Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute.

Next quotes

• Mary Beard:

  I'm actually in a tradition of classicists with a big public face who like sounding off.

• Mary Beard:

  My mother took me to the British Museum aged five. I had thought people from the past weren't as go

• Mary Beard:

  I was really good at Latin at school, and because I was good at it, I got more interested and got b

• Mary Beard:

  We make two mistakes about the ancient world. One is to assume they were better than us - that, for

• Mary Beard:

  One of the great things about history is that it sort of isn't a done deal - ever. The historical t

• Mary Beard:

  I loved 'Gladiator,' and I thought its depiction of gladiatorial combat, although it was an aggrand

• Mary Beard:

  I think you have to realize that most ancient warfare is really kind of hit and run, honestly. You

• Mary Beard:

  No women in ancient Rome ever had the vote.

• Mary Beard:

  Nobody but an idiot would pretend that they had an error-proof way of choosing the 'best' out of hu

• Mary Beard:

  In real life, Oxford and Cambridge are two excellent universities, like many others in the country.