Some time ago, I visited the Colosseum in Rome (Italy) and I picked up some tips and tricks on how to skip the line and visit it for free. Besides, I was very disappointed about the quality of the €5,50 audioguide. To save yourself some money, I've compiled a complete guide that you can read while you walk across the ruins.
This blog post will guide you step by step to visit the Colosseum: the amphitheater that passed through history for its magnificent and myth.
SKIP THE LINE AND ENTER FOR FREE
How to reach the Colosseum
The fastest way to reach the Colosseum (or Flavian Amphitheater) is to take the subway line B and get off at the stop “Colosseo”. You will find the monument right in front of the metro station.
Nevertheless, if you are not in a rush, you should avoid taking public transportation and explore Rome on foot. Rome is a city which must be lived and, above all if you are a tourist from abroad, you should take this chance to walk around and not miss the many beauties hidden everywhere.
How to skip the main line and enter for free
At this point, you should have your shoulder to the metro station. If you go straight to the Colosseum, you will find two entrances: one for groups and the other for normal visitors. Of course, groups don’t have any queue, but you have to pay dearly for this advantage.
Normal visitors usually experience one to two hours of wait time, depending on the day of the week you decide to come. Sometimes, it also happens that the line stops, because the Amphitheater reaches the maximum number of visitors, which is 3.000.
You can skip the line with these two tricks:
You can reserve your tickets by buying them online at CoopCulture or buying the card RomaPass;
You can also skip the main line by getting tickets in the stands behind the Colosseum, next to Fori Imperiali. So, if you exit the metro station and turn right: you will find the stands on the right, before crossing to Via Sacra. Get your tickets from there and then, you go to the entrance for visitors. This time, you will stand in a special line that is faster, because you will only have to pass the security check without passing by the ticket office.
When can I enter the Colosseum for free? Here is the juicy answer: Roman museums are open for free every first Sunday of the month. Oppositely, Vatican museums are free on the last Sunday of the month.
Some warnings
As you may know, Rome is full of crooks, so avoid buying tickets or other solutions from the many “vendors” who buzz around the queue. Buy tickets and services from the official or qualified institutions.
Pay attention to pickpockets, there are many and are always looking for wallets.
Why you can save money and don’t buy the audioguide
Once you are inside the Colosseum, you can decide to walk around on your own or use one of the official audioguides which, essentially, is a locked smartphone with content you can listen to by placing the phone to your ear, like when you are making a phone call.
The audioguide lasts less than 50 minutes (if you also listen to the bonus content) and it costs €5,50.
My opinion is that it’s not worth the price. Actually, I would have expected much more information and curiosities about life within the Colosseum, but it mainly focused on the architectural aspects of the Amphitheater.
On the smartphone, you have a map of the Colosseum with specific checkpoints linked with the audioguide. You have to identify these spots around the ruins before listening to each explanation. In my opinion, the audio tour is not well flagged and you might mistake the spots with the other labels written around the path.
In this blog post, I’ve gathered the information you can find in the audioguide and much more, so you can read it while you walk around and save money.
MY GUIDE TO VISIT THE COLOSSEUM
Introducing the Flavian Amphitheater
You should have passed the security check and ticket office. Walk forward for a few meters and head to the stairway on the right. Now, you are in the middle corridor between two orders of bleachers. From here, you can see the whole arena: take some pictures and watch the architecture while you read the following article.
The Colosseum is the biggest amphitheater in the world and could host from 50.000 to 75.000 viewers. There are many discordant opinions about this number, but it still represents a huge amount, considering the building was inaugurated in 80 a.c by the emperor Titus (Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus).
If you think about the size and brilliant architectural design of this building, you will be astonished to discover that its construction work lasted for only 8 years. Actually, it was started in 72 a.c. by the Flavian dynasty, in particular, by the emperor Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus). That’s why its original and correct name is Flavian Amphitheater.
Among the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills
The Colosseum lies in a wide valley upon the so called stagnum, an artificial lake that the tyrant Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) dug for his Domus Aurea (from Latin: gold house).
In 64 a.c., a huge fire, which lasted for almost 7 days, destroyed most of Rome's city center. Nero, who seemed to have a role in setting the fire, exploited the devastation and dispossessed Roman people of an area of 80 hectares. On this land, he started to build his huge palace: the Domus Aurea.
Afterwards, the emperor Vespasian decided to give back to Roman people those dispossessed lands and built the first stable amphitheater in Rome.
