Hi, welcome to Grand Tour. Today we're in Rome. We are going to visit the Roman Forum behind me and after that the Colosseum that is over there. Today I'm not alone. There's a special person with me, Silvia.

She's a PhD in ancient history and she will be my guide during all the day. Are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. Let's go. Okay, I have a lot of questions for you.

I'm sure, but I'm ready. I'm ready to reply to all the questions and there are no dumb questions. Never. Maybe dumb replies, so go ahead. Okay, let's go.

We visited the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, two of the most important archaeological sites not only in Rome but in the world. We explored them in depth together with Silvia, our guide, PhD in ancient history and a collaborator at Grand Tour. It was a full day with a lot of great moments and we really enjoyed it. So which kind of music you can find in Italy in Via dei or Imperiali. Okay guys, this is not an Italian guy although he doesn't know Italian very well, but we appreciate the effort.

Silvia showed us things you wouldn't normally notice and helped us understand these places in a way you just don't when you are on your own. These are places full of meaning. Places where a lot has happened over the centuries. And with someone like Silvia who has spent years studying all this it really makes a difference. At the end of the video we'll talk about how these places are usually visited and why most people only see a small part of them.

It's a bit of missed opportunity but we'll come back to that later. For now relax and let's begin. The Imperial Forums and the Colosseum are both located along Via dei Fori Imperiali, right in the heart of Rome. With a standard ticket you can visit the Imperial Forums, the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum. What you can see inside the Colosseum depends on your ticket.

Some include the arena floor, others the upper levels and some even the underground. One thing to keep in mind is the timing. Your Colosseum entry is at a set time, so be on time and make sure the names on your tickets are correct. The Forums and the Palatine, on the other hand, are much more flexible. You can visit them anytime within 24 hours before or after your Colosseum slot.

There are several entrances but we choose the one along Via dei Fori Imperiali as it's generally less crowded. There's a line but it doesn't take long. Then it's just a short walk down with a great view from above and we are in it. Right in front of me is one of the most important areas of ancient world: the Imperial Forums. This wasn't just a group of ruins.

This was the political, economic and symbolic heart of the Roman Empire. Over time different emperors like Julius Caesar, Augustus and Trajan built their own forums next to each other expanding the center of the city. Each one was designed to celebrate power, order and the idea of Rome as the center of the world. What you see today is a complex of open squares, temples, basilicas and public spaces. Places where people met, discussed, traded and where decisions that shaped history were made.

Walking through this area means stepping into a space that was designed not just to function but to impress, to communicate strength and to leave a mark. And understanding this is the first step to really seeing what's in front of you. Keep in mind this is a very large area, about the size of 20 football fields, so comfortable shoes are a must. There are points of interest everywhere, in every direction. In fact, as soon as we step inside we stop almost immediately.

We are at the very beginning of the Roman forum near Via dei Fori Imperiali and we have something really interesting here, right Silvia? Yes, even at the very beginning we have to stop because at our back there is one of the most, the clearest and the easiest example of historical recycling. So, what happened here? Behind us there is the temple of the Divus, so of the great emperor Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. Now, they had their temple here but after the fall of the Roman Empire of the west and the beginning of the middle age, here the people of Rome built inside the temple a church dedicated to San Lorenzo in Miranda.

Now, that church was on a higher level than the one of the the temple of the emperor and his wife. As you can see right, let me, let me, okay, right here there's the entrance of the medieval church. As you see, we cannot enter there, we would need a ramp to go there and there's nothing there. That's because in the middle age the ground was on a higher level than than in the Roman time when it was here. Now, there's something that nobody knows and it's those lines that you have right here, yes, at the top of the of the columns we have some lines, okay, cutting the columns and that's because in the middle age before to build the christian church the people tried to pull down all these columns.

And why? They did because they wanted to start from fresh, they wanted to get rid of the columns but they didn't make it because the ground was on a higher level and so about one-fourth of the whole column was into the ground. It was buried in the ground so it was very very strong and it was impossible. They really tried to pull them down and we still see the signs of this of this effort but they didn't make it. So what they did, they just built inside the temple the christian church.

