Mary Beard is a distinguished classicist, international bestselling author, and beloved television personality. She is professor emerita of classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and professor of Ancient Literature at the Royal Academy, as well as being the classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, a fellow of the British Academy, and an international member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Her books include SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Women and Power: A Manifesto, Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern, and Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World.