Classical Clayton

LAOCOÖN: STILL STRUGGLING WITH THOSE SERPENTS STATUE OF THE MONTH: APRIL 2020 In the January of 1506, a young boy called Francesco was invited to accompany his father on an unusual outing - to see some ancient statues which had just been unearthed in a vineyard on the Esquiline Hill in Rome .   Francesco’s father Guiliano da Sangallo was architect to Pope Julius II, a keen collector of ancient art (he already owned the Apollo Belvedere, subject of a previous blog), and it was the Pope who had asked him to appraise this exciting new find.   Guiliano decided to invite their lodger, Michelangelo (yes, the Michelangelo, and I’m not talking about the turtle) to tag along as well.   This outing left such a deep impression on Francesco that he was still able to recall the details sixty years later: ‘ When we reached the place where the statues were standing, my father said at once, “This is the Laocoon mentioned by Pliny!”        The reason Francesco’s dad got so excited is tha

PLAGUE IN ATHENS: 430-426 BC A new disease which leaves doctors baffled, from which even leading politicians cannot be protected; ships becoming floating incubators for infection; places of worship being used as temporary morgues; medical staff putting their lives at risk by caring for the sick; conspiracy theories about biological warfare; the suspension of normal life; a densely-packed urban population in lockdown, gripped by fear of the disease.   Welcome to Athens , in the spring of 430 BC. In the spring of 430, in the second year of the Peloponnesian War, Attica (the territory of Athens ) was invaded by the armies of the Peloponnesian League, a military confederation of Greek states led by Sparta .   During these early years of the war, the Spartan strategy was to invade Attica each spring, to disrupt food supplies, panic the civilian population and hopefully provoke the Athenians into battle.   However Pericles, the most powerful statesman and de facto leader o