So more recycling than this I think we cannot see here at least close by but this is also the key for preservation. The ABC of archaeology is to use. Don't be afraid to use something, use it. You won't consume it. You can also use it for other purposes.

Before that was a temple of the emperor and then the church of San Lorenzo, that's fine. We as historians and archaeologists, we don't really care about this. The important is to use. Abandonment is the condemnation to death of a monument. Yeah, okay, let's go.

Before I even have time to process what Silvia just explained, we are already at another key spot. This one connected to Julius Caesar and his death. This is not the tomb of Julius Caesar. No, this is a controversial discussion because at our bank there's a place where the body of Julius Caesar was cremated soon after his death. He was murdered in 44 BC and then he was cremated here so that the Romans could cry his loss.

After some years, in 29 BC, his adopted son Octavianus Augustus built here a temple dedicated to Caesar to remember him, to remember his adopted father. But we could not say that this is the place of his tomb. We are not certain of that. Julius Caesar wasn't just a general. He was the man who transformed Rome from a republic into an empire.

That's why more than 2000 years later, his name is still known all over the world. You were telling me that the body of Julius Caesar was cremated. Yes, it was cremated in the way of the heroes. Guys, the cremation of the body is a practice that goes very, very far behind in time. Yes, you have just to open Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, and you will see that the heroes, like Patroclus, for example, were cremated.

So there are many ways to bury somebody, but for sure the cremation is the most honorable one because it is the Greek one and the Homeric one, the one of the heroes. So Julius Caesar was not considered to be a normal citizen, let's say. So during that period was not normal to cremate a body? It was, it could be normal, but the important people were cremated and for sure not everybody was cremated into the forum, in the forum, in the public square of political decision and public life. So the cremation of Caesar in here, where we're standing, it's something, of course, of a person of the state.

Okay, because the murder of Julius Caesar was something that shocked all the population, right? Yes, exactly. The population of Rome was shocked because the population really supported Caesar and that was the problem. The aristocrats of the Senate couldn't bear the fact that Caesar had so much power in his hands and that power was coming from the support he had from the, from the people, from the normal people. So for this reason, a part of the senators of the Senate, so aristocratic people, decided to get rid of him.

He was too, and too out loud, powerful. To let you understand, we have ancient sources telling us that there were like statues of Julius Caesar's with the writing under his body, a demigod, Julius Caesar. So, you know, his propaganda was becoming too clear and too out loud as of a man of incredible power. So one thing that the ancient people know is that here in Rome, you can do everything you wanted, but don't say that too much. Don't show off too much.

They will kill you. Then that's a very big difference with the Greek world, where we have kings and we have Hellenistic kingdoms with kings honored like God. That's a total, that's a big difference. In Rome, you can be very powerful, but don't say that too much. Okay, very interesting.

You risk your life. You were talking about the Senate. I suppose that it's possible to to admire it. Yes, the Senate is just in front of us over there. Once you're here, you can also walk through the Senate in the Senate of Rome, that is called Curia, where we had the senators gathering and to make political decisions for the state.

Of course, the weight of the Senate changed during the empire. As you know, there are also emperors considered to be the crazy like Caligula who entered a horse, his horse in the Senate and made him a senator. Of course, there were a lot of frictions and fights between the emperor and the senators. So these are political weights that had to be maintained harmonious for the state to be healthy. Okay, so let's go to the Senate.

Let's go to see the Senate. Okay. The Curia or the Senate is for me one of the most powerful places here. It's actually quite simple. You can still see traces of the original decorations, but what really strikes you is not so much what remains.

It's the atmosphere you feel the moment you walk in. There's a sense of silence, of respect. Even with all the people around you, this place still feels untouched. People naturally lower their voices. They slow down.

