The normal diet of gladiators was vegetarian, but not through choice or principle. The rations in their barracks consisted of sagina, which literally translates as ‘stuffing’. It was a barley and bean

The earth-shattering collapse of the Western Roman Empire was the result of invasions, corruption and cruelty

The poor citizens of Al-Jazira al-Khadra never knew what hit them. In 859, an unfamiliar fleet sailed into the bay separating this Muslim settlement – which later evolved into the city of Algeciras, n

In 1494, the high castle walls that had dominated the Middle Ages came tumbling down in clouds of gunpowder smoke. It was the start of a new age

The article on the battle against U-boats in the Second World War in the November issue omitted perhaps the most important episode. That was the part played by the late Joe Baker-Cresswell of Bamburgh

The German war on Allied convoys