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Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old
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.
'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.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2026
About the author
Mary Beard
69 books4,318 followersWinifred Mary Beard (born 1 January 1955) is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and is a fellow of Newnham College. She is the Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, and author of the blog "A Don's Life", which appears on The Times as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as "Britain's best-known classicist".
Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader.
Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was initially to earn money for recreational spending, but she began to find the study of antiquity unexpectedly interesting. But it was not all that interested the young Beard. She had friends in many age groups, and a number of trangressions: "Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl."
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College, Cambridge and sat the then compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD.
From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King's College London. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price".[4] In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.[1]
In 2004, Beard became the Professor of Classics at Cambridge.[3] She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".[5]
Mary Beard, an only child, was born on 1 January 1955 in Much Wenlock, Shropshire. Her father, Roy Whitbread Beard, worked as an architect in Shrewsbury. She recalled him as "a raffish public-schoolboy type and a complete wastrel, but very engaging". Her mother Joyce Emily Beard was a headmistress and an enthusiastic reader.
Mary Beard attended an all-female direct grant school. During the summer she participated in archaeological excavations; this was initially to earn money for recreational spending, but she began to find the study of antiquity unexpectedly interesting. But it was not all that interested the young Beard. She had friends in many age groups, and a number of trangressions: "Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl."
At the age of 18 she was interviewed for a place at Newnham College, Cambridge and sat the then compulsory entrance exam. She had thought of going to King's, but rejected it when she discovered the college did not offer scholarships to women. Although studying at a single-sex college, she found in her first year that some men in the University held dismissive attitudes towards women's academic potential, and this strengthened her determination to succeed. She also developed feminist views that remained "hugely important" in her later life, although she later described "modern orthodox feminism" as partly "cant". Beard received an MA at Newnham and remained in Cambridge for her PhD.
From 1979 to 1983 she lectured in Classics at King's College London. She returned to Cambridge in 1984 as a fellow of Newnham College and the only female lecturer in the Classics faculty. Rome in the Late Republic, which she co-wrote with the Cambridge ancient historian Michael Crawford, was published the same year. In 1985 Beard married Robin Sinclair Cormack. She had a daughter in 1985 and a son in 1987. Beard became Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement in 1992.
Shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Beard was one of several authors invited to contribute articles on the topic to the London Review of Books. She opined that many people, once "the shock had faded", thought "the United States had it coming", and that "[w]orld bullies, even if their heart is in the right place, will in the end pay the price".[4] In a November 2007 interview, she stated that the hostility these comments provoked had still not subsided, although she believed it had become a standard viewpoint that terrorism was associated with American foreign policy.[1]
In 2004, Beard became the Professor of Classics at Cambridge.[3] She is also the Visiting Sather Professor of Classical Literature for 2008–2009 at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has delivered a series of lectures on "Roman Laughter".[5]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
May 18, 2026
A somewhat serious discussion of the merits of studying or at least being familiar with, Ancient World Classics in the 21st century. She’s honest about the pomposity that often goes with these studies and the modern racism that is trying to cherry pick what they like for their own political agendas.
One point that will stay with me was that in this world where free speech is being attacked from both the left and the right, discussions concerning the current world are often hamstrung by people not saying what they think in case they offend someone, or regurgitating inflammatory slogans they’ve absorbed. In contrast a discussion regarding figures and actions from the ancient past from whatever culture frees people up to speak their mind and therefore have reasoned debates of ideas - is so and so to be considered good etc.
Mary Beard has a lively way of presenting ideas and so anyone with an interest in the ancient world would find this worthwhile.
NOTE: Prof Mary Beard has written many books and participated in many TV series that are worth checking out.
One point that will stay with me was that in this world where free speech is being attacked from both the left and the right, discussions concerning the current world are often hamstrung by people not saying what they think in case they offend someone, or regurgitating inflammatory slogans they’ve absorbed. In contrast a discussion regarding figures and actions from the ancient past from whatever culture frees people up to speak their mind and therefore have reasoned debates of ideas - is so and so to be considered good etc.
Mary Beard has a lively way of presenting ideas and so anyone with an interest in the ancient world would find this worthwhile.
NOTE: Prof Mary Beard has written many books and participated in many TV series that are worth checking out.
May 28, 2026
Mary Beard — Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old
I loved this book. 5 stars.
Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old is not a conventional history book, nor is it a tightly argued work in the mold of SPQR. In many ways, it feels more like sitting in a lecture hall, bookstore, or coffee shop listening to Mary Beard think aloud about Greece, Rome, politics, art, teaching, and why the ancient world still matters.
And that is very much part of its charm.
At first, I wondered if I was missing something. My reading came in fits and starts — interrupted by life, work, family, and Cubs baseball. But then it clicked: this book almost invites that style of reading. It reads like a collection of lectures, essays, conversations, and reflections tied together by a larger purpose.
The hidden structure, for me, is right there in the title: The Shock of the Old.
Beard is not trying to reassure us that the classics are comfortable or safely familiar. She wants antiquity to remain strange, provocative, alive, and occasionally unsettling. She explores not only ancient Greece and Rome themselves, but also how later generations reinvent, politicize, romanticize, and weaponize the classical past.
Several sections especially stayed with me.
One explores Jean-Baptiste Wicar’s painting of Virgil reading the Aeneid to Augustus’ family, with Octavia overcome at the mention of her dead son Marcellus — a powerful example of how later artists emotionally reimagined Rome. As a Chicago guy who loves his city, I especially appreciated that Wicar’s magnificent painting hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of my favorite places. Beard uses examples like this beautifully to show that we are not simply looking at ancient Rome itself, but at later generations interpreting, reshaping, and finding meaning in antiquity.
Another fascinating thread involves archaeologist Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli and his uneasy role guiding Hitler and Mussolini through Rome in 1938. Beard’s discussion left me slightly obsessed with finding a copy of Bandinelli’s memoir Hitler and Mussolini Visit Rome. The thought of an archaeologist serving as guide to those two fascist leaders through the monuments and symbolism of imperial Rome is irresistible history. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.
That section struck a personal chord because I was fortunate enough to visit Rome and the Forum recently. Beard’s discussion brought back a flood of memories. Bandinelli is right and Beard is right: Mussolini is performing. In some ways, he is attempting an Augustan performance through Roman imagery, monuments, archaeology, and imperial symbolism. Yet where Augustus worked with extraordinary sophistication — literature, religion, architecture, and political storytelling woven together with remarkable finesse — Mussolini’s version often feels more blunt, modern, and overtly propagandistic. A kind of half-baked attempt to flatten Rome into an authoritarian brand. Still, some of the visual power of modern Rome undeniably owes something to those interventions, uncomfortable though that truth may be.
Beyond the scholarship — which is, of course, formidable — what makes this book special is Mary Beard herself.
She is energetic, funny, honest, deeply knowledgeable without being stuffy, and entirely comfortable in her own skin.
I recently had the privilege of seeing her speak in Chicago and meeting her afterward. She generously took time to personalize books and speak warmly with readers. The same qualities that make her such a compelling public intellectual come through vividly on the page.
This is not a book that places the classics on a marble pedestal.
It is a book that asks us to use them — argue with them, question them, learn from them, and understand how power, memory, culture, and storytelling continue to shape both the ancient world and our own. Highly recommended.
You have made it this far- Find out about the greatest literary Sunday ever! https://open.substack.com/pub/lposse1...
I loved this book. 5 stars.
Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old is not a conventional history book, nor is it a tightly argued work in the mold of SPQR. In many ways, it feels more like sitting in a lecture hall, bookstore, or coffee shop listening to Mary Beard think aloud about Greece, Rome, politics, art, teaching, and why the ancient world still matters.
And that is very much part of its charm.
At first, I wondered if I was missing something. My reading came in fits and starts — interrupted by life, work, family, and Cubs baseball. But then it clicked: this book almost invites that style of reading. It reads like a collection of lectures, essays, conversations, and reflections tied together by a larger purpose.
The hidden structure, for me, is right there in the title: The Shock of the Old.
Beard is not trying to reassure us that the classics are comfortable or safely familiar. She wants antiquity to remain strange, provocative, alive, and occasionally unsettling. She explores not only ancient Greece and Rome themselves, but also how later generations reinvent, politicize, romanticize, and weaponize the classical past.
Several sections especially stayed with me.
One explores Jean-Baptiste Wicar’s painting of Virgil reading the Aeneid to Augustus’ family, with Octavia overcome at the mention of her dead son Marcellus — a powerful example of how later artists emotionally reimagined Rome. As a Chicago guy who loves his city, I especially appreciated that Wicar’s magnificent painting hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of my favorite places. Beard uses examples like this beautifully to show that we are not simply looking at ancient Rome itself, but at later generations interpreting, reshaping, and finding meaning in antiquity.
Another fascinating thread involves archaeologist Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli and his uneasy role guiding Hitler and Mussolini through Rome in 1938. Beard’s discussion left me slightly obsessed with finding a copy of Bandinelli’s memoir Hitler and Mussolini Visit Rome. The thought of an archaeologist serving as guide to those two fascist leaders through the monuments and symbolism of imperial Rome is irresistible history. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.
That section struck a personal chord because I was fortunate enough to visit Rome and the Forum recently. Beard’s discussion brought back a flood of memories. Bandinelli is right and Beard is right: Mussolini is performing. In some ways, he is attempting an Augustan performance through Roman imagery, monuments, archaeology, and imperial symbolism. Yet where Augustus worked with extraordinary sophistication — literature, religion, architecture, and political storytelling woven together with remarkable finesse — Mussolini’s version often feels more blunt, modern, and overtly propagandistic. A kind of half-baked attempt to flatten Rome into an authoritarian brand. Still, some of the visual power of modern Rome undeniably owes something to those interventions, uncomfortable though that truth may be.
Beyond the scholarship — which is, of course, formidable — what makes this book special is Mary Beard herself.
She is energetic, funny, honest, deeply knowledgeable without being stuffy, and entirely comfortable in her own skin.
I recently had the privilege of seeing her speak in Chicago and meeting her afterward. She generously took time to personalize books and speak warmly with readers. The same qualities that make her such a compelling public intellectual come through vividly on the page.
This is not a book that places the classics on a marble pedestal.
It is a book that asks us to use them — argue with them, question them, learn from them, and understand how power, memory, culture, and storytelling continue to shape both the ancient world and our own. Highly recommended.
You have made it this far- Find out about the greatest literary Sunday ever! https://open.substack.com/pub/lposse1...
April 17, 2026
This book was magnificent. This was the epitome of the blending of two traits which I find most admirable in any human I come across: Passion and Nuance.
Passion, because any sufficiently motivated human can make any subject interesting and deeply moving simply by imbuing it with their force of feeling, and secondly, being willing to be passionate about something while equally holding the truth that you have more questions than answers, and that there may not even be objective answers in the first place, is one of the most difficult places for a human mind to continually inhabit, yet it is imperative for a well functioning society.
I have always been interested in the ancients (not just the Romans and Greeks, I also include, as Ms. Beard does, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and ancient cultures from every language family and corner of the globe). Primarily because I do believe as a general rule that things which are handed down pass some sort of filtration system and are worth respecting, simply due to their survival of that process. Now, that process has a metric ton of caveats on both ends, things which are of incalculable value are lost, and things akin to excrement are preserved for decades, centuries or millenia.
The author begins the first half of the book by displaying her personal reasons for loving the classics, and how she has found a 50 year rewarding career out of it. I found this infectious and very useful, the author very emphatically NOT revering the classics but interrogating them as we would anything else, seeing the humor, putrescence, glory, and evil in turn, and calling it out as such. Don't let your view of this history be spoiled by some faux need for reverence of these dusty old figures, see them as real people and it will be far more rewarding.
But the way the author frames the value of the Classics today was the real gem of this book. To paraphrase a few of my favorite passages from the author: "The focus should not be on 'what does classics teach you about', and should be 'What does it teach you to do?':
- First, 'Classics teaches you to argue responsibly on the basis of inadequate evdience' (ancient history is always demanding that we face the gaps in what we know and then make a good case) - a sentiment in scant supply in our day and age.
- Secondly, 'Classics teaches you to discuss constructively questions to which there are no right answers, or any answers at all in the usual sense of the word'. ... "Part of the unashamed mission of humanities education is to celebrate and face up to complexity, not trade in false simplicity. That is what we do."
I will leave with yet another quote from this book: "Classics teaches you to grapple with ideas you don't understand, from an alien world you have never visited; to see how words can be used to enlighten, please, confuse, and deceive; and to realise that you sometimes have to struggle very hard to get the meaning."
Thanks to NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for this eARC
Passion, because any sufficiently motivated human can make any subject interesting and deeply moving simply by imbuing it with their force of feeling, and secondly, being willing to be passionate about something while equally holding the truth that you have more questions than answers, and that there may not even be objective answers in the first place, is one of the most difficult places for a human mind to continually inhabit, yet it is imperative for a well functioning society.
I have always been interested in the ancients (not just the Romans and Greeks, I also include, as Ms. Beard does, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and ancient cultures from every language family and corner of the globe). Primarily because I do believe as a general rule that things which are handed down pass some sort of filtration system and are worth respecting, simply due to their survival of that process. Now, that process has a metric ton of caveats on both ends, things which are of incalculable value are lost, and things akin to excrement are preserved for decades, centuries or millenia.
The author begins the first half of the book by displaying her personal reasons for loving the classics, and how she has found a 50 year rewarding career out of it. I found this infectious and very useful, the author very emphatically NOT revering the classics but interrogating them as we would anything else, seeing the humor, putrescence, glory, and evil in turn, and calling it out as such. Don't let your view of this history be spoiled by some faux need for reverence of these dusty old figures, see them as real people and it will be far more rewarding.
But the way the author frames the value of the Classics today was the real gem of this book. To paraphrase a few of my favorite passages from the author: "The focus should not be on 'what does classics teach you about', and should be 'What does it teach you to do?':
- First, 'Classics teaches you to argue responsibly on the basis of inadequate evdience' (ancient history is always demanding that we face the gaps in what we know and then make a good case) - a sentiment in scant supply in our day and age.
- Secondly, 'Classics teaches you to discuss constructively questions to which there are no right answers, or any answers at all in the usual sense of the word'. ... "Part of the unashamed mission of humanities education is to celebrate and face up to complexity, not trade in false simplicity. That is what we do."
I will leave with yet another quote from this book: "Classics teaches you to grapple with ideas you don't understand, from an alien world you have never visited; to see how words can be used to enlighten, please, confuse, and deceive; and to realise that you sometimes have to struggle very hard to get the meaning."
Thanks to NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for this eARC
May 27, 2026
Four brilliantly essays exploring the relevance of the classics today written by the inimitable Mary Beard.