It's a bit like when you walk into a church, you feel something, something ancient, and it's hard to explain. After all, you're standing in a place that for a long time was the center of power, where powerful people met and made decisions that shaped an entire empire. Now, let me share something with you. I visited the Forum and the Colosseum several times in my life, but recently I decided to try one of those group tours with a guide and those audio devices you often see on platforms like Viator and Get Your Guide. I joined like any other visitor just to see how it really is.

And honestly, it was disappointing. In about three hours, also including time spent in line at both the Forum and the Colosseum, we skipped many important spots entirely. The Senate, for example, was in the mansion. We stopped briefly at the spot connected to Caesar's death and then moved on, skipping most of the first part. It's frustrating to realize that for many visitors, this might be their only chance to see all this and this is what they end up with.

Anyway, let's keep going for now. We'll come back to this later. If you'd like me to go deeper on this, let me know in the comments. We can do a full video on it. After leaving the Senate, we head toward the Trajan's Forum.

To get there, you actually pass under Via the Fori Imperiali. From here, you can also see the Trajan's Markets in the background, often seen as one of the first shopping centers in history, because for the first time you have a multi-level space designed to organize commercial activities. Silvia, what about women and the Roman Forum? The Roman Forum was a place for men, let's say. Women weren't going around unless they had to sell or buy something or they were aristocratic women, so they would go around with their servants and, you know, and other members of their family.

But behind us, there is a temple right here, this little charming temple. So it is a circular temple. The first one you see, there's another one behind, but the first is the Temple of Vesta. And that is a place that was dedicated only to women. Actually, men couldn't go inside because inside, we had some priestesses of Vesta, the goddess Vesta.

And this was a women cult. And these priestesses had to keep the fire of Rome alive, always, all the time. To let it finish would have been a very, very bad wish for the sake of Rome. So for the good health of the city, they had to keep alive the fire of Vesta in the temple. The only man who was admitted in the Vesta temple was the Pontifex Maximus.

And who was the Pontifex Maximus? One of the most famous. I know, Julius Caesar. Yes. And not only Julius Caesar, also his adopted son at the end also, who became the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, was also a Pontifex Maximus.

So the only man who was able to enter in the Vesta temple. And I can tell you also something more. These Vesta priestesses had to be chased during their service, so they couldn't get married. If one of them was caught to have an affair with a man, she would have been put to death. And the death of the priestess of Vesta was literally terrible.

Do you want to know? Yeah. Okay, this is for a strong stomach. It's not easy. So they would have been buried alive.

Really? Yes. This is something that has a very strong meaning. Because these women would have been put into a room inside the earth, in the earth, close there. But the Romans would have given them some water and some food to survive.

And you would say, why? You bury them alive and you give them food and water. Because the Roman people didn't want to have on themselves the effect of a bad action, like killing a woman, killing a citizen. So if you kill a citizen or a priestess of Vesta, something, you know, something bad will happen. So they buried them, they used to bury them alive, but giving them the possibility to survive.

It is just an official possibility. It's just for the appearance. But for the Roman people and for the Greek as well, the appearance was very important. Okay. So even the ritual and what you do and how you do it, sometimes more than what you do, is really important in the eyes of the gods and for the good of yourself, of your city.

So they used to bury them alive, without killing them in the first hand. Very strange. Okay. Yes. Let's go to the Colosseum.

Yes, let's go to the Colosseum. But before I want to take you up to the Palatine, just right up there, where the emperor used to live, have his personal quarter. And we'll have a great view as well on the Circo Massimo, where the Romans organize horse races and have a lot of fun. Okay. Let's have fun.

Okay. Now we head up and take a short break while enjoying the view. Then we continue exploring the Palatine. Starting with Augustus, many emperors lived here. And over time, simple houses became large imperial palaces.

As you walk through the Palatine, you move between different worlds. Private residences like the House of Augustus and monumental spaces like the Domus Flavia, where the emperor received people and had official ceremonies. This part is less well-known and there are far few people, especially compared to the first area where most of the crowds and group groups are. At times, it feels almost intimate, really fascinating. Some of these areas are incredibly well preserved.

