Explore the most monumental sites of the Eternal City with a private tour guide who will bring the spirit of ancient Rome to life. Visit the most important historical landmarks and monuments of the city as you walk among the timeless statues, fountains, ruins and ghosts of empires past. Meet your guide at the hotel and start your 3-hour journey into ancient Rome at the Colosseum, one of the largest structures of the ancient world. See where Romans once gathered to watch gladiator games, battles with wild beasts, and according to legend, sea battles. Discover how the Colosseum, a massive stone amphitheater that seated an estimated 60,000 spectators, was built in only 8 years. Your guide will share fascinating stories about its design and construction, the political benefit, the fighters, and the eventual end of the games at the Colosseum. At the Imperial Roman Forum, your guide will tell you about the mythology, the popular celebrations of the time, and the gods of ancient Rome, which are reflected in the star signs of contemporary astrology. Learn how the pagan holiday Saturnalia influenced the celebration of Christmas on the 25th of December today. Listen to the story of the Lapis Niger (black stone), the most ancient Latin text ever discovered that’s housed in the foundation of a column in the Forum. See the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, 6 young women taken from aristocratic families to serve as virgin priests of Vesta. They worked in the temple for a period of 30 years under different emperors and were regarded almost as goddesses. Their foremost duty was maintaining the sacred fire of Vesta which represented the hearth of Rome. As legend had it, as long as the sacred flame burned, Rome would endure.