Sparta
Boris Johnson is no Pericles
Boris Johnson’s Unleashed imagines him, like Cincinnatus, leaving his plough, saving Rome, and returning to it. But given that Boris…
What kind of empire is China building?
As Britain’s small fleet, headed by HMS Queen Elizabeth, cruises towards the South China Sea, there remains a question over…
How to fight a good war
Serifos There’s no high life here, only family life, so I’ve been hitting the books about great Greeks of…
The history of Thebes is as mysterious as its Sphinx
The Spartans were not the only Greeks to die at Thermopylae. On the fateful final morning of the battle, when…
Let’s choose our politicians by random selection
Athens Standing right below the Acropolis, where pure democracy began because public officials were elected by lot, I try to…
The case for bringing back feudalism
Gstaad I need it like Boris needs a bleach job. Another birthday, that is. Birthdays tend to make your life…
High life
I’ve stayed far away from the new barbarians with their choppers, tank-like cars, home theatres on board, and fridge-shaped super…
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…
Brussels will treat Britain as Macedonia treated Sparta
The EU is a federation of states (Latin foedus, ‘treaty’, from the same root as fides, ‘trust, good faith’). But…
What Boris and Pericles have in common
What is Boris’s great secret? Does it lie in the bust of the Athenian statesman Pericles (c. 495–429 bc) that…
