The Dream of Rome
A two part series made by Tiger Aspect for BBC Two
29th January and 5th February 2006 at 8.00pm
BBC Commissioning Editor – Peter Horrocks
Executive Producer/BBC – Lucy Hetherington
Executive Producer/Tiger Aspect – Charles Brand
Produced and Directed by – David Jeffcock and Francis Hanly
For tape requests, picture requests or further information please contact Iain McCallum at Tiger Aspect on 0207 434 6700/07771 636612 or iainmccallum [Email address: iainmccallum #AT# tigeraspect.co.uk - replace #AT# with @ ]
In this two-part series, journalist, former Editor of The Spectator and M.P. Boris Johnson asks,
How did the Romans run a united Europe and why does the European Union seem to find the same task so difficult?
The Romans ran an empire of up to 100 million people; we can’t even agree on a plug for our toasters.
PROGRAMME ONE Sunday 29 January 8.00pm BBC2
In the first programme, Johnson talks to leading historians and archaeologists, in Rome, France and Germany, to find out how the Romans actually ruled.
It wasn’t all at the point of a sword. Roman government was surprisingly light.
· So, how did the Emperor rule?
· Where did he get his money?
· What sort of bureaucracy was in place?
· How did he keep the million strong populace of Rome happy and content?
The answers to these questions are by turns shocking and depraved.
The Romans ran a vast empire, covering what was then half the known world.
· How did they control their conquered territories, containing vast numbers of people, of many ethnic groups, so well that the locals happily threw off their trousers and donned a toga?
· How did the Roman Empire make these people safer, and better off?
· How much were they taxed?
· What can we modern Europeans learn from what Boris Johnson calls “the fish paste technique”?
(And what about the barbarians – the Euro-sceptics of their day?)
Boris Johnson’s journey takes in Rome itself, the ancient harbour city of Ostia, Provence and the Rhineland.
PROGRAMME TWO Sunday 5 February 8.00pm BBC2
In this second and final part of the series Boris Johnson travels to Ephesus, Istanbul, Rome, France and Germany to discover how the Roman Empire fostered a sense of common identity amongst its many different peoples. He tries to discover how the Romans made people want to be Roman, in a way that we just don’t seem to want to be European.
With the help of our leading historians and archaeologists, he examines the ‘Romanising’ process – the baths, the games, and the Cult of The Emperor. We also find out the vital part played by bears and honey in keeping the people entertained.
The Roman Empire lasted for over 400 years in Western Europe.
· What can we in modern Europe learn from its decline and fall?
· Is the European Union itself getting too big?
Boris Johnson also traces the rise of Christianity, which some at the time blamed for the fall of Rome. He also considers the role of Romano-sceptic barbarians and the rise of nationalism, which makes the task of the European Union so difficult today.
‘The Dream of Rome’ by Boris Johnson is published by HarperPress on 6th February
166 Comments
Phill Hellene,
Very well said.
Rate This:
0 
0
I saw the second part of the show, where Mr. Johnson has clearly stated that Ottoman empire was a natural evolution of the Eastern Roman empire (Byzantine empire), and as such the Ottoman empire has preserved the European civilization and ideas throughtout Europe’s dark ages. Although he mentioned several times the year 1453, he hasn’t explained us what exactly has happened then, and went on to suggest that Ottoman empire was an open to ifferent religions society, and the proof of it is the Church of Agia Sophia that has been left intact.
The year of 1453 Constantinople (known as Istanbul since 1930s) has fallen under the Ottomans. The Eastern Roman empire fell under the hordes of Turks coming from the far east. Important schools, churches and libraries of the middle ages has been burnt down. Several ‘brainies’ managed to flea to Italy and contribute a lot to Europe’s renaissance. The dark ages started for this part of europe while the rest of Europe was starting to flourish. So it seems to me as a violent stop to Roman Eastern empire rather than evolution. Needless to mention that Agia Sophia has been converted to a Mosque and remained so till 20th century.
I do agree with Mr. Johnson that Turkey should be part of EU, but for many other reasons, not on the grounds of misintepretation of history
Rate This:
0 
0
I don’t suppose there’s any chance you got it on DVD
Sorry, rain, but it’s on VHS videotape. And furthermore, the second episode overwrote the first.
