Guide to the classics: the Epic of Gilgamesh
To what might we owe this modern-day cultural amnesia surrounding one of the world’s greatest works of ancient literature?
10 Tips for Historians from Ancient Writers
Are you thinking of becoming a historian? Here is some advice from ancient Greek and Roman writers, on what they thought are the traits and practices of being a good historian, as well as some of the pitfalls of the craft.
How a third-century Roman soldier named Carausius was behind the first ‘Brexit’
From the first to the fifth centuries AD, Britain – though not officially Scotland, which lay beyond the frontier at Hadrian’s Wall – was part of the Roman Empire.
Guide to the Classics: Homer’s Odyssey
The Odyssey of Homer is a Greek epic poem that tells of the return journey of Odysseus to the island of Ithaca from the war at Troy, which Homer addressed in The Iliad.
Guide to the classics: Homer’s Iliad
Homer’s Iliad is usually thought of as the first work of European literature, and many would say, the greatest. It tells part of the saga of the city of Troy and the war that took place there.
Guide to the Classics: Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars explores vice and virtue in ancient Rome
The stories of virtue and vice in the Caesars are carefully selected to illustrate whether emperors measured up to this standard.
Guide to the classics: Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War
His sharp analysis of the kind of forces that stir popular sentiments and drive collective decision making still resonates in the modern world.
Can You Solve these Ancient Riddles?
We bring you ten riddles from the ancient world. Can you solve them?
Was Helen really to blame for the Trojan War – or just a scapegoat?
The question of Helen’s involvement in such a significant conflict clearly poses difficult questions – and has done ever since the age of Homer.
Roman gladiators were war prisoners and criminals, not sporting heroes
For centuries, the bloody gladiator conflicts that the Romans staged in amphitheatres throughout the empire have engrossed and repelled us. When it comes to gladiators, it is almost impossible to look away. But the arena is also the place where the Romans feel most foreign to us.