The Roman Emperor Trajan never sped around the Via Veneto on a Vespa motorbike or caught the latest Fellini flick at a cinema off the Piazza del Popolo.
But before he scooted off this mortal coil in A.D. 117, the hairy despot gave Romans, and the rest of the world, something to remember him by: the Latin alphabet we use today.Sure, the alphabet goes back to Egyptian times, but without Mr. Trajan's changes it would still be Greek to us. Here's a guide to the old guy's town, a trip through the Eternal City from A to Z.
A is for Autunno
Italian for autumn, the best time of year to visit the Eternal City. The summer heat has dissipated and Romans have reclaimed their city from the tourist hordes. Harvest festivals fill market stalls with roasted chestnuts, chewy persimmons and blood-red Sicilian oranges. Opera and classical-music seasons are in full swing. The antique shops on Via dei Coronari hold open houses.
B is for Bocca della Verita
The sublime face of the "mouth of truth" in a wall at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church near the Tiber River is actually an old sewer or cistern cover. The stone oval is carved with the face of an old man, with a hole for a mouth. Legend says anyone who places a hand in the mouth and tells a lie will have it bitten off. In the 19th century, priests would sit in a small room behind the mouth. If they heard what they believed to be an untruth, they would whack the hand with a switch and give the liar a fright.
C is for Capitoline
The city center since ancient times, the Capitoline Hill seen today was designed primarily by Michelangelo. The government center overlooking the Roman Forum and Appian Way was "caput mundi (head of the world)," hence the words "capital" and "capitol."
D is for Duce
Italian for "leader" and the self-chosen moniker of shaven-headed despot Benito Mussolini. "Il Duce" ruled Italy from 1922 until 1945, when his corpse was hung by its heels from a Milan garage. Fascism has enjoyed a nostalgic boom in Italy, where Il Duce's granddaughter sits in Parliament. You can see remnants of Mussolini's plan for a New Imperial Rome at the EUR planned community, the cavernous main train station, and Via dei Fori Imperiali. At the Piazza Venezia, look up for the balcony where Il Duce ranted for hours to his his black-shirted troops.
E is for Eustachio
Coffee served thick and strong. Espresso. Cappuccino. Latte. It's an art form in Rome and the best can be found at the Sant' Eustachio Caffe, whose motto is "Men should be like coffee - strong, good, hot." The tiny cafe is at 82 Piazza Sant' Eustachio, just behind the Pantheon.
F is for Foro Romano
Nowhere is the ghost of imperial grandeur more palpable than amid the storm-scarred victory arches and tumbled marble columns of the Roman Forum.
G is for Gnocchi
The tiny potato dumplings, served with a tomato, butter or Gorgonzola cheese sauce, are one of the great budget meals of Rome.
H is for Hepburn
Audrey, not Kate. In "Roman Holiday," she plays a princess on the lam from a formal European tour. More fun than other Roman epics such as "La Dolce Vita," "Open City" or "Ben-Hur."
I is for Isola Tiberina
The Tiber is the central artery of Rome, the watery highway of commerce and travel since Etruscan tribes wandered its banks a thousand years before Christ was born. The tiny Tiber Island (Isola Tiberina) is a wonderful place to watch a sunset or cuddle with a lover by the stone-covered shores.
J is for Jupiter
The angry, bearded King of the Gods, who threw thunderbolts at mortals from his throne in the heavens. His temple, with a gold and ivory statue of the god, was given the most important site in the city: atop the crest of the Capitoline Hill. Only its outline remains today.
K is for Keats
In the glory days of the 18th and 19th century "grand tour" of Europe, many a foppish boy and adventurous girl would delay their return to Britain by renting apartments near the Spanish Steps. Romantic notions of Rome were fueled by the English poet John Keats, who lived at the foot of the Spanish Steps and died in Rome at age 26 in 1821. The area is still a favorite of English-speaking visitors, with the nearby American Express and the 19th-century Earl Grey-and-crumpets atmosphere of Babington's Tea Room.
L is for La Dolce Vita
During the 1950s, bored playboys and stunning starlets would spend the torpor-inducing summer nights lolling at bars on Via Veneto or splashing in the Trevi Fountain. The overflowing sidewalk cafes echoed with "La Dolce Vita" - "the sweet life" of partying, eating, drinking and more partying.
M is for Markets
Since the city basks in sun and warm breezes most of the year, Romans love to shop "al fresco." The best outdoor markets are the fruit stalls at Campo de' Fiori and the flower market at Vatican City. Bargain hunters head for the famed flea market at Porta Portese. Bring your own bag, be prepared to haggle (most merchants speak some English) and don't flash your cash unless you want to drive up the price. Plan on settling at about 75 percent to 80 percent of the merchant's original asking price.
