From Foundation to Empire: Rome's Ancient Walk

Colosseum

The largest amphitheatre ever built, opened in 80 AD with one hundred days of games. Its outer wall once stood four stories high and could seat fifty thousand spectators.

You are standing in front of the Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre ever built. Construction started under Vespasian around 72 AD and finished in 80 AD under his son Titus. The site was a deliberate choice: Nero had taken this valley for his private lake, part of his vast Golden House. Vespasian drained it and gave the land back to the people.

The outer wall once rose four stories high, faced in travertine stone. Eighty arched entrances funnelled as many as fifty thousand spectators to their seats, arranged by social rank. The name Colosseum came later, from a colossal bronze statue of Nero that stood nearby. Look at the arena floor.

Most of the wooden surface is gone, exposing the hypogeum underneath: a two-level maze of tunnels, cages, and lifts where animals and gladiators waited. During the inaugural games, which lasted one hundred days, over nine thousand animals were killed. The Colosseum saw four centuries of use before falling silent. For centuries afterward it was a quarry, its stone carted off to build Saint Peter's and the Palazzo Venezia.

The missing southern side collapsed in an earthquake in 1349. When you are ready, turn toward the large arch just to the west. That is the Arch of Constantine.

Arch of Constantine

The largest and last triumphal arch in Rome, dedicated in 315 AD. Its sculpture was taken from earlier monuments and its inscription is famously vague about which divinity inspired Constantine's victory.

You are standing before the Arch of Constantine, the largest and last triumphal arch in Rome. The Senate dedicated it in 315 AD to celebrate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. The inscription above the central arch credits Constantine's success to instinctu divinitatis: the inspiration of a divinity. The wording is deliberately vague, acceptable to pagans and Christians alike at a moment when Constantine was navigating between both worlds.

What makes this arch different is its decoration. Much of the sculpture was taken from earlier monuments: roundels from Hadrian's time, panels from Marcus Aurelius, and Dacian prisoners from Trajan's Forum. Some heads were recut to look like Constantine. Whether this was a tribute to the great emperors of the past or a sign of a hurried construction schedule, nobody knows for sure.

When you are done, walk up the Via Sacra toward the Forum. The single-opening arch you see ahead is the Arch of Titus.

Arch of Titus

The oldest surviving triumphal arch in Rome, built around 81 AD. Its inner panels show Roman soldiers carrying spoils from the Temple in Jerusalem, including the seven-branched menorah.

You are at the Arch of Titus, the oldest surviving triumphal arch in Rome. Domitian built it around 81 AD for his brother Titus, who had died shortly before. The arch commemorates the Roman victory in the Jewish War and the sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Step inside and look up at the coffered ceiling.

At the centre is a relief of Titus being carried to the heavens by an eagle: his apotheosis, the declaration that he had become a god. On the south panel inside the archway, Roman soldiers carry spoils from the Temple in Jerusalem. You can see the seven-branched menorah, the silver trumpets, and the table of showbread, carved in deep relief. Until 2012, nobody knew these carvings were once painted; a restoration project found traces of yellow ochre on the menorah.

The arch stood on the highest point of the Via Sacra, where triumphal processions entered the Forum. In the Middle Ages the Frangipane family incorporated it into their fortress. When you are ready, continue west along the Via Sacra into the heart of the Forum. Keep walking until you reach the eight granite columns at the far end.

That is the Temple of Saturn.