BRITAIN is to revisit its colonial
past. Among measures being
lined up to celebrate the Queen's
golden jubilee is one that will
recall the nation's imperial
ambition and the building of the
Commonwealth.
Children are to be taught about
the subjects as part of a new
course that will become part of
the national curriculum in 2002,
the year that marks the 50th
anniversary of the Queen's
accession. It is one of a series of
grand proposals emerging to
celebrate the jubilee. Others
include:
Thousands of special medals
for the armed forces and other
public servants;
The opening of gardens at royal
palaces for a series of public
concerts;
A special fund to develop sports;
A public holiday to mark the jubilee.
Tony Blair has told Don McKinnon, the secretary-general of the
Commonwealth, that "Commonwealth studies" is to become an
important part of the new subject - education for citizenship -
planned for all children aged 11 to 16.
For years such figures as Clive of India, General Wolfe, who
won control of Canada, or Lord Kitchener, the British
commander who conquered Sudan, have been besieged by the
politically correct.
Some teachers, unsure whether the conquerors represent
imperial glory or colonial oppression, have shied away from the
subject.
But the proposed course, being drawn up by the Commonwealth
Institute and the Department for Education and Employment,
will, according to a briefing document at the institute, "explore in
detail how the historical links between Great Britain and Africa
and Asia and the Caribbean have influenced patterns of
migration".
One source said: "The course will have to cover the origins of
the Commonwealth, and that means examining the history of
Britain's empire."
Not that the age of empire is about to be wholly rehabilitated.
According to the guidance on citizenship lessons, children will
be taught about the "world as a global community", along with
the requirement to study the role and the relationship of Britain
and the Commonwealth.
Steve Brace, the educational director of the Commonwealth
Institute, said: "We are going to be looking at the impact of the
Commonwealth on our multicultural, multiracial and multifaith
society."
It may prove controversial. Chris McGovern, of the History
Curriculum Association and a former curriculum adviser, warned
that many teachers were reluctant to study the imperial past.
"The problem is that there is almost a self-hatred among
intellectuals and a massive sense of guilt about the empire, and
they don't want to talk about its benefits," he said.
The jubilee year, however, will not shy away from exhibiting
symbols and pageantry born of empire days. Up to 200,000
medals are to be cast to mark the occasion following a decision
in principle by a cabinet committee on the jubilee, chaired by
Jack Straw, the home secretary.
Cast from bronze or brass and paid for by the government, they
will be awarded to members of the armed forces and emergency
services together with public servants, including teachers. All
members of the armed forces who have served for a certain
period - either five or 10 years - will receive the honour.
Only 30,000 medals were cast to mark the silver jubilee in 1977,
with 9,000 going to the military and the remainder to public
servants.
The latest proposal for jubilee medals followed
behind-the-scenes pressure from the armed forces, according to
Whitehall sources. "We understood the Queen had no strong
feelings on the matter," said a minister involved in the planning.
"Then the forces got to her, made their pitch and the palace's
position changed.
"We're quite happy to cast a medal and pay for it. We realise
this jubilee is going to be far bigger than the silver."
The Queen is also understood to be looking favourably on a
proposal to open the gardens at Buckingham Palace, Windsor
Castle and Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh for public concerts. It is
thought that orchestras and top soloists could be invited to
perform at the events.
The "Way Ahead" group of senior royals and their advisers is
meeting on Thursday to examine other ways of marking the
jubilee. The launch of a special sports development fund is likely
to be another key part of the celebrations. The Commonwealth
Games will take place in Manchester during the year and a fund
to help young sports players is expected to be set up.
More formal events are likely to include a gathering of
Commonwealth leaders in London, even though they will have all
been together at the Commonwealth heads of government
meeting in Brisbane in November 2001.
The 15 governor-generals of the countries where the Queen is
head of state are expected to come to a banquet at Windsor
Castle and spend the weekend with the Queen.
