Mary Beard: ‘I should think about my pension. Do I? No’ The author and classicist Mary Beard on the moment she realised she would never need to worry about money again 17 January 2021 • 5:00am Mary Beard says she is ‘like a Roman emperor’: ‘I am reactive, I don’t make decisions. I’ve always been a bit short-termist’ Credit: Geoff Pugh / Jake Hawkins Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University and a renowned author and cultural broadcaster. Her many books include the bestselling SPQR and Women and Power. One of her most well-regarded programmes was the BBC Two series