Midlands Heroes: Shropshire legend Dame Mary Beard on reaching her 70s and lighting up the histories of the world
Dame Mary Beard's celebrated status as the font of all knowledge on all things ancient Rome is a long way from her roots in a rural Midlands community.
The popular classicist, whose latest book Talking Classics: The Shock of the Old is scheduled for release in 2026, is known for enlightening the British public about the ancient Romans, as well as her forthright social media contributions and swift handling of trolls.
Dame Mary celebrates her 71st birthday today. She grew up in the heart of Shropshire, attending Church Preen Primary School near Much Wenlock where her mother Joyce was headteacher.
There followed a move to Shrewsbury High School, a girls-only school, which has announced this year that it will begin taking male students for the first time in 140 years.
She went on to Cambridge University before embarking on a career that has seen her become Britain's best known classicist - moving into the rarefied status as a 'British institution'.
Dame Mary has fronted a host of illuminating television programmes on the history of ancient Rome - including Meet the Romans with Mary Beard, Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town, Caligula with Mary Beard, and Meet the Roman Emperor with Mary Beard. Her enthusiasm is infectious and she has drawn many people into a new-found interest in history.
After returning to Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn earlier this year as part of her tour on the Secret Histories of Ancient Rome, Dame Mary shared her own advice encouraging people to visit Shropshire for some of the best chances to look at the Romans in Britain.
Writing on her Times Literary Supplement blog Dame Mary spoke of her impressions of the town where she had studied as a young woman, how it had change - and not changed.
