Inside Rome [antikvár]

I.''',' (ui 2-3 the Church of Santa Francesca Romana, one of ttie oldest in the city, was built in the second half of the 10th century. 4 Michelangelo's original plans for the facade of Palazzo Senatorio on Capitoline Hill were later 6 The Roman Forum in which the important events in the city's history took place, is cmssed by Via Sacra, the most ^mous street in ancient Rome. 7 Situated inside the Roman Forum, the church of Santa Francesca Romana is sunnounted by a lovely Romanesque-style bell-tower verything, both good and bad, has been written about J Rome; it has been celebrated, sung, painted, described and even insulted by artists, poets, writers, singer-songwriters and politicians; every corner of the city has been dissected and transtbrnned by tourism which is not always respectful and sometimes invasive. Rims and photographs have immortalized its splendours, so much so that each one of us, even without ever having been there, knows, or thinks he knows, certain aspects of the city, its problems, beauties and mysteries. Rome is a city which has been advertised and put on show too much; it has been attacked by building speculation, inefficient town planning, and indiscriminate tourism; Rome lias often been the victim of Its own importance and of its role as the first world capital. The chaos that reigns today, which only the Romans know how to confront with spirit and vivacity, is nothing new. The name of metropolis was assigned to the eternal city by the Empire of the Caesars when around two million people were crowded into the immense urban conglomerate. The dimensions of the city were very close to those of the present day and, if we consider the absence of a number of services, the traffic problems must have been even more dramatic then than they are now. Some written accounts speak of incredible traffic jams and Caesar himself complained of streets and roads which were too narrow. Even before New York, Rome was forced to challenge the heavens by erecting the first high-rise buildings with up to ten floors, to satisfy the needs of an administrative and a political class which dominated an area from the Black Sea to Great Britain. Once more it was Imperial Rome which devised innovative solutions such as pedestrian precincts to safeguard some areas from the chaotic traffic. In a short time, the great Roman architects found themselves with a labyrinth of spaces which defied any attempt at rationalisation. The very layout of the city, which grew up around and on seven hills, has left its mark on the city, forcing it into an inevitable disorder It is the very sinuosity of Rome which makes it fascinating, the way large and small squares open at the end of lanes and narrow streets. Emperors and popes always wanted to make the city greater without paying attention to the functionality which the Caesars had managed to apply perfectly in other places. Marvel on marvel, grandeur on grandeur, the result is a picture which continues to amaze and charm generations of visitors who find themselves admiring in reality a story which they have read and imagined. To summarize the history of Rome in a few words is a difficult task. How can one give an account of the history of a place which represents one of the grandest expressions of Western civilization? Like Athens, Rome is history, right fnDm the story of its origins, sublimated in the myth of a legendary tradition which draws nourishment from the writings of poets and Latin historians.