How the public could access the building
Every Roman citizen had a personal card, on which there was specified his exact seat in the arena. An entrance number was also written on the card. In fact, you can still see a progressive Roman numeration upon each of the 80 arches along the elliptic perimeter.
Now, if you walk to the left along the corridor, you will reach one of the four main axes of the Amphitheater. You will understand where to stop, because if you look down, to the right of the arena, you will see a metal cross.
At this position, you can admire the architecture of the dungeons and cavea (from Latin: enclosure): the seating sections of Roman theaters and amphitheaters.
If you look around, you are still able to see the vomitoria, which are passages situated below a tier of seats, through which big crowds could exit or rapidly enter during a performance.
Authorities and emperors used to enter from private gates located along the smaller axis. Gates along the longer axis were probably reserved for actors and characters of the performances.
The so called maeniana for different public categories
The structure is made up by 5 vertical levels, divided with walls, for each social class. Senators were seated in the first level that was characterized by wide flat steps, where they positioned their wooden armchairs (in Latin: subsellia). On the balustrade, the senators’ names were written to indicate their personal seats.
If you look to the right, you can see this area addressed to the senators, because of newer marble steps made during a renovation. Nevertheless, this work was wrong, because they made the steps too narrow. I am asking why they didn’t correct the mistake in the years that followed.
The second order of steps is made out of marble and was reserved to knights. Going up, seats were designated to lower social classes until the colonnade, which was for women who couldn’t stay with the rest of audience.
The last level was made of wood and reserved for plebs (maenianum summum in ligneis).
On the last level, you can still see part of some shelves, which could sustain the beams necessary to hold the so called velarium: a series of wide veils which covered the steps from the sun and rain. The velarium was maneuvered by specialized sailors, particularly those who belonged to the Roman fleet based in Miseno (Classis Misenensis).
The long looting until pope Benedict XIV
I always asked myself why the Colosseum was in ruin and I discovered the building was completely abandoned in the 6th century. All the useful pieces were removed to build other buildings, like the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, Barberini Palace and Porto di Ripetta (a port in Rome). Scavengers and earthquakes did the rest. It’s estimated that only one third of the Colosseum got through to us.
To hold the last visible part of the most external and highest wall, the first renovation started in 806 and involved the construction of two buttresses to support the structure.
Finally, during the jubilee of 1675, the Colosseum became a sacred area in memory of the many Christians condemned and tortured there. In 1744, pope Benedict XIV built 14 niches of the Stations of the Cross. In 1749, he consecrated the Colosseum as a church in honor of Christ and Christian martyrs.
The metal cross you can see down in the arena is the rest of this historical period.
Bonus knowledge: the myth of sacrificial rites
Due to gladiator battles, the Colosseum gained such sinister fame that it was considered one of the 7 doors of Hades. It’s said that it was used for sacrificial rites using the same blood of people killed in the arena.
During the time of abandonment, bandits used the building to bury their victims. Instead, in 500, the Colosseum was a goal of wizards and sorcerers who appreciated the herbs “infused with magical powers” grown around the ruins. Actually, the Colosseum was like a jungle and counted more than 350 species of plants which grew spontaneously in the remains. Some of them had exotic origins and botanists thought the Colosseum microclimate fostered their growth.
THE GAMES, ARENA AND DUNGEONS
How the games were organized
There were specific regulations about how the games should have been organized and managed. Actually, there was a host who funded the games and a sponsor who promoted them. Every senator had to fund the games alternately and the main sponsor was usually the emperor.
Games were announced in advance with the name of the sponsor and the reason why he had organized them. Also, the number of gladiators was disclosed and the eventual presence of the velarium.
Wild beasts and battleships
Surprisingly, the main performances weren’t gladiator battles, but hunts. In fact, during the morning, there were hunts with wild beasts that came from all over the world. They were bred in the gardens of the royal palace or imported from abroad.
Beasts were brought inside the arena through lifts located around the arena field, and heavier beasts were introduced through the main gates on the axes.
Dead beasts were escorted outside the Colosseum by the so called bestiarii: those who went into combat with them. They also received the beasts’ meat, leather and bones.
Ancient books described these hunts as amazing: the personnel of the arena were able to quickly recreate a natural flora with plants and trees, and change the environment scene by scene.
The arena could also be filled with water to perform naval battles (in Latin: naumachie). It used an advanced pump and waterwork system that took water from the same spring which Nero used to make his stagnum.
Nevertheless, it seemed that these kinds of performances weren’t so popular and, after the death of Vespasian, his son, the emperor Domitian (Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus), built the Colosseum’s dungeons. Since this work was done, it had been impossible to perform naumachie again.
