John McDonnell might soon regret handing out copies of Cicero
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has given all his cabinet a copy of Cicero’s advice on how to win arguments. This…
Fat was not a Greek issue
The UK obesity crisis is again in the headlines, and ‘life-style’ is the culprit. The ancients may have come up…
The ancients would have understood Trump’s chaotic leadership
Peace with his enemy Kim Jong-un on the one hand, conflict with his European allies on the other: what sense…
What ancient Roman Remainiacs can teach Matthew Parris
Matthew Parris feels that he has become a genuine Remainiac, and kindly readers, fearing for his mental health, have been…
Brexit and sovereignty
Brexiteers argue for ‘sovereignty’, i.e. that Brexit should release us entirely from the grip of Europe, leaving us free to…
Alfie Evans and a matter of life and death
Alfie Evans was seven months old when he went to hospital with seizures. When more than a year later doctors…
Transgenderism and the Iliad
A couple of weeks ago a reader (Emma Lyons) queried Taki, the High Life professor of ancient Greek culture and…
Rome and the Jews
Jeremy Corbyn, it is said, does not have a racist bone in his body, and therefore cannot, by definition, be…
Putin’s diseased ideology
The Russian economy is not in the greatest of shapes. That being the case, one would have thought friendly diplomatic…
Putin follows the example of Octavian
Barely a day passes without yet another Russian explanation for the Salisbury nerve agent attack. What’s new? Such disinformation has…
Kim Jong-un’s unwise offer
President Trump’s acceptance of talks about denuclearisation must have been as big a shock to Kim Jong-un as his offer was…
BBC2’s Civilisations seems unable to decide what civilisation is
The presenters of the BBC 2 programme on civilisations seem unable to decide what civilisation is. Socrates would therefore wonder…
Article 50 and the Athenians
Europe, a majority of MPs (party loyalties aside), the Lords, the civil service, the BBC and the CBI are all…
Why is Virgin East Coast ditching its quiet coach?
Virgin East Coast, reneging on its franchise, is not in anyone’s good books at the moment, but since it is…
Corbyn is the master of ‘raising issues’ – with no result in sight
Jeremy Corbyn is the master of ‘raising issues’. He received an obscure prize last year for his ‘work for disarmament…
Outsourcing has a long history
The outsourcing business Carillion has gone bust because its bids for government work have been far too low. The problems…
Army recruiters should follow the Roman example
Advertisements encouraging men and women to join the army emphasise that their religious beliefs, sexual orientation and emotional needs will…
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…
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…
Regina, a Syrian in South Shields
D(is) M(anibus) Regina liberta(m) et coniuge(m) Barates Palmyrenus natione Catuallauna an(norum) XXX ‘To the spirits of the dead, and to…
Like Thasos or Naxos in ancient Greece, Brexit Britain must be punished
Since the EU does not want the UK to leave and will do everything to stop it leaving, it is…
Do animals really have feelings? Plutarch thought so
Whatever the government decides about post-EU regulations on animal sentience, the Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch (died c. ad 120)…
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…
Fake news is nothing new — it was de rigeur in ancient Greece
The liberal media is at the moment engaged in a campaign attacking social media on the grounds that it is…
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…
