Minerva - March/April 2017

Defend or destroy?
The Praetorian Guard was the elite military corps paid handsomely to protect Roman emperors, but their masters had to be on their guard in case these too powerful men turned against them. Guy de la Bédoyère

Under the volcano
From Etna and Krakatoa to a tale of Gothic horror, a new exhibition in Oxford shows the effects of volcanoes, how they have long fascinated us and how volcanology developed as a science. Theresa Thompson

Rendlesham revealed
Archaeologists, four metal-detectorists and a local landowner, have worked together to uncover the site of a 7th-century royal Anglo-Saxon settlement in south-east Suffolk. Faye Minter, Jude Plouviez and Christopher Scull

The ship of death
The burial mounds at Sutton Hoo by the River Deben in Suffolk were first excavated in 1939 to reveal a haunting ship burial and some of the greatest Anglo-Saxon treasures ever found in England. Martin Carver

Cultural connections
Professor Lukas Nickel of the University of Vienna talks about the links between Ancient China and the Hellenistic world, which he deduced after studying warriors from the 3rd-century BC Terracotta Army. Dalu Jones

Megalith mania
Stonehenge, England’s most famous prehistoric monument, has inspired artists, writers, advertisers, fashion photographers, comic-book heroes and a wealth of wonderfully odd souvenirs. Julian Richards

This mysterious monument
The latest crop of books about Stonehenge brings the story of our most famous megaliths up to date but, although more is now known of its origins and purpose, it is still something of an enigma. David Miles