Rome - Living History

Would you like to travel back in time? Would you be interested in being in ancient Roman forums, attending a senate meeting in the Curia, visiting the famous Roman baths, overhearing the latest city gossip there, seeing how the Colosseum was built, and finding out who were called 'clients' in Rome? Or would it be intriguing to be a spectator of a spectacular sea battle show in one of the central squares of the city? Or while sitting in a Renaissance-era Roman tavern, over a glass of red wine, discover one of the visitors to be the Pope, who came here incognito?

Program

I invite you to take a walk through the Eternal City, which will not only introduce you to its main attractions but will also help you see the history of antiquity with its facts, battle dates, names of rulers, artists, and architects, and make it closer and more understandable to you.

Let's start our walk from the Capitoline Hill: we will overlook the Roman forums - the first square of the city, imagine ourselves in Imperial Rome, and observe hundreds of people in togas. I will tell you what happened here in those distant times, how to distinguish a senator from an augur by their clothing, where justice was served and public executions were held, how Triumphs took place, who legislated fashion, and what perfumes Roman women used. You will learn if ancient Romans had pharmacies, supermarkets, and what games children liked.

We will also talk about other peculiarities of Roman life: the daily routine of an ordinary citizen, the significance of gestures for Romans, whether street art existed in antiquity. I will tell you how many markets there were in Rome and what was sold there, in which houses Romans lived, what they were called, or how the meaning of the word 'scoundrel' is related to the life of Roman forums.

And then, amidst the noise of the bustling Roman crowd, we will move from the grand Rome of the Empire to another time - through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Baroque Rome. Together we will visit the most famous places in Rome and find ourselves in small, hidden squares, stroll through narrow dark alleys, and peek into the courtyards of the city. On Piazza Navona, I will tell you why Romans were outraged by the construction of the Fountain of the Four Rivers and what made this square famous at the end of the 15th century. You will also learn where the 'Minerva's Piglet' is located and which famous monument in Rome once had 'donkey ears'. We will talk about popes and cardinals, find out why the building of the modern Roman Senate is called Palazzo Madama, and who in 18th-century Rome was called 'carrettieri a vino' in the local dialect.

And so, from one architectural monument to another, from one square to another, we will reach the Tiber embankment - in the shade of Roman plane trees. Occasionally, we will glance down - at the water, at the flow of the river running far to the sea in Ostia, carrying away tree branches, traces of civilizations, and legends.

Of course, I will also tell you about the modern life of the city, current events, what Romans are up to today, as the history of Rome continues!

Here is our route:

• Capitoline Hill;
• Roman Forum and Imperial Forums;
• Trevi Fountain;
• Pantheon;
• Piazza Sant'Eustachio;
• Piazza Navona;
• Piazza della Pace;
• Campo de' Fiori;
• Castel Sant'Angelo.

At the end, as a memory of our walk, you will take with you a small gift - a graphic or painted work with a view of Rome, which I will create especially for you!