On 21 November 1997 the conference L'India e il mondo classico was held in Udine. The conference was organized by the Società in collaboration with the University of Udine and the Civic Musems in Udine, with the support of the Provincial Authority of Udine and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Udine e Pordenone, and the patronage of the Regional Authority of Friuli-Venezia. In the morning, in the conference hall of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Udine e Pordenone, Gianfranco Fiaccadori (University of Udine) and Giorgio Camassa (University of Udine) introduced the volume Le lamine d'oro orfiche (Milano, 1993) written by Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli (Accademia dei Lincei): a work which fits admirably into the context of studies on the Orphic tradition. In the evening, in the Salone del Parlamento of the Castle of Udine, the meeting Gli editti dell'imperatore Ashoka took place. After addresses of welcome by Marzio Strassoldo, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Udine, there were speeches by the following contributors: Giorgio Camassa (University of Udine), Gianfranco Fiaccadori (University of Udine), Gianpiero Rosati (University of Udine) and Fausto Freschi (Società Indologica "Luigi Pio Tessitori"). At the end of the meeting, Giovanni Pugliese Carratelli (Accademia dei Lincei) illustrated the results of his last research on the edicts of the emperour Ashoka.