Diversity will open up a creative path since
Northeast of Damascus, Syria, between an oasis surrounded by palms and two quiet mountains, Palmyra sleeps quietly. As a necessary supply stop across the Syrian desert, the importance of Palmyra cannot be overstated. It was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a province in the time of Tiberius and developed into the most influential trading center in the Middle East from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. As the eastern gateway to the Roman world, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs and Syrians traded and coexisted peacefully, bringing together diverse cultures and untold wealth. The ambitious Queen Zenobia even took part in the race for the Roman throne, advocating a division between East and West. She was eventually defeated by Aurelian, however, and Palmyra fell from grace, leaving behind a majestic mix of styles and one of the most distinctive monuments of the ancient world. The ancient city of Palmyra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980, and the ruins have preserved the original appearance of the city intact and are of great importance for the study of the social, cultural, religious and artistic aspects of the region. In "Palmyra," a poignant little book, Paul Weiner, professor emeritus of the Ecole de la Principality de France and an expert on Rome, tells in elegant and moving terms the history, beliefs, culture, and art of this lost frontier city and why it was and still is important. By writing about the freedom and diversity of Palmyra, Weiner reflects on the difficulties and dangers facing the world today. This article is excerpted from Chapter 12 of the book, "The Portrait of Palmyra.
