This sounds like a wonderful thing to do on my first evening in Rome, but I'm having a little trouble mapping it out. For those of you who remembe Ed (his last name escapes me at the moment), here's what he said:

Julie was introduced to the city in my favorite way, taking her at night from the Piazza Venezia, up the Cordonata towered over by Castor and Pollux, across Michaelangelo's beautiful courtyard, behind the Palazzo Senatoro set atop the 1600 year-old foundations of the Tabularium, onto the perch overlooking the floodlighted Roman Forum, the outline of the moonlit Colosseum rising as a backdrop.

I've found Piazza Venezia on my map and see Via del Cordonato a bit east of that, but it's really not near the Temple of Castor & Pollux on the western edge of the Forum (or are there statues of Castor & Pollux somewhere other than their temple?). I can't find Palazzo Senatoro or the Tabularium on the map. Can someone elaborate on these directions? Thanks!

The cordonata is the ramp that ascends the Capitoline Hill from the northwest (i.e., from area of Piazza d'Aracoeli). From the top of the ramp, you'll be looking across the Piazza del Campidoglio, with the Palazzo Senatoro on the far side. The Forum will be beyond that, so the viewpoint is on the far side of the Palazzo and is the only point from which the Colosseum truly serves as a "backdrop" for the Forum. The Castor & Pollux reference is indeed to statues, at the top of the cordonata.

From Piazza Venezia, go around the right side of the Vittorio Emanuele monument (right as you face it), until you see a broad flight of stairs on your left. Go up the stairs; they lead you up into the Piazza del Campidoglio (they may or may not be called the Cordonata, and they do have monumental statues of Castor and Pollux).

The Piazza del Campidoglio was designed by Michelangelo and has the statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback at its center (it's a copy; the original is in one of the museums on the Campodoglio).

The building you are facing when you enter the piazza is the Palazzo Senatorio. Walk behind it to look out on the Forum and the Colosseum in the distance.

It sounds complicated, but believe me, it isn't.

This might help you picture it better using the other posters descriptions.
www.capitolium.org/eng/fori/pianta.htm
In the upper left section see the street Via del Teatro di Marcello. To the right of the 'o' in Marcello is the staircase which leads to the courtyard. The bldgs on each side are museums and the bldg (with the tower) at the opposite end of the courtyard is the Palazzo Senatoro which is built on top of the ancient (~70BC) Tabularium. Regards, Walter

Thanks to all of you for this help. Now I've found the Cordonata on my map, just south of Piazza d'Aracoeli, so I'm sure I can find it. Walter, that's a neat map, thanks.