About Rome Day Tours

American Rich Brunn started up this company while finishing up his Masters and teaching Roman Topography (Ancient) and Medieval/ Renaissance Roman and European History at St. Stephen's high school in Rome. To help illustrate some of the dynamism in Rome that you may hear about on any one of his typical Tours in Rome, take a look at an article he wrote during that year on the Arch of Constantine.

Rich has gone on to receive his official touring license as an "Accompagnatore Turistico" and is one of the very few American ex pats to have also passed the official written and oral exams to become a "Guida Turistica di Roma" that is an Officially Licensed Tour Guide of Rome. See the bottom of this page for Rich's Resume/ a bit more on his experiences to make a perfect fit for providing you and your family or friends with the best tours in Rome.

Rich still tries to tour as much as possible, but when necessary his associates are some of the best Licensed Guides he's gotten to know over the years who also speak english very well. They are fun, fluent, friendly and knowledgable about the sites, with an amazing capacity to engage children as well as adults so that the sites you'll see with us come alive!

You can have your very own personalized Guide or even offer to share your private touring experience for reduced rates. Group tours are also available at some of the best rates in Rome to now reach out to a wider audience.

Rome Day Tours Logo

Rich chose the top right gilded equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) as it is a very rare example of Imperial art and one of the most significant in Rome.

While the majority of ancient images of Emperors, Gods and Goddesses were destroyed, this statue was preserved in front of the Medieval Papal Palace of Rome because it was mistakenly thought to have been of Constantine, in the act of even giving a type of Christian Blessing...

Ironically enough though, Marcus Aurelius was not only a philosopher and defender of the borders of the Empire (as portrayed in the beginning of the movie Gladiator), but he was also a persecutor of the Christians...

That original Statue of Marcus Aurelius was moved to the Capitoline Hill in the late 1530's, for which Michelangelo designed an oval sun type pattern (that funny enough wasn't actually put in until the 1940's) that's portrayed on the right.

You can easily enough see the unique quality of this pattern in how each of the intersecting lines visually link up towards the center that the ancient Romans actually first utilized as a "circular" pattern mosaic still quite visible in Ostia Antica (pictured left).

So whether he knew it directly or not “Mr. Renaissance” Michelangelo had himself updated the pattern as an “oval” (and even Christianized with its 12 apostolic points), yet unfortunately since 1981 the original statue was removed for restoration.

The Rome Day Tours "square" reworking of those patterns serves as a convenient sun-like background ("Day" tours) that Rich designed and therefore places atop many of the images that he has personally taken of things he hopes to "shed light" upon contextually for people while touring, especially now centered prominently back upon the original statue of Marcus Aurelius almost 500 years after Michelangelo's designs.