Video: Mary Beard Event

Mary Beard has a way of making the dusty facts of ancient history leap off the pages … and on the 20^th October, Waterstones Piccadilly did the same.

If you were lucky enough to attend our evening with Mary Beard on the night, you would have been welcomed by some noisy Romans in toga and sandals. After lots of historically-appropriate yelling and general silliness from the ‘Romans’, the audience could enjoy the main event: Mary Beard’s talk on Rome and the history behind her fantastic new book SPQR.

And while these introductory theatricals were for entertainment only, they do encapsulate the appeal of Mary Beard: she takes such a warm and accessible approach to the classics – and she has such a good sense of humour.

SPQR is, as Beard herself puts it, putting the people back into history. In the book, she writes about the smaller details and the day-to-day of the Roman Empire. And, as she says in the clip, her favourite character from this period is not a ruler but a baker.

This really is ancient history like you have never read it before: fresh, insightful and did I already mention funny?!

Here is a clip of her in conversation at the event: