Horton Tarot Card

The Emperor and the Scribe

That Tiberius had the reputation for unimaginable debauchery and licentiousness was due, in no small part, to his scribe, Lucius. Recalled to Rome from his exile in Capri, after the death of his stepfather, Augustus, who he had always disliked for his moral insincerity, the new emperor was keen to sweep everything under the carpet; …

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The Half Days

Eight Hundred and Thirteen Martyrs

There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends towards catastrophe. Castle of Otranto, H. Walpole “Here in the south, as I am sure you know,” said the priest, who was a little, pink-faced gnome of a man with thick-rimmed glasses, “we have an expression: Mamma li turchi! One tells it …

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The Joker

Badge of Honour

I can never really relax beforehand; I am always looking round for something to do, even if I will invariably end up winging it; when my tax card came in the post that morning, I thought I had found the perfect conversation piece. “It’s been the running joke of my life here,” I said at …

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