Mary Beard

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

If talking about arts means being pretentious, a bit like being a wine critic, then I don't feel comfy with that. You can get a lot from paintings without getting mystical about brush strokes.

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

If you say to a group of women professors, 'Close your eyes and think of a professor,' what they will see is a guy. I will. And I'll stop myself and think, 'Hey, hang on, what am I doing here?'

You have to do what you feel comfortable with.

I loved 'Gladiator,' and I thought its depiction of gladiatorial combat, although it was an aggrandizing picture, was cleverly and expertly done.

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

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

The thing about being a university teacher is that you're fairly tolerant about young people saying things they shouldn't have said.

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.

In real life, Oxford and Cambridge are two excellent universities, like many others in the country. They are full of highly intelligent, hard-working, and quite ordinary students and teachers.

I'd quite like to be in Caligula's court - living in the back room somewhere and just being able to observe.