Gladiator games
Gladiator battles happened during the afternoon. Gladiators could be slaves, people condemned to death or free people who wanted to conquer fame and riches. The average lifespan of a gladiator was 30 years, but it wasn’t so different from the lifespan of a civilian.
They were usually recognized by their weapons, which were considered as hallmarks. Furthermore, slaves could be freed after a certain amount of battles: they received a wooden sword, called rudis. In a similar way, free people could retire after some years of battles as well.
Gladiators entered with their charts from the North-West gate, called Triumphalis door, covered by purple and gold. During this pre-game parade (in Latin: pompa), the host of the games was in attendance, as well as lictors, musicians, awards for winners, and presentation of weapons.
Gladiators reached the imperial podium, raised their right arm and said the famous words: «Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant» (from Latin: «Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you»).
Sometimes, battles had comic traits, such as dwarfs, cripples or women who fought with wooden weapons. Afterwards, a tuba announced the beginning of the real battles and gladiators entered the arena with their sponsors/owners, who whipped them when they were exhausted or bored, in order to give to the audience an extra amount of amusement.
At the end of a fight, the emperor chose whether a defeated gladiator could live or not and he usually indulged in the audience's will.
Dead gladiators were brought outside through the South-East door, called Libitinensis. They were escorted by servants masked by Charon (the ferryman of Hades) to the spoliarum: a kind of old morgue.
Afterwards, dead gladiators’ items were sold in a special market. It was believed that their blood could give strength and courage, moreover a piece of their clothes could be a remedy against the evil eye and their spearheads were used to let down a bride’s hair to promote a bountiful marriage.
The arena was covered by yellow sand of Monte Mario (Mario Mount) which was used to absorb blood and was re-arranged after each fight.
THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE AND COLOSSUS OF NERO
The terrace to the Colosseum square
If you continue your walk along the lifted corridor, you will reach a bookstore on your left, so turn left and go towards the terrace over there.
This is a good spot to snap more pictures and admire the wonderful view of the Colosseum square.
You are facing an archaeological site where you can only see the foundation of a few temples, the Colossus of Nero and a circular fountain called, Meta Sudans (from Latin: sweating turning post). Fortunately, the amazing Arch of Constantine has remained relatively intact and untouched.
Why the Colosseum is called colosseumFinally, we have arrived to a juicy part where I can explain to you the origin of the Colosseum’s name.
The Colossus of Nero, mentioned before, was a high bronze statue (up to 33,5 meters) built by the tyrant Nero for his Domus Aurea. After a fire, which gravely damaged the Domus Aurea, the emperor Vespasian decided to restore the statue and move it from the Domus Aurea’s vestibule to the Colosseum square. For this operation, Vespasian used 24 elephants and converted the statue of Nero to a statue of the Sun God.
This huge statue, located next to the Colosseum, was called Colossus, which gave birth to the name colosseum.
The Arch of Constantine
This amazing piece is a triumphal arch erected by the Roman senate to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312.
Inaugurated in 315, you can see on the highest frieze, the conquest of a Dacian village by the Roman cavalry and infantry that pushed prisoners.
If you look down, there is a singular inscription which caused huge debate among historians. The phrase «instinctu divinitatis» (from Latin: inspired by the divine) involved many theories about Constantine’s position on the religion of Christianity. Eusebius of Caesarea (a historian of Christianity, exegete and Christian polemicist) attributed the appearance of the Cross to Constantine before the battle against Maxentius.
It’s probable that this allusion was made purposely unclear: in that time, the emperor hadn’t yet taken a strong position in favor of Christianity.
The fountain of gladiators: Meta Sudans
This fountain was called meta, because its shape recalled the spot of a Roman circus (from Latin: circle) where horses had to turn during competitions. Instead, the word sudans refers to the water which flowed down from the holes on the edge of the cone structure. So, it appeared to look like the fountain was sweating.
The legend lends to the idea that gladiators used to wash themselves in this fountain after their fights.
END OF THE PATH AND EXIT
Floor zero
Next to the terrace, there is a stairway which brings you to the arena. Here, you can walk among corridors and touch with your hands some marble remains of columns, statues and friezes.
You can also step up by a balustrade to clearly watch the arena: it is a great spot to take pictures like a real gladiator!
At this point, I suggest you look around as much as you can before exiting. There are interesting labels where you can read supplementary tidbits about ruins, statues and more.
WHAT DO YOU THINK
Now that you have visited the Colosseum with my instructions, tell me whether you have found them useful or whether I should add more content. I can’t wait to hear from you.
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