Ancient and modern
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…
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…
Roman censors
Students eager to pull down statues and silence debate on topics of which they disapprove — and vice-chancellors who pusillanimously…
A matter of life and death
Before he died, the former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, reassured his diocese that he was ‘at peace and…
Trump and his empire
All the news emerging from the White House seems to suggest that the USA is in that state so beloved…
Beauty and the beasts
Doctors have analysed how the mucus of a certain type of slug gives it protection against its being levered off…
Health and personal choice
Public health specialist Sir Michael Marmot has blamed ‘the cuts’ for the rise in dementia among the elderly, resulting in…
The post-truth is out there
In a political ‘post-truth’ world, currently the subject of a slew of books, emotions and personal belief are said to…
Power and the middle class
When the centre disappears, equality vanishes with it
Friends, Romans and Russians
President Vladimir Putin, who still supports Bashar al-Assad in Syria, needs help if he wishes to be seen as a…
Cicero, the lagomaniac
A year ago, the Danes reached into their groaning cracker barrel and pulled out ‘hygge’ as their own solution to…
Osborne and the Athenians
As a result of George Osborne taking up five jobs on top of his role as MP for Tatton, an…
Thucydides on McGuinness
When Gerry Adams rose to announce at his funeral that Martin McGuinness was no terrorist but a ‘freedom fighter’, the…
