THE HISTORY OF HISTORY IS OFTEN DErided, even by historians, as mere prolegomenon to the study of the past. And yet it supplies the key to unlock the mystery of why where we come from matters to us at all. Superficially, Oswyn Murray is the archetypal Oxford don, with the progressive baggage that being a Fellow of Balliol implies. When Boris Johnson became prime minister, his old Classics tutor Murray told the Guardian that he was “probably the worst scholar Eton ever sent us — a buffoon and an idler”.
If Murray had really despised Boris as an undergraduate, why would he have renounced their friendship by sending his former pupil a formal renuntiatio amicitiae — “an invitation to exile or suicide”? One cannot renounce a non-existent friendship, unless…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2024