The powerful Greek city-state overreached itself and saw its influence decline as it failed to integrate conquered territories

All serious scholarship on ancient Sparta has to be conducted within the penumbra of the ‘mirage Spartiate’, a French term coined in 1933 to describe the problem posed by idealised accounts of Sparta.

Uncover the all-conquering Hun king whose nomadic horde terrorised Rome

Capturing the immediacy of fighting and the writhing bodies of soldiers, as well as keeping narrative clarity, proved enormously difficult for painters depicting battles before the advent of photography. Michael Hall reveals how they rose to the challenge

Classical Greek and modern ideas of beauty

After exploring the Ionian, Gwynneth and Andrew Page wanted more challenging sailing. They opted to join a flotilla exploring the Saronic Gulf