‘Shameless Beyond the Curse of Shamelessness’ In a new book, Joan Smith critically examines the historical mistreatment of Ancient Rome’s leading women—including Emperor Augustus’ daughter Julia, who was denounced as a nymphomaniac and cast into exile. Joan Smith 12 Dec 2024 · 16 min read
Games and Thrones The real history of the era portrayed in Gladiator II is much more interesting, tumultuous, and murderous than Scott’s simpleminded yarn. Charlotte Allen 4 Dec 2024 · 13 min read
Savage Entertainment A new version of Tinto Brass and Bob Guccione’s notorious 1979 film ‘Caligula’ provides a valuable record of one of the most fascinating disasters in cinema history. Jaspreet Singh Boparai 14 Nov 2024 · 30 min read
Two Wars, a Wedding, and a Funeral In the eleventh instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the dramatic events preceding the death of Attila the Hun. Herbert Bushman 8 Aug 2024 · 12 min read
Under Attila’s Gaze In the ninth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes a Roman diplomat’s famous fifth-century journey into the heart of Hunnic territory. Herbert Bushman 5 Apr 2024 · 28 min read
Attila Invictus In the eighth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the Huns’ increasingly violent incursions into the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. Herbert Bushman 8 Mar 2024 · 19 min read
A Gathering of the Huns In the seventh instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes how disparate Hunnic tribes coalesced into the unified force that would terrorize Europe. Herbert Bushman 23 Jan 2024 · 16 min read
Merry Christmas, Little Wolf Christmas offers a chance to remind ourselves of the intellectual debt that our editors and writers owe to the Christian tradition. The Quillette Editorial Board 24 Dec 2023 · 7 min read
From out of the Steppes, a ‘Whirlwind of Nations’ In the sixth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the rise of the Huns, who struck terror into the hearts of Goths and Romans alike. Herbert Bushman 19 Dec 2023 · 21 min read
The Long Road to Aquitaine In the fifth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the conclusion to the Visigoths’ four-decade quest for a permanent homeland. Herbert Bushman 21 Nov 2023 · 13 min read
A Roman Trauma In the fourth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ podcaster Herbert Bushman describes the Visigothic sack of Rome in 410 C.E. Herbert Bushman 1 Nov 2023 · 17 min read
King of the Goths In the third instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ podcaster Herbert Bushman describes the rise of Alaric I, whose Gothic armies roamed Greece and the Balkans before marching on Rome itself. Herbert Bushman 2 Oct 2023 · 20 min read
Huns to the North. Romans to the South In the second instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ podcaster Herbert Bushman describes the events that sparked the fateful Gothic invasion of the Roman Empire. Herbert Bushman 19 Sep 2023 · 25 min read
A Mummy by Any Other Name A century after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, curators bent on ‘decolonizing’ history have become needlessly skittish about the M-word. Steven Tucker 16 Feb 2023 · 15 min read
Progress and Polytheism: Could an Ethical West Exist Without Christianity? Christianity’s moral vision was not as revolutionary as a casual student of history might suppose. Nor did it equip Western society with a unique set of virtues that were unknown to the ancient world. Ben Bassett 23 Aug 2018 · 9 min read
