  Starting from a path integral representation of appropriate 4-point and
2-point gauge invariant Green functions and from the "Modified Area Law" model
for the evaluation of the Wilson loop, a q \bar q Bethe-Salpeter like equation
and a related Schwinger-Dyson equation can be obtained. From such equations an
effective relativistic Hamiltonian can be derived by standard methods and then
applied to the determination of the meson spectrum. The entire known
heavy-heavy and heavy-light spectra and the lowest light-light Regge
trajectories are rather well reproduced in terms of four parameters alone, the
light quark masses being fixed a priori on typical current values.