So Silvia, behind us, there's a particular place. We have heard from a guide here that this is a stadium, but actually you told me that it's wrong. So tell us something. What you see behind you, it's a very, very big garden. And this garden was used to walk around with horses, you know, enjoy your day outside, but staying in the Imperial Palace.

The whole place is the Imperial Palace. This is the part of the mission. We are in the first century AD and he wanted to build this garden. So we should expect here horses, people walking around. It is just built with the shape of an ancient stadium, but it's not really an ancient stadium.

So a tour guide saying that it was a stadium for Greek sport, you know, is wrong. Okay, so you have to be careful when you select your guide. Yes, yes, we were saying this. I was hearing her and saying everything to him. We were like, what?

We couldn't say anything, but yes. So I couldn't resist and I decided to take a clip. Yes, yes, yes. So that's it. It's time to go to the Colosseum.

Yeah, right. Let's go. Once we finished the Palatine, we head toward the Colosseum. The way down is gentle and you walk through open green spaces with ruins all around you, even parts of aqueducts. The two sites are very close, so it doesn't take long to reach the Colosseum.

We step inside. The Colosseum is one of the most visited places in the world and every time I come here, it's easy to see why. It's something that really impresses you, even today. Finally, we are inside. Yes, we made it.

Yeah, we are in the arena. We are in the arena of the Colosseum, where the gladiators used to fight. And not only, they used also to hunt the beasts, the wild beasts, like panthers and lions, brought here from all over the empire. The Colosseum is not just a monument, it was a highly advanced machine. Under the arena, there's an underground area called the hypogeum.

It was used for animals, scenery and fighters who were lifted up into the arena. These systems, run by teams of workers, allowed sudden appearances and quick changes during the games. Above, there was a large cover, called the velarium, that gave shade to the people inside. All of this made the Colosseum an extraordinary example of roman engineering, designed to manage large crowds and create controlled dynamic spectacles. This day was truly beautiful and quite intense.

With Silvia, I was able to better understand and really experience things I had already seen before. And that's exactly the difference having someone like makes. Now that it's over, when I look back, a few things really stand out. As I mentioned earlier, when I took that group tour, almost everything I saw with Silvia was completely left out. Very important places like the Trajan's Forum, the Senate, the Forum of Caesar, and even the entire Palatine Hill.

We didn't visit the imperial palaces at all, and we completely missed the beautiful house of Augustus. Everything was done quickly, and then we rushed to the Colosseum. And that's a real shame, because for someone who doesn't have the chance to come here multiple times, you arrive thinking that by joining a guided tour, you'll get a well-structured, a well-balanced experience. But that's not always the experience you get. And to be clear, it's not just about the guides or the people running the tours.

It's really the whole system. For example, the platforms where the tickets are sold often take a large commission, sometimes close to the 30% of what the client pays. And that means high prices, but often a worse experience. So this kind of experience has become quite common, and that's a shame, because a lot gets skipped. And at the same time, a key figure like the guide isn't really used properly.

When you have a good guide, and we've seen that not all of them are equally precise, they can give you a level of depth that's very hard to reach on your own. That's also another point to consider. These days, almost every operator combines the Forum and the Colosseum into the same day. It's simple. It gives you more freedom for the rest of the trip.

And in itself, that's not wrong. But when you think about it, the Forum and the Colosseum together might simply be too much for one day. It's a lot to take in all at once. And what often happens is that you only get a quick overview of the Forum, a few highlights, and then you move on to the Colosseum. But in that sense, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Maybe it would make more sense to approach these places differently, to take the time they require to slow down. Because otherwise, it's like listening to music by skipping from one part to another, or reading a novel and jumping straight to the end. Does that really make sense? Let me know what you think in the comments. and don't forget to subscribe to the channel.

See you soon from Grand Tour.