Perhaps it’s about time I invested in a DVD recorder/player. I recorded the excellent documentary about the Varian disaster that I mentioned upthread, and now regret that it has been overwritten as well.
Rate This:
0 
0
absolutely brilliant. a freiend said Boris waers his eruditeness lightly. I learnt so much: being a euro sceptic – but a lover of many aspects of other cultures – and I live in Amsterdam – and with a big belief that we need to recover more of the Celtic Tradition – he shed a lot of light, especially re the lack of bureaucracy (for a long times), the value of the emperor (I’m a great believer in monarchy, QE2 stil carries some of that quality for many in Britland) and the role of Constantinople and today’s Turkey. Thanks a lot Boris – now, Boris for PM…
Rate This:
0 
0
Ah, it’s about time I scraped my pennies together and emailed that address at the end of the post for some info.
I haven’t got a DVD player either, but I’m pretty sure your VHS tapes won’t play here, and I can always borrow a DVD player. Apparently, the cheaper they are the more zones they play. Important once you start sharing with your Inet friends.
Rate This:
0 
0
Like Rome, is Britain (forget Europe) about to decline and fall under the weight of a religious movement that politicians can not deal with and which undermines the existing culture. What can Rome tell us about how Westminster and Britain can deal with it?
Rate This:
0 
0
Never mind lessons from Rome.
The politicians, having brought us to this sorry state with their utterly stupid multi-culti asylum and immigration policies (both parties), now haven’t even a clue what to do. The police are useless (preferring to beat up the hunt protestors and other soft targets), Straw is tranfixed like a rabbit in the headlights (as usual), and their fairyland world is falling apart in front of their eyes. They’re running scared. So cowardly are they that they’ll probably just leave it to the ordinary people of the country to deal with the mess when things break down completely.
Moderate muslims? There aren’t any. Islam dictates subjugation of the whole world. Those that call themselves muslims and who appear to be moderate are nothing of the sort. Their fundamental beliefs and doctrines are decidely immoderate.
For those of you who would disagree: go on, continue to believe in the fairy tales you’ve been told — that Islam is religion of peace and that muslims are just a slightly different brand of ordinary church-goer. Don’t forget to take your teddy to bed with you, too.
Rate This:
0 
0
OT -
I’m going to keep going Off Topic on this I’m afraid. This site is avoiding addressing the great issue of the day – the attack on our free speech rights. Some of us, while still being amused by Boris’s antics no doubt, won’t ever be taking him as seriously again as a man for our times.
Everyone who supports free speech should be rallying to the flag of liberty – defending the Danes, buying Lurpak, and undermining the attacks being launched by the promoters of Sharia law.
Coded stuff about Romans and barbarians isn’t required now. This is a Rhineland moment and we need someone of the Churchill spirit to stop this turning into a full scale victory for appeasement.
Rate This:
0 
0
It’s not just our rights of free speech that are under attack, field: all our rights are under attack.
As I’ve pointed out earlier, the UK government is set to ban smoking in all public places later this month. As a non-smoker, and non-pub-goer, you may not mind at all. In fact you may even be pleased that the government is using inconclusive research to bolster what is essentially a moral crusade against smoking. A lot of people don’t like smoking, so they’re going to ban it. Just like a lot of people didn’t like hunting, so they banned that.
You may think that smoking is a minor issue, and that free speech is a far more serious concern. I agree. But if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves.
Rate This:
0 
0
Field and Idlex
This current issue may be a pivotal one, the culmination of a host of other PC acts. PCism is based on the wrong exit from the Enlightenment, that of Rousseau and a bunch of others. The problem is a belief in perfectability of the human species. If God exists then he didn’t make us perfect and if you subscribe to Darwinism, as do I, then there is no reason why evolution is going anywhere special least of all perfectability. Kant recognised this. We can do things to make things better, but it takes time and many mistakes. One of the key features of any real progress is rational scepticism. Your PCer has a blueprint which should work and then the contradictions turn up. In the name of freedom and liberty the PCer turns on free speech and finds ever more involved reasons for why calling for beheadings is to be understood as a cry for liberty. For their part the Muslime fanatics have the blueprint which admits of no argument. I read in the paper that one of these guys told a lady Muslim on TV that she had no right to speak because she was a woman. I am no feminist but this made my blood boil. These people will not respond in any way that we like to appeasement. If your worry so much about alienating people that you make yourself an object of derision then you have lost. We need a rather more robust engagement defending the values of real liberty because liberty and an open society is the practical basis for real humanism.
