The ancient Romans referred to their city as the “caput mundi”, or the “capital of the world”. Stretching as far west as the Atlantic Ocean, as far south as the Sahara, north to modern-day Scotland, and east to the Euphrates River, the Roman Empire encompassed nearly half of the known world. The ancient monuments of Rome still stand as testimony to the former power of the city. We shall examine these monuments firsthand and stand in the shadow of one of the most extraordinary ensembles of monumental architecture in history.