Rome Reborn

When you’re wandering through the ruins of what were once Rome’s grandest buildings in the Roman Forum or trying to imagine what the Colosseum must have been like in its heyday, sometimes it’s hard to see beyond the rubble. A good guide can help, but some people are just more visual learners. For them - and for anyone else who thinks it’s cool (which might be everyone) - there’s Rome Reborn.

Thanks to long years of hard work by archaeologists, historians and computer experts from around the world, people can take a virtual stroll through a 3D model of the ancient city. The project started at the University of Virginia, and the model has kept growing since. To me, the coolest still picture is that of the interior of the Senate building in the Forum - the Curia Julia. Why? Because when you go to the Forum yourself and see the building as it is today, it’s not all that different from how it looked back then. Now, thanks to software like Rome Reborn, we can project that same idea to every other monument and building in Rome. This website might be especially fun if you’re planning a trip to Rome, to see what things once looked like before you step onto the Forum’s cobbled streets yourself, or if you’ve recently visited and still don’t quite get what all the fuss is about.

Today Rome Reborn is run by Flyover Zone, which sells virtual tours of ancient Rome that run on everything from smartphones and PCs to VR headsets, and has a free virtual museum on its site.