Perhaps some of you have read the monumental SPQR by Mary Beard, the work of a lifetime of research on ancient Rome. In her new book, the author places us in the intimate interior of that research, with a piece of advice: "The underlying message is that you get much more out of the classics if you revere them less". A phrase that we can apply to all our inclinations: hobbies, habits, beliefs, politics, sports... It is not bad to take a bit of distance, a therapeutic dose of skepticism towards what we consider "ours". It is about doing so, however, without losing the passion, for example, the one that Mary Beard has dedicated to ancient history, and which she now serves to us with amenity in the autobiographical text Classics Unfiltered (Columna, in translation by Joan Solé).

The British Mary Beard (Much Wenlock, 1955) has popularized the history of Ancient Rome through television, books, and lectures worldwide, and her works have been translated into over 35 languages. At 71, this emerita professor from Cambridge remains tireless and optimistic. She has just published Classics without filters (Edicions 62 / Crítica; with Catalan translation by Joan Solé), which she dedicates to the curator who, when she was little, opened a display case at the British Museum to show her a fossilized bread. In the book she talks about her career, but also about how both sides have used the Roman past. Among other things, she argues why the far-right is mistaken and what the statues admired by supremacists hide.