Colosseum

Here the imperial passion for bloody spectacle reached its peak of excess. When Emperor Titus inaugurated the amphitheatre in AD 80, he declared 100 days of celebratory games, some involving the massacre of 5,000 wild beasts. All such slaughter-as-sport was legal until AD 523 (see Colosseum).

Trajan’s Markets

The emperor and his visionary architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, built this attractive, very modern looking shopping and office mall in the early 2nd century AD. There were 150 spaces in all, the top floor utilized by welfare offices, the lower levels by shops of all kinds.

Nero’s Golden House (Domus Aurea)

This mad emperor’s self-indulgence resulted in the largest, most sumptuous palace Rome ever saw, yet it was meant only for amusement. In its heyday it covered several acres and boasted every luxury, including its own forest (see Nero’s Golden House).

Trajan’s Forum and Column

Trajan’s Forum was so splendid that it left all who beheld it awed by its nobility. Now cut off by modern streets, all that stands out is the magnificent column, commemorating in fine graphic detail the emperor’s victories in what is now Romania. Access to part of it is through Trajan’s Market.

Arch of Constantine

This arch marks the victory of the first Christian emperor over his rival emperor Maxentius (see Battle at Milvian Bridge). Yet it is mostly a pastiche of pagan elements taken from several earlier monuments – the beautiful hunt-scene roundels come from a temple dedicated to Emperor Hadrian’s male lover, Antinous.

Mamertine Prison

Legend holds that St Peter was imprisoned here. Prisoners were originally dropped down through a hole in the floor and the only exit was death.

House of the Knights of Rhodes

This 12th-century priory was owned by the crusading order of the Knights of Rhodes. Inside are the original portico, three shops and the Chapel of St John.

Forum of Nerva

If Pope Paul V hadn’t stripped it to build the Acqua Paola fountain in the 17th century, the main attraction here would have been the Temple of Minerva. Two Corinthian columns remain, and a frieze above, depicting the myth of Arachne.

Forum of Julius Caesar

The first of Rome’s Imperial Forums. Caesar’s line, the Julians, traced their ancestry back to Venus herself, so he erected the Temple of Venus Genetrix (46 BC) and placed there statues of himself and Cleopatra, his great love.

Forum of Augustus

Julius Caesar’s successor (see Assassination of Caesar) made the focus of his forum the Temple of Mars the Avenger, identified by the broad staircase and four Corinthian columns.