With his dad off sampling Rome’s gastronomic delights, 15-year-old DANIEL CLEMENTS gets to grips with the some of the city’s finest historical attractions...

SITTING near the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Rome’s Piazza Navona, I looked up at the beautiful baroque fountain. Sculpted by Bernini in the 17th century, the statues represent four rivers at four corners of the world: the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube and the Plata. The piazza has always been a venue for entertainment. In Roman times it was called the Circus of Domitian, and chariots raced around it. Nowadays, you’re more likely to see street performers and artists. During our visit I saw a Johnny Depp lookalike, numerous musicians, and artists sketching portraits of tourists. This was my first glimpse of Rome and already I loved it.

Rome was the capital of the ancient world over 2,000 years ago. Having studied Latin and Classical Civilisation at school for the past four years, I was looking forward to seeing the sights I had read so much about. The Colosseum and the Forum are often written off as a pile of dilapidated rubble. But for me it was fascinating to walk where the patricians and plebeians had once walked.

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