Erasure as a form of posthumous punishment stretches back as far as human history. With the burning of books, destruction of images and retelling (or rewriting) of histories. The Romans, however, seem to have first formalized the practice in what we now refer to as 'damnatio memoriae.'
If there were ever a line between history and mythology, few would know where to draw it. No matter how widely read or informed we may believe ourselves to be, our understanding of the past is saturated with inaccuracies, be they…
Florence might be most famous for its art and architecture, but its lesser-known coffee culture is undergoing a renaissance of its own.
Few would have once said that the hotel makes the holiday. But in this brave new world of niche travel, international interconnectivity, and Instagram, accommodation is increasingly coming to occupy centre stage...
Exploring Rome can feel like wandering through a film set. World-famous monuments, like the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain, emerge as though from out of nowhere, thronged by locals who mingle like extras around their bars and cafes. With such an…
Seeking out Florence's finest fillets? Let's take you through the best the city has to offer.
No trip to Italy would be complete without indulging in one of the country’s best loved culinary offerings: gelato. Shops that specialize in the stuff – gelaterie – line almost every street of the Renaissance city, drawing tourists and locals…
From football stars to tennis maestros, sportsmen and women are often cited as overpaid examples of capitalistic culture gone mad. In 2009 Tiger Woods became the first sports star to gross over $1 billion. In 2017 Cristiano Ronaldo extended a…
Florence's beauty masks a violent past, erupting in outbreaks of factional violence and religious extremism. The story of Giralomo Savonarola captures the latter. And it is as gruesome as it is gripping.
In the Spring of 2012, I took part in a seminar about the Black Death. It was part of a course about politics and the arts in Medieval France: compelling, comprehensive. Full of those juicy anecdotes that make history so…
