With Imperial Forum expert and archeologist Darius Arya, the workshoppers spent four inspiring hours traversing the surprisingly huge Roman Forum (which owing to the heat might better be called the Forno Imperiale – imperial oven). Yet the weather wasn’t the only thing hot, the expanse of this imperial city, with its temples, basilicas, and palaces (notably on the Palantine hill) can only be fully appreciated in person – it was a hot time for discovery in the old Forum today.

But perhaps the most illuminating and uplifting feature of this visit, was standing next to the Trajan Column, as Dr. Arya read the perfectly inscribed Latin epigraphy at the base of the column. As everyone in attendance knows, this monument is the holy grail of Western (Roman) typography.