The Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill are the densest areas of architectural remains from Roman antiquity. It really is where the city began. Now it is almost like a strange hole in the city fabric. I once heard someone mention it as a kind of ‘Disney Land’, and that statement almost rings true. The ruins have a beautiful sadness to them. They whisper of past glories and of very specific human actions and decisions to reach certain ends. Looking at Roman ruins reminds me that the word “progress” is extremely subjective. After two-thousand years has much really changed? We are an information society and have gained new technologies, but we have lost much of the art of mastery.
The Temple of Saturn at the Roman Forum
The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine on the Palatine Hill
The Flavian Palace on the Palatine Hill
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