Daniella Hunt, Your Intrepid Private Guide
Daniella’s backstory? She graduated magna cum laude in Classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995. During her senior year abroad, she specialized in classical archaeology and ancient history at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome.
Several years later, she completed a three-year program in ancient Greek at the Gregorian University in Rome. In 2002, Daniella completed her M.A. at the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomatics, and Archivism. The degree is secretly known as Hardcore Library Science for History Nerds Who Want to Read and Interpret Bygone Primary Sources.
Her quirkier studies include Roma Sotterranea’s courses (in 2013 and 2015) to learn more about urban speleology. Lessons included field-trips and excursions to ancient Roman quarries, aqueducts, and other spaces that are dangerous to navigate and off-limits to the general public.
Wanderlust and her love of antiquity push her to travel with an almost exclusive (well… obsessive!) focus on places with ancient Roman sites — within Italy and abroad.
She continues to conduct research principally, but not solely, at the American Academy of Rome. In 2022, she published the dense and user-friendly guidebook The Roman Forum: From Outpost to Empire in Ten Easy Centuries, which is available on Amazon. More information about it further down!
A second book will hopefully be out toward the end of 2027. It plumbs rarely explored aspects of antiquity (and yes that was foreshadowing and a pun).
When she is not sharing her passion for Rome with visitors, you’ll find her going for her weekly run or stretched out on her yoga mat. Or she’s gardening, doing volunteer work, or catching up with friends over a prosecco.
That’s the resume. You’re getting it here, because Daniella’s an introvert and probably won’t talk about herself during the visit.
Daniella’s Approach to Private Tours
Daniella Hunt thinks her visits are a success with kids and adults thanks to her use of the Socratic technique, visual aids, and story-telling. (She confides with a twinkle in her eye, “I’ve had a lot of bad teachers. So I know what not to do!”)
Thanks to her on-going research, she is knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics: ancient Roman cuisine, art and liturgy in the Middle Ages, Renaissance history, and the glories of the Baroque era – to name a few! “My visits are organized to be educational and fun. I want my visitors to experience Rome and fall head-over-heels in love with it.”
She also believes that her passion for learning and teaching makes her a great private guide. “Rome, Italy, and the Mediterranean are endless sources of inspiration and discovery: history, art, literature, food, and culture… I’m constantly studying and I love sharing what I’ve learned.”
After various work-related experiences, Daniella decided to set out on her own. She is proud of her services, which she offers to curious travelers who prefer savoring Rome’s art, architecture, and culture rather than frenetically consuming them.
And the Name “Mirabilia Urbis Tours”?
After working for a cultural association in 1996 and a season of guiding for the Archaeological Superintendence of Rome for minimum wage in 1997, Daniella built a business of her own. “I remember, I was talking with my fiancé about my day at the library,” she recalls. “I had just read about the guidebooks that Rome-bound pilgrims, travelers, and merchants used from circa 1000 A.D. onward to find the Eternal City’s treasures. Mirabilia Urbis was one of the titles — Mirabilia Urbis is Latin for ‘the Wonders of the City.’ Make no mistake: ‘the City’ was Rome. When the conversation turned to the idea of guiding on my own, he suggested I call my service Mirabilia Urbis Tours. Not very commercial. Certainly not catchy. But I loved it.”
Her Guidebook to the Roman Forum
The Roman Forum: From Outpost to Empire in Ten Easy Centuries is a unique and user-friendly guidebook to the Roman Forum in Rome, Italy. Author Daniella Hunt uses story-telling, chronological order, and visual aids (i.e. maps, photos, and prints) to make the text fun and educative. She also relies on both modern studies and ancient authors’ quotes to tell the Forum’s story. So, she presents its development, the construction techniques of its monuments, and some of its habitues’ lives with great synthesis and a sense of humor.
In fact, The Roman Forum is a daring new genre. It combines history and humor, while dispensing hard facts with great levity. This guidebook’s approach pleasantly surprises readers as they discover that learning about ancient Roman history and archeology is actually fun. So, if you’re looking for an entertaining read that is informative and will take you back in time, Daniella Hunt’s The Roman Forum is for you!
See Rome Through Daniella’s Eyes
What Travelers Have Said Over the Years
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I just wanted you to know that we returned home a few days ago and we can’t stop thinking about our incredible trip. If it’s possible for a vacation to exceed one’s expectations – this one did just that! We are SO PLEASED that the Kaufman’s recommended you to us! We feel as though we got everything we wanted out of our day in Rome. I am also very pleased that we opted to see the Forum, the Colosseum and San Clemente. The way you presented each was outstanding. I was particularly moved by San Clemente! When you asked us to imagine ourselves sitting in a 1st century A.D. home – it was just a mind-blower! And seeing Mithras’ sanctuary was incredible. THANK YOU for making our day in Rome so memorable and so informative. You made the ancient sites “come alive” for us. We will never forget it! Oh, and your choice of restaurants was GREAT!
