Rome, Italy
Colosseum
Know what you’re looking at before you walk inside.
4 chapters · 18 Articles · 3+ Hourspreparation
Before you go
Tickets
€18 (24-hour access)
Guided tour
1.5-3.5 hours
Terrain
Uneven volcanic terrain
Water
Free fountains throughout
Prepare for your visit:
Understand the colosseum before you arrive
Four chapters take you from what the Colosseum actually is, through its engineering and spectacles, to the fifteen centuries that followed the games.
Beforehand’s Philosophy: A better visit starts before you arrive.
We believe a trip to Rome is too expensive to spend your time wondering what else there is to the story all around you.
Beforehand’s full Colosseum series is designed to give you the context that’s hardest to absorb while you’re being rushed through one of the world’s great historic places: the stories, people, politics, engineering, and history behind the amphitheatre’s nearly two millennia of life.
Read before you go, so you’ll recognize more of it when you arrive, whether you’re taking a guided tour or visiting independently.
01
7 Articles
70+ Min
What You’re Visiting
The Scale of a visit to the colosseum archaological park
02
4 Articles
35+ Min
What Made The Colosseum an Engineering Marvel
How Roman Engineers Built An enormous structure on a drained lake in less than a decade
03
5 Articles
45+ Min
The Events and the Performers at the Arena
What actually happened in the arena was much more organized than popular culture thinks
04
2 Articles
20+ Min