Ask most Indians to name a place in Italy and the chances are that they will say Rome. This is relatively unusual. In other countries it may be such tourist friendly cities as Venice that get mentioned. Or Florence if you are dealing with an art lover. Or Milan, Italy’s fashion capital.

But for Indians it is always Rome that epitomises Italy. When the Congress’s detractors first tried to draw attention to the fact that the party was led by a foreigner, ‘Rome Raj’ was the term they used even though Sonia Gandhi grew up in Torino not Rome.

Perhaps it’s the preponderance of history, myths and legends that surround the city that makes us mention it first. When I was first taken there as a ten-year-old, I solemnly informed my parents that it was the city of wolves because its two founders, we had been taught at school, were wolf-boys. My parents, who were familiar with the legend of Romulus and Remus, stopped me before I could get to Julius Caesar and the gladiators at the Colosseum and continue boring them. This was wise because I had fully intended to entertain them with my rendition of Mark Antony’s ‘Friends, Romans and countrymen’ speech.

I must have been a very annoying child but I guess that most Indians still think of Rome through the prism of history. Which is fair enough because it probably has more historical attractions per square mile than any European city. And the Italians are proud and unconflicted about their history compared to say, the French, who will tell you unironically as you visit Versailles “Zis is where ze king live before we keel him…”

This makes Rome a lovely historical........

© hindustantimes