Italy as the Center of Europe?

Last night in the Rynek, while again singing the odd Franco-English version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Jenny, Jenn, and I were approached by two Italien men, the oldest of which informed me that “Rome is the center of the world.” The layers and complexities that can be inferred from this statement are innumerable. Was he making reference merely to its geographical location? Was their a religious spin placed on it with Rome as the Catholic center of the World? Or perhaps historical, given the legacy of the Roman Empire? Due to our inability to communicate very well (we were speaking in a mixture of french and English, neither of which was well understood), I didn’t press the Italien in question to delve into the meanings behind his words, and perhaps he would not read as much into them as I do..chalking it up to simple nationalism or a common Italien saying, and not a question of personal and national identity. These “centers” keep changing. Prague one day, Rome the next. Is there such a thing as a “TRUE” cultural / geographical center? Probably not. Otherwise as the European Union expands, and it will expand, the center would move along with it. While geographically and politically unlikely, imagine the implications should Moscow at some point become the “center” of Europe. How would this affect the “other” relations that have been in progress for so long. Or if not Moscow, what about Istanbul. I have a tendency to believe that even should geographical complexities lead the center to either of these places, it would never be recognized or adopted as such, at least not by those outside of the center. To do so would be to alter the perception of what it is to be European, a concept which has been developing for centuries. Prague or Rome. I’m not sure which one, if either, I would vote for, but it does invoke some interesting debate over how different countries infer their own relative position, and the possibiltiy that such an inferrence and specificity will become more important as Europe contintues to expand.