That is not to say like our new friend Mumbler (and, dear Mumbler, you are!) that we cannot work and live with our Muslim compatriots. The majority of people I have spoken to today have been Muslim, without exception decent and pleasant human beings.
We can defend our free speech robustly. In fact we should because if we lose respect for what we have achieved and are, then we can’t expect anyone else to respect us.
As I’ve mentioned before the scumbags I abhor more than the beheader enthusiasts are the so-brave BBC satirists who boldly upset Christian spinsters reading the Daily Mail, but come up with a catalogue of reasons why they can’t do the same for other faiths. Personally I would rather everyone would use their freedom as courteously as possible so I am not looking at cartoons or going to see the da Vinci code but retain my right to do either. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do and on the other hand just because soemone has a belief system that might be offended doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. It’s called free will either given by God or arising from the nature of the universe.
Rate This:
0 
0
The first , and may I say , long overdue , blow, for the rights of the people of this country, has been struck.
That evil s”t-stirring handiman and librarian of the terrorist minority has been sentenced.
Albeit, let me add, what I , and many others believe,is a derisorily short sentence.
However , that leaves something for the Americans to put right, which will be less expensive on our taxpayers.
SMOKING: I gave it up after a very long time of enjoyment of the slavery into which it put me .
Anyone else still smoking should be given room to continue.It’s their life.
Some may survive, and some not . Just as long as they don’t do it directly in other people’s faces, it might offend: manners maketh the man.
I note , with some disgust , that the recent openly inhuman threats to non-Moslem lives went unpunished. If the BNP had voiced a mere one per cent of what was being openly encouraged at that last; honour- guard of police escorted demonstration against the freedom of the Press, (and not even our own), there would have been arrests on a grand scale..New labour double standards once again.
What I find odd: apparently not a word on the subject from Golden Boy himself.
Speak up Dave , we at the back can’t hear.
Rate This:
0 
0
Yet another example of how legislating against freedom of expression is a slippery slope. Either take the fascist position from the start or leave it alone entirely.
Surely we can all accept people’s right to protest without accepting the right to destroy property and assault people. They are quite different.
Rate This:
0 
0
Moderate muslims? There aren’t any. Islam dictates subjugation of the whole world. Those that call themselves muslims and who appear to be moderate are nothing of the sort. Their fundamental beliefs and doctrines are decidely immoderate.
That may be true of Islamic Fundamentalism, but it’s not historically true of mainstream Islam. Non-muslims in conquered lands were not forced to embrace Islam. As I have asked elsewhere, how come Coptic Christianity survived for over 1000 years in Islamic Egypt otherwise?
No, the problem is Fundamentalism of every sort. Not just Islamic fundamentalism, but also the Christian fundamentalism which has been on the rise in the USA for decades. These Christian Fundamentalists not only wish to have Intelligent Design taught in schools in place of the theory of evolution, but are now setting about the Big Bang:
The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the “war room” of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen’s public statements.
In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word “theory” needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.
The Big Bang is “not proven fact; it is opinion,” Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, “It is not NASA’s place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator.”
It continued: “This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most.” NYT
Before we set about the fundamentalists elesewhere, we ought to take note of the fundamentalists in our own back yard.
Rate This:
0 
0
Mac
Very good to hear your views
I agree that our leader DC does appear to have been rather quiet of late – I shall stir his acolytes.
I am also sure it must be time to hear one of your masterpiece poems soon: Shrove Tuesday when all is tossed into the air?
Apologies from the Boris Johnson Office if we have not been as attentive as usual – we have been totally inundated and snowed under but enjoying every minute of it!!
Am away skiing next week and hope this website will hold up well without many nasties.
Cheers to all!!
Melissa
Rate This:
0 
0
If you happen to be skiing in Whistler, drop me a line. Only us locals know where the good spots are.
