 |
Click the artist for |
|---|
Food for Thought - Part I: The Italian Experience
Traveling through Italy, we sense the ghosts of the past quietly peering at us from narrow niches in time. The past brushes against us, and catches us unaware. We sense it for moments, but never grasp how it connects with our lives. Eventhough we have traveled thousands of miles to view antiquity, the major ruins seem mysteriously empty of feeling and strangely separate from the past. Scattered about the country, the remains of civilization stand as empty shells, transmitting faint echoes of the past.
Yet, there are moments when the allusive past is tangible in the present. In a small piazza in Rome, we are awed by the unexpected brilliance of the eyes of Bernini’s elephant, alive with imperious disdain as he holds aloft the Obelisk of Minerva. As we walk through narrow cobblestone streets, wind slowly up mountain roads, or sit quietly amidst the swirl of summer life, the past reaches toward us.
What do the whispers mean? What do the quiet voices say? “ Look for us”. Look for the past in the present. Touch it...taste it...savor each sensation of Italian life. Ask questions, seek explanations, and transcribe history into something we understand. Piece it all together, each tantalizing tidbit of knowledge; create a mosaic of meaning. Search beyond the skeletal remains of this ancient civilization to find the patterns of Italian culture which make the connections between ‘then’ and ‘now’.
From the beginning, the Italian peninsula has been home to a diverse group of complex people and cultures. Rome, where most travelers begin and end the Italian experience, was first settled during the Iron Age. Some archaeologists place the date as early as the tenth century and others around 800 BC. But, scholars agree that there were two distinct, separate settlements from the beginning, one on the Palatine Hill and one on the Esquiline. (Ogilvie, 1976).
If we stand on these hills today, and look out over the city, we see the remnants of what evolved from this diverse heritage; Classical antiquities, medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and baroque churches, modern shops and cafes. What influenced the advancement of Rome? What forces interacted to create the capital of the world at a mere staging-post on Via Saleria, the ancient salt road?
The Roman past is linked to the shared traditions of two strong cultural entities, the Greek settlers in the southern peninsula and the Etruscans to the north. To understand the interactions of these two groups as well as their influence upon the advancement of Rome, we must travel back to a time when both Greek and Etruscan settlers came to Italy with established traditions as builders, merchants, artisans, religious experts, doctors and rulers (Ogilvie). From the remnants of the ancient times we will discover clues to the remarkable people and events which have shaped Rome and Italian culture.
| Web page design by |
|