53 THE AREA THAT IS GENERALLY REFERRED TO TODAY AS THE FORI IMPERIALI, OR IMPERIAL FORA, WAS AT ONE TIME CALLED CAMPO VACCINO. IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES, ONE OF THE MAIN ACTIVITIES IN THIS AREA STREWN WITHMONUMENTS, MOST OF WHICH HAVE COLLAPSED AND ARE NOW IN A STATE OF RUIN, WAS LIVESTOCK REARING. LIFE IN THE COUNTRY INTERSECTEDWITH THAT OF THE CITY, AWAY OF LIVING THAT ENDURED FOR CENTURIES. ON THE OTHER HAND, MANY OF THE COLUMNS THAT CURRENTLY RISE UP IN THE GREAT SPACE OF THE FORAWERE BUILT DURING THE MODERN AGE. STILL STANDING IS THE ARCHOF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, EVEN THOUGH ITS BAS-RELIEF PANELS ARE LARGELY ERODED. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY AND JUST A STONE’S THROWAWAY, PIETRO BERRETTINI DA CORTONA, ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST ARCHITECTS AND PAINTERS, BUILT THE CHURCHOF SANTI LUCA E MARTINA IN SHAPES ECHOING THOSE OF ANTIQUITY, BUT REINTERPRETED IN A BAROQUE KEY. THE COLOSSEUM FROM THE IMPERIAL FORA
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