with which young entrepreneurs are setting up businesses. One reason why this…
Benjamin Clementine hasn’t really dedicated his prize to the Paris victims — yet
Benjamin Clementine, who won the 2015 Mercury Music Prize for his debut album At Least For Now, received his cheque…
Was Maria a virgin, a prude or a woman who liked to torture?
Gstaad Last week I dreamt of a girl I met in the summer of 1953, in Greece. I had never…
Outdoor piano bars can be dangerous things — especially when one is under the influence
These are the languid, sensuous days of summer, and I’ve had another birthday, which is the bad news. But it’s…
What Greece needs is less Europe and more entrepreneurship
Nestled under the Acropolis, snug and safe among the ancient ruins of a long-ago grandeur, Plaka is the only remaining…
Call myself a Low life? You lot put me to shame
The entries are crawling in on their hands and knees for the ‘drunkest I’ve ever been’ competition to win a…
Where Alcibiades once walked, amateur tax spies are trying to entrap poor pistachio-sellers
Athens I am walking on a wide pedestrian road beneath the Acropolis within 200 meters of the remaining Themistoclean wall…
Grim, generous, decaying and hip: the paradoxical charms of Athens
My first visit to Athens as a student gave me a set of impressions that the present crisis has only…
Unlike the philistine sharks of today, Aleko Goulandris is an art collector of the old school
Aleko Goulandris is my oldest and closest friend. We met in the summer of 1945, at the Semiramis hotel in…
My ghosts of Athens; a shooting and a royal wedding
Athens This grimy semi-Levantine ancient city has its beauty spots, with childhood memories indelibly attached. There is a turn-of-the-century apartment…
