Colosseum Underground, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum – Small group tour

See something that Julius Caesar, Augustus and Nero never saw, the largest Roman Amphitheater ever built, and the only one dedicated to the people of Rome – the Colosseum. Built in only ten years thanks to a simple trick, the Colosseum was the dream of Emperor Vespasian. The trick was something engineers repeated endlessly and something they could create perfectly - an arch. Yes, the Colosseum is a series of arches and was so well done that we can still see it today, almost 2000 years after its construction. We start our tour behind locked gates; this area can only be visited with a guide. Once inside, you will descend into the underground area known as the Hypogeum, a warren of secret passages once under the stage. It was the place where, in darkness, the gladiators and animals prepared themselves for what was to come. This is a great place to visit, and during this tour you will see reconstructions of the mechanisms used to send the wild animals up onto the stage. It really makes your imagination come alive. Continue inside the most famous “Arena of Death” in the world. Be impressed when you learn that during the celebrations of Trajan’s victory over the Dacians the Colosseum remained in use for 120 days, and during that time 11,000 wild beasts and 10,000 gladiators were killed. Find out about the ‘scripts’ the showmen used, from simple ones like beast vs. gladiator fighting, or death by fire, to spectacular scenes following a mythological story (the flight of Icarus, myth of Prometheus, legend of Minotaur). The Romans also did something that nobody else had ever done before – they performed an execution during a show. You may already be familiar with the Colosseum, but during this tour, you will come to know even more about the terrifying history of this splendid amphitheater.

Discover the official seat of the spirit of Rome, the Roman Forum and the Imperial Forums. Originally a marshy and insalubrious area used to bury the dead of the first inhabitants of the city, nobody could ever have imagined that two centuries later the center of political, religious and business life would all be here. This area became the Roman Forum. At the end of the Republican era the Roman Forum was insufficient to administer the whole Empire, so Julius Cesar built another one. That however, was just the beginning. In less than 150 years, another five Imperial Forums were built adjacent to the oldest one. Almost intact at the end of the medieval period, the forums were stripped and demolished in a matter of days during the 16th century on the orders of Julius II. Thousands of people protested, amongst them Michelangelo and Rafael, but it made no difference. What you can see today are just the ruins, but using your imagination and helped by our guide, you can still take a captivating walk amidst what was once the heart of the Roman Empire.