Ancient Roman Sites in Italy
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The Roman Forum, Rome Once upon a time, most of the known world was directly affected by decisions made in the Roman Forum. Today, it is a rubble-strewn version of the site's original majesty. Sites of interest include the Arch of Constantine, Arch of Titus, and Capitoline Museum. |
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Palatine Hill, Rome According to legend, the Palatine Hill was the site where Romulus and Remus (the orphaned infant twins who survived in the wild by being suckled by a she-wolf) eventually founded the city. |
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The Colosseum, Rome A massive amphitheater set incongruously amid a maze of modern traffic, the Colosseum was once the setting for gladiator combat, lion-feeding frenzies that sometimes involved Christian martyrs, and public entertainment whose cruelty was a noted characteristic of the Empire. |
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Ostia Antica, near Rome Ostia was the harbor of ancient Rome and perhaps its first colonia. It was settled as early as the 4th century BC and had 50,000 inhabitants by the 2nd century AD. Today, visitors can see ruins of a theater, ancient mosaics, the Temple of Roma, and a marketplace. |
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Herculaneum, Campania Herculaneum, legendarily founded by Hercules, was buried under rivers of volcanic mud in 79 AD after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Seeping into the cracks of virtually every building in town, the scalding mud resulted in some of the best-preserved houses from the ancient world. |
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Pompeii, Campania Pompeii was an opulent resort filled with 25,000 wealthy Romans until Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 70 AD, burying the city under boiling volcanic ash and pumice stone. Beginning around 1750, Charles of Bourbon ordered the systematic excavation of the ruins, and the treasures found there sparked a wave of interest in the classical era throughout northern Europe. |
