Ancient greece

High life

7 October 2023 9:00 am

On the trail of Roman Turkey with Don McCullin

19 August 2023 9:00 am

Barnaby Rogerson on how his collaboration with a great photographer has brought the ancient world very close

Under oath

13 May 2023 9:00 am

How the ancients treated gout

27 August 2022 9:00 am

Medical problems come and go in the media, and at the moment the flavour of the month appears to be…

The ancient problem of the man who threw away £150m in bitcoin

13 August 2022 9:00 am

James Howells has spent years trying to persuade Newport council to allow him to spend millions digging up a rubbish…

The unflattering truth about the battle for No. 10

30 July 2022 9:00 am

The battle to be PM raises the question: in a functioning democracy, how should arguments be won? Surely, by persuasion.…

30,000 gallons of wine, 2,000 golden bulls and a three-month party: how the ancients celebrated

4 June 2022 9:00 am

The ancients certainly knew how to put on a celebration. Let us hope the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee comes up to…

The ancient Greek ship that was too big for any harbour

21 May 2022 9:00 am

The biggest cruise ship yet builthas just been launched, but in like-for-like terms, it comes nowhere near the Syracusia,built c.…

The age-old story of strongmen

16 April 2022 9:00 am

The only good news, after the massacres in Ukraine, is that so many ugly behemoth super-yachts have been seized and…

Could today’s Hollywood stars have made it in ancient Greece?

2 April 2022 9:00 am

The Oscar frenzy spent, it is worth reflecting on how easy writers and actors have it these days. The ancient…

The Greek myths are always with us

19 March 2022 9:00 am

Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…

Will Colston’s statue wreak its revenge?

15 January 2022 9:00 am

The statue of the Bristol merchant Edward Colston is apparently guilty of a hate crime. Let us hope that the…

Would the ancient Greeks have agreed that children are born evil?

6 November 2021 9:00 am

The ‘social mobility tsar’ Katharine Birbalsingh has suggested that children, born evil, ‘need to be taught right from wrong and…

Twitter has taken the place of the ancient curse-tablet

23 October 2021 9:00 am

Twitter and other easily accessible means of online communication have encouraged the public to believe that Their Voice Will Be…

How the ancients handled refugees

2 October 2021 9:00 am

Hardly a day goes by without headlines about immigrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. In the ancient world, movements of people were…

The ancients knew politicians were powerless

25 September 2021 9:00 am

Why are cabinet ministers Liz Truss and Dominic Raab squabbling like children over access to grace-and-favour Chevening? Because they know…

How the ancients kept people behaving responsibly

17 July 2021 9:00 am

The Prime Minister is urging citizens not to throw caution to the winds when lockdown ends on 19 July but…

What the EU could learn from the Athenian Empire

26 June 2021 9:00 am

The EU has regularly been likened to the Roman Empire. But its current direction suggests that the Athenian Empire (478-404…

The best podcasts to be enjoyed at 4 a.m.

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Now that all of the billionaires are going into space, the night sky holds a special new kind of allure.…

What Dominic Cummings could learn from Xenophon

12 June 2021 9:00 am

On the subject of leadership, the Athenian soldier, historian, biographer and essayist Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC) had much to say,…

A fantastic online show of Euripides's take on Helen of Troy

10 April 2021 9:00 am

Everyone knows Helen of Troy. The feckless sex popsicle betrayed her husband, Menelaus, and ran off with the dashing Paris,…

The ancient Greek approach to mediation

3 April 2021 9:00 am

Divorcing couples are being given vouchers worth £500 to settle their problems by mediation rather than going to court. It…

From ancient Greece to TikTok: a short history of the sea shanty

6 February 2021 9:00 am

From ancient Greece to TikTok: Alexandra Coghlan on the pulling power of shanties

The ancients were defined by actions, not attributes

23 January 2021 9:00 am

Diversity is ‘about empowering people by respecting and appreciating what makes them different, in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion,…

Modern historians take a Roman approach to history – whether they admit it or not

28 November 2020 9:00 am

To what use does one put history? Romans thought it provided ‘lessons’. Modern historians rather sniff at the idea, but…