Colosseum
The great amphitheatre of ancient Rome, opened in AD 80 for gladiator fights before some 50,000 people.
The Flavian emperors built the Colosseum on the site of Nero’s private lake, and Titus opened it in AD 80 with a hundred days of games. Its stone shell rose in four storeys of arches, and an awning on masts could shade the crowd. Under the arena floor a maze of passages and lifts brought animals and fighters up into the light.
After the games ended it became a quarry, a fortress and even housing, which is why only part of the outer ring still stands. It sits at the edge of the game’s map, at the end of the Via dei Fori Imperiali.
More in Rome
PantheonA temple to all the gods rebuilt under Hadrian, with the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
Trevi FountainRome’s grandest fountain, where a coin thrown over your shoulder means you will come back.
Piazza NavonaA long Baroque square on the outline of Domitian’s stadium, with Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers.
Roman ForumThe heart of ancient Rome: temples, basilicas and the Senate house, in a valley between the hills.
VittorianoThe huge white marble monument to Victor Emmanuel II on Piazza Venezia, nicknamed the typewriter.
Campo de’ FioriA lively square with a morning market and, in the middle, the hooded statue of Giordano Bruno.
Column of Marcus AureliusA marble column carved with the emperor’s wars along the Danube, standing on Piazza Colonna since the 2nd century.
Largo di Torre ArgentinaFour temples of the Republic sunk below the street, beside the spot where Julius Caesar was murdered.
VespaThe scooter that put post-war Italy on two wheels and rode through Roman Holiday.
NasoniThe little cast-iron drinking fountains on Rome’s street corners, running with fresh water all day.
SampietriniThe small black cobblestones of basalt that pave the streets of old Rome.
CarbonaraPasta with egg, guanciale, pecorino and black pepper: Rome’s own dish, with never a drop of cream.