POTKA STAROG SVETA U TKANJU EVROPE
THE ANCIENT WORLD AS A WOOF IN WEAVING EUROPE

Summary/Abstract: Europe is rooted in a rich tradition of the classical antiquity which lasted until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476. According to the common belief, the name Europe comes from the Greek myth about Zeus who took the form of a white bull and abducted the daughter of Agenor, a Phoenician king. Although the second smallest continent on the Earth (after Australia), and geographically a peninsula of Eurasia, Europe was the world's leading economic and cultural power from the beginning of the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century. The rise of Europe was the result (not simply of its pillaging of other parts of the world by the end of the 15th century) of assuming the legacy of the ancient world, primarily that of Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, but also the achievements of Eastern peoples. Calendar (that is used even today); Roman law (as a foundation of continental European civil law systems); Christianity (accepted by most people in Europe); alphabet; geometry; mathematics, including zero, Indo-Arabic numerals and decimal system, and many other knowledge and achievements make the legacy of the ancient world. In the early city-states of ancient Greece (named polis) the concept of citizenship (not including slaves) was developed and the civil state and democracy were conceived. Rationalism and critical thinking in philosophy allowed Greeks to create the basis of modern sciences. Greek ancient philosophy is woven into philosophy and science of modern Europe but also of the whole humanity. If Europe is to be compared to a colorful rug, then threads of the ancient world (but not only those from its regions) represent a woof in weaving Europe.

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