She has always made Ancient Greece and Rome accessible and this latest book takes us on an exploration as to how we relate to, further understand and fully value the classics from various perspectives.
Combining the past and present, raising pertinent and relevant questions, the case for the classics to be valued is challenging and highly rewarding.
An excellent read
She has always made Ancient Greece and Rome accessible and this latest book takes us on an exploration as to how we relate to, further understand and fully value the classics from various perspectives.
Combining the past and present, raising pertinent and relevant questions, the case for the classics to be valued is challenging and highly rewarding.
An excellent read
February 3, 2026
I was permitted to read an advance copy of this book through Netgalley.
This book is going to surprise a lot of the people who pick it up and start it. I sat down and literally couldn’t stop reading.
Rather than attempting to explain why classic texts are important and relevant, this book instead takes a more remarkable approach. Author Mary Beard says, “Debate, disagreement, and questioning are what classics has to offer, not certainty, truth, beauty or relevance in the way that people often like to imagine. It's fruitless to pretend that the Greeks and Romans offer a useful guide to living now.”
As a lifelong explorer of the Greek and Roman worlds, the author possesses a deep and obvious expertise on this topic. Could she really be saying that the classics don’t matter? The answer, incredibly, is both yes and no.
Beard challenges many current assumptions about the ancient world. Was the burning of the library at Alexandria the worst disaster in human history? All that knowledge lost, all of the ancient voices and opinions and ancient accounts of everyday events snuffed out. Or was it? Beard reminds us that the sheer volume of material that we retain, compared to even more recent events, remains immense. Cataloguing the material that exists from Greece and Rome could occupy a lifetime.
Beard says, “Classical literature has forced me to think harder, face the uncomfortable, and to reread what I had thought I had understood.” This may be the ultimate value of classical literature, to force us to indulge in a life that asks us the hard, important questions. Are we capable of nuance? What do we expect from a friend? What is our responsibility to our parents?
Beard further argues that the meaning of those ancient words and symbols has been muddied by time or co-opted by men who scarcely understood their meaning. The original bits of the Ancient Greek temples that were exhibited in London were sneered at by academics as being undeserving of their glowing descriptions. “One or two critics concluded that some of them, at least, must be later Roman replacements, not classical Greek work of the 'finest age' at all. It was only gradually that they became widely acknowledged as the touchstone of ancient art.” John Kennedy’s ‘Ich Bin Ein Berliner’ speech borrowed from a Roman quote that had only a perverse attachment to the subject of human rights or to freedom. And bankers and dictators have been only too happy to grasp onto the rebuilt, militaristic and often fabricated history of Rome. The author offers that we might consider how more modern interpretations color our perceptions. “There is no way that we can now eradicate Mussolini's vision. The fabric of 'classical' Rome is in part a fascist creation. What we can do is look it in the eye and try to understand the politics that lie behind the way we now encounter the remains of the ancient city, and the choices that Mussolini made about what we should see (or not see), and how.”
I wish that some of my history professors had understood that we should view the classics through a variety of different lenses. The easy approach is to treat these works as the pinnacle of human civilization; reality is much more complex.
Beard again, says, about ancient history: “How do we build a picture of it from the vivid, but scattered, pieces of evidence we have? How do we make it make sense? How can we begin to imagine it? How can we not be startled by it?”
This book will challenge readers to re-imagine what history really looks like. If we were to walk into a restaurant in old Pompeii, where would we sit? Would women be welcome? Who would talk to us or take our orders? What would we be served? Beard walks us through many of these questions in novel and intriguing ways.
This book is going to surprise a lot of the people who pick it up and start it. I sat down and literally couldn’t stop reading.
Rather than attempting to explain why classic texts are important and relevant, this book instead takes a more remarkable approach. Author Mary Beard says, “Debate, disagreement, and questioning are what classics has to offer, not certainty, truth, beauty or relevance in the way that people often like to imagine. It's fruitless to pretend that the Greeks and Romans offer a useful guide to living now.”
As a lifelong explorer of the Greek and Roman worlds, the author possesses a deep and obvious expertise on this topic. Could she really be saying that the classics don’t matter? The answer, incredibly, is both yes and no.
Beard challenges many current assumptions about the ancient world. Was the burning of the library at Alexandria the worst disaster in human history? All that knowledge lost, all of the ancient voices and opinions and ancient accounts of everyday events snuffed out. Or was it? Beard reminds us that the sheer volume of material that we retain, compared to even more recent events, remains immense. Cataloguing the material that exists from Greece and Rome could occupy a lifetime.
Beard says, “Classical literature has forced me to think harder, face the uncomfortable, and to reread what I had thought I had understood.” This may be the ultimate value of classical literature, to force us to indulge in a life that asks us the hard, important questions. Are we capable of nuance? What do we expect from a friend? What is our responsibility to our parents?
Beard further argues that the meaning of those ancient words and symbols has been muddied by time or co-opted by men who scarcely understood their meaning. The original bits of the Ancient Greek temples that were exhibited in London were sneered at by academics as being undeserving of their glowing descriptions. “One or two critics concluded that some of them, at least, must be later Roman replacements, not classical Greek work of the 'finest age' at all. It was only gradually that they became widely acknowledged as the touchstone of ancient art.” John Kennedy’s ‘Ich Bin Ein Berliner’ speech borrowed from a Roman quote that had only a perverse attachment to the subject of human rights or to freedom. And bankers and dictators have been only too happy to grasp onto the rebuilt, militaristic and often fabricated history of Rome. The author offers that we might consider how more modern interpretations color our perceptions. “There is no way that we can now eradicate Mussolini's vision. The fabric of 'classical' Rome is in part a fascist creation. What we can do is look it in the eye and try to understand the politics that lie behind the way we now encounter the remains of the ancient city, and the choices that Mussolini made about what we should see (or not see), and how.”
I wish that some of my history professors had understood that we should view the classics through a variety of different lenses. The easy approach is to treat these works as the pinnacle of human civilization; reality is much more complex.
Beard again, says, about ancient history: “How do we build a picture of it from the vivid, but scattered, pieces of evidence we have? How do we make it make sense? How can we begin to imagine it? How can we not be startled by it?”
This book will challenge readers to re-imagine what history really looks like. If we were to walk into a restaurant in old Pompeii, where would we sit? Would women be welcome? Who would talk to us or take our orders? What would we be served? Beard walks us through many of these questions in novel and intriguing ways.
