A second circumstance that doubtless contributed to make Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance was the fact that in Italy the break between the old and the new civilization was not so complete as it was in the other countries of Western Europe.
Born circa 428 B.C.E., ancient Greek philosopher Plato was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language.
Plato: A Very Short Introduction Aristotle Athens (c.384-322 BCE2) A student of Plato, Aristotle is perhaps the most influential of all the ancient Greek philosophers. He is famous for his empirical approach to studying nature, his theory of Four Causes (material, formal, efficient and final), and his development of formal logic. He was also a tutor for Alexander the Great. Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction