For decades, Mary Beard has forged her own path through the male dominated field of academia, from the ruins of Rome to the trenches of Twitter, to become "the world's most famous classicist". From the wise Augustus to the hypocritical Tiberius and the barking mad Caligula, Mary Beard uses these Roman rulers as a lens to examine life in their empire, and asks what lessons they can teach us about the world today.

This event was recorded at Adelaide Writers' Week and originally broadcast on Big Ideas on 9 April 2024.

Speakers

Mary BeardAuthor Emperor of Rome, (also Pompeii, Confronting the Classics, SPQR, Women & Power, Twelve Caesars)Professor Emerita of Classics at Cambridge University

Jonty ClaypoleWriter, documentary producer and arts administratorCEO, Red Room PoetryFormer Director of Arts, BBC