Colosseum Afternoon Guided Tour with Upper Levels Rome

The Colosseum, the Flavian Amphitheatre of Rome

The Colosseum was begun around AD 70 under Emperor Vespasian on the site of a drained lake and opened in AD 80 by his son Titus with games that lasted 100 days. Its proper name is the Flavian Amphitheatre, after their dynasty. The oval measures about 189 by 156 m, its outer wall rises 48 m in four storeys of arches and columns, and around 50,000 spectators entered through numbered gateways that are still visible today.

Gladiator fights, animal hunts and public spectacles were staged here for more than four centuries. Earthquakes and stone robbing later took away part of the outer ring, but what remains is the largest amphitheatre ever built. Is the Colosseum worth visiting with a guide? Yes, because the stories of the games, the crowds and the machinery only make sense when someone explains the ruins in front of you.

The Colosseum Upper Levels

The upper levels are the highest public tiers of the Colosseum, opened again to visitors only in recent years and reached by guided groups along steep stairs. In Roman times these top rows were the seats of women, slaves and the poorest citizens, far above the marble seats of senators by the arena. From here the whole ellipse opens below you, with the hypogeum, the maze of tunnels and lifts where animals and fighters waited before appearing on the sand.

Your guide spends about an hour on these levels, pointing out graffiti scratched into the walls centuries ago, the holes for the poles of the giant canvas awning and the views across the Roman Forum, the Arch of Constantine and the Palatine. Colosseum tickets for the upper levels are limited and sold only for set times, which is the main reason to book this tour well in advance.

The Roman Forum and Via dei Fori Imperiali

Before entering the Colosseum, the tour follows Via dei Fori Imperiali, the wide avenue that runs between the Roman Forum and the forums built by the emperors. From the railings you look down on the heart of ancient Rome: the Senate house, the triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus, the columns of the Temple of Saturn and the round Temple of Vesta, where the Vestal Virgins kept the sacred flame burning.

Your guide uses a 15-minute photo stop to explain how markets, law courts and temples turned this valley into the centre of the Roman world. Seeing the Forum from above first makes the later views from the upper levels easier to read. The visit here is from outside; walking inside the Roman Forum is not part of this tour.

The Palatine Hill and the Arch of Constantine

The tour ends at the Palatine Hill, the oldest inhabited part of Rome. Legend places the founding of the city here in 753 BC, and archaeologists have found traces of Iron Age huts on its slopes. Later the emperors built their vast palaces on the hill, and the word palace itself comes from its Latin name, Palatium. From below you see the brick arches of the imperial residences rising above the Forum.

Between the Colosseum and the Palatine stands the Arch of Constantine, raised in AD 315 to celebrate a victory and decorated with reliefs taken from earlier monuments. Your guide points it out on the way out, and the tour finishes in this area around 16:15. It is an easy walk back to the Colosseo metro station, or you can stay to photograph the Colosseum in the late afternoon light.