We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
Boris Johnson: a candidate for ‘damnatio memoriae?’
STEPHEN ARNELL looks at the historical practice of erasing the memory of reviled political leaders from ancient Rome to modern Westminster
A statue of Boris Johnson covered in oil
In a revealing speech, Trump’s economic adviser has exposed the actual strategy behind the tariff policy: forcing other countries to provide financial support for US world hegemony, reports MARC VANDEPITTE
Activist Angie Zelter has been arrested more than a hundred times. She’s not stopping now, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
Natalia Marques looks at last week's ruling that Khalil can be deported and its implications
We are not here to advocate for the arms industry or its CEOs, writes STEVE HANDFORD, and that means we must take a stand against the government’s spending on war
As Labour mimics Tory welfare cuts while ignoring crumbling schools, educators must collectively resist the government's priorities and fight for an inclusive, creative system that values all children, writes NEU president SARAH KILPATRICK
Although our sector is hearing better things from the current government, the recognition that what we do is education in its own right, rather than just childcare, is still not reflected in policy, writes LUCY COLEMAN
WITH his wretched, inept, self-serving and typically duplicitous performance at the Covid inquiry, many would like to forget disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson ever existed.
If we look back through history, we can see many examples when unsavoury characters (and some blameless) were totally erased from the public record, in terms of both writings and physical memorials.
This removal came to be known by the Latin phrase coined in a German academic thesis in 1689 as “damnatio memoriae” meaning “condemnation of memory.”
Forget-me-not
Back in the bad old days of the Roman empire (and more recently in the former USSR, China, North Korea, and previous Warsaw Pact countries), those who were thought to have disgraced the honour of the state — or were inconvenient reminders of how the present occupants got there — were swiftly expunged from official memory.
After his fall and execution in AD 31, the emperor Tiberius’s “Partner of my Labours,” the super-ambitious Praetorian Prefect Sejanus became a non-person, and to make sure of this, his former wife and their children, plus his extended family and supporters were also rubbed out. A scene memorably depicted in the classic 1976 BBC series I, Claudius.
More from this author
STEPHEN ARNELL sees parallels between the US tech billionaire and HG Wells’s literary creation
David Lynch’s classic 1980 film The Elephant Man has some cruel parallels with Britain in 2025, argues STEPHEN ARNELL
Between Musk’s bizarre British power grab and Trump’s overtly corporate agenda, modern robber barons face a growing backlash — and history shows how determined leaders can tame ultra-rich excess, writes STEPHEN ARNELL
There is no denying Thomas Cromwell's positive and progressive impact on English politics, argues STEPHEN ARNELL
