Why I wrote Double Stakes

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Double Stakes is the third book in the Mélisende ‘Doubles’ series and has the most difficult one to write. Thrillers are my thing, both as a reader and a writer. Mel and Jeff are characters I love to share with you as I do the whole des Pittones clan, the enigmatic EIRS director Patrick […]

Debunking the 'Roman salute'

Oath of the Horatii (Jean-Louis David, 1784)

Recently, a prominent social media personality thrust his arm in the air in a straight arm salute that caused an earthquake of reaction, mostly shuddering. For many, it recalled fascists, Nazis and ultra nationalism of every kind. According to legend, this fascist gesture was based on […]

Slaves, damnati and freedmen in ancient Rome

In 161 BC, the Roman jurist Gaius wrote: “Slavery is a human invention and not found in nature. Indeed, it was that other human invention, war, which provided the bulk of slaves, but they were also the bounty of piracy … or the product of breeding.” (Institutiones)

A cold, yet trenchant statement. As in many […]