Thank you for an amazing two days in Rome! We absolutely loved our time with you, and couldn’t ask for a better, more knowledgeable, or more fun guide. In fact, all other guides suffered by comparison. Thank you again!
The hearty laugh Michele and I had yesterday recalling your helpful hint about who won the battle between Romulus and Remus for control of Rome (“It’s not called Reme”) reminds me to tell you how completely I enjoyed our tour of the Palatine Hill and the Roman houses on the Celian. You are a wonderful guide, as expert as any history professor, but more enthusiastic and engaging, and as an added bonus, funny! It was a memorable several hours, truly a highlight of our trip.
Thank you again for a most wonderful day yesterday! Who knew all those treasures awaited us at Villa Farnesina? It is always so much fun to spend time with you, learning about art, history and architecture. You weave your tours with such interesting stories! Ciao, ciao e un grande abbraccio!
Thank you, Daniella, for the fabulous 5-hour tour of the Vatican Museum, the in-depth discussions, and all your commentary wrapped up with your great sense of humour and enthusiasm. We especially appreciated you prepping us for the Sistine Chapel.
Daniella organized two lovely days for us. The first day was the Campus Martius Tour with a few extra stops, like the Largo Argentina Temples, added on to make a full day. The second day we saw San Clemente and the Baths of Caracalla. We loved that most of the sites we visited are not the normal tourist sites – and it was nice to be away from the crowds. Daniella is so knowledgeable. She keeps you engaged and, even though you are walking a ton and it’s hot, you are having fun. She also makes time for good food stops and of course gelato. Would highly recommend taking a tour with Daniella and wish we had had longer to explore with her.
I have been meaning to write to you and thank you for the absolutely wonderful tour of the Colosseum as well as the Capuchin crypts! Honestly our time spent with you was the highlight of our trip. You have such a wonderful gift for bringing history to life – not an easy task particularly when there’s a 16 year old boy in tow. Christopher said the Colosseum was his favorite part of our trip. When I return to Rome, I would really like to see more of Rome through your eyes.
Thank you so much for our fabulous day at Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este. Chaz and I enjoyed our time with you tremendously. We learned so much and we know that we would not have gotten as much out of both sites without your expertise. We appreciate your fun sense of humor and the “quiz” questions. It’s great that you really encourage your clients to fully participate and think about what they are seeing. We hope to get back to Rome again and look forward to spending another day with you then.
We had another wonderful, eye popping, brain-exploding, experience with you this March. Our time gawking at Marcus Aurelius’ Column right there on via del Corso with you was one of the highlights of our trip. But the aqueduct was so good to see, and the Baths of Caracalla too. You managed to tie our various requests and components in a wonderful tour! Can’t wait for the next time!
I want to thank you for the fabulous service you provided as our guide for a “trip through time” as we visited ancient Rome and the Vatican. Our Italy trip was definitely our best family vacation ever, and you were a large contribution to that. James, Domenic and Alex are still talking about what a fabulous experience it was. We appreciate your efforts in helping make it so special.
I wanted to reach out and thank you for your wonderful tours of both the Vatican and Ancient Rome. Our family has had many discussions about life in Ancient Rome since your tours and all agree that your way of presenting information made for an incredibly comprehensive learning experience. We chuckle at our different “A-ha!” moments, and it would be wonderful if we can return to Rome and enjoy your tutelage again.
Many thanks for making our Rome trip so memorable. We had a fantastic time in your wonderful city, and we thank you so much for the tours of the historic city center and Vatican museums. We all learned so much and loved every minute being with you. Please use us as a reference, especially for families with teens. We hope to see you again soon.
I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for a phenomenal history tour. Every single member of my crew commented on how much they enjoyed your knowledge and energy. I will definitely buy your book! I am so glad I found you!
We are talking about how interesting your tour was and how you made the history so real. Also it was really great that you kept us in the shade so often and also gave us chance to sit. This made the visit so much more pleasant. You did a great job of keeping our group of three generations, including our teenage grandchildren, absorbed and informed. Thanks for the fun, the learning, and the laughter.
Long overdue thank you for the terrific tours you provided for us in Rome. I’d not worked with a guide previously, and honestly could not have anticipated the difference it would make in our experience. We got so much more out of being in Rome than we would have otherwise. We have great memories of all we saw, thanks to you.
We had an amazing time with you, while learning so much about Italy and Rome. Our youngest daughter was especially sad to miss our last tour with you. You’ve made a great impression on both the girls, and I can’t wait to see how it impacts them over the coming years. That’s the exciting thing about a trip like this.
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