Even if you’re not an obsessive Ancient Rome aficionado, you may have heard of Mary Beard. With more than 20 books to her name, including the wildly successful SPQR, Mary might be most famous for her work as a BBC host for shows such as Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town and Julius Caesar Revealed. On this episode of Read This, she sits down with Michael to discuss her life sentence — the half dozen words that set her on the path to becoming Britain’s best-known classicist — and why the Roman Empire is so misunderstood.