Greece Italy

The protagonist of this tale is Diomedes, the last of the great ancient Greek Homeric heroes, who seeks to return to his beloved homeland after years of war against Troy. But destiny has other plans for him. Betrayed by his wife, who plots to murder him, and persecuted by hostile gods, he has no choice but to turn his sails west, towards Hesperia, the mysterious mist-shrouded land that will one day be called Italy.

Book two of Theodore Mommsen's history begins in 509 BC, when the last Roman king was expelled and a republican form of government was formed. Starting here, we trace Rome's political and cultural development under an aristocracy whose puritan fanaticism is legendary. But security from surrounding hostile tribes was of uppermost concern, and the city was constantly at war with one tribe or another. During the fifth century BC, the Republic's energies were directed toward uniting or subduing her neighbors.

Where must I locate thee now, O my homeland, or in what places? So wrote a Roman poet 2,000 years ago, and so feel Donald Yates and his wife, Teresa, after an eye-opening visit to Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey. 

Hawthorne scrisse due libri, Il libro dele meraviglie e il mondo delle meraviglie, indirizzati a ragazzi in età scolare, in cui raccontava con linguaggio semplice e moderno i miti greci più famosi.