COLOSSEUM
The Colosseum of Rome was built in bricks and clad of travertine in a valley among the Palatino, Esquilino and Celio hills after having dried a small lake that Nerone was using for the Domus Aurea. The edifice of four floors, with a total height of 52 metres and an extension covering and elliptical area of about 19000 square metres, is with no doubt the most reknown symbol of Rome all over the world.For the enjoyment of Rome people, here were organized fights between gladiators or against wild animals and fabulous spectacles as "naumachie", real navy battlements in the arena filled with water. Under the arena of the Colosseum there were numerous corridors and rooms aimed at welcoming the gladiators and the ferocious beasts that could be brought at the centre of the arena thanks to elevator carriages and access ramps.
PALATINO
The museum is located in Caesar’s Palace where, among the monuments collected from the hill site, various artefacts of Iron Age tombs and works of art from imperial buildings are exhibited. The most important of these works are the decorative pictures in the lecture room of Isiaca. According to ancient tradition, it was on this hill that the first settlement of Rome was made by Romulus in the middle of the eighth century B.C. Excavations have revealed huts and tombs from the Iron Age and, an ancient fortification. The Palatino was also the centre for some important cults as, for example, that of Magna Mater (Cibele). Between the second and first centuries B.C. it became a residential quarter for the Roman aristocracy. In this period the House of Grifi, famous for its pictures, was built. The Emperor Augustus made the Palatino his official power-centre and initiated a building program: the construction of imperial palaces and various restructuring and enlargement of existing buildings built by previous emperors.