April 25, 2026
this is my first mary beard book! which feels weird because i’ve loved classics since i was a kid and even attended university to study it where im sure she was cited and placed in the recommended reading countless times. however im happy that i found her in my own time, completely by chance, as a result of waterstones advertisement and my love of the colour yellow (the uk version of the book is a bright yellow in case it’s different for you).
its very interesting this book, because it’s written like a conversation. albeit at times clunky, but that’s mostly because i am not fluent in some areas of the discussion and found it difficult to fully take in - but this simply means that i will have to reread the book in a few months perhaps, which is a thrilling task. i honestly think this might be the best book of mary’s to start with - it is a broad analysis of classics, its ever changing state and the various degrees of reception. the talk of class, the root word of classics and how greek and latin have always been a thing of exclusivity was really eye opening to me as someone who studied latin and hated it. perhaps i should pick it back up again, for those faced exclusion because of their lack of knowing it.
thanks mary, and thank you mr british museum employee who showed her the bread. and thank you rick riordan, my own introduction to classical studies.
i’m going to post a substack about this book in some coming days. my substack is (strangely) called debeanobeanbro. pls feel free to read about my (limited in comparison to mary beard as i’m only 22 at the time of reading) experience in classics!
its very interesting this book, because it’s written like a conversation. albeit at times clunky, but that’s mostly because i am not fluent in some areas of the discussion and found it difficult to fully take in - but this simply means that i will have to reread the book in a few months perhaps, which is a thrilling task. i honestly think this might be the best book of mary’s to start with - it is a broad analysis of classics, its ever changing state and the various degrees of reception. the talk of class, the root word of classics and how greek and latin have always been a thing of exclusivity was really eye opening to me as someone who studied latin and hated it. perhaps i should pick it back up again, for those faced exclusion because of their lack of knowing it.
thanks mary, and thank you mr british museum employee who showed her the bread. and thank you rick riordan, my own introduction to classical studies.
i’m going to post a substack about this book in some coming days. my substack is (strangely) called debeanobeanbro. pls feel free to read about my (limited in comparison to mary beard as i’m only 22 at the time of reading) experience in classics!
April 16, 2026
ik lees echt nooit nonfictie dus dit ging me niet zo makkelijk af maar ik ben wel ontzettend fan van mary beard en de klassieken. iedere dag heb ik spijt dat ik geen latijn of grieks heb gehad, het blijft mijn meisjesdroom om classicus te worden. maar misschien kan dat nog???!! wie weet..
April 22, 2026
Not sure how I've gone this long without reading Mary Beard yet, but after this book, I'll definitely pick up a few more, since I love the writing style and voice she has in Talking Classics and this entire book just spoke to me, reminding me of why I was so insistent on maintaining my love for the ancient mediterreanean world. There's a lot of other books out there on why people should study the Classics, and Beard succinctly shuts down a lot of the common reasonings, and her book doesn't carry the same level of pretension other such books do — the ancients should be read not because we want to put them on a pedestral or admire them or because they represent some level of logic and beauty, but because connecting with a world that existed millennia ago prompts new manners of thinking and helps us parse through the complexity of existence. One of my favourite parts of this book was all the coverage of Classical reception — what does it mean to co-opt these stories and historical figures, and how do we interpret them in our own modern day context? I'm convinced by Beard's book, but also I already love and studied Classics, so I'm not sure if I'm the audience that needs to be persuaded. That said, her discussions on her own experience in feeling out of place in academia really resonate, and she captures the difficulty in consolidating what really falls under the Classics umbrella really well.
Thank you to UChicago Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
Thank you to UChicago Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
March 24, 2026
Talking Classics by Mary Beard
Arguably the most recognizable classical scholar today, Mary Beard’s work in “Talking Classics” is fundamentally different from the other books she's written. “Talking Classics” proves to be a deeply personal work, exploring not only what Greek and Roman influence has on the rest of the world but also how these works have uniquely impacted her. Much of the book is dedicated to personal anecdotes mixed in with information from the classical world, with the first half focusing more on the author and the second half on how and why we engage with the classics today. Of the two halves, I found the second half more engaging, with Chapter 3 being my favorite. Discussions on the so-called “Greek Miracle” and its influence on American democracy led to the adoption of Greek and especially Roman symbols into far-right extremism, and ended with the gatekeeping of classics. Beard is able to blend her personal experiences with deep knowledge of the field, resulting in the strongest chapter of the four and a consistently strong narrative throughout.
I found Chapter 4 similarly strong with its discussion of avoiding hero worship over the discipline while making her case why classics deserve to be studied today. Beard manages to avoid common shortfalls that are often associated with defending the humanities and makes a compelling case without overstating her case. The only major weakness of the book is its length. The advanced copy was under 200 pages, many of which were taken up by pictures. Still, if you have both an interest in the subject matter and have enjoyed Beard’s books in the past, this is an easy recommendation. 4/5
Arguably the most recognizable classical scholar today, Mary Beard’s work in “Talking Classics” is fundamentally different from the other books she's written. “Talking Classics” proves to be a deeply personal work, exploring not only what Greek and Roman influence has on the rest of the world but also how these works have uniquely impacted her. Much of the book is dedicated to personal anecdotes mixed in with information from the classical world, with the first half focusing more on the author and the second half on how and why we engage with the classics today. Of the two halves, I found the second half more engaging, with Chapter 3 being my favorite. Discussions on the so-called “Greek Miracle” and its influence on American democracy led to the adoption of Greek and especially Roman symbols into far-right extremism, and ended with the gatekeeping of classics. Beard is able to blend her personal experiences with deep knowledge of the field, resulting in the strongest chapter of the four and a consistently strong narrative throughout.
I found Chapter 4 similarly strong with its discussion of avoiding hero worship over the discipline while making her case why classics deserve to be studied today. Beard manages to avoid common shortfalls that are often associated with defending the humanities and makes a compelling case without overstating her case. The only major weakness of the book is its length. The advanced copy was under 200 pages, many of which were taken up by pictures. Still, if you have both an interest in the subject matter and have enjoyed Beard’s books in the past, this is an easy recommendation. 4/5
May 27, 2026
4.25/5
Thank you to Profile Books for sending me a copy of this ahead of its release.
In Talking Classics, the legendary Mary Beard reflects on her career and why the life, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome has had and continues to have such a hold on us. It’s a very philisophical read designed to get you thinking rather than particularly answer any questions, which is synonymous with classics! As Beard says here, no one is an authority and classics don’t ‘belong’ to anyone despite what wealthy, white Europeans would have had you think - ‘Whoever ‘we’ are, wherever ‘we’ come from, we are all equally foreign to Ancient Greece and Rome.’
Since getting further into classics I’ve noticed the undercurrent of elitism and gatekeeping, even today here on booksta and it’s something I’ve struggled with, so this book found me at the right time. Beard carefully deconstructs it all and analyses the historical glorification and misuse of classics, why it shouldn’t be revered and why we should be extending the boundary outside the ‘so called heartlands of greece and italy into western asia and africa and beyond’.
An excellent read that got me thinking differently about antiquity and I’ll leave you with a very relevant quote:
‘Social media is bedevilled by those who think that there is a simple right answer to everything (theirs), and that debate is a zero-sum game (either you win, or I do).’
My space will never be exclusionary or elitist, we all have different backgrounds and it doesn’t matter if you’re coming to something later in life. Your thoughts and ideas are valid!
‘𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒶 𝓋𝒾𝓇𝓊𝓂𝓆𝓊𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝑜: welcome in.’
Thank you to Profile Books for sending me a copy of this ahead of its release.
In Talking Classics, the legendary Mary Beard reflects on her career and why the life, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome has had and continues to have such a hold on us. It’s a very philisophical read designed to get you thinking rather than particularly answer any questions, which is synonymous with classics! As Beard says here, no one is an authority and classics don’t ‘belong’ to anyone despite what wealthy, white Europeans would have had you think - ‘Whoever ‘we’ are, wherever ‘we’ come from, we are all equally foreign to Ancient Greece and Rome.’
Since getting further into classics I’ve noticed the undercurrent of elitism and gatekeeping, even today here on booksta and it’s something I’ve struggled with, so this book found me at the right time. Beard carefully deconstructs it all and analyses the historical glorification and misuse of classics, why it shouldn’t be revered and why we should be extending the boundary outside the ‘so called heartlands of greece and italy into western asia and africa and beyond’.
