Divine delight of men, Mother of Aeneas, Beneath the gliding signs of heaven, Holy Venus Who fills the fruitful lands and navigable seas With all the types of creatures that your conceptions please For you from now, and still forever They  welcome the rising Sun together   Lucretius opens the epic latin poem On The Nature

  Exodus Lost by S.S.Compton is easier to describe by saying what it isn’t than what it is.  Despite having a lot about the Bible in it, it isn’t a book with any particular angle on religion.  It isn’t a conventional history book.  And it isn’t a crazy ‘Chariots of the Gods’ style fairy story.

  The early years of the reign of Gratian, who came to the throne at the age of 19 were very promising. He defeated the Lentienses at the battle of Colmar freeing Gaul from the threat of German invasion. He also solved the problem of who should rule the Eastern empire by the canny appointment

With the emperor dead and two thirds of his army destroyed Adrianople was one of the major setbacks in Roman history.  In fact it has often been regarded as one of the decisive battles in the decline and fall of the Roman empire. It was certainly regarded as extremely serious by the people at the

I was shocked to hear the news that women will not be allowed to become bishops in the Church of England.  I had no idea that they were banned in the first place.  I had thought that when they were allowed to join the clergy in the first place, that opened up the whole hierarchy.

The opening lines of Henry V, the ‘Oh for a muse of fire’ ones, are justly famous for their beauty and literary flare.  But at the end of the day, they are basically an excuse for poor staging.  We are being told that the actors are doing their best but you’ll have to use your