This comprehensive guide to Rome's art and architecture covers all major places of interest, featuring numerous essays on history and culture, detailed town plans and many illustrations.

Roma aeterna, the 'Eternal City'- for hundreds of years its unparalleled grandeur and beauty have cast a spell over visitors. Three thousand years of history have left their mark on this fascinating city and made it a unique showcase of European art.

This art travel guide provides a combination of practical orientation for travelers and deeper insight into the art history of Rome and the Vatican City.

Roma Aeterna - the Eternal City

Rome and the Vatican in a Nutshell

The Capitol (Campidoglio), map p. 41

Piazza Venezia with the Monumento

Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

 Vittorio Emanuele II- a King for Italy

 The Roman Emperors and their Times

The Forum Romanum (Foro Romano), map p. 75

 SPQR - the Roman State from the Kings to the Imperial Period

The Arch of Septimius Severus (Arco di Settimio Severo)

The Curia

The Basilica of Maxentius (Basilica di Massenzio)

The Arch of Titus (Arco di Tito)

The Arch of Constantine (Arco di Constantino)

The Colosseum (Colosseo)

 The Colosseum - Gladiatorial Combat and the Persecution of Christians

The Palatine (Palatine), map p. 108

 Ab Urbe Condita - the Mythical Origins of Rome

The Museo Palatino

 Ancient Wall Coverings - the Forms and Techniques of Roman Murals

The Domus Flavia

The Imperial Forums (Fori Imperiali), map p. 128

 The Gods of the Roman Pantheon

The Forum of Trajan, Trajan's Column, and the Markets of Trajan

 The Legacy of Rome - Antiquity in the Modern World

The Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona, map p. 153

The Palazzo Altemps (Museo Nazionate Romano)

Piazza Navona

 The Sacco di Roma - the Sack of Rome in 1527

In and around the Piazza della Rotonda, map p. 187

The Pantheon

 Johann Joachim Winckelmann and Antiquity

II Gesu (plan p. 202)

The Palazzo and Galleria Doria Pamphilj

In and around the Piazza del Popolo, map p. 217

 Entering a New Millennium -from a City of Bricks to a City of Marble

Piazza di SpagrLa, The Spanish Steps, and

SS. Trinit~ dei Monti

Piazza del Popolo, S. Maria dei Miracoli, and

S. Maria in Montesanto

S. Maria del Po polo

 Defying Convention - the Life and Art of Caravaggio

Villa Borghese and Villa Giulia (map p. 237)

 The Man who Breathed Life into Marble - Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini

The Quirinal [Quirinale), map p. 257

 From Servant to Knight - Slaves and Freedmen in Imperial Rome

S. Maria degli Angeli and the Baths of Diocletian (plan p. 271)

The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (Museo Nazionale Romano)

 Art for Sale - the Studios of Roman Copyists

 The Renaissance and the Rebuilding of Rome under Nicholas V

The Esquilin (Esquilino), map p. 297

S. Maria Maggiore (plan p. 301)

 Pictures in Colored Stones - Mosaics

S. Pietro in Vineoli

 Power and Excess - The Megalomania of the Roman Emperors

The Caelian Hill (Cello), map p. 325

 Sacrificial Bull and Starry Skies - the Cult of Mithras

 Holy Year 1500

S. Giovanni in katerano (plan p. 349)

The Forum Boarium (Fore Boario), map p. 361

 Women in Ancient Rome

S. Sabina

 Victory at any Price - Chariot Racing in the Circus Maximus

The Aventine Hill (Aventino), map p. 382

 The Art of the Cosmati

The Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla)

 Balnae and Thermal Baths - the Bath Culture of Ancient Rome

Parco Archeologico di Via Appia Antica (map p. 396)

 Early Christianity

Trastevere and Gianicolo, ma p p. 417

 Among Rabbis and Imams - Jews and Muslims in Rome

S. Pietro in Montoric, and the Tempietto

 Preservation Rather than Destruction - the First Antique Collections in Rome

The Borgo, map p. 446

Ponte Sant'Angelo and Castel Sant'Angelo

 Operation Rome 2000

The Vatican

The Vatican City (Citta del Vaticano), map p. 465

 Behind the Leonine Wall - the Vatican State

St. Peter's (S. Pietro in Vaticano; map p, 471)

 Fortiter et Fideliter - the Swiss Guard

The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani), map p. 495

The Most Important Popes

The Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina; plan p. 523)

 The Renaissance of Color- the Restoration of the Sistine Chapel

 A Small Paradise - the Vatican Gardens

Ostia Antica and tivoli

Ostia Antica, map p.548

Tivoli: Villa Hadriana, map p. 552

Villa d'Este (map p. 555)

Appendices

Roman Architecture: Classical to Baroaue

Glossary

Chronology

Biographies

Further Reading

Indices

Picture Credits