Minerva - September/October 2016

Boudicca and the buried treasure

The Queen of the Iceni and her warriors burned their way across Roman Britain to Camulodunum (Colchester) where a hidden hoard of gold and silver jewellery that survived the flames has been found. Philip Crummy

Jerusalem the golden

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s latest lavish exhibition focuses on the City of Peace from the years 1000-1400, illustrating how it survived this period of transition with its competing powers and faiths. Dominic Green

What’s your poison?

In the ancient world magical potions and elixirs were used to secure health or love and, sometimes, to cause death but it was often hard to tell if this was sorcery or just plain criminality. Erich B Anderson

The axe of time

The revolutionary implement that defined the Neolithic world was the polished stone axe, which was not only used to cut down trees but became an object of trade, a religious symbol and an indicator of status. David Miles

Deadlier than the male

In the male-dominated Graeco-Roman world, women were sometimes cited as the cause of conflicts, but they also took an active part in warfare, even leading armies, and sometimes engaging in single combat. Paul Chrystal

War and peace

Well-known for his biographies and books on Roman military history,
Dr Adrian Goldsworthy explains how writing works of fiction, set during the Napoleonic Wars, gives him much greater freedom. Diana Bentley

Paddy power

A group of travellers follows in the footsteps of the famous travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor through Greece to his home in the Mani, which will one day open as a writers’ retreat. Dominic Green