As the oft repeated line mourns, "...the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome." Rome, the cradle of modern civilization, the site of one of history's greatest empires, and the sometimes chaotic capital of a major modern European country, is most certainly grand. The massive scale of its ancient monuments, the museums without parallels, and the incredible daily energy of millions of Italians playing their part on the daily stage will simultaneously awe and threaten to overwhelm the visitor.