Ancient Rome
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…
Egypt: where gods are born and go to die
Tom Holland on Egypt, where the deities were born and history itself began
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…
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…
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…
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’…
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…
Even Nazis weren’t quite sure how to do the Hitler salute
Gesture politics A royal home movie from 1933 apparently showed the future Queen, aged seven, and her mother giving a…
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,…
When is a rape not a rape? Fiona Shaw's Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne reviewed
When is a rape not a rape? It’s an unsettling question — far more so than anything offered up by…
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…
The fall of the Roman republic and the rise of Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond, the ex-first minister who proved incapable of making Scotland independent, has assured the world that he and his…
When Rome’s 99 per cent stood up
In the UK the richest 1 per cent — 300,000 — of the working population control 23 per cent of…
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.…
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…
Julius Caesar could teach Isis a thing or two
Isis disseminates videos of beheaded captives to spread simple terror. Julius Caesar knew all about it. In his diaries of…
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…
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…
Roll up, roll up! A history of the circus from Ancient Egypt to the present
Nell Gifford joins a colourful troupe of acrobats, contortionists, lion-tamers, freaks and funambulists
No, Richard Branson, our greatest achievements don’t come from our greatest pain
Explaining the death of a pilot testing a Virgin Galactic rocket-ship, Sir Richard Branson intoned: ‘I truly believe that humanity’s…
