Subjects

Classical History

Tales of tragedy, ambition and heroism from the Battle of Marathon and Hannibal’s passage of the Alps to Caesar’s fateful crossing of the Rubicon.

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55

Horatius at the Bridge

Horatius Cocles was the last man standing between Rome’s republic and the return of totalitarian government in 509 BC.

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Picture: © Gobbler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

56

Keep away from the Games!

The wise old philosopher had learnt that popular entertainments rot the soul.

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Picture: © Hoshidoshi, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain image.. Source.

57

The Last Gladiator

The people of Rome suddenly turned their back on centuries of ‘sport’ - all because of one harmless old man.

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Picture: © Gobbler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.

58

A Man called ‘Beta’

For a perennial ‘runner-up’, Eratosthenes had a peculiar knack of being first.

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Picture: By NASA, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

59

The Speech of King Caratacus

A proud British king, taken to Rome as a trophy of Empire, refused to plead for his life.

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Picture: © Przemysław Sakrajda, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.