Shopping in Rome

This was Julius Caesar's triumphant statement, scribbled with a flourish to Rome's senators following his victory at the Battle of Zela. And just as they had with their previous successes in Gaul and Egypt, Rome's legions returned bringing riches from the lands they had conquered. With the world's most luxurious silks, linens, and wools at their disposal, the city's civilized patricians became the empire's arbiters of chic.

Centuries later, Romans still have an insatiable appetite for drawing upon the best of the world's finery and modifying it into something uniquely Roman. From the cornucopia of haute couture fresh off Milan's trendy catwalks to the breezy avant-garde styles of the city's next generation of designers, this dazzling metropolis continues to make its own personalized statement about what's "in." Visitors with a sumptuous sense of bella figura and a strong constitution for heart-stopping price tags will enjoy beginning their Roman shopping adventures by paying homage to fashion's heavy hitters. The best of Italy's design ateliers are clumped tightly together along the city's three primary fashion arteries: Via dei Condotti, Via Borgognona, and Via Frattina.

Whether you are looking for that special pair of Prada shoes, a Pollini handbag, or some other chichi fashions, you are bound to find what you are looking for here. How about a special bottle of wine for your wedding anniversary or a pair of one-of-a-kind earrings for your daughter's upcoming graduation? From Piazza di Spagna to Piazza Navona and on to Campo de' Fiori, shoppers will find an explosive array of shops within walking distance of one another. A shop for fine handmade Amalfi paper looks out upon the Pantheon, while slick boutiques anchor the corners of 18th-century Piazza di Spagna. In Monti, a second-generation mosaic-maker creates Italian masterpieces on a street named for a pope who died before America was even discovered. Even in Trastevere, one can find one of Rome's rising shoe designers creating next-century nuovo chic shoes nestled on a side street beside one of Rome's oldest churches.

In the immortal words of Mrs. Julius Caesar, when she returned from the forum: "Vini, Vidi, Visa." I came, I saw, I charged it.