Athens, Jerusalem, Rome. The Origins of the Western World
conversation with
Luciano Canfora philologist and historian of the University of Bari
Gabriella Caramore RAI hostess and essayist
with an introduction by Giorgio Gualdrini
in collaboration with Associazione Romagna-Camaldoli
The West is where the sun dies — the land of sunset whose destiny it is to give birth to something new. Its identity has never been fixed and immobile, even though somebody tends to describe it as such, fuelling fears and denying all contributions from elsewhere. Its frontiers have always been uncertain, ever since the beginnings, when boundaries were marked by the archipelagos of Greek city-states or póleis, the cradle of Ancient Greek culture. The words of Athens then crossed paths with the Hebrew words from Jerusalem, holy for the Jews. Then came the Latin words from Rome, at first a Republic and then the capital of an empire, Christian or else. All of this merged into a restless civilization, always vulnerable to conflict but also welcoming and working for peace, as in our days.
