Place · Italy
The history of Rome, Italy, one place at a time
Assembled from 5 dug tiles · 62 sourced records · last reviewed 18 September 2026
Rome's ground holds an amphitheatre, a bathing complex turned piazza, a chasm in the Forum, and the spot where Julius Caesar fell. Emperors, senators and Gothic besiegers each left their mark, and what they built or broke still shapes the streets walked today.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Rome — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Rome
The rider who filled the hole with himselfA chasm split the Forum floor thirty feet from where you stand, and would not close. Rostra ad Divi Iulii
1000 BC–608 Public death was staged for spectacle on this ground
Gladiators died where you stand Colosseum
64–2007 The nymphs Rome tried not to look at
Bronze women wrestling a swan, a lizard, a horse and a dragon stand thirty paces from you, and Rome once tried to hide them. Ninfa dei Laghi
378 BC–2018 Rome's largest baths left their footprint on a modern square
Nymphs and gladiators guard your fountain Baths of Diocletian
378 BC–1762 Sixty senators cornered Rome's dictator here
You are standing where the Roman Senate stabbed Julius Caesar to death, and where the ground kept swallowing whoever held power after him. Fortuna Huiusce Diei, Aedes
1219 BC–1929
Rome in layers
1219 BC to 1015 BC
Carbon samples from the Sant'Omobono excavation area, about 660 meters from the temples, date human activity there to between 1219 and 1015 BC. Open Context: Cross-referenced p3k14c
Iron Age, before the Forum
Long before the Forum existed, an Iron Age necropolis called the Sepulcretum lay along this stretch of the Via Sacra, uncovered by excavators Giacomo Boni and Einar Gjerstad. Khan Academy; Boni and Gjerstad excavations
cult site of the 7th–8th century BC
A patch of black marble paving nearby marks the Lapis Niger, one of the only surviving traces of the ancient Comitium, thought to sit over a 7th- or 8th-century BC cult site. Wikipedia: Lapis Niger
tradition from the 7th century BC
A short walk east, the Temple of Vesta housed a fire tended by the Vestal Virgins, believed to protect Rome's safety since the days of King Numa Pompilius. Wikipedia: Sacred fire of Vesta
attested from the early Republic
A few steps from where you stand, a mysterious pit called the Lacus Curtius survived as a sacred spot even after the marsh that once covered the Forum was drained. Wikipedia: Lacus Curtius
in use from the early Republic
Just north of your position, the open-air Comitium was Rome's original public meeting ground, home to the speaking platform known as the Rostra. Wikipedia: Comitium
vowed 495 BC
The Romans credited a victory at Lake Regillus in 495 BC to the divine twins Castor and Pollux and built this temple in thanks, just west of where you stand. Wikipedia: Temple of Castor and Pollux
early 4th century BC
Stretches of the 4th-century BC Servian Wall, Rome's earliest circuit of defenses built from volcanic tuff, survive in fragments a few streets southeast. Wikipedia
4th century BC
Sections of the Servian Wall, built in the early 4th century BC of volcanic tuff and once 11 kilometers long, still stand within a few minutes' walk east and south of the piazza. Wikipedia, Servian Wall
290s-280s BC
Temple C, the most ancient of the four with terracotta decoration from the 290s or 280s BC, was likely devoted to Feronia, the Italic goddess of fertility. Wikidata: Temple C
3rd c. BC to early 900s AD
Temple A, raised in the 3rd century BC after a naval victory over Carthage, burned in a fire around AD 80, was restored, and by the early 900s had been converted into the church of San Nicola de Calcarario. Wikipedia: Largo di Torre Argentina
190 BC, dedicated 179 BC
Temple D, the largest of the four, was vowed by the praetor Lucius Aemilius Regillus during a naval battle against Antiochus the Great in 190 BC and dedicated to the Lares who protect sailors. Wikipedia: Largo di Torre Argentina
101 BC; rediscovered 1927
Temple B held an acrolithic statue of Fortuna Huiusce Diei, 'the Fortune of This Day,' built by Quintus Lutatius Catulus after his victory at Vercellae in 101 BC — it lay buried until workmen found it in 1927. Wikipedia: Largo di Torre Argentina
82 BC
