Rome - the Imperial forums

The imperial forums were the centre of the Rome of the Caesars - huge architectural complexes that included within their walls shopping centres, law courts, libraries, and places of worship. Building one was an act of patronage that inscribed an emperor for ever in the urban fabric. Interpreting the remains of these forums, though, isn't easy - some are just hip-high lumps of wall, some were rebuilt as family fortresses in the Middle Ages, and some parts, like Trajan's Column, now stand proudly in the modern streetscape, isolated from their original surroundings.

This audio tour explains the way the forums were designed, and tries to put a little flesh on the bones of what you can see today.