Fisiognomica e istoriografia: riflessioni su un saggio di storia perso-romana

The history of the relations between Rome (the different political entities embodied by the city) and Persia (in its multiple political transformations since the fall of the Achaemenids) is more than twenty centuries long; it is a history shaped by confrontations between two ancient and robust ideological traditions concerning state, religion, the nature of power and the wisdom that should underpin the rule of human beings. A recent publication explores this encounter by analysing the visual traces that it has left on the urban landscape of Rome: these traces have been pursued in archaeological sites, churches, palaces, theatres, archives and libraries, in search of written documents and plaques, paintings, sculptures and monuments, books, dramas and records of music performances, both sacred and profane. Through this deep, almost physiognomical, exploration of the material culture pertaining to this relationship, the volume proposes a new method of historical research: the result is, not only an original portrait of the Eternal City, but also an unprecedented reflection on the role of Persia in its foreign policy and in its most intimate cultural identity.