Ancient and modern
The Jeremy Corbyn of ancient Athens
With the Labour party reduced to a cult in honour of the vain and incompetent Jeremy Corbyn, the Tory party…
How Boris Johnson is like Socrates
In writing an article that argued both for and against the European Union, Boris Johnson was following a solidly classical…
If you’re a Christian, Theresa May, you’re a citizen of the world
‘If you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere,’ proclaimed Theresa May in a speech…
Advice for Jeremy Corbyn from the emperor Augustus
Jeremy Corbyn has been re-elected leader of the Labour party not by MPs but by his teenage ‘fans’ in Momentum.…
The Romans got it right on immigration
As the UK prepares for Brexit into the big wide world outside, it has been pointed out that the Foreign…
Who'd join a club that punishes you for leaving?
The hopelessness of the EU is well demonstrated by the current rhetoric issuing from its inner chambers: that Britain must…
Plato and the problem with grammar school
Theresa May wants to use grammar schools to create a meritocratic, ‘socially mobile’ society at a cost of £50 million.…
Aristotle on the collective wisdom of Brexit voters
It comes as no surprise to find that there has recently been much talk among Brexit supporters about ‘the wisdom…
Ancient Rome’s scandalous special advisers
Theresa May has brought her own advisers with her into No. 10, and as usual the knives are out for…
Why a Roman might have intervened to help the Brits in India
Because no country can interfere in another’s legal system, there is little the UK can do to help the six…
Post-Brexit Britain should copy the Roman empire’s border policy
Whether the EU commission knows what is good for it or not — always a tricky call — post-Brexit Britain…
How Olympia beat the cheats
What to do about today’s Olympic drug cheats? Since ancient Greeks did not do chemistry, drugs were not a problem.…
Ancient and modern: Corbyn’s Labour is stuck in Plato’s cave
Wrapped in his fantasy world of a Labour party ruling the country in accordance with the diktats of those of…
Sophocles vs the luvvie Remainers
Is the Labour leadership hopeful Owen Smith, who longs to reverse the obviously undemocratic outcome of the recent referendum, aware…
Athenians understood public trust – even if we don’t
Tony Blair has excused himself for the Iraq war by saying that he did what he believed was right. But…
The Delphic Oracle’s advice for Jeremy Corbyn
Inscribed in the forecourt of the temple of Apollo in Delphi were the famous words gnôthi sauton (‘know yourself’) and…
Brutus: the Steve Hilton of ancient Rome
A traitor to one man is a hero to another. So debate rages around the role of David Cameron’s old…
Cicero’s Brexit moment
If Remain has won, for all the political and financial flurries, it will be business as usual for us plebs.…
How Plato predicted the EU referendum campaign
Our politicians, realising that the referendum campaign will be settled not by themselves under the usual parliamentary constraints but by…
Why the Roman empire worked – and the EU empire doesn’t
The principle of countries working harmoniously together is wholly admirable. Why, then, has the European Union become such a disaster area?…
How Aristotle would hire civil servants
The civil service is to be allowed to find out what job applicants’ ‘socio-economic background’ is. What abject drivel is…
The best guide to being an EU politician – from 1,900 years ago
Boris Johnson argues that the current European Union is yet another failed attempt to replicate the golden age of a…
On immigration, are we doing as the Romans did?
Last week it was suggested that the questions asked of London mayor Sadiq Khan had nothing to do with racism,…
Romans, racism and Sadiq Khan
‘Racism’ refers to the belief in racially determined inferiority, most often recognised in body-type, about which, by definition, nothing can…
Elephants are special – the Romans knew it too
In order to deter poachers, hundreds of tons of elephants’ tusks are being incinerated in Kenya. But even for Romans,…
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