How modern are our lives? Or are we still living the lives our ancestors lived? Its time for us to re-examine the past. Our lives are infinitely richer if we take the time to look at what the Greeks & Romans have given us in politics & law religion & philosophy & education & to learn how people really lived in Athens Rome Sparta & Alexandria. This is a book with a serious point to make but the author isnt simply a classicist but a comedian & broadcaster who has made television & radio documentaries about humour education & Dorothy Parker. This is a book for us all. Whether political cultural or social there are endless parallels between the ancient & modern worlds. Whether its the murder of Caesar or the political assassination of Thatcher; the narrative arc of the hit HBO series The Wire" or that of " Oedipus"; the popular enthusiasm for the Emperor Titus or President Obama
- over & over again we can be seen to be living very much like people did 2 000 or more years ago."