Mary Beard Quotes

#1. Roman political culture's extraordinary openness and willingness to incorporate outsiders, which set it apart from every other ancient Western society that we know.

Mary Beard

#2. in the reign of the emperor Nero, when someone had the bright idea to make slaves wear uniforms, it was rejected on the grounds that this would make clear to the slave population just how numerous they were.

Mary Beard

#3. Hunting, bathing, gaming, laughing: that's living (venari lavare ludere ridere occest vivere).

Mary Beard

#4. Polybius more than 150 years earlier,

Mary Beard

#5. There's a difference between what I would like to have been and what I would have been. I always fantasized about being a reforming judge or prison governor (I think that the UK penal system is a disgrace) - but it's fantasy.

Mary Beard

#6. if they are bearded, they are after 117 CE. This

Mary Beard

#7. If being a decent soul is being maternal, then fine. I'll call it human.

Mary Beard

#8. Fame is fickle. If the media turn against me, I will just have more time in the library. Not bad as a fate.

Mary Beard

#9. It is a dangerous myth that we are better historians than our predecessors. We are not.

Mary Beard

#10. If I have played my part well, then give me applause.

Mary Beard

#11. (those who do not exist cannot regret their non-existence,

Mary Beard

#12. It doesn't much matter what line of argument you take as a woman. If you venture into traditional male territory, the abuse comes anyway. It's not what you say that prompts it - it's the fact that you are saying it.

Mary Beard

#13. Action without study is fatal ...

Mary Beard