Why do we assume our western good life will last for ever?
The slaughter in Paris is a catastrophe for the victims and their families, but the usual hysterical response across the…
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…
How ancient Athens handled immigrants
Among all the arguments about how many non-EU immigrants we should let in, campaigners are proposing a scheme for private…
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…
Jeremy Corbyn and Pericles: spot the difference
Whatever else one can say about Jeremy Corbyn, one thing is clear: he is a leader who does not believe…
Socrates and Galen on the Great British Bake Off
As the national girth expands by the second, Auntie, never backward about lecturing us on the topic, continues to glory…
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…
Why Cicero would have liked shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander
Heidi Alexander, Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow health secretary, has emphasised how important it is ‘to weave into [Labour’s] language, our narrative…
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…
The relative experience of Roman consuls and Corbyn
One of the justifications of the House of Lords is that it embodies ‘collective experience’. That is not a quality…
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’…
What Tacitus would have made of the Heath rumours
The press and police have been condemned for the way they fall on mere rumour and plaster it across the…
Tips for Boris from imperial Rome
While the Labour party rakes over its past in an effort to find a policy for its future, the commentators…
Does Labour need a new name? Let’s ask Plato
In order to make a sensible choice of new leader, the Labour party is trying to work out what its…
Aristotle wouldn't have rated Jeremy Corbyn’s fan club
Jeremy Corbyn says he is very excited about his campaign to become Labour leader because lots of young people are…
Vespasian’s Middle East policy (it should be ours, too)
As Ahmed Rashid argued last week, it is hard to see what the West is doing in the Middle East,…
Ancient and Modern: Juvenal and Cicero on whether grunting has a place in sport
What a pleasure it was to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon contested with a minimum of grunting, exclaiming and…
Alexis Tsipras is just doing what an ancient Athenian would
The EU finds it difficult to understand what drives the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Quite simply, he is a…
How Solon would have solved the Greek crisis
The combination of terror and outrage with which Brussels has greeted Greek Prime Minister Tsipras’s referendum tells us everything we…
Why Hesiod would have gone for Grexit
Why do Greeks want to keep the euro, or remain in the European Union? The combative, creative, competitive, mercantile classical…
What Aristotle would have made of Cambridge’s Lego-sponsored professor
So Cambridge University has accepted £4 million from the makers of Lego (snort) to fund a Lego chair (Argos sells…
What Tacitus would have made of the applause at Fifa
Apparently Fifa emperor Sepp Blatter received a ten-minute standing ovation from his 400 staff when he addressed them after his…
Pliny the Younger on Fifa
In any huge enterprise (like Fifa), where does the rot begin? Pliny the Younger mused on this question in a…
