Ancient and modern
The Romans would have been baffled by the Gaza protests
Why are people in the UK protesting about the situation in Gaza? Surely it should be because the helpless Gazans…
How the Spartans got fighting fit
Donald Trump has brought back the Presidential Fitness Test for American children, once used in state schools to gauge young…
Is Trump playing the same game as Nero?
Last week, in his jovial Spectator piece about Donald Trump’s golf diplomacy, Patrick Kidd drew a comparison with the Roman…
How ‘cosmopolitan’ is Lord Hermer?
The Telegraph reports that Attorney General Lord Hermer has ‘been accused of asserting the primacy of human rights law over…
What Aristotle would have made of Gregg Wallace
The BBC chef Gregg Wallace has been sacked for his objectionable behaviour over many years, but has blamed the BBC…
Orcas, dolphins and the ancient question of animal sentience
Killer whales have been seen offering titbits to divers – but as a gift or a lure? Plutarch (c. AD…
A Spartan’s guide to body shaming
Now that new drugs have allowed the government’s Fat Controller to celebrate a nation of skinnies – let us hope…
The abortion debate is as old as time
Now that parliament has decided to decriminalise abortion, it is interesting to see what the ancients made of the matter.…
What Seneca would have made of the assisted dying bill
Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill has generated much talk about the ethics of suicide. As far as the ancients were…
Elon Musk and the art of flattery
Flattery will get you everywhere, as the sycophants that surround Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping know.…
The Romans wouldn’t have put up with Thames Water
It is embarrassing to compare Thames Water’s efforts even to the Greeks, let alone the Romans. Most Greek cities got…
The Roman approach to tax
The Sunday Times rich list would have excited the male citizens over the age of 18 who determined state policy…
Pope Leo XIV – lion or a pussycat?
Will Pope Leo turn out to be a lion or a pussycat? That depends on what he has to confront,…
Who could persuade you to fight for Britain today?
This week we celebrated VE Day. When Pericles remembered the dead from the war against Sparta in his famous Funeral…
What would Livy have made of Trump’s treatment of Harvard?
It is not surprising that Donald Trump holds the law in contempt. That is what happens when you have a…
How Roman emperors handled hair loss
Donald Trump’s obsessive ‘awhairness’ makes one wonder: why is it so important to him? The topic was of some interest…
Cicero’s case against astrology
The young in Canada are said to be taking up astrology. But why? Do they think Mark Carney is a…
Trick or treat
A Today programme presenter used the term imperium (cf. ‘emperor’) with reference to Donald Trump’s desire to annex Greenland. To…
How to live morally (according to the Romans)
‘Make America Great Again!’ cries Donald Trump. ‘Do Britain Down Again!’ (DOBRIDA!) screech our academic historical institutions. That was not…
How the Romans handled rival religions
A hadith attributed to Muhammad said that there would be 73 sects of Islam (of which only one would reach…
Does might make right?
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both believe that might is right. The whole question fascinated the ancient Greeks. In his…
The Roman approach to ending a war
We await the full details of Donald Trump’s ‘take it or leave it’ solution to the Ukraine war, but at…
Aristotle and the leisurely pursuit of education
Nearly six million people are on out-of-work benefits. It is claimed that, for most of those, going back to work…
