In our contemporary, postmodern

world, a world where we are used

to see all values and certainties

crumble down or melt like snow

in the sun, I feel I ought to start

by providing the readers with a

rock-like certainty: I am not a

historian. I am just curious. And

one day, out of my curiosity, I came

across a map of the consular roads,

the highways of ancient Rome.