Latin
‘If you steal this book I’ll beat your brains out’
Curses on the book thief from Latin and Old English sources range from the venomous to the sadistic to the mind-twistingly gruesome
What British voters could learn from the Romans
When the forthcoming election result is announced, the triumphant party will presumably proclaim: ‘The British people have spoken!’ That will…
Gentle genius
Dissatisfied with his unfinished epic, the dying Vergil called for his scrolls to be burned, but was fortunately overruled by the Emperor Augustus
A translator’s responsibilities are as formidable as a transplant surgeon’s
When asked what it is we do, translators often resort to metaphors. We liken the act of translation to performing…
The power of prayerful washing-up
My days pass largely in a state of inanition. The fit and able-bodied express their sympathy, claiming it’s much the…
The timeless appeal of Latin
The government’s promise to fund a pilot scheme promoting the teaching of Latin in secondary schools is music to the…
Letters: The uncivil service
Uncivil service Sir: The elephant in the room in the handling of the pandemic (‘A tragedy of errors’, 29 May)…
What would it mean to ‘decolonise’ the Classics?
Can the Classics escape the grip of their past?
What’s the difference between ‘scaffold’ and ‘scaffolding’?
Whenever I turned on the news last weekend, my husband took to humming the March to the Scaffold from the…
N.M. Gwynne’s diary: Old names worth dropping
As I get older (and my 74th birthday is now close), I get deeper and deeper into nostalgia. I do…
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…
Spectator letters: Press regulation, heroic Bulgarians and the case for Scotch on the rocks
Beyond the law Sir: In your leading article of 28 June you make the point that the hacking trial demonstrates…
My tax avoidance tip – win literary prizes!
David Cameron is said to want a woman to be chairman of the BBC Trust, now that Chris Patten has…
Horace and Me, by Harry Eyres - review
After Zorba the Greek, here comes Horace the Roman. The peasant Zorba, you’ll remember from the film, releases uptight, genteel…
