The last time I visited the inside of this Roman icon was almost 10 years ago, so well before my interest in Roman architecture was properly sparked by my attendance on Yale’s Roman architecture MOOC. So I was seeing this site with very different eyes on this particular visit.

The site has been going through it’s clean-up since our last trip to Rome , and its travertine stone now positively sparkled in the early morning sun. We’d come armed with our “print at home” tickets and so just joined a very short entry queue at 8.30 as the site was opening.

And the scaffolding moves to the next portion of the site to be cleaned…

Inside, even in the early morning sunglight, it’s easy to imagine thousands roaring their approval at the games!

It’s great to see artifacts on display to give some extra context to the visit… including evidence that tha gladiatrices I saw in London recently weren’t so far off the mark, machinery, and even animal bones.

While other displays showed how the amphttheatre could have looked when protected by awnings, operated by the navy of the day.

It was a place we would pass by many times during our visit, including at night when it, and its neighbour the Arch of Constantine, still attract the crowds.