Foundations of Rome

Episode 15: Enlightenment to Empire – The Grand Tour and Rome’s Ruins

Why did Europe’s elite travel to Rome—not to witness power, but to contemplate its remains? In this episode, we enter the eighteenth century, where ruins replaced relics and reflection replaced reverence. From the Grand Tour’s young aristocrats to Piranesi’s haunting visions of decay, and from the rediscovery of Pompeii to the philosophical weight of fallen empires, we explore how Rome became a stage for Enlightenment thought and Romantic imagination. These were not just stones—they were warnings, mirrors, and meditations on the rise and fall of civilisation.

Episode 14: Baroque Rome – Art, Ecstasy, and Absolutism

In this episode, I will guide you into the heart of Baroque Rome—a city transformed into a theatre of faith. From Bernini’s sweeping embrace at St Peter’s Square to the ecstatic vision of Saint Teresa and the illusionistic wonders of Jesuit churches, this episode unpacks how art, architecture, and spectacle became tools of the Counter‑Reformation. Discover how seventeenth‑century Rome proclaimed Catholic triumph not through armies, but through light, movement, and emotion carved in stone.

Episode 13: Renaissance Rebirth – From Ruins to Raphael

How does a city rise again—not from fire or conquest, but from memory? In this episode of Foundations of Rome, we trace the Renaissance transformation of Rome from a city of ruins and relics into a capital of art, architecture, and humanist ambition. From Pope Nicholas V’s grand vision to Bramante’s bold designs for Saint Peter’s, and from the revival of Vitruvius to Raphael’s luminous School of Athens, we explore how marble, manuscript, and imagination reshaped the Eternal City. This was not nostalgia—it was reinvention. Rome did not abandon its past. It assembled it, reinterpreted it, and crowned it with frescoes, domes, and classical dreams.

Episode 12 - The Popes, the Borgo, and the Building of Papal Rome

In this episode, we trace the rise of the Vatican from a modest medieval suburb to the spiritual and political heart of Catholicism. Journey through the Borgo—home to Saint Peter’s tomb, fortified by popes, and transformed by pilgrims, relics, and Jubilee years. Discover how centuries of devotion, architecture, and ambition reshaped Rome itself, turning sacred space into papal power and laying the foundations of the Renaissance city to come.

Episode 11: From Pagan Statues to Papal Thrones – Sacred Space Reclaimed

How does a pagan capital become the spiritual centre of Christendom—without tearing itself apart? In this episode, we explore the Christianisation of Rome through its buildings, images, and sacred spaces. From Constantine’s conversion and the Edict of Milan to the transformation of temples into churches, Rome remade itself by layering new faith onto ancient stone. We trace the rise of pilgrimage, relics, mosaics, and martyrs—and discover how Rome did not erase its past, but absorbed it, turning imperial space into sacred geography and giving the Eternal City a second life.