Rate This:
0 
0
idlex, there’s an update on Bush’s NASA toady. A journalist has revealed that he lied about having a degree (he’s a dropout) and he’s resigned. I’m sure he’ll pop up again somewhere, perhaps FEMA; the family are such loyal Bush supporters, through both administrations.
Rate This:
0 
0
Idlex
Christian fundamentalists want intelligent design taught in schools and don’t like abortion. Muslim fundamentalists want Sharia law across the whole planet and have pretty robust literary critcism traditions. I don’t want either in charge but I think I know which I would prefer.
Since we are talking about our backyard – although I am a simple country boy and don’t get to the big city often, London is only 80 miles away. Or was it London, Syria that those chaps calling for oever enthusiastic haircuts were demonstrating in?
Equivalences is a fun game but don’t try and build anything sensible on it.
Rate This:
0 
0
Idlex: I’m afraid you’ve overestimated the boundary of your own back yard; it would take more than a mighty six to go all the way over the pond. It’s a sticky wicket anyway.
Jack R. If push really came to shove , and the choice between the different forms of fundamentalism here abovementioned had to be voted upon : I’d be with you .
Rate This:
0 
0
Thanks for the update on Bush’s NASA toady, raincoaster. He will probably be promoted, as you say.
I don’t want either in charge but I think I know which I would prefer. (Jack Ramsey)
The devil you know, I presume.
Idlex: I’m afraid you’ve overestimated the boundary of your own back yard; (Mac)
Much as I would like to think that the pond is very large, it isn’t, and things that start life in America have a habit of ending up here. Much of it I like, but equally much of it I don’t like. Political Correctness started life in America. As did political ‘spin doctors’. American Christian fundamentalism hasn’t managed the return journey of the Pilgrim Fathers, but it’s trying very hard.
And American influence on British life is, quite simply, gargantuan by comparison with European influence, never mind trivial Islamic influence. Which European countries have military air bases in the UK? Answer: none. But America has half a dozen, perhaps more. America is an elephant plumb in my back yard. You ignore the elephant in the room at your peril.
Rate This:
0 
0
If you accept the Elephant Idlex, you must also accept the resultant manure.
The PC thought police might very well have NYPD badges, but they speak New Labourese , and it still is not( quite) their back yard .
Finally , why on Earth would a European country want to have bases here? They , at least some of them,already train with our troops ,( Panzer Divisions for example). They could , at a pinch , commute.
Rate This:
0 
0
idlex
wrt. lack of European influence on GB. Would that be the same Europe whose major countries all had mass fascist and communist parties in living memory, and in the case of France still have a mass fascist party? Where were the Europeans, apart from, ironically perhaps the much maligned scandiwegians, when GB and USA were stopping slavery?
And wrt. any devils I may or may not know which would you least dislike living under? The Christian Fundamentalist or the Muslim Fundamentalist? I guess to be fair to the latter, as a liberal democrat you wouldn’t live very long, so it might not be so painful in the long run.
Rate This:
0 
0
And another thing..
Political correctness orginated from the democratic centralism of the revolutionary communist parties, Stalinist or Trotskyist. Statements were judged to be politically correct according to the party line. There may not be as many communists in the US as in Europe but the ones they do have are very enthusiastic. As they infiltrated and influenced democratic socialist and liberal organisations I get the impression both the political correctness and the enthusiasm rubbed off. Of course many of these organisations were fertile ground for it because of the effects of the utopian thinkers of the European enlightenment such as Rousseau. The great US tradition of pragmatism has been mentioned. This is very different from utopianism. And as we can see in the EU, utopianism and political correctness flourish in their original soil.
Rate This:
0 
0
wrt. lack of European influence on GB (Jack Ramsey)
I’d agree that historically Europe has been far more influential than America. After all, America used not to even exist, so to speak.
What I am asserting is, that post WWII, America has been the primary influence upon Britain. It was only after European post-war reconstruction that Europe began to re-emerge as a growing influence. And has continued to grow, in the form of the EU.
I don’t wish to assert that these influences are particularly good or particularly bad, but merely that they exist. And at present, US influence remains considerably stronger than European influence. We remain a part of America’s sphere of influence. Which may explain why we’re in the Iraq war alongside them (but doesn’t explain why we weren’t in Vietnam).
For all the chorus of complaints against Europe and Islamic fundamentalists, the elephant in the room is America. Whether that is good thing or a bad thing is a separate and interesting question.
