Ubisoft's View of Ancient Rome

I wanted to put out a quick blog post this holiday weekend about something that came to mind in the many hours I've spent playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (ACB).

This game focuses its story primarily in Rome, Italy in the year 1499. Side note, past Assassin's Creed games have spanned different cities or regions of ancient cultures and countries. What I've noticed, though, through playing ACB is that as I tour the city, I see where the modern buildings for 1499 are built among the ancient ruins. As an example, there are standing Roman columns, or what is left of them, scattered about the city along with the large moments that still stand in the modern city today in 2010. You can travel out of the cluster of homes of the metropolis area and out in the larger ancient structures or tombs. It's quite fun and interesting.

Having visited Rome a few times in my world travels of the past, I recall hitting the major destinations and observing their condition and relation the rest of the city. Having this in mind and then playing the game I just found it intriguing that people of 1499 would have built their homes around the ancient ruins instead of just fixing the old structures or tearing them down completely. Along with this, the game has what looks like small farms and pastures and vineyards all within the city walls. My world history is about as good as our US schools have provided but I don't recall cities building farms within their walls, I thought they were typically outside such things.

In any case, I thought it was very interesting that Ubisoft built Rome to function and look the way it does in game. Did they consult w/ historians, complete historical research, or did they just take a tour of Rome and build an imaginary civilization based on that? Either way, I find it pretty incredible and, if its accurate, I think a game like this is an excellent way to help students understand how ancient cultures lived. Has anyone else played this game or series and have thoughts?

By the way, I'm REALLY enjoying this game. I had mentioned I was on the fence about it, but the single player has me roped in and is worth the cost alone. The multiplayer is very exciting, and I had issues at first, but now that I've got the gameplay down its great. The online feature would definitely be fun to play w/ a group of friends for sure.