Pompey

Pompey’s Pillar is a Roman triumphal column not built in memory of the emperor Pompey (106 – 48 BC), as you might expect, but to honour Diocletian (284 – 305 AD). It stands at the eastern side of the temenos of the Serapeum of Alexandria, which is now in ruins. So you have two obscure… Continue reading Pompey

Empire

At least twenty years ago I found I was using my small television as an unplugged, sofa-side coffee table and paying for a TV licence. More recently I found I can watch television using an iPad (and I have a TV licence again).

Gin Palace

I had two memorable holidays in Hong Kong in the 1980s, staying with my newly wed cousins.

Adie and Button

“The high regard for modern architecture and design today is arguably the work of Pioneers of Modern Design. Originally published in 1936 as Pioneers of the Modern Movement, this book by the late art historian Nikolaus Pevsner laid the foundation for the recognition of “modern design” by lining up a progressive historical narrative to explain the… Continue reading Adie and Button

Green Park

While it is correct to call it The Green Park it is pedantic and if the knowledgable Andrew Jones eschews the definite article so will I.

John Bellew, Part II

The army also participated in peacetime Imperial domestic affairs. From the early to mid-1780s, Bellew was in various camps in northern Hungary, the usual station for cavalry units, because of the inexpensive provisions. In 1785-87, he was with the troops in the Trans-Danubian county of Gyor who assisted in conducting Imperial land surveys and kept… Continue reading John Bellew, Part II

The Wild Geese in Austria

While “The Wild Geese” usually refers to Irish Catholics serving in the French service in the 18th century some served in the Austrian service. Captain John Bellew was one and Karen Harvey writes interestingly, I think, about him and other Irishmen serving the Habsburgs in The Journal of The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland… Continue reading The Wild Geese in Austria

John Bellew, Part I

John Bellew was a captain in the Imperial cavalry and served with several cuirassier regiments. His letters to his relatives in Ireland, written from 1778 to 1792, span the reigns of three Austrian monarchs, Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II, and his billetings and activities reflect Imperial foreign and domestic policy in this time… Continue reading John Bellew, Part I

Side by Side

I wonder what the voters in Clacton-on-Sea make of Nigel Farage in his pink shirt, silk tie, velvet collared covert coat and immaculate hair?