Mary Beard reflects on 50 years of studying the Romans and how we re-read the ancient world
Mary Beard, who has completed 50 years in the classical studies department of the University of Cambridge, has had a career that reflects the changing questions of scholarship in ancient Roman studies. According to a HistoryExtra conversation, Beard speaks with Charlotte Vosper about her new book and how Roman scholarship has evolved. Beard's career began in 1975 when she joined Cambridge as a graduate student; since then she has written twelve books on Roman history, religion and political culture and has presented several documentaries broadcast by the BBC.
Beard's new book operates under the framing of 'the ancient past is utterly weird.' That phrase encapsulates a central argument of her career: rather than trying to reconstruct the ancient world in modern terms, we should accept the period's own strangeness — its religious rituals, its class structure, its everyday practices. That approach reflects a trend that has grown in classical studies over the past 20-30 years: the effort to move away from reading ancient Rome as a modern political allegory.
One important point Beard emphasises in the conversation is that classical studies must redraw its disciplinary boundaries. 'Younger scholars are no longer just analysing Latin and Greek texts,' Beard says; 'they are drawing on archaeology, anthropology, historical geography and science and technology studies. Roman studies has become a fully multi-disciplinary field.' She recalls that this shift has produced dramatic results in specific areas such as Pompeii excavations; archaeological findings over the past decade have required us to re-read written history.
Another of Beard's key contributions has been on the history of Roman women. In the HistoryExtra conversation she says: 'The greatest challenge in writing the history of Roman women is the absence of women's voices in the written record. Most written documents were produced by male authors.' In 2017 Beard argued in her book 'Women & Power: A Manifesto' that the history of Roman women should not represent only elite women but the whole of everyday life. This approach has shaped the methods of the new generation of scholars in ancient women's history.
The way classical studies attaches to contemporary politics is also among the topics Beard highlights. 'Reading Rome as a warning for modern America, or drawing a direct parallel between the fall of the Empire and Brexit, is often misleading,' Beard says. 'The Romans did not think they were building a nation-state; we weave that with our modern political science categories.' Beard's comment can be read as a critique of the increasing 'fall of Rome' analogies in popular history narratives in recent years.
Another dimension of Beard's work is the impact of the digital humanities on Roman studies. Thanks to Cambridge's digital archives project, the text-mining analysis of Latin inscriptions has become possible. Beard notes that the project assembled a full-text collection of more than 75,000 Latin inscriptions in 2025. 'This is a turning point that exponentially grows the data set in the hands of ancient Roman researchers,' she says; 'the next decade will be a productive period for new research starting to use this data set.'
Beard also calls attention to the gender composition issue in classical studies. In 1975 only 7 of 30 students at the Cambridge classical studies department were women, while in 2025 the ratio is close to 50/50. By contrast, 35 percent of professor positions are still men; the gender gap persists in academic career progression. Beard says that the future of Roman studies being shaped by career-track women researchers will bring new perspectives to the discipline.
Beard's last book conveyed in the conversation delivers an optimistic message about the future of classical studies. 'Studying Rome is still meaningful,' she says; 'because the Romans built the social, religious and legal structures that shaped the foundations of our modern world two thousand years before us. Understanding these structures is fundamental to understanding our own history.' Beard ends the conversation with a warning aimed at young people: 'classical studies is no longer an elite academic activity; students of every background have the right to enter the discipline and re-read the ancient world.'
HistoryExtra also published, as a complement to the conversation, details of Cambridge's digital humanities project. The project plans to reach a database including 100,000 Latin inscriptions by 2027 and is receiving support from technology firms including Apple, Google and the artificial intelligence company Anthropic. Beard says she has 'a limited concern' about whether such support could make academic research dependent on technology companies; but she adds that the project leadership is committed to preserving academic independence.
Mary Beard's 50-year career stands as a record tracking the changing shape of ancient Roman studies. In the conversation's closing words conveyed by HistoryExtra, Beard says of an approaching retirement decision: 'not yet'; she will continue her academic writing and is planning to prepare new proposals for the future of classical studies to hand over to her successors at Cambridge. Beard's decision means a softened generational transition for Cambridge's classical studies department.