An excellent read that got me thinking differently about antiquity and I’ll leave you with a very relevant quote:
‘Social media is bedevilled by those who think that there is a simple right answer to everything (theirs), and that debate is a zero-sum game (either you win, or I do).’
My space will never be exclusionary or elitist, we all have different backgrounds and it doesn’t matter if you’re coming to something later in life. Your thoughts and ideas are valid!
‘𝒶𝓇𝓂𝒶 𝓋𝒾𝓇𝓊𝓂𝓆𝓊𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝑜: welcome in.’
May 22, 2026
This is a memoir of sorts by perhaps the sharpest classics scholar - Mary Beard. It is well written and informative, esp re the current state of classics in academia (and politics). This is not as memorable as her “SPQR” (but what is?). It is still outstanding and well worth reading.
May 22, 2026
She’s a genius. Never misses.
May 10, 2026
3.5 rounded up. Nothing earthshattering, at least if you are a reader of (ancient) history, but Beard is never a waste of time. I was delighted to learn that there used to be mice living inside the Athena Parthenon statue.
May 5, 2026
Some really spirited quasi-manifestos about the creative and curious approach one can take to understanding classics, but as a bit of an outsider this was a little incoherent, less of an inspiring primer than I had assumed. "Talking Classics" feels as though it is talking much more to the insiders about how to invite others in, which ironically I found quite alienating at points as the one with my nose against the glass. But ultimately it makes sense - the acknowledgments reveal that this brief musing started life as a lecture series.
While it wasn't as big a call to arms as I might have wanted, I still feel mildly inspired to start digging in on some foundational work, including Beard's own back catalogue.
While it wasn't as big a call to arms as I might have wanted, I still feel mildly inspired to start digging in on some foundational work, including Beard's own back catalogue.
Read
May 27, 2026I liked this book so much. Read it in one go on the plane. It’s great historiography and gives the “so what” for studying the ancient world of Greece and Rome—though most of it is transferable to other elements of history and the humanities. She writes so well and I appreciated the autobiographical elements that show how she was able to be herself in a field where she always felt like an outsider. There’s little special pleading and she deals with classics being used for bad as well as good purposes, as is true for all history.
May 4, 2026
I love Mary Beard and I love reading about the classics, and she had some good points but I felt the book was a letdown. It was hard to get through and I didn't really get the reason for the book, I wasn't sure what she was trying to get across. I had such high hopes but was disappointed.
April 27, 2026
Great book. I even had a giggle reading some parts. It has made me admire Mary Beard even more for the person she is and has have me tips for teaching.
April 27, 2026
she’s done it again
April 2, 2026
Mary Beard’s Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old is a thoughtful and engaging reflection on what it means to study the ancient world today. Rather than presenting classics as something remote or overly reverential, Beard focuses on its continuing ability to unsettle, surprise, and prompt new ways of thinking.
One of the book’s strengths is its insistence that the ancient world should not be treated as a fixed or comfortable point of reference. Beard returns repeatedly to the idea that Greece and Rome can feel unfamiliar, even jarring, and that this is precisely what makes them worth studying.
Reading this as a classicist, I found it particularly satisfying. Beard puts into words something that often goes unspoken: that much of the appeal of classics lies in that balance between recognition and difference. Whether she’s discussing literature, history, or reception, there’s a consistent sense that the field is driven as much by curiosity as by tradition.
What I appreciated most was how the book reconnects the discipline with a sense of intellectual interest rather than prestige or nostalgia. It makes a quiet but convincing case for why classics still matters. For those already in the field, it’s a useful reminder of what drew them to it in the first place; for others, it offers a clear and unpretentious way into the subject.
Beard also touches on the idea of thauma (a Greek term for wonder or amazement) which feels like a fitting way to think about the discipline as a whole. My own thauma was visiting Pompeii for the first time at 14; it was the moment I realised I wanted to continue studying classics.
Thank you Profile Books for gifting me this book! I am so grateful :)
One of the book’s strengths is its insistence that the ancient world should not be treated as a fixed or comfortable point of reference. Beard returns repeatedly to the idea that Greece and Rome can feel unfamiliar, even jarring, and that this is precisely what makes them worth studying.
Reading this as a classicist, I found it particularly satisfying. Beard puts into words something that often goes unspoken: that much of the appeal of classics lies in that balance between recognition and difference. Whether she’s discussing literature, history, or reception, there’s a consistent sense that the field is driven as much by curiosity as by tradition.
What I appreciated most was how the book reconnects the discipline with a sense of intellectual interest rather than prestige or nostalgia. It makes a quiet but convincing case for why classics still matters. For those already in the field, it’s a useful reminder of what drew them to it in the first place; for others, it offers a clear and unpretentious way into the subject.
Beard also touches on the idea of thauma (a Greek term for wonder or amazement) which feels like a fitting way to think about the discipline as a whole. My own thauma was visiting Pompeii for the first time at 14; it was the moment I realised I wanted to continue studying classics.
Thank you Profile Books for gifting me this book! I am so grateful :)
May 4, 2026
Talking Classics aims to root out the answers at the heart of problems such as ‘how to make a case for the classics’ and ‘why classics is still worth learning’. It is a frank look at the state of the field early in Beard’s life and now, with a mixture of classical text, archaeology, and famous classicists scattered in. The book is a sort of wandering tour through anecdotes related to works, people, and institutions including the Aphrodite of Knidos, Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War, Oxford, Sophocles’ Antigone, Louis MacNeice’s Autumn Journal, graffiti on Pompeian walls, Jane Ellen Harrison, and more.
The book is very personable, as most of it is told through Beard’s own experience with her very own angle and tone (which, if you’ve read Beard, you have probably come to terms with this). However, sometimes her attempts at humility come off as insecure, which I dislike in such a renowned and public facing figure.
Overall, a neat little refresher and would probably make a good read for an undergraduate studying classics
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley and University of Chicago Press in exchange for an honest review.
The book is very personable, as most of it is told through Beard’s own experience with her very own angle and tone (which, if you’ve read Beard, you have probably come to terms with this). However, sometimes her attempts at humility come off as insecure, which I dislike in such a renowned and public facing figure.
Overall, a neat little refresher and would probably make a good read for an undergraduate studying classics
I received an e-ARC from NetGalley and University of Chicago Press in exchange for an honest review.
May 13, 2026
I went to see Mary Beard deliver an author talk on this book and found her highly intelligent and engaging. The book felt like a hard slog at times and because it’s not a familiar subject it took me longer than I thought it would to get through it.
April 30, 2026
4.25*
May 10, 2026
Niemendalletje
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In our education experience, we have all studied the ancient classics of Greece and Rome. To some, the subject may have seemed dry, but to others, it means so much more. But the deeper we dive into the past, the more questions arise about the subject of studying the classics. Why do people study the classics? How has our understanding of the classics changed over time? Why do some political groups choose to use the classics to make their points? Do you need to learn Greek and Latin to understand the classics? As someone who has been a scholar and a professor of the classics, Mary Beard explores these questions in her latest book, “Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old.”
I would like to thank The University of Chicago Press and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. As someone who mainly reads about medieval and 16th-century history, I usually don’t dive further into the past, but this year I have decided to get outside of my comfort zone. I have been reading about medieval humanism, but I have not dived into the classics that the great humanists did. I wanted to learn more about the classics, and I heard that Mary Beard is a great place to start, so I decided to give her latest book a try.
