Wed 22 Apr 2026, 7pm. Mary Beard Talking Classics, The Shock of the Old. In Association with Rossiter Books.
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF EMPEROR OF ROME AND SPQR
‘The rock star scholar of Ancient Rome’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘The reigning Queen of Classics’ SPECTATOR
What’s exciting about a piece of bread 4,000 years old? Or some pots of paint
abandoned in the eruption at Pompeii? Why should we be bothered with the distant
past anyway? What’s the point?
The life, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome have something to offer
everyone. They are not the property of wealthy white men only. They make us wonder
how to make sense of people who lived long ago (from angry landlords to giggling
senators) – and to think harder about our own world, to look at it differently.
In Talking Classics, Mary Beard points to the surprising connections between antiquity
and the present. From revolutionaries to dictators, Bob Dylan to Beyoncé, she joins
forces with the varied modern characters who have been transfixed by the ancient
world. It’s not compulsory, she argues, to be excited by antiquity, but it’s a shame not
to be.
After half a century teaching and studying classics, she fills the book with lively stories,
curious facts and some good gossip. Talking Classics explains why the deep past does
really affect us all.
Mary Beard is the most acclaimed classicist working today. She is the Professor Emerita of Classics at Cambridge and is the Classics editor of the TLS. She is also the co-host, with Charlotte Higgins, of the podcast Instant Classics. Her previous books include the bestselling, Wolfson Prize-winning Pompeii as well as Confronting the Classics, SPQR, Women & Power and Emperor of Rome. Her work has been published in over 35 languages.
Book Talk and signing
1 Ticket + 1 copy of the book – £25
2 Tickets + 1 copy of the book – £30
