Situated approx. 16 feet beneath the street level of Piazza Navona in Rome, our tour guide gave us a quick treat last September on our way back to our golf cart: the partial view of the Stadium of Domitian, a declared UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is all about Roman history.
This was the only known masonry stadium outside of the Greek world, built of travertine blocks and brickwork in the shape of a circus with two straight and two curved short sides. It seated up to 30,000 spectators and was used for athletic competitions. The program included running, wrestling, boxing, pankration, and the pentathlon, combining five contests: discus and javelin throwing, long jump, stadium race, and wrestling. read more