Place · Italy
The history of Rome
Assembled from 15 dug tiles · 201 sourced records · 1290 BC–2024 · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Rome gathers its past on a scale few towns can match: a Forum where Caesar's body was burned and a temple later raised over his ashes, an amphitheatre built on Nero's drained lake, baths broken by Gothic siege, and squares that still trace the shapes of a buried stadium and bathhouse beneath Baroque fountains and churches.
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
Rome's market square and former execution groundThis point sits in Campo de' Fiori, a rectangular square south of Piazza Navona that still holds a daily market. Campo de' Fiori
1219 BC–1889 A Capuchin church with a bone-lined crypt
Just off Piazza Barberini, this plain brick church hides one of Rome's strangest sights below its floor. Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini
400 BC–1973 The rider who filled the hole with himself
A chasm split the Forum floor thirty feet from where you stand, and would not close. Rostra ad Divi Iulii
1000 BC–608 The stadium buried under a square
Domitian's arena for 30,000 still shapes the ground beneath your feet. Four Rivers Fountain
55 BC–1871 Public death was staged for spectacle on this ground
Gladiators died where you stand Colosseum
64–2007 The killing that ended the Republic
Julius Caesar was stabbed to death here, thirty paces from where you stand. Chiesa di San Nicola de Calcarario
1219 BC–1929 An oval baroque square built inside a Roman stadium
This point sits inside Piazza Navona, a long oval square in central Rome shaped exactly like the stadium buried underneath it. Piazza Navona
1219 BC–2014 A Baroque fountain, still fed by an ancient aqueduct
This point sits at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the largest Baroque fountain in the world, in front of Palazzo Poli. Trevi Fountain
389 BC–2023 An ancient Roman temple, still standing
This point sits inside the Pantheon, the best-preserved building to survive from ancient Rome. Pantheon
390 BC–1900 Assassination of Julius Caesar
This point marks the spot where Roman senators murdered Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. Tempio B
500 BC–2012 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. Piazza della Repubblica
378 BC–2018 A Baroque staircase in Rome
This point sits partway up the Spanish Steps, the monumental stairway linking Piazza di Spagna to the church of Trinità dei Monti. Spanish Steps
60 BC–2024 Rome's largest baths left their footprint on a modern square
Nymphs and gladiators guard your fountain Baths of Diocletian
378 BC–1762 A 3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk in a Roman square
This point sits at the center of Piazza del Popolo, where a red granite obelisk carved for an Egyptian pharaoh has stood since 1589. Flaminio Obelisk
1290 BC–1980 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. San Nicola dei Cesarini
1219 BC–1929
Rome in layers
c. 1290-1279 BC
Pharaoh Seti I had this granite obelisk carved around 1290 BC for the sun temple at Heliopolis, and his son Ramesses II finished it. Wikipedia - Flaminio Obelisk
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
1219–1015 BC
Samples from the Sant'Omobono excavation area, about 667 meters away, carry radiocarbon dates as old as 1219 to 1015 BC, among the oldest attested human presence anywhere near this ground. Open Context: Cross-referenced p3k14c
1219 BC - 1015 BC
Samples from the Sant'Omobono excavation, about 1.1 kilometers from here, carry radiocarbon dates stretching from 1219 BC, showing people working this stretch of the Tiber valley centuries before Rome's founding legends. Open Context, Cross-referenced p3k14c
1219 BC to 1015 BC
Radiocarbon samples from the Sant'Omobono excavation site, about 950 meters away, date human activity there to between 1219 and 1015 BC, among the oldest traces found anywhere near this ground. Open Context
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
6th century BC to 101 BC
Temples A, B, C, and D in the sacred area were built between the 6th and 1st centuries BC, with Temple B (Fortuna Huiusce Diei) dedicated around 101 BC by Quintus Lutatius Catulus. Wikidata: Fortuna Huiusce Diei, Aedes
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
3rd-2nd centuries BC
Temples A, B, C and D rose here from the 4th to 2nd centuries BC; Temple C, dated to around 500 BC, may have honored the goddess Feronia. Sovrintendenza Capitolina Roma
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
c. 400 BC
The Quirinal Gate, part of the old Servian Wall, was built around 400 BC and marked the edge of the early city not far from here. OpenHistoricalMap
390 BC
In 390 BC Rome was sacked by Gallic invaders, an event remembered from a spot about 787 meters away near the Capitoline Hill. Wikidata
389 BC
Roman tradition records a sack of the city by Gallic forces in 390/389 BC, a trauma remembered for centuries after. Wikidata
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
mid-3rd century BC
Temple A, built in the mid-3rd century BC, is identified with the water goddess Juturna and later had a medieval church built directly on top of it. Sovrintendenza Capitolina Roma
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
238 BC
The Temple of Flora, erected in 238 BC and dedicated to the goddess of flowers, stood on the Quirinal Hill a short walk from here. Wikipedia
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
closed 147 BC
A recorded coin hoard about 571 meters from here has a closing date of 147 BC, meaning that money went into the ground then and was never recovered. Coin Hoards of the Roman Republic (numismatics.org)
Questions about Rome
What is Rome known for historically?
Rome is known for its layered ground: the Colosseum, built on the site of Nero's artificial lake and opened in 80 AD with games said to run a hundred days; the Roman Forum, where Julius Caesar's body was burned in 44 BC; and squares such as Piazza Navona and Piazza della Repubblica that still trace the outlines of a buried stadium and the Baths of Diocletian.
What happened at the Roman Forum in 44 BC?
Julius Caesar's body was burned there after his assassination, and a temple, the Temple of Divus Iulius, was later dedicated over his ashes in 29 BC. The ground itself had a long history before that, including use as an Iron Age cemetery and the puzzling chasm known as the Lacus Curtius.
Where was Julius Caesar assassinated?
Caesar was stabbed roughly twenty-three times by around sixty senators, led by Brutus and Cassius, on 15 March 44 BC, at the Curia of Pompey within the Theatre of Pompey complex, ground now occupied by Largo di Torre Argentina.
What stood where Piazza Navona and Piazza della Repubblica are today?
Piazza Navona traces the exact oval outline of the Stadium of Domitian, built around AD 80 for roughly 30,000 spectators, with games held there until 407 AD. Piazza della Repubblica traces the curved exedra of the Baths of Diocletian, the largest bathing complex the Roman Empire built, finished around 306 AD and left dry after the aqueducts were cut during the siege of 537.
What happened at Campo de' Fiori?
Campo de' Fiori served as the papal courts' regular execution ground for more than two centuries, most famously the site where the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for heresy on 17 February 1600. It had earlier been an open meadow, paved as a crossing in 1456, and now holds a daily market.
What ancient structures still stand in Rome today?
The Pantheon, rebuilt entirely by Hadrian between 118 and 125 CE, survives with its 43-metre coffered dome still the largest unreinforced concrete dome on Earth. The Trevi Fountain still runs on water carried by the Aqua Virgo aqueduct, built around 19 BC, the only ancient Roman aqueduct never to stop flowing, and the Flaminio Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo was carved around 1290 BCE before being brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BCE.