7 Famous Sites in Rome

Monuments to Roman history.

FocusAs a Latin student, you should be familiar with the some of the more famous sites of Ancient Rome. These sites include:

•The Roman Forum•The Curia•Temples•The Colosseum •The Circus Maximus•Roman Baths•Campus Martius

Let’s look at each of these briefly. You will learn more about them later in the course . .

The Roman Forum

• The Forum was the like the “downtown” of a modern city. It was the place to go for business, politics and religion.

The Curia

The Curia or the Senate House. It was located in the forum.

Also in the forum was the rostra or the platform from which politicians would frequently make speeches.

Temples in Forum•The Romans worshipped in many places, but the temple was a house for the deity and perhaps a small altar. A large altar on which sacrifices were performed was outside of the temple.

The temple of Vesta

The temple of Saturn

The Colosseum•The Colosseum, aka the Flavian Amphitheater, was so named for the family of emperors who built it. It was started by the emperor Vespasian and finished by his son Titus.

•The Colosseum was an arena for mainly gladiatorial combats, but other shows were also held there for the masses.

The Colosseum

•Today , looking at the interior arena of the Colosseum, you can see not only the floor but also the subterranean tunnels and chambers that house the gladiators and games used for the public shows.

Circus Maximus

Recently, 2006, the Italian gathered at the site to watch the World Cup.

The Circus Maximus was the racing venue for chariots. Back then it has been estimated to hold over 250,000 spectators.

Roman Baths

•The Romans went to the baths daily. There they not only groomed, but exercised as well as socialized. Here the Baths of Caracalla are pictured. It housed the gymnastics portion of the 1960 Summer Olympics!

Campus Martius•The Campus Martius was originally an open field where soldiers would train for their military exercises.

Campus Martius

•It was later filled with public buildings like the Pantheon and the Theater of Pompey.

AssignmentCreate a PowerPoint using a Google map on each slide. Your Google maps should include 5 sites in Rome that you would want to see (or have seen). You should include at least a bath and a temple.