The Commonwealth Day observance, which takes place
annually in March in Westminster Abbey, will be replicated for
the first time in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. While the Queen
will probably stay at Westminster, other members of the royal
family will take part in the other national services.
~*~
Found: a document signed by Cleopatra (Sunday Uk Times)
THE only known example of the
signature of Cleopatra, the most seductive queen of the ancient
world, has been discovered on a scrap of papyrus that lay
forgotten for more than a century in a mummy casing in Berlin,
write Rossella Lorenzi and Peter Conradi.
Peter van Minnen, a Dutch professor of ancient history, has
identified a single word, "genestho" - Greek for the royal
command "so be it" - at the end of a document from 33BC,
when Cleopatra VII ruled Egypt.
Experts at the British Museum who are familiar with van
Minnen's findings said this weekend that there was little doubt
that the word had been written by Cleopatra.
The document contains a promise from the queen of lucrative
tax breaks for Publius Canidius, a powerful Roman commander
close to Mark Antony, her lover.
It indicates that Cleopatra, who also had an affair with Julius
Caesar, was a skilled political manipulator rather than the
tragic heroine of Hollywood legend.
"This must be the original signature of the queen," said Susan
Walker, deputy keeper of Greek and Roman antiquities at the
British Museum. "We are all very excited about it. This is the
only example of her writing."
Walker said the document referred not only to an official
government bank account, but also to the private account of
"ourselves and the children", which was controlled by the
sovereign. "The text is actually dated to 33BC, therefore the
reigning sovereign has to be Cleopatra VII," she said.
In the letter, Cleopatra promises Canidius lucrative
concessions including the right to export 10,000 artabas - an
ancient measure equivalent to a sack - of wheat and to import
5,000 amphoras of wine tax-free every year.
At the top is written: "Received: Year 19 = 4, Mecheir 26" -
translated by experts as February 23, 33BC. The main text is
in a different hand and is thought to be the work of one of the
queen's officials. It is composed in Greek, the language of the
eastern Mediterranean.
Canidius commanded a land army at the time of the battle of
Actium two years later in 31BC. The fleets of Antony and
Cleopatra were crushed by Octavian who, under the name of
Augustus, went on to become undisputed master of the Roman
world.
Cleopatra was shrewd to try to win over Canidius. In his
account of the battle of Actium, the historian Plutarch
described Antony's initial reluctance to let Cleopatra join in on
his side. Canidius persuaded him to change his mind, having
apparently been bribed, Plutarch writes. The document is
evidence of such a bribe.
The battle ultimately cost both Antony and Cleopatra their lives.
The lovers fled after their defeat and both committed suicide
soon afterwards.
The signature on the document was identified almost by
chance. It was published last month in a volume of essays
dedicated to Jean Bingen, a renowned Belgian papyrologist,
and was labelled as a private treaty between an Egyptian
villager and "Mr X".
When van Minnen saw it, he became suspicious. After ordering
an enlargement from the publisher, he fed it into his computer
and "within 30 seconds" recognised it as a royal ordinance.
On it he identified what he believed must be Cleopatra's
signature. He also found Canidius's name - which experts say
is more proof of its authenticity.
Not all scholars are convinced that the signature can be
definitively attributed to Cleopatra. Nicholas Purcell, an expert
at St John's College, Oxford, believes the word may have been
written by an aide. "Even though the 'genestho' is in a different
hand, it could still be the personal amanuensis or chamberlain
subscribing on her behalf," he said.
Van Minnen rejects this suggestion. "The added order cannot
but derive from the issuing authority, in this case Cleopatra," he
said. "The high official addressed would immediately recognise
her writing."
Alan Bowman, another expert on the period at Christ Church,
Oxford, said the document was proof of the tactics Cleopatra
used to influence leading Romans in the struggle with Octavian.
"It was not exactly sleaze, because they all did it. That was the
way things worked," he said. "They would not have called it
sleaze. But neither would some of their modern-day
counterparts."