ABSTRACT
If the Cursus bears the name of a place instead of an author, it is because of the sense of identity and belonging bestowed to a given place in a given time. By speaking of a “sense of identity” I mean the awareness on the part of a group of men of their mission in the world, starting from a town endowed with a twofold symbolic value: on the one hand the town is famed as a cultural centre in a country growing quickly in wealth, and seen as a bridge to the unknown; on the other, groups of men living there strengthen this reality, nurturing this image and reinforcing it in the eyes of the outside world. It was something like the creation and promotion of a brand.
