Heroines' journeys - Not always physical ones

Karen/Carina

As readers, we like to see our main character progress in some way. She or he doesn’t need to save the world, make a grand marriage with a duke or make a groundbreaking journey into space. But their story does need a resolution. It could be acceptance, it could be a move somewhere else, it […]

Julian the 'Apostate' and that spear...

Of all the ‘what ifs’ of history, the death of Emperor Julian in AD 363 has to be one of the most intriguing. He rejected Christianity, demoted its by then prominent place in the Roman state and promoted Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place. His aim was to reduce Christianity to one of many also-ran eastern […]

Legion - Life in the Roman Army

It’s that exhibition that Roman enthusiasts are clamouring to see.

The British Museum is rather good at themed exhibitions; the Nero one was terrific as were those featuring Pompeii, the Celts and the World of Stonehenge. When ‘Legion – Life in the Roman Army’ was first announced in the members’ newsletter, I wept bitter […]