Fondazione

The Roman Forum is a hodgepodge of ancient ruins, some dating back to the 8th century B.C.E., in a small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills.
I have never felt such an overwhelming density of history.  There are artefacts from the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, and Roman Empire which have all survived to the modern day.  Staggering.The last — and largest — of the structures added to the Forum was the Basilica of Maxentius built by Constantine.
Looking out at the free-standing columns and rubble, I couldn’t help but think of Michael Whelan‘s painting Trantorian Dream.
Fitting, since Asimov‘s Foundation series was inspired by Gibbon‘s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.