Rome. Holy City. Eternal City. A city with a sacred mission to rule and minister to the world. Its stories of faith and violence forged by 3,000 years of tyrants, saints and artists. From the Roman emperors and the Christian popes to the Renaissance and fascism, a holy city driven more by power than piety. As a historian, I'm fascinated by this place. I'm here to tell the history of the Eternal City through its rulers, its art, its shrines. In its first 2,000 years, Rome developed from the seat of power of the pagan empire to the capital of one of the great world faiths. But at the beginning of its third millennium, we find Rome at its lowest ebb. Abandoned by the papacy, the city resembled a wilderness. In this final episode, the Renaissance popes embark on an incredible mission to transform the city. They harness the greatest talents of the age to create a majestic new Rome.


罗马，神圣之城、永恒之城。一个藉由神圣使团来统治世界和净化世界的城市。建成三千年来在罗马宗教信仰和暴力的故事俯拾皆是，参与书写这些故事的有暴君、有圣徒、也有艺术家。经历了罗马皇帝的统治、基督教皇的掌控、文艺复兴的洗礼和法西斯的清洗，神圣之城的运转依靠的是权力而非对上帝的虔诚。作为一个史学家，我被这个地方迷住了。我将在这里讲述永恒之城的历史，我会讲述这里的统治者、这儿的艺术、这儿的圣址。在建城初期两千多年间，罗马从充斥着异教徒的帝国的权利中心发展为世界某一伟大信仰之都。不过，在第三个千年之初，罗马城情况不妙，陷入低谷：此时罗马被教皇所弃，整个城市死气沉沉如同荒原。在这最终的篇章中，文艺复兴时期的主教们却肩负着改变这座城市这一不可思议的使命。他们积极发动这个时代的杰出人才，打造了出了一个庄严宏伟的新罗马。