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" I was really good at Latin at school, and because I was good at it, I got more interested and got better at it. "

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" I would summarise my politics very simply as the maverick left and proud. "

" If being a decent soul is being maternal, then fine. "

" There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it with their eyes open. To notice it and then to think what it says about us. "

" It's great fun being an academic because you have a certain licence to be a bit of a joker. "

" People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation. "

" My mom was born before women had the vote in general elections in England. "

" I was into Black Power, and my practice Oxbridge essay was a rant. The headmistress said I'd never get in with that, but she was probably wrong. I was the ideal combination: a swot who was also a bad girl. "

" What interests me is the idea that classics is actually quite democratic. It isn't only the toff, upper-class subject it's often thought to be. Every generation enjoys rediscovering it. "

" I have always hated fancy dress parties. "

" Beard's secret is always to be slightly on the edge but to pull back from disaster at the last minute. "

" There is no argument that I won't take seriously. "

" Barring some sociopaths, probably, there is nobody who doesn't care about their appearance. "

" History is how we have learnt to think about ourselves. It's not as though the Greeks and Romans are static entities out there to be discovered and translated. We make them speak, we talk to them, and they inform what we say. "

" I think, when I was 25, nobody in the world knew who I was. "

" Playing around with other people's husbands when you were 17 was bad news. Yes, I was a very naughty girl. "

" One of its most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem to be un-civilised, with those who do not - or cannot be trusted to - share our values. "

" When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice. "

" You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation. "

" I think you have to realize that most ancient warfare is really kind of hit and run, honestly. You go and you bash down the walls of some enemy 50 miles away and you take some slaves, you take some cattle, probably a bit of cash too, and then you say goodbye and go home and you probably do the same thing next year - or try to, or they do it to you. "

" It would have been nice if the people who were criticising 'Civilizations' had actually watched it. But the popular response has been tremendous, and in the end, that's what really matters. "

" I'm an academic. I argue; I engage with people. "

" There's a basic rule of thumb that the more a culture oppresses women, or oppresses anyone, the more culturally preoccupied they are with that. "

" We make two mistakes about the ancient world. One is to assume they were better than us - that, for instance, the ancient Olympics didn't involve money-making. The opposite mistake, and just as common, is to think our Olympics are much more civilised than ancient sporting competitions. Neither is true. "

" If you ask me what is civilisation, it's little more than an act of faith. "

" When you look at me on the telly and say, 'She should be on 'The Undateables,'' you are looking at a 59-year-old woman. That is what 59-year-old women who have not had work done look like. Get it? "

" I remember plastering the kitchen with Black Power pictures of Angela Davis. "

" In general, I never think it is a good idea to try to recreate past successes. You have to strike out on your own, for better or worse. "

" For whatever reason, some sorts of women's silence were broken by MeToo. This is the optimistic bit. And that will lead to a much more careful attention to women's voices. "

" I knew that Trump was ghastly. I knew I'd vote for Hillary if I had a vote. "

" My day job is working on Roman history and ancient Roman history. "