How the ancient Greeks kept ruthless narcissists from capturing their democracy – and what modern politics could learn from them: Ancient Greece was in many ways a brutal society. It was almost perpetually at war, slavery was routine and women could only expect a low status in society. However, there is one important sense in …
What is the difference between a populist and a dictator? The ancient Greeks have answers: A statue of Plato. Richard Panasevich/Shutterstock Giorgia Meloni is Italy’s new prime minister. Her party, Fratelli d’Italia, received 26% of the vote and, as part of a far-right coalition, now controls a majority in both chambers of the legislature. According …
Ancient Greeks and Romans got a surprising number of things right about the spread of disease: Samot/Shutterstock From packed train carriages to busy shopping centres, being crammed together in often poorly ventilated spaces had become so normal that it has taken us a long time to get used to social distancing. But our ancient ancestors …