You can use Google earth to view satellite images of various cities around the world, zooming in and out, turning corners as you please.  But have you ever wondered what it would be like to step back in time?  You can now virtually experience “the grandeur that was Rome.”

You must have the Google Earth software installed on the computer to use this feature.  Rome is a layer over Google earth that you can activate with the click of a mouse button.  The layer allows you to see a detailed 3-d computer model of the city as it looked around the time of Constantine.

As with Google Earth, you can zoom in and out.  Some buildings are extremely detailed while some are sketchier.   As you scroll over the display, information bubbles provide quick facts, but more elaborate detail is available via links to various online reference works.