Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine - Colosseum - Rome
Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine: € 9.99 per person.
Embark on a unique journey to the Colosseum with an engaging audio tour on your smartphone! Download the self-guided audio tour and travel back in time to experience the glory of ancient Rome.
By listening to a collection of exciting stories created by a historian of Rome you will relive the exploits of the gladiators.
Explore the Roman Forum and feel the power of ancient Rome come to life around you with an immersive audio tour on your smartphone.
From the ruins of the Basilica Emilia to the Temple of Vesta the site is rich in reminders of ancient Roman monuments. Walk the Via Sacra and follow in the footsteps of the ancient Romans. Imagine the triumphal processions returning from the battles and conquests in the Provinces of Rome.
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Rate Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine
Price per person: € 9.99.
What does the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine self-guided audio tour include
– Self-guided audio tour for your smartphone (Android and iOS) in English.
– Offline content (text, audio narration and maps).
– Colosseum and Roman Forum tickets not included.
Meeting point Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine
– The self-guided audio tour is designed to start at the main entrance gate of the Colosseum.
Duration of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine self-guided audio tours
– flexible.
Languages Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine
– English, Italian.
Cancellation Policy Self-guided audio tour Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine
Receive a 100% refund by canceling your reservation up to 24 hours before the start of the activity.
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The history of the Colosseum
The Colosseum is a monument of ancient Rome located on the slopes
of the Colle Oppio in front of the entrance to the Forum area.
Not many people know the origins of the nickname of the Flavian Amphitheatre wanted by the Emperor Vespasian after his election. Here
in fact already before the Colosseum there stood a colossal bronze statue depicting the Emperor Nero whose palace, the Domus Aurea, extended
for many hectares all around.
The construction, begun by Vespasian in 70 AD, was concluded by Titus, who inaugurated it on 21 April 80 AD Titus, the emperor
"good" for Dante, he was the son of Vespasian, the same one he suppressed
the revolution of the Jews in Palestine killing more of six hundred
people and setting fire to the famous Temple of Solomon.
The construction, as attested by an inscription, was carried out with the spoils of the sacking of the temple of Jerusalem (70 AD).
«I[MP(ERATOR)] CAES(AR) VESPASI[ANUS AUG(USTUS)] AMPHITEATRU[M NOVUM] [EX] MANUBI(I)S [FIERI IUSSIT]»
«Emperor Caesar Vespasian Augustus had the new amphitheater built with the proceeds of the loot.»
Until that moment
the equestrian competitions took place at the Circus Maximus and were simple competitions on
an elliptical circuit. The emotion of the crowd must certainly have been enormous
upon discovering that the arena was collapsing and becoming a ready-made artificial lake to host naval battles or to emerge to host fights between bulls (a
Etruscan tradition) and other wild animals.
During the inauguration more than one person died. of ten thousand prisoners and five thousand animals brought
from Africa for the occasion. A true massacre in the eyes of modern people
but strongly desired by the population, politicians, nobles and philosophers
of imperial Rome. In short, almost no one opposed the massacres every time
an emperor or a nobleman used this scenario to celebrate
a triumph or even just his house.
But in ancient Rome there were exceptions in this regard: for Cicero the killing of animals did not cause pleasure and for Marcus Terenzio Varro it even repelled him the thing. But these intellectuals lived in the1st century. BCbefore the games became a daily practice and an instrument of power for emperors and consuls , as summarized very well by the poet Juvenal in the following century.
«[...] [populus] two days of res anxius optat panem et circenses»
«[...] [the people] anxiously desire only two things, bread and circus games»
The inauguration lasted 100 days but shortly after Trajan was able to do better by organizing 123 days of fighting to celebrate the victory over the Dacians.
Nerva and Trajan intervened on the building as attested by some inscriptions but the first major restoration intervention was carried out by Antonino Pio.
In 217 a lightning caused a fire which caused the upper structures to collapse and the Colosseum remained closed from 217 to 222. The restoration work was begun under Elagabalus (218-222) and completed by Alexander Severus who rebuilt the colonnade on the summa cavea. The building was inaugurated in 222 but the works were completed only under Gordian III. Another bolt of lightning brought Emperor Decius ordered restoration work in 250.
In addition to the fights between gladiators, the Colosseum was able to host hunting shows, naval battles, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas based on classical mythology.
The fact that the Colosseum was also the site of the martyrdom of the first Christians was much debated by historians and often considered false news. But in recent years new studies have confirmed that thousands of Christians died here during the persecutions of the 3rd century AD. The sentences were carried out by crucifixion or with the damnatio ad bestias which was often reserved even for low-ranking criminals or to the slaves who had revolted against their masters. Among the beasts used there were lions, tigers, bears and wolves.
In 248 AD the thousandth anniversary of the birth of
Rome. Only conversion to the Christian religion - in those centuries not
still harmful to heredity cultural culture of Rome - was able to stop
the fights between gladiators in 404 AD and more; late among animals
(523).
Some earthquakes led to a restoration being carried out in 470 by the Consul Messius Phoebus Severus; in 484 the praefectus urbi Decius Marius Venantius Basilius oversaw the restoration at his own expense, venationes (animal killings) were finally prohibited by Emperor Theodoric (523), leading to the total abandonment of the Colosseum.
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