In 82 BC, Sulla's forces crushed the Samnites and their Roman allies just outside the city walls in a battle fought near the Colline Gate, a short walk from here. Wikidata
82 BC
In 82 BC the Battle of the Colline Gate, fought just beyond the old city walls near here, gave Sulla control of Rome and led to his brutal proscriptions. Wikidata, Battle of the Colline Gate
begun 46 BC, burned 283 AD
Julius Caesar began this basilica, Augustus finished it, and for centuries it housed the centumviri, the court that judged inheritance disputes, until fire destroyed it in 283 AD. Wikipedia: Basilica Julia
15 March 44 BC
On March 15, 44 BC, a crowd carried Julius Caesar's body to this spot on the Via Sacra and burned it on a pyre built from looted furniture. Platner & Ashby, Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929); Dio Cassius
built 44 BC
In 44 BC Julius Caesar built the Curia Julia as the Senate's new meeting hall, redesigning the space after tearing down the previous Curia Cornelia. Wikipedia: Curia Julia
44 BC to 205 AD
Radiocarbon samples pulled from the Forum Romanum near here date to between 44 BC and 205 AD, confirming intensive use of the ground through the early Empire. OpenContext, R-858
44 BC
Julius Caesar was stabbed roughly 23 times by a group of senators during a Senate session at the Curia of Pompey, right where you are standing. Wikipedia: Assassination of Julius Caesar
44 BC
Led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, the roughly sixty conspirators triggered civil war and Caesar's deification, hastening the empire they meant to prevent. Wikipedia: Assassination of Julius Caesar
dedicated 29 BC
Augustus later raised the Temple of Divus Iulius on this exact site to deify his adoptive father, and the altar there still draws visitors leaving flowers. Wikipedia: Temple of Caesar
built after 29 BC
A triple-bayed triumphal arch, the first of its kind built in Rome, spanned the Via Sacra here between the temples of Castor and Caesar. Wikipedia: Arch of Augustus, Rome
The Meta Sudans, a large conical fountain, stood a short walk away at the junction of roads converging near the amphitheatre. Wikipedia — Meta Sudans
Questions about Rome
What is Rome known for historically?
Rome is known for staging public death for spectacle at the Colosseum, where Vespasian ordered construction in 72 AD on the site of Nero's artificial lake and Titus opened it in 80 AD with games said to have run a hundred days. It is equally known as the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated by around sixty senators on the Ides of March, 44 BC, and where his body was later burned in the Forum.
What happened at the Colosseum in Rome?
The Colosseum was built on Nero's former lake by order of Vespasian and opened by his son Titus in 80 AD. Tens of thousands watched gladiatorial combat, staged hunts and executions there.
What happened to the Baths of Diocletian?
The Baths of Diocletian, the largest bathing complex the Roman Empire built, were finished around 306 AD and left dry after Ostrogothic forces cut the aqueducts during the siege of 537–538 AD. Their ruins now form Piazza della Repubblica, holding Michelangelo's church and the piazza's bronze fountain.
Why did Rome try to hide the nymphs on the Fontana delle Naiadi?
The four bronze nymphs sculpted by Mario Rutelli, unveiled in 1901 wrestling a swan, a serpent, a sea horse and a dragon, were considered too indecent to display, and officials built a timber screen to shield the naked figures from view. The fountain remained afterward and closed only in 2018 for water damage.
Where was Julius Caesar killed and where was he cremated?
Julius Caesar was stabbed roughly 23 times by around sixty senators at Largo di Torre Argentina on the Ides of March, 44 BC, during a Senate meeting held at the nearby Curia of Pompey. His body was burned in the Roman Forum, on ground once split by the chasm known as the Lacus Curtius, where the Temple of Divus Iulius was later raised over his ashes.
What did excavation uncover at Largo di Torre Argentina?
Demolition for a new city block in 1927 uncovered a sacred area including a colossal statue of Fortune buried for two thousand years since 101 BC, and a war temple that had burned, been rebuilt, and finally turned into a church between the 3rd century BC and the early 900s AD.