This is not your typical nonfiction book about the classics. This is a book that explores themes surrounding the classics in a series of essay-like chapters. Beard begins with her own journey into antiquity when she was a young girl exploring the British Museum and found some Egyptian bread. This was the start of Beard’s exploration into thauma, or wonderment, of the ordinary. It's by connecting to the ordinary of the past that we can better understand it, although the significant writings of Homer, Virgil, Plato, and Aristotle are important in their own ways.
Beard explores questions like why we tend to focus on Greece and Rome when we think about the ancient world, as well as exploring how the art and architecture of antiquity inspired future generations. One of the bigger topics that she explores is how different political groups have used the classics to press their own agendas. Beard argues that the classics are for everyone and that they do not belong to one side or another. She also explores how the classics should be for everyone, and that you don’t necessarily need to know Latin and Greek to appreciate and study the classics. Finally, Beard looks to the future and asks why we should continue to study the classics while leaving the field open for everyone.
I think Beard has a wonderfully engaging writing style, and her knowledge about the classics and antiquity is superb. I think for my first book, diving into the world of antiquity and the classics, it may not have been the best fit, but I did enjoy it. I think I will read more books by Mary Beard in the future. If you are interested in the classics and want to explore deeper questions about the subject, I would suggest you give “Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old” by Mary Beard a try.
I would like to thank The University of Chicago Press and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. As someone who mainly reads about medieval and 16th-century history, I usually don’t dive further into the past, but this year I have decided to get outside of my comfort zone. I have been reading about medieval humanism, but I have not dived into the classics that the great humanists did. I wanted to learn more about the classics, and I heard that Mary Beard is a great place to start, so I decided to give her latest book a try.
This is not your typical nonfiction book about the classics. This is a book that explores themes surrounding the classics in a series of essay-like chapters. Beard begins with her own journey into antiquity when she was a young girl exploring the British Museum and found some Egyptian bread. This was the start of Beard’s exploration into thauma, or wonderment, of the ordinary. It's by connecting to the ordinary of the past that we can better understand it, although the significant writings of Homer, Virgil, Plato, and Aristotle are important in their own ways.
Beard explores questions like why we tend to focus on Greece and Rome when we think about the ancient world, as well as exploring how the art and architecture of antiquity inspired future generations. One of the bigger topics that she explores is how different political groups have used the classics to press their own agendas. Beard argues that the classics are for everyone and that they do not belong to one side or another. She also explores how the classics should be for everyone, and that you don’t necessarily need to know Latin and Greek to appreciate and study the classics. Finally, Beard looks to the future and asks why we should continue to study the classics while leaving the field open for everyone.
I think Beard has a wonderfully engaging writing style, and her knowledge about the classics and antiquity is superb. I think for my first book, diving into the world of antiquity and the classics, it may not have been the best fit, but I did enjoy it. I think I will read more books by Mary Beard in the future. If you are interested in the classics and want to explore deeper questions about the subject, I would suggest you give “Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old” by Mary Beard a try.
May 29, 2026
4.5 || I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review.
I was a history major in college, and the seminar classes in my final two years were always my favorite. This book needs a seminar class. Maybe several. It should be debated and discussed (by both history and classics students) for years to come.
This is not the intro most people are expecting for the subject, but it is riveting. There are no discussions of maps or timelines here, just heartfelt reflections on a subject that has spanned her 50-year career, and the complexity that comes with studying the past. She is also a woman in a field that men have historically dominated, and thus has seen the field a little differently than everyone else. She doesn't shy away from the fact that the ancient world in itself was highly troubled and not the perfect utopia many try to paint it as. In her words, "If you want classics, you have to take the troubling topics too, and you will miss a lot if you don't ask what they mean to you. This can be about looking our demons in the eye."
In chapter 3, we look those demons in the eyes. How do we grapple with the atrocities Mussolini committed, but acknowledge the fact that his sponsorship of Roman excavations is why so much of it has been uncovered? Latin and Greek quotes have been used in dozens of political speeches, and Rome and Greece are being used daily in political conversation. "Classics belong to no side. It can be politicised, rightly or wrongly, but it doesn't intrinsically have a politics." (I do think this chapter was also the weakest of the four. It felt like it could've used a little more of an argument, but I understand that doing so could make this book something very different.)
Beard argues in her last chapter about the saving of the humanities, and, ironically, I finished and read that chapter on the same day that a prominent US university announced it was axing nine majors, exclusively in the humanities and languages. "Classics give you a space to argue freely and without fear," and in a time of fearmongering and fake news, it is exactly what we need. History and classical studies are more important than ever. But, there is also a rise in humanities. Personal curricula, commonplacing, people are moving away from brainrot and doomscrolling, and embracing learning. At least in my social media sphere, many of these "classes" are based on history, classical studies, or even languages. Perhaps we are not as doomed as we think.
"Wondering what the past is, how to describe it, treading the tightrope between the idea that the inhabitants of the ancient past were just like us and the idea that they were incomprehensibly alien, pushes us to the very frontiers of understanding. "
I was a history major in college, and the seminar classes in my final two years were always my favorite. This book needs a seminar class. Maybe several. It should be debated and discussed (by both history and classics students) for years to come.
This is not the intro most people are expecting for the subject, but it is riveting. There are no discussions of maps or timelines here, just heartfelt reflections on a subject that has spanned her 50-year career, and the complexity that comes with studying the past. She is also a woman in a field that men have historically dominated, and thus has seen the field a little differently than everyone else. She doesn't shy away from the fact that the ancient world in itself was highly troubled and not the perfect utopia many try to paint it as. In her words, "If you want classics, you have to take the troubling topics too, and you will miss a lot if you don't ask what they mean to you. This can be about looking our demons in the eye."
In chapter 3, we look those demons in the eyes. How do we grapple with the atrocities Mussolini committed, but acknowledge the fact that his sponsorship of Roman excavations is why so much of it has been uncovered? Latin and Greek quotes have been used in dozens of political speeches, and Rome and Greece are being used daily in political conversation. "Classics belong to no side. It can be politicised, rightly or wrongly, but it doesn't intrinsically have a politics." (I do think this chapter was also the weakest of the four. It felt like it could've used a little more of an argument, but I understand that doing so could make this book something very different.)
Beard argues in her last chapter about the saving of the humanities, and, ironically, I finished and read that chapter on the same day that a prominent US university announced it was axing nine majors, exclusively in the humanities and languages. "Classics give you a space to argue freely and without fear," and in a time of fearmongering and fake news, it is exactly what we need. History and classical studies are more important than ever. But, there is also a rise in humanities. Personal curricula, commonplacing, people are moving away from brainrot and doomscrolling, and embracing learning. At least in my social media sphere, many of these "classes" are based on history, classical studies, or even languages. Perhaps we are not as doomed as we think.
"Wondering what the past is, how to describe it, treading the tightrope between the idea that the inhabitants of the ancient past were just like us and the idea that they were incomprehensibly alien, pushes us to the very frontiers of understanding. "
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.
This was one of the best books I have read. I fully enjoyed it! Mary Beard has a wonderful way of writing that entrances the reader.
What I understood the book to be saying was, classics aren't only for the upper class, because Classics are inherently built from an entirely different people outside of our class structure. Classics could, and should, be enjoyed by everyone. While in our current society we applaud the study of sciences, we shouldn't forget to also study classics as well. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be a physical item gained from studying classics (whether in school, or as an extracurricular) but classics change the way we think and treat others just as STEM teaches us how to use technology.
