The Roman Forum

The center of this photo shows the Roman Forum, the valley below the Palatine hill (on the right) and the Capitoline hill (out of the picture at the bottom) that from the earliest days of the city served as the central space for meetings of all kinds. Over the centuries, it became crowded with buildings designed for political, judicial, and religious purposes; today, they survive only as ruins. The later version of the meetinghouse of the Roman Senate stands at the lower left edge of the photo. The huge amphitheater of the Colosseum can be seen in the upper right of the picture, located just outside the forum. (Italy, Latium Region, Rome, Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheater, aerial view, 70–80 A.D. / De Agostini Picture Library / Publiaer Foto / Bridgeman Images.)