The Ludus Magnus, the largest of the Gladiator Gyms in Rome, was built by the Emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) in the valley between the Esquiline and the Celio, in an area already occupied by structures from the Republican and Augustan periods.
The remains currently visible belong to a second phase of the monument, attributed to the emperor Trajan (98-117), in which the Ludus floor was raised by about one and a half meters.
The remains of the complex were discovered in 1937, but only about twenty years later the exploration was completed.
The name and time of construction of Ludus Magnus were known, thanks to ancient sources, as well as the plan highlighted in some fragments of the marble plan of the city (Forma Urbis) made in the Severan period (early 3rd century AD).
But there were great uncertainties about its location in the general topography of ancient Rome; enough to identify it with a building still visible in Piazza Iside.
The remains of the northern half of the complex were brought to light in 1937, during the excavations for the construction of a new building between via di San Giovanni in Laterano and via Labicana, and placed between 1957 and 1961 for the construction of the new tax office. Municipal designers Pompeo and Giuseppe Coltellacci.
Ludus Manus - Gladiator Barracks
Address: Via di S. Giovanni in Laterano, 00184
Phone: 06 0608
Site:
http://www.sovraintendenzaroma.it/i_luoghi/roma_antica/monumenti/ludus_magnusLocation inserted by
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