Photo of the week: Forum magnum

Roman Forum, Northeast exit

At one time, the seat of Western civilisation, Rome, the Republic and the Empire, has left an indelible mark upon this world in many ways that still live on even though most of its appreciable power has ceased to be.

As I walked through the streets of Rome, my mind started to wonder at every brick, each marbled step and column, and gazed in curiosity, all the time thinking: what was it like to live all those centuries ago when the civilisation was at its height? To take in the sight of a city so large, so modern like this, when the rest of the world was still coming out of the jungle, so to speak? Throughout the visit, we had at least one common agreement (of many to be sure!) between us: that the scale of the Roman metropolis, what it was then and even in the evidence left behind, is purely breathtaking.

On a bright and sunny morning, my partner and I put on our more adventurous caps and took a stroll on the Palatine hills, the site of Forum Magnum, or more commonly known as the Roman Forum. Whatever is left of the former centre of Roman life has been lovingly pieced together to give visitors an idea of Rome's true historical might. This was where triumphal processions took place, where politicians congregated, plotted and controlled the world, where Emperors lived and roamed, played and back-stabbed, and where the people of Rome looked to as a symbol of democracy - despite their society's highly undemocratic paradoxes.

Rome is an enigmatic tour de force. Proof of both man's marvelous capacity for creation and the ugly ferociousness within.