Foro Romano, January 2007.
I love how the columns, capitals, and decorative marble fragments have been left alone for the most part. To me, the allure of Rome is that you can see its history, power, and beauty in every stone, and in every Roman walking the streets today. Faces haven't changed, whether you look at a depiction of an emperor in marble, or at your neighbor calling out for a caffè  at the Tazza D'Oro in Piazza Pantheon, the expressions are the same. When Caravaggio played tennis and soccer, went out drinking with his painter friends, armed with his sword looking for brawls in the 1590s, the Rome he saw and lived then hadn't changed dramatically from the Rome of hundreds of years earlier, and it hasn't changed dramatically since then. A great account of Caravaggio and of Rome during the 1590s is Peter Robb's M - The Man Who Became Caravaggio. http://www.amazon.com/M-Man-Who-Became-Caravaggio/dp/0312274742/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 Although sometimes criticized as too much conjecture, it is a fascinating read, based mainly on primary source material such as police records, trial transcripts, and various documents that shed light on Caravaggio's colorful personality -though the color has to be imagined, as you can almost physically feel the twilight and shade enveloping his persona.