Flavius Julius Constantius, better known as Constantius II, was appointed by his father Constantine the Great, as emperor subordinate to an augustus. In 337 AD, he assumed power in the eastern part of the Empire, threatened by the Sassanids and internal divisions. Like his father, he played a funda...

The Obelisk still stands today, with its grandeur and 32 metres of height, in front of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, built by Pope Sixtus V. Its history has distant origins in the 15th century BC, when the Egyptian sovereign Thutmose III had it built to be erected in the Amun-Re Temple in ...

The Obelisk of Augustus was one of the obelisks in the centre of the Circus Maximus, that Augustus, Roman emperor, brought to the city in 10 BC following the conquest of the Egyptian region by the Romans twenty years earlier. The monument, from the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, not far from Cairo, d...

The Circus Maximus is the oldest and largest of the buildings designed by the Romans, used mainly for chariot races. Over the course of the imperial age, similar structures became increasingly important in the life of the Roman citizen. According to a legend, Romulus was behind the idea of having t...

The racing field of the Circus Maximus was divided lengthwise by the spina, a narrow basement embellished over time with statues, fountains, columns and obelisks, which ended in two semicircular elements, the metae, to indicate the points where the chariots had to turn during the seven laps of the...

In the Roman domus, the peristyle consists of a large courtyard surrounded by a colonnaded four-sided portico. This room usually had the function of hortus conclusus, an enclosed garden, decorated with statues and ornamental plants, often with pools and fountains. Porticoed courtyards were also bu...

In some areas of Sicily, some Roman villas dating back to the 3rd to 4th century AD have been identified. A particularly well known seaside villa situated along the northern coast of Sicily is Patti Marina, in the town of Tindari. The excavations brought to light a vast area that might include bot...

The Romans gave much importance to the venatio, a term which, according to most sources, suggests spectacular and deadly fights, sometimes only between animals,but also between men and animals. To replace such gory scenes, there was no lack of performances of domesticated animals that broke up the ...

The Latin term meaning “sawn work” indicates marble that was specially cut and inlaid to decorate floors and walls with geometric or figurative motifs. This technique saw a considerable increase, especially during the imperial age, through the use of marble from the extensive territories of the...

Basilica originates from the Greek stoa basilike, meaning royal space, which became a public space during the Roman period. The basilica consisted of a large room, with one or several naves, divided by columns and usually located near the forum, the public part of the city. The basilica was used a...