CULTURE AND MIGRATION

121 K. Papadopoulou Refugees and the Parthenon sculptures a moving image of the consciousness of a people whose philosophy, culture and politics have influenced the intellectual development of the world. 210 The British Museum’s claim that the sculptures can be appreciated individually, or in part alongside treasures from other civilisations, simply fails to recognize that they were designed as a unity. Perhaps the greatest tribute to the skill of the architect and his craftsmen, his masons and inspectors, is that the frieze remained on the Parthenon for over 2,000 years, until the depredations of Lord Elgin’s workmen, using great force to pull large parts of it down from the building and damaging them in the process. 211 This was already recognized by UNESCO when it articulated, in considering the case of the Parthenon sculptures, “the principle that elements abstracted from national monuments should be returned to those monuments” 212 , 213 . Because the most propitious claim would relate to the monuments as entire structures, it will be important to demonstrate that their enjoyment cannot be fully realized unless and until they are reunited with the Sculptures currently held in England. 214 We cannot avoid mentioning the example of Caligula who took seven statues from the Acropolis, but these were returned by Claudius, who was a great philhellene. 215 A Caligula must always be followed by a Claudius… G. Conclusions It is ironic that the British Museum has been promoting its role as temporary repository of antiquities looted from conflict zones in Syria and Afghanistan and publicly promising that they will be returned as soon a peace is established. 216 “We are holding an object we know was illegaly removed from 210. G. Robertson QC, Prof. N. Palmer QC, A. Clooney “The Case for Return of the Parthenon Sculptures”. 31 July 2015, p. 8. 211. Idem, p. 16. 212. See the Recommendation No. 55 adopted by the Conference in: UNESCO, Final Report of the World Conference on Cultural Policies, Mexico City, 28 July – 6 August 1982, p. 96. [Recommendation available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark :/48223/pf0000052505 [30.01.2020]. 213. G. Robertson QC, Prof. N. Palmer QC, A. Clooney “The Case for Return of the Parthenon Sculptures”. 31 July 2015, p. 94-95. 214. Idem, p. 122. 215. D. King:“The Elgin marbles”. Hutchinson, 2006, p. 139. 216. Especially when supporters of Lord Elgin’s practice write the following: Had Lord Elgin not acted as decisively as he did, it is likely that much more of the sculpture would have suffered this sad fate. Some concluded, as poorly educated farmers in remote areas such as Afghanistan and Pakistan still do today, that the ancient remains must contain gold to be of so much interest to