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

No women in ancient Rome ever had the vote.

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

My mother took me to the British Museum aged five. I had thought people from the past weren't as good as we were, and then I saw the Elgin marbles. Suddenly, the world seemed more complicated.

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