The Little World of the Past (Italian: Piccolo mondo antico, lit.

'Little Ancient World'), also known in English under the titles Little Ancient World and The Patriot, is an 1895 novel by the Italian writer Antonio Fogazzaro.

It was the author's most successful work and is considered to be his masterpiece.

[1] Fogazzaro finished the first draft in 1884, and spent the next decade revising it.

In 1941, during the Fascist era, the novel was adapted into the film Piccolo mondo antico, directed by Mario Soldati and starring Alida Valli and Massimo Serato.