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Mary Beard

Mary Beard is a fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge and classics editor of the TLS. Her books include a Life of Jane Ellen Harrison and The Parthenon.

From the London Review dated 22 January 2004

Four-Day Caesar

  • Tacitus: Histories I edited by Cynthia Damon

“Scratch the surface of Galba’s speech . . . and many of the dilemmas of succession are revealed: not just who to choose, but how – and what arguments could ever count as good when picking a man to rule the world. It is a set of dilemmas picked up a few chapters later in Tacitus’ famous post-mortem summary of Galba’s career: . . . ‘by universal consent capable of being emperor, had he not been one’. Further into Tacitus’ narrative of 69, the dilemmas are acted out yet more horribly in the appalling massacre of the civilians of Cremona who get caught in the crossfire between rival camps. Even bit-part emperors can wreak havoc.” [ read more . . . ]

Selected bibliography

  • The Roman Triumph (2007)  Buy this book
  • Pompeii (2006)
  • The Colosseum by Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard (2005)  Buy this book
  • The Parthenon (2004)  Buy this book
  • Classical Art: From Greece to Rome by Mary Beard and John Henderson (2001)
  • The Invention of Jane Harrison (2000)
  • Religions of Rome: Volume 1, A History by Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price (1998)
  • Classics: A Very Short Introduction by Mary Beard and John Henderson (1995)
  • Rome in the Late Republic by Mary Beard and Michael Crawford (1985)

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In the LRB archive

subscriber-only content Do come to me funeral · 5 July 2007

  • Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford edited by Peter Sussman

subscriber-only content Diary: Mary Beard on set in Tunisia · 14 December 2006

Don’t forget your pith helmet · 18 August 2005

  • Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece by Patrick Leigh Fermor  Buy this book
  • Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese by Patrick Leigh Fermor  Buy this book
  • Words of Mercury by Patrick Leigh Fermor, edited by Artemis Cooper  Buy this book

subscriber-only content Laddish · 2 September 2004

Four-Day Caesar · 22 January 2004

  • Tacitus: Histories I edited by Cynthia Damon

subscriber-only content How do you see Susan? · 20 March 2003

  • Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth by Michel Chauveau, translated by David Lorton
  • The Roman Mistress: Ancient and Modern Representations by Maria Wyke

subscriber-only content Sun and Strawberries · 19 September 2002

subscriber-only content Bonté Gracieuse! · 21 February 2002

  • Asterix and the Actress by Albert Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell

11 September · 4 October 2001

Lucky City · 23 August 2001

  • Cicero: A Turbulent Life by Anthony Everitt

subscriber-only content Degradation, Ugliness and Tears · 7 June 2001

  • A History of Harrow School by Christopher Tyerman

subscriber-only content Builder of Ruins · 30 November 2000

  • Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the Minoan Myth by J.A. MacGillivray

What Might Have Happened Upstairs · 16 September 1999

  • Pompeii: Public and Private Life by Paul Zanker, translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider

Not currently in the LRB archive

 not available in archive Diary · 24 August 2000

 not available in archive What once seemed certain is now an open question · 27 April 2000

  • The Dons by Noel Annan
  • A Man of Contradictions: A Life of A.L.Rowse by Richard Ollard

 not available in archive Half-Wrecked · 17 February 2000

  • John Soane: An Accidental Romantic by Gillian Darley
  • John Soane, Architect: Master of Space and Light by Margaret Richardson and Mary-Anne Stevens
  • Sir John Soane and the Country Estate by Ptolemy Dean

 not available in archive Bench Space · 15 April 1999

  • Dorothy Hodgkin: A Life by Georgina Ferry

 not available in archive One of the Lads · 18 June 1998

  • Hadrian: The Restless Emperor by Anthony Birley

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