[the urban politician]

^ I don't doubt there is some truth to that.

But I also take interest--a TON of interest--in cultures other than the Greco-Roman world. There is a mass of history out there (Persia, Ancient Near East, India, The Moghals, East Asia) that I suspect that the Vatican museum won't cover--am I wrong about this?

The AI's Asian collection is impressive, plus we have an absolute GEM in the Oriental Institute. Glad we have that here in Chicago