Ancient and modern
Do animals really have feelings? Plutarch thought so
Whatever the government decides about post-EU regulations on animal sentience, the Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch (died c. ad 120)…
When armies take over democracy dies
While the military is running Zimbabwe, there is no hope of anything resembling a functioning democracy replacing the tyrant Robert…
Fake news is nothing new — it was de rigeur in ancient Greece
The liberal media is at the moment engaged in a campaign attacking social media on the grounds that it is…
The wily courtesans who won more respect than modern-day feminists
Some MPs have been exploiting their power by their sexual fumblings with the lower ranks. The result is that when…
Roman censors
Students eager to pull down statues and silence debate on topics of which they disapprove — and vice-chancellors who pusillanimously…
A matter of life and death
Before he died, the former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, reassured his diocese that he was ‘at peace and…
Trump and his empire
All the news emerging from the White House seems to suggest that the USA is in that state so beloved…
Beauty and the beasts
Doctors have analysed how the mucus of a certain type of slug gives it protection against its being levered off…
Health and personal choice
Public health specialist Sir Michael Marmot has blamed ‘the cuts’ for the rise in dementia among the elderly, resulting in…
The post-truth is out there
In a political ‘post-truth’ world, currently the subject of a slew of books, emotions and personal belief are said to…
Power and the middle class
When the centre disappears, equality vanishes with it
Friends, Romans and Russians
President Vladimir Putin, who still supports Bashar al-Assad in Syria, needs help if he wishes to be seen as a…
Cicero, the lagomaniac
A year ago, the Danes reached into their groaning cracker barrel and pulled out ‘hygge’ as their own solution to…
Osborne and the Athenians
As a result of George Osborne taking up five jobs on top of his role as MP for Tatton, an…
Thucydides on McGuinness
When Gerry Adams rose to announce at his funeral that Martin McGuinness was no terrorist but a ‘freedom fighter’, the…
Theresa May at the Rubicon
Last week many commentators drew on the Ides (15th) of March, the anniversary of Julius Caesar’s death in 44 BC, to……
How to make the rich love tax
Now that Philip Hammond is promising yet more tax hikes, he might consider how Athens managed it. During the whole…
Enemies of the people
Hardly a week goes by without someone applauding Thomas Carlyle’s objection to democracy: ‘I do not believe in the collective…
Enemies of the people
Hardly a week goes by without someone applauding Thomas Carlyle’s objection to democracy: ‘I do not believe in the collective…
No mumbling allowed
In the audience-free world of TV, where ‘acting’ and visuals have become of far greater importance than the actual words,…
No mumbling allowed
In the audience-free world of TV, where ‘acting’ and visuals have become of far greater importance than the actual words,…
All the President’s yes-men
Donald Trump takes it as read that any criticism of his words or actions is an assault on the truth.…
All the President’s yes-men
Donald Trump takes it as read that any criticism of his words or actions is an assault on the truth.…
From Tacitus to Justin Welby
Many are still questioning the enthusiasm with which newspapers have implicated Archbishop Justin Welby, as a young man, in the…
From Tacitus to Justin Welby
Many are still questioning the enthusiasm with which newspapers have implicated Archbishop Justin Welby, as a young man, in the…
