Monthly Archives: March 2014

Discussing Cicero, Against Verres II 1.53 ff. (for A-level students)

Reading’s Department of Classics was delighted to host the 2014 Ancient World Study Day on March 26th. On this occasion, I was invited to offer a talk on Cicero’s speech In Verrem 2.1.53 ff., the OCR set text for 2014, … Continue reading

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The cold grave that is the deep, deep sea

There still is no (confirmed) trace of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. The last few days, however, saw a number of reports that focused on (potential) debris in the Indian Ocean, and the continuous silence of flight systems and crew, passengers, … Continue reading

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Disappearing into thin air

The mysterious story of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is likely to fill news media for the foreseeable future: how can a Boeing 777 disappear into thin air? What happened to its passengers? Who was (or is) involved in this? The … Continue reading

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Pliny on Regulus: ‘Will two stories serve you, or must you have a third, according to the canon of the schools?’

The following text was presented at the JACT GCSE Latin and Greek Conference at Westminster School London on 14 March 2014. I am immensely grateful to Ms Katharine Radice for the invitation to this event. I. Pliny did not like … Continue reading

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Sorting Out Pompeii

Reports on the crumbling state of the Campanian excavation site of Pompeii – incidentally a UNESCO heritage site as well– come up every few months: they tend to point out that, following a period of bad weather, some structure collapsed … Continue reading

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