Dame Winifred Mary Beard

Dame Winifred Mary Beard, DBE, FSA, FBA (born 1 January 1955)[1] is an English scholar of Ancient Roman civilization. The New Yorker characterizes her as “learned but accessible”.[2]

Dame Mary is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge,[3] a fellow of Newnham College, and Royal Academy of Arts Professor of Ancient Literature. She is the Classics editor of The Times Literary Supplement, where she also writes a regular blog, “A Don’s Life”.[4][5] Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as “Britain’s best-known classicist.”[6]

Dame Mary was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to the study of classical civilizations.[7]

Books in order of publication:

  • Rome in the Late Republic (with Michael Crawford, 1985, revised 1999);
  • The Good Working Mother’s Guide (1989);
  • Pagan Priests: Religion and Power in the Ancient World (as editor with John North, 1990);
  • Classics: A Very Short Introduction (with John Henderson, 1995); Religions of Rome (with John North and Simon Price, 1998); (vol. 1), (vol. 2)
  • The Invention of Jane Harrison (Harvard University Press, 2000); (About Jane Ellen Harrison, 1850–1928, one of the first female career academics)
  • Classical Art from Greece to Rome (with John Henderson, 2001);
  • The Parthenon (Harvard University Press, 2002);
  • The Colosseum (with Keith Hopkins, Harvard University Press, 2005);
  • The Roman Triumph (Harvard University Press, 2007
  • Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town (2008); (US title: The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found; Harvard University Press)
  • It’s a Don’s Life (Profile Books, 2009);
  • All in a Don’s Day (Profile Books, 2012);
  • Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures and Innovations (Profile Books, 2013);
  • Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up (University of California Press, 2014);
  • SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Profile Books, 2015);
  • Women & Power: A Manifesto (Profile Books, 2017); Civilizations: How Do We Look / The Eye of Faith (Profile Books, 2018);
  • Emperor of Rome: Rul­ing the Ancient Roman World – 2023