Prologue

Right away, Hughes expressed his admiration for the grand city of Rome, thus having never lived there. He opens up by saying how he has always wanted to be an expert on Rome, but it seems silly because he has never lived there so he can't be an expert unless he is engulfed in the beauty of Rome. Hughes compares religious art in Australia to religious art in Rome, and now the art in Australia can't be as authentic as that in Rome. He says, "Come down to it, how would one know that art of any kind was any good? Mainly---if not only---by going to Rome," (Page 4).

He arrived in Rome in 1959 and says that his predictions were pretty much true. He realizes that even Rome's air, and the colors in the sky are warmer than anywhere he has been. He explains how colorful everything around him is, and he then finds the Field of Flowers market place inside the piazza, he realizes it is a center of death where a lot of public executions had been held, like Giordano Bruno, who's statue is large in the Piazza.

Hughes continues by talking about religion, the food, fountains, poetry, and history of the city.

I am thrilled to be in the place he was. The Piazza.