Classics is also not for the single use of any political leaning, religion, or person at all. There is no modern Caesar or Augustus. We are not all Greeks.
There could be no 'outlander' of someone from the modern time traveling to the ancients. It wasn't simply a different culture, but an unthinkable one. A modern person would simply not be able to compute the basic items of life if they were to time travel back. To that point, we may linguistically translate classical literature and plays. We may be able to admire the same art, but we will never be able to view any of the above in the same eye as ones of which were from time period it was produced.
And what are classics? Is it right to just limit the term for Greeks and Romans? Mary Beard says we should expand it. Classics, the term, is for all culture's ancient studies, and she believes we should study them all.
If you think of Rome once a day, if you find yourself enjoying the retellings of ancient myths, if your vacation plans include travelling to old sites around the world... it doesn't matter if you studied it for years on end or just picked up the hobby on a whim. Classics teaches us how to argue, and how to understand.
I recommend reading this book on a bright afternoon with a thick slice of cake and a nice cup of tea. Sit by the window with your favorite view, or better yet outside where you feel most at ease. Classics should be a comfort.
This was one of the best books I have read. I fully enjoyed it! Mary Beard has a wonderful way of writing that entrances the reader.
What I understood the book to be saying was, classics aren't only for the upper class, because Classics are inherently built from an entirely different people outside of our class structure. Classics could, and should, be enjoyed by everyone. While in our current society we applaud the study of sciences, we shouldn't forget to also study classics as well. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be a physical item gained from studying classics (whether in school, or as an extracurricular) but classics change the way we think and treat others just as STEM teaches us how to use technology.
Classics is also not for the single use of any political leaning, religion, or person at all. There is no modern Caesar or Augustus. We are not all Greeks.
There could be no 'outlander' of someone from the modern time traveling to the ancients. It wasn't simply a different culture, but an unthinkable one. A modern person would simply not be able to compute the basic items of life if they were to time travel back. To that point, we may linguistically translate classical literature and plays. We may be able to admire the same art, but we will never be able to view any of the above in the same eye as ones of which were from time period it was produced.
And what are classics? Is it right to just limit the term for Greeks and Romans? Mary Beard says we should expand it. Classics, the term, is for all culture's ancient studies, and she believes we should study them all.
If you think of Rome once a day, if you find yourself enjoying the retellings of ancient myths, if your vacation plans include travelling to old sites around the world... it doesn't matter if you studied it for years on end or just picked up the hobby on a whim. Classics teaches us how to argue, and how to understand.
I recommend reading this book on a bright afternoon with a thick slice of cake and a nice cup of tea. Sit by the window with your favorite view, or better yet outside where you feel most at ease. Classics should be a comfort.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The latest book by the queen of classicists - and treasure - is 'classic' Mary Beard. It's not the history lesson one would expect, but a series of fun and engaging stories mixed in with Beard's accessible approach to teaching. Beard discusses why classics matter, and what classics has meant to her over a career spanning five decades. Whether she's sharing personal anecdotes or trivia and gossip from Tacitus or Suetonius, Beard's writing feels like a conversation, and her enthusiasm for the subject is always infectious.
As a girl, a museum curator noticed her curiosity to see a piece of 4,000 year old Egyptian bread up close. 'Never underestimate how powerful the simple act of unlocking a museum case can be'. She was hooked on the past, and explains how the wonder and excitement of that moment is still vivid in her memory. There are stories like these that capture her curiosity, but she gives equal time to the idea that the past should not always be revered, that there was no Greek 'miracle' of democracy, and that we shouldn't always idolize the ancients. Beard acknowledges that we don't have to love classics, nor should we expect to learn life lessons from classics that can be applied as modern day problem solvers- but this doesn't diminish why it is still important to study this time period.
Beard attempts to answer why classics should still be studied, and what classics means to her after 60 years in the field. How her thoughts have changed over the years and the meditative way she thinks about her evolving ideas feels delightfully personal but always educational. The 'career prospects' may be in trouble, the relevance may be in question, yet Beard illustrates that in spite of these factors, classics still has much to teach and impress modern students and enthusiasts. Beard ends her questions on this positive note, and dedicates the book to that unknown curator who unlocked a case and a lifelong love of the subject all those decades ago.
Thank you to Net Galley for this advance copy.
As a girl, a museum curator noticed her curiosity to see a piece of 4,000 year old Egyptian bread up close. 'Never underestimate how powerful the simple act of unlocking a museum case can be'. She was hooked on the past, and explains how the wonder and excitement of that moment is still vivid in her memory. There are stories like these that capture her curiosity, but she gives equal time to the idea that the past should not always be revered, that there was no Greek 'miracle' of democracy, and that we shouldn't always idolize the ancients. Beard acknowledges that we don't have to love classics, nor should we expect to learn life lessons from classics that can be applied as modern day problem solvers- but this doesn't diminish why it is still important to study this time period.
Beard attempts to answer why classics should still be studied, and what classics means to her after 60 years in the field. How her thoughts have changed over the years and the meditative way she thinks about her evolving ideas feels delightfully personal but always educational. The 'career prospects' may be in trouble, the relevance may be in question, yet Beard illustrates that in spite of these factors, classics still has much to teach and impress modern students and enthusiasts. Beard ends her questions on this positive note, and dedicates the book to that unknown curator who unlocked a case and a lifelong love of the subject all those decades ago.
Thank you to Net Galley for this advance copy.
February 4, 2026
A search on Wikipedia and a conversation with a friend at Cambridge University inform me that Mary Beard is something of a legend in Cambridge circles. Beard recently retired as Professor of Classics there, holding that role from 2004-2022. I hadn’t read any of her other books before picking up Talking Classics, but my interests in the ancient world from the angle of New Testament studies, as well as a general interest in literature, attracted my attention.
Talking Classics is not an introduction to the field (Beard has done some of that in 2013’s Confronting the Classics, as well as in 1995’s Classics: A Very Short Introduction), but it still functions as something like an entry point. Her approach alternates between memoir-like reflections on a life spent with western classics, chatty dismantling of the myth of the “Greek miracle,” and brief but careful discussion of particular works. She aims to blow the dust off her readers’ ideas about the ancient world, encouraging us to expect to be surprised as we read or observe its works.
Beard’s book conveys the possibilities of immediate connection while warning against eliding the distance and difference between the ancient Greek and Roman world and our own. She tells a moving story about her own introduction to the classical world: a childhood visit to the British Museum, where a generous museum curator unlocked a glass case and allowed her to handle a 4000 year old piece of Egyptian bread. The shock of the reality of this otherwise vanished world allowed young Mary Beard to develop a love for that place and time. Yet throughout Talking Classics she is careful to caution us against trying to connect with past millennia by pretending its world was “just like ours.” The study of classics is finally possible and worthwhile because of the tension between these two poles. She writes:
“I have repeatedly returned to a question about the ancient world that was very nearly drummed out of me when I was a student: what on earth was it like to be there? That was, I was told, a sentimental and naïve line of enquiry, unanswerable and incompatible with proper historical rigour. Maybe it is naïve. Yet it is also a question that goes straight to the heart of our relationship with the past, to the differences between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ as well as the similarities.” (Kindle location 242)
Throughout the book, Beard is working against the idea that the “classical world” is something above us which we should be in awe of. But she is also arguing for the idea that it is remote and different from us. Her desire to know what is was like recognizes that we do not know what it was like from our own vantage point. We live in a different world.
