COLOSSEUM
Construction of the Colosseum was started under the emperor Vespavian and was completed by his son Titus in 80 A.D..
Originally named the amphitheatre of Flavio, it became known as the colosseum because of an enormous bronze statue of Nero which in the second century A.D. was placed near by the monument.
The building was used for gladiator fights, hunting simulations involving ferocious and exotic animals and similar entertainments.
The building was constructed with blocks of stone and brickwork.
The outside is composed of four levels , the first three of which are made up of 80 arches while the fourth is divided into sections interspersed with windows.
On this level were placed both stone and wooden supports which held an enormous canopy which served as a roof to protect the spectators from the elements.
The brickwork on the inner building was finished with a marble veneer. The arena itself was a huge wooden floor covered with sand while the subterranean passages consisted of a series of tunnels where the wild beasts and various equipment used during spectacles were held.
Holding up to 73.000 spectators, entrance to the Colosseum was regulated through a ticket system, with each ticket indicating where the holder should go through the internal passages and corridors to find his or her seat.
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PALATINO
According to ancient tradition, it was on this hill that the first settlement of Rome was made by Romulus in the middle of the eighth century B.C. Excavations have revealed huts and tombs from the Iron Age and, recently, an ancient fortification.
The Palatino was also the centre for some important cults as, for example, that of Magna Mater (Cibele).
Between the second and first centuries B.C. it became a residential quarter for the Roman aristocracy.
In this period the House of Grifi, famous for its pictures, was built.
The Emperor Augustus made the Palatino his official power-centre and initiated a building programme which saw the construction of imperial palaces, and various restructuring and enlargement of existing buildings built by pervious emperors.
The museum is located in Caesar’s Palace where, among the monuments collected from the hill site, various artefacts of Iron Age tombs and works of art from imperial buildings are exhibited.
The most stunning of these works of art are the decorative pictures in the lecture room of Isiaca.
Rome, Via di San Gregorio 30 or Piazza Santa Maria Nova 53
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