The Eternal City, Rome is eternally beguiling. We’ve got Rome on the radar this week because history-lovers are now able to visit the dungeons of the Colosseum for the first time and access one of the highest tiers of seating for the first time in four decades.
It was down in the dungeons that the shows and games were organised. As 50,000 spectators waited excitedly above ground, the gladiators and the starving wild animals they may have been “fighting” (the bears, lions, tigers and boars, occasionally a crocodile) paced and prowled anxiously, hearing the cheers and catching the scent of blood, sweat and dung.
Visitors will also be able to see the remains of the sewerage system, which powered the drinking fountains for the 50,000 or so spectators and, in the early years before the Romans discovered that it was bad for the foundations, enabled the amphitheatre to be flooded for mock naval battles.
This part of the Colosseum will be open to groups of 25 visitors at a time.
The third-highest of the four tiers of seating was where foreigners, freed slaves and poor citizens watched the action.
The best way to visit the Colosseum is to pick up a Roma Pass. It costs €25 (about