As for the fundies, I prefer neither.
And I first heard of Political Correctness in the 1970s or 80s, being used to describe the then doctrines of the US new left. I have no doubt that you are right to say that it has a far older usage than that.
Rate This:
0 
0
To stir the pot, perhaps, in several above contexts:
I have heard a theory that the whole Danish cartoon shambles, followed by the extreme Muslim anger, has all been a psyops operation by the Pentagon — with the express purpose of stirring up anti-Muslim feeling in Europe. By way, obviously, of preparing the ground for harsh measures against Iran.
The USA is looking to have plenty of European support this time, for their preemtive actions. (Someone in the Telegraph quite rightly asked how so many Danish flags were sitting in Gaza for burning at such short notice.)
Ring any bells? Doesn’t the latest scenario remind anyone of the lead up to the invasion of Iraq?
Rate This:
0 
0
No, this is more plausible.
Actually, given what happened in Lebanon, with thousands of people busing in for the demonstrations, it seems far likelier to me that radical Islam has been developing a “demonstration scenario” for some time, and just waiting for a trigger. After all, weren’t the cartoons first run in September of last year? It takes awhile to arrange for the busing of 30,000 people. Strike the match, apply it to the pile, and see what happens…
Didn’t work this time, but came too close for comfort.
On another note entirely:
Political correctness orginated from the democratic centralism of the revolutionary communist parties, Stalinist or Trotskyist.
Quite possibly, but political correctness as we currently understand it is really an inevitable outcome of relativism, which is itself an outcome of secular humanism. All of which are wrong, dammit. Bet you never thought you’d hear that from a lefty.
Rate This:
0 
0
I have it on good authority that Jack Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Princess Diana were all involved in the Pentagon plot.
Rate This:
0 
0
raincoster
You are showing us Brits up in the honesty and courtesy departments! I call on my compatriots to keep up!
At the risk of being picky – I see relativism as something to be politically correct about rather than its origin. The utopian campaign for communism is also something to be politically correct about but I don’t think there was much room for relativism there!
Political correctness is opposed to critical rationalism. There is a line, a set of sociologcal or psychological axioms and rules by which we arrive at correct statements or feelings, as in logic we arrive at theorems from a set of axioms, premises and inference rules. The latter works fine in logic but the former does not do so for the world of human affairs.
idlex
My point was that we have managed to avoid many of the great negative influences of Europe. Oswald Moseley and the CPGB were evil enough but of minute influence in comparision with their continental counterparts. I can’t think of the former without recalling Roderick Spode and the blackshorts, and the CPGB always puts me in mind of Bingo Little’s waitress girlfriend and her family.
Obviously it’s always best not to have to choose between two things, neither of which you want. I find the BBC politically correct and intellectually dishonest in much of its output. I would much rather have a news service with genuinely open, critically rational debate. I am not familiar with the English radio servce of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or whatever that American SWP chap wanted me to call it, but I suspect it is far worse than the BBC and so I would chose the BBC if offered a compulsory choice.
Rate This:
0 
0
Thank you; I can only humbly assert that I am upholding the proud Canadian tradition of Peacekeeping, a confession which is guaranteed to bewilder those who know me too well.
But do you really not believe PC to be an outcome of relativism? Seems obvious to me: the belief that all beliefs are equal leads inexorably to the belief that all beliefs are equally worthy of respect. That people got all legislative and litigious about it is just the natural expression of the human impulse to nail the rules down and then try to beat you over the head with them so everybody knows what’s expected.
I don’t think anybody at Antioch College ever got laid. But then, it might have been the Birkenstocks.
Rate This:
0 
0
In Re. The origins of Political Correctness, wherever they might have been , seem to be attracting much attention.
Does it matter who the originator(s) was /were? The fact that adjectival phrases, long in use, were found, arbitrarily it seems to me, to be inappropriate to the object of the description. Who thought up ” vertically challenged ” as a better , more acceptable description of ” short” ?
In the multi sized; multi coloured; multi ethnic mixture which is mankind; who was it that decided, for example, that being tall / white / Christian, was preferable to being short; black and atheistic. Some megalomaniac on an ego trip ?
