Ancient greece
Finally James Delingpole gets why women are so angry
Finally I realise why women are so pissed off. It all goes back to the first codified laws — circa…
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…
Harry’s Homer — a humorous history
It was a certain unforgettable ex-girlfriend, Harry Mount confesses — named only as ‘S’ in his dedication — who came…
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…
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…
The northern powerhouses of ancient Turkey
Government claims that it will ‘free’ northern cities to turn themselves into ‘powerhouses’. Since most of them are held by…
Athenians didn’t need coalition negotiations. We should learn from them
Whatever the result of the election, it has become clearer by the day that our ‘democracy’ is run by politicians…
The ‘start-up cities’ of Ancient Greece
Honduras wants to establish start-up cities to experiment with alternative economic, regulatory, and legal systems. Could this concept help stop…
Demosthenes vs Michael Fallon
Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon’s claim that Ed Miliband, having practised on his brother, would also stab his…
How to vote like Hercules
To judge from elections, the purpose of politics is to win power by promising to make people better off. Plato,…
Reimaging the lost masterpieces of antiquity
Martin Gayford visits two new surveys of Greek and Roman sculpture at the British Museum and Palazzo Strozzi. Reimagining what’s lost is as much of an inspiration as what remains
The Green party isn’t nearly tough enough on Ancient Greece
The Green party’s manifesto appears to make saving the planet only a small element in its otherwise painfully unoriginal agenda.…
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…
Cicero’s advice for Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw
In responding as they did to the Daily Telegraph ‘sting’, Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind may well have done…
Today’s TV debates are pointless – here’s the real thing
Ancients would have been astonished that parties never debate against each other in open, public forum except on the telly…
Syriza could have learned from Aristophanes. Instead it's headed for Greek tragedy
The German chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her desire for Greece to remain part of the European ‘story’. Since Greeks…
Socrates, Aristophanes and Charlie Hebdo
What would the ancients have made of Charlie Hebdo? The First Amendment tolerates the expression of opinions, however offensive, but…
Ched Evans: law vs people power
‘This was the rule for men that Zeus established: whereas fish, beasts and birds eat each other, since there is…
What MPs need is an oath with consequences
Before taking their seats in Parliament, all MPs must swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Mark Durkan, MP…
How the Romans taught Latin (N.M. Gwynne would not approve)
Barely a week passes without someone complaining about the teaching of English or foreign languages, usually because it involves too…
Aristotle had David Mellor’s number (Andrew Mitchell’s, too)
Andrew Mitchell and his ‘effing pleb’ of a policeman, David Mellor and his ‘stupid sweaty little shit of a taxi…
Aristophanes on Mazher Mahmood
Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, otherwise known as the Fake Sheikh, has been accused of dodgy dealing in luring the innocent…