All roads lead to Rome
Rome was founded in 753 BC by the legendary Romulus. The Roman Empire was created under Augustus in 27 BC. The ancient city was founded on the left bank of the Tiber. In the neighbourhood between the Colosseum and the Pantheon, monuments from antiquity stand side by side those of the Renaissance. An oval amphitheatre built in AD 80, the Colosseum could seat 50,000 and was used for races and gladiator combats. An architectural masterpiece, it has three levels of arcades, with superimposing Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. The Forums are found along the Via dei Fori Imperiali. The largest and oldest, the Foro Romano, served as the political, commercial and religious centre from the time of the Republic to the fifth century BC. Its ruins contain 12 centuries of history. Via Sacra, Curia, bas-reliefs of Trajan, the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Vesta, and the House of the Vestal Virgins are all set near the grandiose Basilica of Maxentius.