Each person is a one off example, blessed with the differences which make that person an individual, and not a mere cipher, to be catalogued by a Government with nothing better to do.
People in the mainstream of affairs, particularly in societies which claim to have a social conscience, would be better occupied in correcting the many real ills of society than in interfering with the relatively minor points of PC.
Communism tried, (with very heavy hand when thought necessary), to iron out all the bumps which comprised the many differences between human beings. It took a long time before the experiment failed; but fail it did.
In the real world,Society is in permanent flux, two totally different media; scum and cream,will always rise to the top when left to swim for themselves, but the underlying parent liquid is what is really important: that fact is , I fear , too often forgotten.
————-
The eating of a sticky Pud,
Proves if it’s bad or if it’s good.
The cooks who run the kitchens here;
Are Egotistic: all; I fear
Each will claim his pudding best,
But here’s the gastronomic test.
Whose pudding tastes the best of all?
Did I detect a taste of gall?
Rate This:
0 
0
Jack Ramsey: “I have it on good authority that Jack Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Princess Diana were all involved in the Pentagon plot.”
How very funny! So either you don’t know or don’t care that the US government has been paying US journalists to plant stories in the US media? (well documented, just use Google) and that the American military has been paying to have pro-US stories running in the Iraqi press (well-documented, just use Google)? That’s democracy for you.
And you presumably don’t care either that the Pentagon has been throwing around ideas as to how much dis/mis-information to disseminate — EVEN to its allies, and even at the risk of the “info” getting into its own media at home.
It all sits well with chats about bombing Al Jazeera.
Do you ever use the sources that are out there, Jack, or just swallow what Rupert Murdoch and Co tell you?
Maybe you don’t believe in psyops at all, it’s just a thing for Hollywood, isn’t it … and silly people with conspiracy theories. The British military didn’t use them in Northern Ireland and weren’t using them in Basra either — despite being caught in Arab clothing and black wigs. Sure, sure.
Scott Ritter thinks Iran will be attacked, very soon. He says he’s been chatting with Bolton’s speechwriter. But Jack undoubtedly knows better. And he doesn’t believe for one minute that the US wants better support from Europe this time round, financially and militarily.
Rate This:
0 
0
“What secrecy grants in the short run — public support for government policies — in the long run it takes away, as official secrecy gives rise to fantasies that corrode belief in the possibilities of democratic government. All because of secrets locked away foolishly and in the end, it would seem, needlessly. Secrecy is a losing proposition. It is, as Senator Moynihan has told us, for losers.”
— Richard Gid Powers, in his introduction to Secrecy, by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 1998
Rate This:
0 
0
A picture for Jack R:
http://www.alternet.org/images/managed/Blog+Image_american-world1.jpg
Rate This:
0 
0
That is, in its way, a highly accurate map, fiddlesticks. I’m not sure that many of the curiously inward-looking Americans would be able to draw something like that.
A week or two back, I heard that American travel agents are regularly asked by Americans whether it is cheaper to fly to Hawaii, or to take the train.
Rate This:
0 
0
Never mind that. I know a family of Swedes who were expected in Vancouver on a certain day. They decided it would be nice to see a bit of Canada first, so they arranged to fly in to Halifax and drive over. Too bad they only left one day to do it. Got a phonecall, “Sorry, your country is much larger than expected.”
I used to work in retail down in the touristy area of Vancouver, and we were regularly asked why all our prices were listed in Canadian dollars. I had to explain that when they got on the big silver bird, they left the US of A and came to my country. At that point I would begin speaking in French. Strangely, they still bought stuff from me, even while their wives laughed at them.
Rate This:
0 
0
Dear Mr Johnson,
First of all, I would like to congratulate you for your program ‘The Dream of Rome’.
It was very interesting to see the Roman political views and discover that they still play a huge role in this day and age.
Originally from Istanbul and living in England, this was the first honest and genuine comment I heard about Turkish people protrayed as part of the programme.
I think we are the most misunderstood nation in Europe: I guess it is partly our fault and partly not being accepted.
I sincerely thank you for your accurate reporting and presenting it extremely well.
We know that we have a long way to go to be accepted to the EU, but having support from you was very encouraging.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Ipek TUGEN
Rate This:
0 
0
Good afternoon, Mrs Tugen. I noted that bit of the programme too, with great interest.
And there’s always a slight problem, raincoaster, about how big Canada in particular actually is. Normal maps (I forget the correct term for them) always show Canada and Russia as being stretched along the top, when they are in fact curled around the pole. Perhaps your Swedish friends took a look at the map, and decided that Canada, rather like Sweden, had to be a lot smaller than it appeared to be.
Rate This:
0 
0
Mercator projections. True enough.
Want to hear something spooky? A friend of mine was lucky enough to get a tour of NASA. She reported that in one of the central operations rooms was a map of the world; along the 49th parallel was “the longest, straightest beach you ever saw, and near the top of the map, the island of Alaska.”
This was NASA.
Rate This:
0 
0
Do they ( NASA)know something about global warming that we do not?
Rate This:
0 
0
fiddlesticks
That cartoon upset me so much that I’m off to Yussef’s corner shop to buy up, if I can’t shoplift, all his stock of Michael Moore books to burn.
All right I lied about Princess Diana.
Rate This:
0 
0
It wasn’t meant to upset you, Jack.
It was purely for educational purposes.
Rate This:
0 
0
fiddlesticks
Happy Monday!
As it was done in the vain but noble attempt to educate me I shall withdraw the fatwah and return the books to Yussuf.
Rate This:
0 
0
Hang on, just to clarify that stuff earlier in the thread, as far as I know, convicted fraudster and fellow Etonian Darius Guppy asked Boris Johnson to supply the address of a journalist investigating Darius as he wished to either beat him up or have him beaten up. The story continues that Boris was unable to find the address and he DID NOT SUPPLY IT; nonetheless a rather unsavoury incident that arguably reflects on the way some public-schoolboys operate.
Rate This:
0 
0
Tomato367,
Were you squashed in childhood — to go with the family beef and that big chip you have?
Mumsie-wumsie & Pops couldn’t afford the fees then?
Rate This:
0 
0
Tom8o, without going into details your story as reported is false. It is also libelous (working with lawyers has done so much for my naturally confrontational nature). So please stop boring us here by re-posting it under different names every three days. If you can’t even get the story right, you should certainly stop repeating it. And don’t you know that IPs can be traced?
If your story were factual, wouldn’t you be a little more worried than you appear to be?
Rate This:
0 
0
The Tom80, has already been reported to the temporary webmaster, who is , as it happens a whizz with the programming.
Rate This:
0 
0
I’m all for public exposure, but if you can’t even get your facts straight and insist on being a troll and posting them everywhere, you should get smacked with a rolled-up newspaper…or an IP tracer. Whichever.
Rate This:
0 
0
It’ll get deleted – when Melissa comes back.
Rate This:
0 
0
I watched both episodes of The Dream of Rome on BBC TV and thought Boris was magnificent in the presentation of his story. Craig Brown’s comments on his Review page in The Mail on Sunday (Feb 5 – Hail Boris!) were a joy to read, and I agree with his enthusiasm when he says that “Boris writes like an excited schoolboy – but that’s what makes Johnson’s history of Rome so spiffing…”. This was a hugely enjoyable history lesson – well done Boris.
Rate This:
0 
0
Have just purchased and read my copy from cover to cover – why, other than Piers Plowman, were the history books of my youth so arid and uninspiring? Yours is a joy to read, irreverent, full of palatable facts and utterly absorbing. Strangely enough I now feel slightly better disposed towards the European vision – but not the present set up….
Rate This:
0 
0
I have not kept up with these Boris blogs or books.
However it sounds as if Boris is trying to learn from Rome and apply this to multi-cultural Britain.
Generally as far as I am aware multi-racialisms benifits include increased security and greater wealth due to the amount of united people and the extent of the trading block.
However, one of the most fundamental keys to prosperity is honesty and a civil society. Corrupt countries never sustain wealth. It may be that a country benifits from a very tiny proportion of dishonesty but this is the exception rather than the rule.
Given that multi-culturalism brings together people from places where varied levels of curruption are the norm will multi-culturalism lead to greater corruption and diminished prosperity over time? Or will people become acculturated to a more restrained fashion of living (and if so how).
Finally, will a more corrupt society outweigh the benifits to prosperity of a larger trading block?
Rate This:
0 
0