Genseric was tight lipped but passionate.  He set himself almost impossible objectives and used every tactic available to him to achieve them.  It is worth bearing in mind right from the start just how unlikely his career was.  The Vandals were not a big tribe and before Genseric they would not have been considered a

The reign of Honorius was eventful, but his actual life settled into a fairly sedate business at the centre of his court.  He didn’t travel much or indeed do very much.  His sister on the other hand had as varied a career as any woman in Roman history.  She was taken from Rome when it

There are plenty of options to choose from for dating the start of the Byzantine Empire. But if you wanted one that would stand up in court, the reign of Arcadius is a pretty sound bet. The great Theodosius I was the last emperor to rule both halves of the empire unambiguously. He divided his

There are big and weighty matters in the papers at the moment.  Should Scotland leave the United Kingdom?  Should the United Kingdom leave the EU?  Should NATO combat Russia and/or militant Islam?  These are all worthy and important, but in the middle of all this pops up the seaside town of Clacton.  This happens to

Every now and again the local civic society in my town raises funds by holding a second hand book sale in the town hall.  It is a gruesome affair, where the thin veneer of civilisation is ripped off and men and women revert to the brutish state of nature.  The doors open at 10.00am, by

It is good to be clear about how the world really is, rather than how we would like it to be.  One easy mistake to make is to conflate radical Islam with Islam.  Islam does not have a moderate form and an extreme form.  Indeed, neither do Christianity or Judaism.  All three religions are large