Rome is studded with ancient monuments that silently evoke its history as the greatest center of Western civilization. It became one of the first cosmopolitan cities in the world, importing slaves, gladiators, great art - even citizens - from the far corners of the Empire because all roads led to Rome at that time already and today too, with good reason.
With all its carnage and mismanagement, it left a legacy of law and uncanny lesson in how to conquer enemies by absorbing their culture.
But ancient Rome is only part of the spectacle. The Vatican has had a major effect in making the city a center of world tourism. Although Vatican architects stripped down much of the glory of the past, they created great Renaissance treasures, occasionally incorporating the old, just as Michelangelo did in turning the Baths of Diocletian into a church.
In the years that followed, Bernini adorned the city with the wonders of the baroque, especially the fountains. The modern sightseer even owes a debt (as reluctant as one may be to acknowledge it) to Mussolini, who did much to dig out the past, particularly at the Imperial Forum. Today, besides being the Italian capital, Rome, in a larger sense, belongs to the world.

Especially For Kids
Rome has lots of other amusements for children when they tire of ancient monuments, although they are usually fond of wandering around the Colisseum and the Roman Forum. Many children also enjoy the climb to the top of St. Peter's.
The Fun Fair (Luna Park), along via delle Tre Fontane (592-5933), at E.U. R., is one of the largest in Europe. It is known for its "big wheel" at the entrance, and there are also merry-go-rounds, miniature railways, shooting galleries, and other attractions. Admission is free but you pay for each ride. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Teatro delle Marionette degli Accettella, performing at the Theatro Mongiovino, via Giovanni Genocchi 16 (513-9405), has performances for children on Saturday and Sunday (except in August), at 4:30 p.m. Both adults and children pay for tickets.
The Puppet Theater on Pincio Square in the Villa Borghese gardens has "Punch and Judy" performances nearly every day. While there, you may also like to take your children through the park (It is closed to traffic). Children enjoy the fountain displays and the lake and there are many wide spaces in which they can play. Boats can be hired at the Giardino del Lago. A trip to the zoo in Rome is also possible, as it lies in the Villa Borghese, at viale del Giardino Zoologico 10 (321-65-64). It is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is an admission fee for adults but children are free.
Take bus no. 19 or 30. At 4:00 p.m., you can take your child to the Quirinale Palace, piazza del Quirinale, the residence of the president of Italy. There is a military band and a parade at that time as the guards change shifts.

Special Interest Sightseeing for the Literary Enthusiast
Keats-Shelley Memorial: Piazza di Spagna 26. Tele 678-4235. Admission fee. June - September Monday thru Friday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.; October through May, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Metro: Piazza di Spagna. At the foot of the Spanish Steps is this 18th century house where Keats died of consumption on February 23, 1821. "It is like living in a violin," wrote Italian author Alberto Savinio. The apartment where Keats spent his last summer months, carefully tended by his close friend Joseph Severn, shelters a museum and research library, with a strange death mask of Keats as well as the "deadly sweat" drawing by Severn and many other mementos of Keats, Shelley and Byron. For those interested in the full story of the involvement of Keats and Shelley in Italy, books are sold on the premises.

Protestant Cemetery:
Via Caio Cestia 6. Tele. 574-1900. Admission is free but an offering is customary given. April 1 through September 30th, 9 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ; October 1 through March 31st, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Mondays. Metro: St. Pauls. Bus: 13, 27 or 30. Near St. Paul's Station, in the midst of a setting of cypress trees, lies the old cemetery where John Keats was buried. In a grave nearby, Joseph Severn, his "deathbed" companion, was interred beside him six decades later. Dejected, and feeling his reputation as a poet diminished by the rising vehemence of his critics, Keats asked that the following epitaph be written on his tombstone: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." A great romantic poet Keats certainly was, but a prophet, thankfully not. Shelley, author of Prometheus Unbound, drowned off the Italian Riviera in 1822, before his 30th birthday. His ashes rest alongside those of Edward John Trelawny, fellow romantic and man of the sea. Trelawny maintained (but this was not proved) that Shelley may have been murdered, perhaps by petty pirates bent on robbery. While you are here, you may want to drop in at the neighboring Pyramid of Caius Cestius.

Depending upon your destination in Rome, take the subway. This is the fastest means of transportation in Rome. It has two underground lines: Line A goes from Ottaviano, near St. Peter's to Anagnina, stopping at piazza Flaminio (near piazza del Popolo), piazza Vittorio Emanuele, and piazza San Giovanni in Laterano. Line B connects the Rabibia district with via Laurentina, stopping at via Cavour, piazza Bologna, Stazione Termini, the Coliseum, Circus Maximus, the Pryamid of C. Cestius, St. Paul's Outside the Walls, the Magliana, and the E.U.R.A. big red letter M indicates the entrance to the subway.