ABSTRACT
In his book The Future of the Classical, Salvatore Settis, the director of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, writes that the ‘marginalisation of classical studies in our educational systems and our culture at large is a profound cultural shift that would be hard to ignore’.1 At the same time he asks, what place is there for the ancients in a world characterised by the blending of peoples and cultures, the condemnation of imperialism and the bold assertion of local traditions and ethnic and national identities? ‘Why seek out common roots if everyone is intent on distinguishing their own from those of their neighbour?’ His points are well made even if the implications are somewhat overdrawn. After all, one characteristic of the Roman world was precisely that the blending of peoples and cultures as eastern gods and goddesses were introduced to Rome and worshipped by a mix of different peoples. And the US is no stranger to the heritage of empire; indeed many see it as the New Rome.
