Why/How Does Classics Matter?

Classics is in the news - or on the screen: Gladiator a few years ago, Troy very recently, Alexander as I write. How significant is this current Hollywood fascination with the ancient Greeks and Romans? Or should we take far more seriously the decline of the teaching of the Classical languages in schools, a decline so grave as to prompt a recent debate in the House of Commons? My answer is that both are in their different ways equally significant. Our culture cannot do without proper appreciation of its classical roots, and Hollywood is as objective a barometer as any of our culture's contemporary pressure points. This article explores six aspects of antiquity - its representation in cinema, athletics, theatre, architecture, literature, and politics - that are still palpably salient for modernity.