Rome?, What's the 'genius loci' there? Options

[Witness]

By genius loci I of course mean 'spirit of place' or general atmosphere. But you already knew that.

Darn it if my players aren't in the unusual position of having to set up an important meeting with an illustrious personage, and being able to choose more or less where, when and how it will take place. And one of my PCs has a Cardinal friend in Rome, so apparently that's the destination that they favor.

I find myself thinking 'cool', and I'm really looking forward to the role reversal of having them work out the defenses (yes, there may be people trying to intercept this meeting and snatch the.. um.. meetee).

Only problem is that I have no source material on Rome. Don't have Shadows of Europe. Don't currently have the means (or more importantly the time) to acquire it. And Sixth World Wiki lets me down in this regard.

So if anybody can advise me on any major canon stuff I should know, and any non-canon stuff that would fit and would be cool to know, then I'd be awful grateful. This meeting will take place in April 2063.

[Shadow]

There are 7 districts in Rome, each with its own unique style and flavor. A quick Google search could give a lot of background. I would do a gsearch with the key words: Rome, Street maps.

That would give you a good idea of the convoluted mess that the roads are.

[Kanada Ten]

Try searching here for Vatican City and the Papal States or the Italian Confederacy...

Vatican City (Matrix) Red 6 - 11/9/8/7/7

Order of Saint Sylvester provides magical support. Don't expect to see spirits, those can only be conjured with the approval of... someone.

The Order of the Temple (Templars) function as the Vatican's CIA and the New Jesuits are like Vatican's FBI.

[Witness]

Oh I can cover most of the RL stuff without difficulty. I've been there in the past, and at any rate I'm on intimate terms with Google Earth.
I can also work out (partly from search-fu and partly just from common sense) that the mafia and the church are big players.
But none of that is what I would call serious flavor.

[Synner]

[Witness]

Thanks Synner- I hear good things about it, but like I said, can't get hold of it (in time).

Key thing I'm trying to get a sense of here is not so much the politics (figure I can guess at a lot of that), but more:

What's it like to visit or live in?
What's it like architecturally?
Still a lot of old buildings?
Lots of new ones?
If so, are the new developments based in one particular quarter (or septer, or whatever)?
Is it a very authoritarian city?
Is there any poverty?
Where?
Is it still a fashion center?


That sort of thing.