Cyriacus Anconitanus (1391-1452), better known as Ciriaco d’ Ancona, was a great humanist and antiquarian, considered by many as the father of modern archeology. Born into a merchant family in Ancona (his real name was Ciriaco de’ Pizzicolli), he numbered some of the greatest humanists of the day among his friends. His passion for classical antiquity sent him travelling through the Greek world and took him to several ancient cities, among them Constantinople, Adrianople and Thessalonica, as well as to Cyprus and many islands of the Aegean and the Ionian. He also engaged in politics and diplomacy. What we known of him is derived from the Life compiled by his contemporaries, from his letters and diaries.