The Temple of Roma and Venus was designed and commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian.  Building started in the year 121 and this, the largest of Rome’s Temples, was inaugurated in the year 135. The building served two cults with a huge seated statue for each: one side was dedicated to the goddess Roma and the other to the goddess Venus.  The goddesses sat back-to-back on thrones in the middle of the temple facing outwards on the long axis of the main building.  Here Venus was also used to...

The Arch of Titus - This monument celebrates processional triumph given to Titus following his successful campaign in Judaea.  Titus commanded the Roman army during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. This was the culmination of a four-year campaign in Judaea which had been triggered by the Jewish uprising in the year 66. The end of the campaign came with the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple of which little now remains but a short section of...

You’re listening to an Audio Guide to Ancient Rome.  My name is Daron Green. This intro and the next 15 podcast episodes are all relatively short – typically 5-10 minutes long with each focused on a specific building or area in the Roman Forum – note that there is an interactive google map available on rome-podcast.com to help navigate you around these episodes and the other locations I cover outside of the Forum. You don’t have to visit these in numerical order indeed, part of the...

The Baths of Caracalla occupy a truly huge site to the south of the city.   This particular construction was likely originally commissioned by Septimius Severus; but inaugurated in the year 216 during his son Caracalla’s reign. The opening of the baths came at a time when Caracalla had serious need of a positive public relations message given he'd recently murdered his brother, Geta, and thousands of Geta's friends in Rome. In use for roughly 300 years, the baths fell into disrepair around...

It’s difficult to imagine it now, but the Piazza Navona we see today sits on the footprint of what was a major sporting stadium that accommodated roughly 30,000 spectators.  Known it its day as the Circus Agonalis it was commissioned by Emperor Domitian and opened in the year 86. This tour, which starts at the south end of the piazza, gives the history of the site as well as context and explanation of the 16th and 17th century fountains.

The arch was erected by the Roman Senate to commemorate emperor Constantine's victory over emperor Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge which had taken place on October 28 in the year 312.  This tour gives the context for the rich details shown on the arch and explores the deeper history of why two Emperors ended-up waging war on each-other.

The Ludus Magnus is located immediately east of the Colosseum. Translated as the ‘big training ground’ this was the largest and most prestigious gladiatorial school and barracks in ancient Rome.  It is one of four centers where gladiators from across the Roman Empire would live, eat, and practice while preparing for their participation in fights.  This tour explains the layout of the site and an explanation of the life and death of a gladiator. Photo by Tyler Bell, Flickr, Attribution 2.0...

The Capitoline Hill is the ancient heart of Rome and the setting for the foundation of the entire Roman empire.  This tour explores the origins of the hill and its relationship to the Roman forum.  We will also visit one of the last places to see an original ancient Roman apartments building (Insula).

The Ara Pacis is a sacrificial altar commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BCE to honor the triumphal return of emperor Augustus from his campaigns in Hispania and Gaul. This tour assumes you are visiting the Museum of the Ara Pacis and goes into detail of the design and purpose.

The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater built during the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering in ancient Rome.  This magnificent building was paid for largely by the 50,000kg of gold and silver taken during the sacking of Jerusalem. Construction was started by Vespasian in the year 70 and completed by his son, Titus (https://www.jeffbondono.com/TouristInRome/EmperorTitus.html) , 10 years later. Vespasian's younger son, Domitian then made...

The Pantheon is the best-preserved Roman building in the world.  It was originally built between 27 and 25 BCE by Augustus' right-hand man Marcus Vispanius Agrippa, supposedly as a temple dedicated to all the gods of Rome. This description and tour starts in the Piazza della Rotonda (the open square just north of the Pantheon).

Each episode in this series gives you the history and a short tour of a site in the eternal city in the hope that you can make the most of your visit. I was motivated to create this series after many great trips to Rome. That said, each time I visited I realized I spent half of my time with my head buried in various guide books reading out the history to others. Fun though this was, I also wanted to be able to just look at the sights and have someone else narrate the context. I would often...