Bread and Circuses

Ancient Wisdom – Why Study Classics?

A good piece on why you should study the classics by Jonathan Knott in the July edition of Club UK magazine. Jonathan was kind enough to quote me in his article:

Adrian Murdoch, who works as a senior TV reporter for a leading financial news agency in Germany, says his classical education has helped him think as an individual.

‘The point of a degree is to learn how to think for yourself,’ he says, ‘I suppose I’m biased, but I’d say that Classics is better at that than most subjects, because from day one you’re studying poetry, politics, history and philosophy. You’re not only changing topic every week, you’re also changing discipline.’

Read the full article here.

The best emperor Rome never had

For better or worse, most writers are egocentric enough to pick up most places where they have been quoted. It is rare to hear about one almost a year after it happened and especially if it brings a smile to your face. Rome's Greatest Defeat was cited in Prisma, the equivalent for British readers of the Radio Times, in May last year:

Kaiser Augustus hatte in der letzen seiner wankelmütigen Nachfolgeregelungen seinen Stiefsohn Tiberius zum nächsten Kaiser bestimmt, gleichzeitig aber veranlasst, dass Tiberius den Germanicus adoptiere, und damit schon den Nachfolger des Nachfolgers auserkoren. Germanicus, "der beste Kaiser, den Rom niemals hatte" wie der britische Historiker Adrian Murdoch schreibt, stand vor einer gottgleichen Zukunft, nur dass er gerade dabei war, den entscheidenden Fehler seines Lebens zu machen."

Roman 'disaster' that shaped Europe

Greig Watson at the BBC wrote a good piece on the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and was kind enough to quote me:

Three days of blood-soaked butchery in the unfamiliar forests of Germany culminated in one of the Roman Empire's darkest moments, and may have helped shape the Europe of today.

As many as 30,000 Roman soldiers, along with countless slaves and families, died at the hands of people they regarded as barbarians, who were led by a man they regarded as a friend.

Did the Varian Disaster, which took place exactly 2,000 years ago and stunned the Roman Empire into a temporary paralysis, mark a turning point in its all-conquering mindset? Does the slaughter in the Teutoburger Forest still affect us today?

Adrian Murdoch, author of a book on the battle, said the shockwaves were immense.

"The battle was not only the Roman Empire's greatest defeat, but it definitely changed European history in ways which are being felt still now," he said.

Full story here.

Anyone for dormouse?

Nice piece by Alex Johnson on why we are all so interested in Ancient Rome. Interviews with Mary Beard, Sean Kingsley and myself.

Download Roma.pdf

Reinventing the wheel

A good piece by the ludicrously multi-talented Alex Johnson on blogging in Active Life magazine which contains some semi-coherent comments from yours truly.

See the article here or download Blogging.pdf

Meet the author: Oxbow

An interview with Oxbow about The Last Pagan.