Classics, then, is a pathway to wisdom and discernment for moderns if taken a certain way: “I have learned that you get a lot more out of classics if you allow it to be a disruptive challenge to self-serving modern certainties, rather than turn it into an untouchable ancestor in whose shadow you should count yourself lucky to sit.” (Loc. 884)
I found Talking Classics to be an appealing argument for the value of at least exploring the world Mary Beard has devoted her life to studying. The title suggests a conversation, and that is the tone Beard adopts in the book. She is casual and confiding even as she makes her points strongly. She assumes that we will hear her out and be convinced to be allies in her cause. The fact that after finishing Talking Classics I started reading my copy of Herodotus is the proof that she has at least persuaded me to give it a try.
Talking Classics is not an introduction to the field (Beard has done some of that in 2013’s Confronting the Classics, as well as in 1995’s Classics: A Very Short Introduction), but it still functions as something like an entry point. Her approach alternates between memoir-like reflections on a life spent with western classics, chatty dismantling of the myth of the “Greek miracle,” and brief but careful discussion of particular works. She aims to blow the dust off her readers’ ideas about the ancient world, encouraging us to expect to be surprised as we read or observe its works.
Beard’s book conveys the possibilities of immediate connection while warning against eliding the distance and difference between the ancient Greek and Roman world and our own. She tells a moving story about her own introduction to the classical world: a childhood visit to the British Museum, where a generous museum curator unlocked a glass case and allowed her to handle a 4000 year old piece of Egyptian bread. The shock of the reality of this otherwise vanished world allowed young Mary Beard to develop a love for that place and time. Yet throughout Talking Classics she is careful to caution us against trying to connect with past millennia by pretending its world was “just like ours.” The study of classics is finally possible and worthwhile because of the tension between these two poles. She writes:
“I have repeatedly returned to a question about the ancient world that was very nearly drummed out of me when I was a student: what on earth was it like to be there? That was, I was told, a sentimental and naïve line of enquiry, unanswerable and incompatible with proper historical rigour. Maybe it is naïve. Yet it is also a question that goes straight to the heart of our relationship with the past, to the differences between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ as well as the similarities.” (Kindle location 242)
Throughout the book, Beard is working against the idea that the “classical world” is something above us which we should be in awe of. But she is also arguing for the idea that it is remote and different from us. Her desire to know what is was like recognizes that we do not know what it was like from our own vantage point. We live in a different world.
Classics, then, is a pathway to wisdom and discernment for moderns if taken a certain way: “I have learned that you get a lot more out of classics if you allow it to be a disruptive challenge to self-serving modern certainties, rather than turn it into an untouchable ancestor in whose shadow you should count yourself lucky to sit.” (Loc. 884)
I found Talking Classics to be an appealing argument for the value of at least exploring the world Mary Beard has devoted her life to studying. The title suggests a conversation, and that is the tone Beard adopts in the book. She is casual and confiding even as she makes her points strongly. She assumes that we will hear her out and be convinced to be allies in her cause. The fact that after finishing Talking Classics I started reading my copy of Herodotus is the proof that she has at least persuaded me to give it a try.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
For Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old, the well known and regarded British scholar, Mary Beard offers four connected essays centered on addressing the question, 'What is the point of the ancient classics?' Reflecting on her own path to academia, drawing from teachable moments and the surviving traces of the classic world, Beard's latest is a short, but engaging defense of the humanities.
Each essay follows a main theme, but collectively complement each other. Essay one, 'A Sense of Wonder' begins with the opening of a museum so a young Mary can see the preserved bread that was far out of reach and sight of a 5 year old. This simple act of opening, is the moment that set Beard on her path. It shows that we have mere traces or just representatives of the past, the statement, the past is a foreign country could aptly be applied to many of the books essays.
Learning of the classics is not an easy process, it requires extensive reading and learning language. But it also encourages a great deal of thinking and exploration, and as Beard notes several times the distance of the past can let us more easily explore contemporary issues by looking at what has already happened. The latter is not perfect, as failing to grasp the fuller picture can lead to the incorrect lesson or using phrases and ideas without addressing their full ramifications, but in an age where access to knowledge and free thinking is coming under increasing coercive control, this concise and passionate book shows the strengths of a humanities education.
Recommended to readers or researchers of the humanities, academic origin stories or the advice of our elders.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Each essay follows a main theme, but collectively complement each other. Essay one, 'A Sense of Wonder' begins with the opening of a museum so a young Mary can see the preserved bread that was far out of reach and sight of a 5 year old. This simple act of opening, is the moment that set Beard on her path. It shows that we have mere traces or just representatives of the past, the statement, the past is a foreign country could aptly be applied to many of the books essays.
Learning of the classics is not an easy process, it requires extensive reading and learning language. But it also encourages a great deal of thinking and exploration, and as Beard notes several times the distance of the past can let us more easily explore contemporary issues by looking at what has already happened. The latter is not perfect, as failing to grasp the fuller picture can lead to the incorrect lesson or using phrases and ideas without addressing their full ramifications, but in an age where access to knowledge and free thinking is coming under increasing coercive control, this concise and passionate book shows the strengths of a humanities education.
Recommended to readers or researchers of the humanities, academic origin stories or the advice of our elders.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
April 29, 2026
In this book, Mary Beard discusses the questions everyone asks when it comes to classics: what are classics? Why do we study them? How do they influence us? And my favorite, what was it like to actually live in the ancient world?
I always love hearing other people's experiences with studying the ancient world, and Beard's opinions and thought processes were surprisingly similar to my own. Although we'll never truly know what it was like to live 2000+ years ago, she makes a very interesting point: we are able to find similarities to ourselves in the ancient world, so much so that it almost feels tangible sometimes, but it is simultaneously inaccessible. To me, this makes it the ultimate conundrum. I want to know everything, and the fact no one ever will makes the tiny bits we do know and can understand all the more precious.
I've really enjoyed Beard's other book, and hearing about what it was like to study in an era where there were few (if any) women classicists only amplifies the respect I have for her. Barriers to entry still exist, and it's a major reason why I don't have a true classics degree. Funding and accessibility to programs are only part of the problem, and the job market for those lucky enough to study classics at the graduate level is a horrifying prospect. Still, I walked away from this book with a sense of hopefulness. There will always be people who are just as fascinated with the ancient world—even moreso in many cases—than I am.
Thank you @netgalley and @uchicagopress for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book!
I always love hearing other people's experiences with studying the ancient world, and Beard's opinions and thought processes were surprisingly similar to my own. Although we'll never truly know what it was like to live 2000+ years ago, she makes a very interesting point: we are able to find similarities to ourselves in the ancient world, so much so that it almost feels tangible sometimes, but it is simultaneously inaccessible. To me, this makes it the ultimate conundrum. I want to know everything, and the fact no one ever will makes the tiny bits we do know and can understand all the more precious.
I've really enjoyed Beard's other book, and hearing about what it was like to study in an era where there were few (if any) women classicists only amplifies the respect I have for her. Barriers to entry still exist, and it's a major reason why I don't have a true classics degree. Funding and accessibility to programs are only part of the problem, and the job market for those lucky enough to study classics at the graduate level is a horrifying prospect. Still, I walked away from this book with a sense of hopefulness. There will always be people who are just as fascinated with the ancient world—even moreso in many cases—than I am.
Thank you @netgalley and @uchicagopress for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book!
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