The word romance is associated with the very study of Rome itself, and one of the most romantic parts of the city is the area to the South , where there are plenty of reminders of the glory of ancient Rome. This area encompasses the start of the Via Appia , the most famous of Rome’s consular roads, which struck from the southeast end of the Circo Massimo straight as an arrow to the port of Brindisi 365 miles south. The road was built by the censor Appio Claudio in 312 BC, and is the only Roman landmark mentioned in the Bible. Immediately beyond the Palatine Hill, the Baths of Caracalla is the first major sight along the route, one of the city’s grandest ruins, and the venue until recently of inspirational performances of opera. Beyond, most visitors take public transport out to see the ancient catacombs , which line either side of the Via Appia Antica on its way through the outlying districts of the modern city. A little way west, Via Ostiense was another important traffic artery, linking – as it in fact still does – Rome to its port of Ostia. It’s home to a more recent, nineteenth-century attraction in the Protestant Cemetery , where the poets Keats and Shelley are buried, and the magnificent rebuilt basilica of St Paolo-fuori-le-Mura .