Google Earth has built a virtual version of ancient Rome so people can go back in time and see what it was like before the Popes knocked everything down to write their own name in history. 

People using free Google Earth software can seemingly fly past more than 6500 buildings that stood in the city at the peak of the Roman Empire in 320 AD. 

It is possible to see close-ups of structures and peruse pop-up information "bubbles" written by historians. Some buildings feature full interiors including the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine and the Ludus Magnus. 

It is the first time that Google Earth has attempted to create a virtual city and  Google is inviting US educators to take part in a contest promising prizes for innovative lesson plans based on the virtual Ancient Rome feature. 

The first challenge will be for Americans to find Italy on the map and work out that it is not in Australia.  Given the fact that half of them nearly voted for a woman who thought Africa was a country we don’t hold out much hope. 

While many of the buildings of Ancient Rome fell down, an awful lot were demolished so that the stone could be used to refurbish churches or sold to build fountains glorifying the Papal States.   Rome's Coliseum is in the state it is because it was mined fori its marble, and the Parthanon lost its impressive bronze dome to pay for fountains with various pope's names written on them. X

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AP