We then moved on to the most atmospheric part of Rome, the ancient Roman forum. This huge area is a jumble of ruins from various centuries, picturesquely overgrown with trees in parts. This was the center of the world for a thousand years, where the Senate determined the fate of the world, and the all the world's goods could be bought and sold in the markets. When Rome moved from republic to empire, the forum became less important, as the emperors' palace up the hill became the center of power and the Senate just a place for old men to talk. Commerce too moved out to Trajan's newer shopping mall, leaving the forum as a huge tourist attraction even in ancient times, full of souvenir stands, fortune tellers and prostitutes (even in the ruins today there's a road market out for male prostitutes from northern Italy).

The forum sits in the valley between the Palatine Hill, where the emperors lived, and Capitoline hill, where the city's chief temple sat and where the emperor had to go frequently to attend to his ceremonial duties. We have unfortunately lost the coolest ancient site ever, unfortunately, which was a huge bridge connecting the Palatine and Capitoline hills, which shot straight over the whole Forum, enabling the emperors to walk from home to the shrine without ever having to go through the human zoo below.