Tales about the cradle of Western civilisation, from Socrates and the first democracies to the fall of the Roman Empire, the Ottoman yoke, and Britain’s part in the fight for independence.
The supreme arts and literature of ancient Athens
all sprang from the State’s refusal to interfere in the life of the citizen.
8
A Conqueror Has No Friends
ByQuintus Curtius Rufus
When Alexander the Great threatened the people of Scythia, their
ambassadors reminded him that a conqueror has many more burdens to carry than an ally has.
9
Eureka!
ByMarcus Vitruvius Pollio
When Archimedes discovered the principle of displacement, he was hot
on the trail of a clever fraud.
10
Speech Therapy
ByPlutarch
Demosthenes was about sixteen when he decided he wanted to be a lawyer,
but he was the most unpromising advocate imaginable.
11
‘Macedonia Is Too Small for Thee’
ByPlutarch
Plutarch tells us how Alexander the Great came to bond with
Bucephalus, the mighty stallion that bore him to so many victories.
12
St John of Konitsa
ByClay Lane
Hassan slipped across to Ithaca because it was in British
hands and the Turkish authorities on the Greek mainland must not know what he was going to do.
