The modern suit's padded shoulder has the whiff of an epaulette while accentuating the V-shaped torso of classical antiquity so sought by Brummel.

ECONOMIST: Men's clothing

It consists of poetry (often the briefest of fragments), a selection of essays, including several about authors from classical antiquity, and even the libretto of an opera.

ECONOMIST: New verse

To 15th and 16th Century scholars, the period following antiquity - the so-called "dark ages"- had almost succeeded in obliterating classical learning forever.

BBC: A Point of View: Why didn't Harry Potter just use Google?