N is for Navona
It's crawling with tourists, untalented street musicians and cartoon portraitists. But the Piazza Navona remains one of the few must-not-miss sights in Rome.
O is for Ossuary
There was a time a century or so ago when Santa Maria dell' Orazione e della Morte on the Via Giulia was among the most popular tourist stops in Rome. Its ghoulish vault of bones of dead monks - known as an ossuary - was meant by the Roman Catholic Church to be an object lesson on mortality for curious visitors. "As you are, we once were; as we are, you will be" is etched in the wall. On All Saints Day, the bone rooms are illuminated by dozens of candles. Spooky.
P is for Pantheon
It's been a Roman temple, a Catholic church and the burial site of kings and artists. Inside the thick walls of the Pantheon, it's easy to feel the centuries of Roman history.
Air and light enter through a 30-foot hole in the roof called the oculus. It's unforgettable to visit the Pantheon during a thunderstorm, when lightning flashes illuminate the vast interior and water cascades through the oculus onto a small circle on the temple floor, while all around it remains dry.
The artist Raphael and several kings of Italy are buried in vaults along the rim of the floor.
Q is for Quirinal Hill
One of the prettiest and most active of Rome's original seven hills, the Quirinal district is best known to locals as the location of the presidential palace. But most Americans know it for its movie-star tourist attraction, the Trevi Fountain.
The Trevi is an oversize conglomeration of statues depicting Neptune, serpents, seahorses and tritons. The 1762 fountain - young by Roman standards - has been immortalized on film. Anita Ekberg chose the Trevi for her famous late-night swim in "La Dolce Vita." In the American tear-jerker, "Three Coins in the Fountain," Jean Peters was among American tourists who found romance in the Roman capital. They enacted the famous legend: If you throw a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain, you'll one day return to Rome.
R is for Raphael
Along with Michelangelo, perhaps Rome's greatest artist. But a jerk when it came to his personal life.
His full name was Raffaelo Sanzio, and after making his mark in Florence, he moved to Rome in 1508 to work for a succession of popes, creating great treasures for the Vatican palaces, including "The Transfiguration" and the glorious Raphael Rooms.
S is for Shopping
Valentino, Versace, Armani, Ferragamo, Gucci, Bulgari. The Italian names drip with fame, fashion - and finance, to buy their wares. The best shopping is along the Via Condotti, which runs from the foot of the Spanish Steps.
T is for Trastevere
Trastevere is the Rome many people dream of - narrow alleys, laundry hanging from the upper windows, days among the tiny shops selling crafts, evenings spent lolling around tiny cafes. The center of life is the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere.
U is for Uno al Portico d'Ottavia
For a peek inside the world of the old Jewish Ghetto, have a lunch of soup and fried baby artichokes at this small cafe at 21 via del Portico d'Ottavia. Jews came to Rome as slaves of Pompey the Great, but many earned their freedom and became artisans and doctors. Persecutions began in the 16th century, when Jews were ordered to live within a walled compound near the Tiber River, known as a "ghetto."
V is for Vatican
On the spot where St. Peter was martyred, generations of faithful have built a world of temporal splendor. The pope's kingdom has lush gardens, museums filled with priceless masters, and baroque palaces without peer. It is dominated by the marble expanses of St. Peter's cathedral, seat of the Holy See, the mother church of all the world's Roman Catholics.
A tip: You'll need nearly a full day to see the Vatican's sights. Nearly every guidebook suggests you visit the Sistine Chapel in the morning, then go to St. Peter's. Flip the order and you'll do better at beating the crowds.
W is for Women
Rome is a modern, cosmopolitan city that is fun and safe for any traveler. But Rome is also at the heart of the Mediterranean, where attitudes toward women differ from those in the United States or Northern Europe.
At its best, the attitude can mean an Old World courtesy lacking elsewhere. Women are more likely to be offered seats on public transportation or in crowded cafes.
The downside is that some Italian men see a woman traveling alone as a "romantic" challenge. Women may feel more comfortable traveling in groups or with a male escort. Unwanted advances are best turned away by a polite but firm "no" or by ignoring the man altogether.
Y is for Y.A.E.
Stands for "Young And Enthusiastic," the nickname given the the motor-scooter-riding teen-agers of Rome by travel writer Richard Saul Wurman. Tourists have to deal with them everywhere: YAEs crowd the cafes and bars on weekend nights, roar through crosswalks on their Vespas, dance and sing until dawn at nightclubs or while walking down the street under your hotel window. Best just to watch and smile - after all, it's their town. Remember, "when in Rome ..."
Z is for Zoo
There will come a time when the noise, crowds and heat will beat you down. Retreat to the Borghese Garden, the lungs of Rome. On a hill between the Spanish Steps and the Via Veneto is a lush green garden and a small zoo. The tiny collection of animals is just an excuse to get away from it all to cool down, clear your head and prepare for another foray into the Eternal City.