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YOU’LL NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST TIME. You’ll be walking along or speeding in a cab from the airport and then will appear…the Colosseum…the Arco di Tito…the whole glorious spread of jaw-dropping triumph and ruin.

It’s a place to let your imagination run wild. Picture women rattling tambourines in torch-lit processions, chariots carrying tanned muscular men in togas to the baths.

Goddesses’ temples, Empresses’ tombs, and churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary are all to be discovered in the thousand-plus years of history that surrounds you. It’s impossible to absorb it all in one shot. Hiring a good guide is best since hardly any of the sculptures and ruins are marked. Or just stroll around and surrender to your fantasies.

The Michelangelo-designed piazza is a perfect place to begin, where Minerva (just behind Marcus Aurelius) sits on a throne holding her mighty spear. To either side of her are the Capitoline Museums, packed with sculptures of characters who once roamed the area surrounding you.

In the Palazzo Nuovo (museum to the left of Minerva) head to the first-floor hallway to see The Capitoline Venus. She’s featured in a sunlit niche, posed as Venus Pudica (modest Venus), with one hand over her breast, the other covering her Cupid’s cloister. Yes, she’s modest, but also teasing, as if to say: “Look what I’m hiding...”

Venus was the deity who flitted from passion to passion. She was married to Vulcan, God of Fire, but even the best couple’s counselor couldn’t have kept this beauty tied to that angry, crippled god. Venus had hot affairs with Mars (God of War), the devastatingly handsome Adonis, and disguised herself as a mortal for trysts with men she found attractive. Every year she bathed herself in the sea from which she was born to renew her virginity.

In the same hallway, you’ll see a statue of a Roman Woman Dressed As Venus (hardly dressed), proving how closely Romans associated themselves with the Goddess. The Roman woman breaks out of the Modest Venus pose, standing proud and naked with one hand on her hip. For a laugh further down the hall, check out the Drunken Old Woman, who’s crouched, laughing, and guzzling a jug of wine.

Here in the ongoing archaeological excavation, is the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, now rows of pillars with remains of female statues.

The Cult of Vesta, Goddess of Hearth and Home, was the oldest of the ancient world. Some say this cult still exists in modern Italy, where la famiglia remains the country’s core.

The Vestals were young girls, chosen when they were between the ages of six and ten, who were put in charge of guarding and leading the worship at Vesta’s temple for a 30-year term. The upside for the virgins, in a time when women didn’t have that much freedom, was that they could come and go as they pleased and got perks all over town, like special seats at games and festivals. The downside was gruesome: if they let Vesta’s flame go out they’d be flogged and if they had sex with anyone they’d be buried alive.

Walking up from the Forum, you come to this pretty and serene place, where Romulus (great grandson of Venus) chose to begin the city. It went on to become the Beverly Hills of Ancient Rome, where noble palaces were built. In the sixteenth century the Farnese family created gardens here, so you can wander through rows of boxwood shrubs, cypress trees, laurel and rose bushes, and enjoy lovely views of the sights below.

As for the palaces, the House of Augustus and Casa di Livia (Livia’s House) are open to the public with special reservations. In Livia’s house, you’ll be treated to a vast arched space with frescos of vibrant garlands, symbols of Augustus’s victories. The Palatine is a great place to fantasize about the grand days of Livia and Augustus, who ruled Rome for forty-five years, bringing the city into its Golden Age.

Back in 39 B.C., just after Julius Caesar’s assassination, Livia was a beautiful nineteen-year-old, married to the much older Tiberius Claudius Nero, and pregnant with their second child. Along came Octavius, a rising star on the military scene, married with a pregnant wife. Octavius fell in love with Livia, divorced his wife the day she gave birth, and married the pregnant Livia. Livia’s old husband gave her away at the ceremony, even throwing in a dowry. It turned out to be a good political move for all involved and in those days the citizenry didn’t even blink over it.

Octavius became Emperor Caesar Augustus and ruled Rome with his perfect mate Livia, who took charge of all the biz at home when he set off to conquer distant lands. Livia was an exemplary Roman wife. She was famously chaste, “worked wool” (made her husband’s togas), and never showed off with fancy jewelry or dress. The couple lived simply here throughout their fifty-one years of marriage, with Livia putting up with philandering Augustus, who was known for his S&M exploits. Together they revived Rome, restoring monuments in the Forum and building new ones throughout the city.

Livia’s become famous in fiction, particularly through Robert Graves’ I Claudius, where she’s portrayed as a conniving woman who poisoned potential heirs to make sure her family line would inherit the throne. Whatever version of the story you believe; Livia’s descendants did end up ruling Rome. She died at the ripe old age of eighty-six and was honored as Diva Augusta. Her image was revered in the streets that surround you, carried in celebrations by elephant-drawn carriages.

To get a more vivid experience of Livia’s lifestyle, head to the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, near the Termini station. The entire garden room of her suburban villa has been moved to the top floor of this museum, so you can stand in the midst of amazing frescos that feature a harmonious, abundant landscape of trees, flowers, and birds.

TIPS: Don’t go to the Forum between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M., the heaviest tourist times. The museums, on the other hand, are rarely crowded, and in addition to the Palazzo Nuovo, the Palatine Museum, with its mosaics and sculptures, is a good choice. To avoid lines, you can make reservations in advance and also get tickets for the House of Augustus and Casa di Livia at www.coopculture.it

Capitoline Museums: Tuesday through Sunday. 9:30-7:30 (www.museicapitolini.org). Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: Daily 8:30 until one hour before sunset. Check the website (www.coopculture.it) for opening times of House of Augustus and Casa di Livia. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme: Largo di Villa Peretti 1 (near Termini), Tuesday-Sunday 9-7:30, www.coopculture.it.

Golden Day: Time your visit so you’ll be on the Palatine Hill at sunset, then head to Terre e Domus Enoteca della Provincia for an aperitivo. This is an excellent, modern-styled restaurant and wine bar that features products of the Lazio region, facing Trajan’s Column. (Via Foro Traiano 82, 066 994 0273, lunch and dinner reservations essential, open daily 7:30 A.M.-midnight).

TOURS

For the best guided small group tours, contact Context Travel at www.contexttravel.com.