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.
And because Plato had loved Socrates, part of Plato's reasons for choosing the dialogue form was perhaps to keep Socrates close to him, even if he had to reinvent him as a character in order to do so. Perhaps that was the personal piece for Plato. Plato wrote in a form that allowed him to continue to hear in his mind's ear the beloved voice.