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Boris Johnson has often spoken of his love of Greek history and of Pericles in particular.
When asked who his historical pin-up was and why, he replied: “Pericles. Look at his Funeral Speech: democracy; freedom — champion stuff.” See here for the full interview.
A few years ago he went to the British Museum and bought a bust [...]
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.
“Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
— Samuel Johnson
Boswell and Johnson were [...]
The real victims in all this are not just the teachers. They are the other kids whose education is being wrecked by a minority of badly behaved children
All we need is the politicians to have the guts to take on the bullying parents, the supine education authorities, and the crazed culture of health and safety
Teachers [...]
Here is a jolly song and they aren’t just snooker loopy. With apologies to Matchroom Mob and Snooker Loopy. See the video.
With thanks to Dungeekin and apologies to Chas and Dave.
CHORUS
Racist loopy nuts are we,
Members of the BNP,
We’ll tell you what we will do,
If we ever get power over you
Mayor welcomes Olympic winning Mayor of Rio to London
Olympic winning city Rio received some top tips on staging the Games from London’s Mayor Boris Johnson, during a visit to City Hall by Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes.
Boris Johnson congratulated Mayor Paes on Rio’s historic victory in winning the race to host the 2016 [...]
the decision of these banks to hand out bonuses as though nothing has changed is unbelievable. The only reason these bankers are still in jobs is because the taxpayer bailed out the system
If you pressed a rifle into the hand of the man in the street and asked him to choose between two targets – [...]
The Temple of Zeus at Nemea
Boris Johnson has spoken of the contribution a knowledge of the classics can make to understanding our own times. In the modern political world — as in the ancient — the same theme is played out again and again … with the same characters : political leaders that [...]
An ostrakon
with the name and patronymic (indicating his father) of the nominee,
Cimon, son of Miltiades
* * *
To-day the term ‘ostracism’ is often used loosely to allude to exclusion from a social group : what school-children might call ‘sending some-one to Coventry’ ; it is, however, a specific procedure with origin in ancient Athens.
Ostracism was aimed at curbing the ambitions [...]
The Mayor’s Priorities for Culture 2009-12. See the document here for his vision on maintaining London’s position as a world centre of cultural excellence.
For an another viewpoint let’s turn to Gotham Girl’s analysis of transatlantic museum visiting.
The British Museum wallops the Met in ancient civilizations
The Elgin Marbles – that is a proper test of wills
The Tate [...]
As readers will know by now Boris Johnson does not normally do austere articles. He says today: “ We don’t do sex scandals. We don’t dabble our fingers in the stuff of people’s souls. I would not normally dream of citing a divorce case now unfolding before the courts; and therefore I will keep the details to [...]
