14 h. ago Discovery of mass grave under football pitch changes what we know about the Roman Empire

The pit of bones suggests a hasty dumping of corpses

Politics

40 h. ago Barbarians who toppled Roman Empire were 'high on hallucinogenic drugs' at the time

Barbarian hordes invaded and sacked the Western Roman empire while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs when taking on their enemy, researchers in have suggested

Events

52 h. ago 'Barbarian' warriors who toppled the Roman empire were high on drugs, boffins say

Roman soldiers may have been defeated in battle by warriors under the influence of a host of substances taken to relieve them of fear and increase aggression in combat

Events

3 d. ago Harrowing moment Bruce Parry suffocates goat to death with his bare hands before repeatedly vomiting on hallucinogenic drugs as BBC's Tribe makes stomach

The show, hosted by the former Royal Marines commando, 55, first hit our screens in 2005 on BBC Two and went on to air 15 episodes across three seasons.

Events

6 d. ago Cynthia Ozick: ‘Alice in Wonderland seems calculatedly cruel’

The American author on the wonder of Little Women, re-evaluating Lolita and her belated discovery of ThoreauMy earliest reading memory Andrew Lang’s Fairy books – the blue, yellow and violet ones. And the unadulteratedly grim Brothers Grimm, evocative phrases like “avenue of trees”, the now and then alluring English archaisms, the always expected three sisters or sons, the youngest first despised and then victorious.The book that changed me as a teenager A late teenager, at 17, and it was two books nearly simultaneously, both histories. One was Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in dazzling prose. The other was Heinrich Graetz’s 19th-century History of the Jews, translated from the German, far out of date but distinctly not dated. (It was revelatory to learn much later that Kafka was immersed in this multivolume work.) Together they gave me a sense of the long and intertwined corridors of the past, and a conviction that a mind shorn of history is vacuous. Continue...

Politics

7 d. ago Firsthand evidence of Jesus' crucifixion is found in ancient Roman manuscript

Ancient manuscripts detailing the events during the Roman Empire may contain 'historical evidence' about Jesus Christ. The Annals was written by Roman historian Tacitus around 91AD

Politics

7 d. ago Historical 'evidence' of Jesus' crucifixion found in ancient Roman manuscript

Ancient manuscripts detailing the events during the Roman Empire may contain 'historical evidence' about Jesus Christ. The Annals was written by Roman historian Tacitus around 91AD

Politics

2 w. ago Vibrant Six Nations leaves Andy Farrell with tricky decisions on Lions selection

England finished strong while Ireland appear to be fading, but the head coach must avoid an over-reliance on recency biasThe streets of Cardiff on Saturday night made the last days of the Roman empire look positively sedate. There were almost as many puddles of sick outside the Queens Vaults pub as England had scored tries inside the Principality Stadium, the glossy veneer of “Super Saturday” replaced by the dejected, what-just-happened stagger home. Truth be told, the pissed-up paying public weren’t looking too flash either.What a deeply sobering weekend to be a player in red. To lose 68-14 against anyone at Test level is a nightmare; to do so under the roof at home against England is full-on zombie apocalypse stuff. An Aussie dollar or two, then, for Andy Farrell’s thoughts as he left the ground pondering his options for the British & Irish Lions series against the Wallabies this year. As things stand, representatives from Wales will be hard pressed to fill a phone box. Contin...

Politics

4 w. ago Archaeologists find lost city that rewrites ancient Rome's collapse

The excavation of an ancient Roman city has rewritten the history of the fall of Rome, archaeologists say. This previously overlooked settlement actually thrived as the Empire crumbled.

Politics