Discover Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue, lying in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills — the Valle Murcia. It was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire, and the Sovrintendenza Capitolina calls it the largest entertainment building of antiquity and one of the largest of all time.

It measured 621 m in length and 118 m in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators; the Sovrintendenza gives its dimensions as roughly 600 m by 140 m. In its fully developed form it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire.

The site is now a public park, open to the public and often used for concerts, meetings and celebrations. Turismo Roma lists it as always open and the grass costs nothing — but the archaeological area within it is a separate, capped-entry zone for which the Sovrintendenza strongly recommends buying a ticket in advance, online or on 060608.

It was Rome's largest venue for ludi, the public games connected to Roman religious festivals, sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people and the gods. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman calendar, and by the late Republic ludi were held on 57 days of the year. Races typically ran seven laps. The broad valley floor also lent itself to events in the city's political, social and religious life — triumphal celebrations, processions and public executions.

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue, lying in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills — the Valle Murcia. It was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire, and the Sovrintendenza Capitolina calls it the largest entertainment building of antiquity and one of the largest of all time.

It measured 621 m in length and 118 m in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators; the Sovrintendenza gives its dimensions as roughly 600 m by 140 m. In its fully developed form it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire.

The site is now a public park, open to the public and often used for concerts, meetings and celebrations. Turismo Roma lists it as always open and the grass costs nothing — but the archaeological area within it is a separate, capped-entry zone for which the Sovrintendenza strongly recommends buying a ticket in advance, online or on 060608.

It was Rome's largest venue for ludi, the public games connected to Roman religious festivals, sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people and the gods. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman calendar, and by the late Republic ludi were held on 57 days of the year. Races typically ran seven laps. The broad valley floor also lent itself to events in the city's political, social and religious life — triumphal celebrations, processions and public executions.

Its architecture is a shape in a valley, and the shape is the point. The Circus measured 621 metres by 118 — the Sovrintendenza gives it as roughly 600 by 140, so treat the figures as approximate rather than surveyed — and held over 150,000 spectators, roughly three times the Colosseum. That makes it the largest entertainment building of antiquity and one of the largest of all time.

The site chose itself. The Valle Murcia, between the Palatine and Aventine, gave a long flat floor with rising ground on both sides: at the early Circus, the sloping ground afforded the possibility of turf seating tiers at an early date. Seating that does not have to be built before it can be used is a considerable head start — and the first arrangement of the valley for racing goes back to the era of the Tarquin kings.

It only became a building under Caesar. It is with Julius Caesar that a true masonry circus was realised, his development extending the seating tiers to run almost the entire circuit of the track, barring the starting gates and a processional entrance at the semi-circular end.

The flat end did the engineering. Permanent wooden starting stalls were built in 329 BCE — gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier, which is a geometry problem solved in timber. By the late Republican or early Imperial era there were twelve of them.

The centre line was the other half of the design. By the late 1st century CE the central dividing barrier comprised a series of water basins, or else a single watercourse open in some places and bridged over in others. It carried the lap counters — sculpted eggs from at least 174 BCE, and large bronze dolphins added in 33 BCE — and the obelisk Augustus had brought from Heliopolis at enormous expense and erected midway along it. A second, gigantic obelisk was brought to Rome by Constantius II in 357 CE and is now at the Lateran.

And there was a box for a god. The pulvinar was built on monumental scale, a shrine or temple raised high above the trackside seats; sometimes, while games were in progress, Augustus watched from there, alongside the gods.

What stands is Trajan's. Devastated repeatedly by fire, the Circus was rebuilt almost entirely under Trajan — most of the structures visible today belong to his phase — and found its definitive form, unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors, with Pliny claiming his works gained a further 5,000 seats.

And what you can actually walk up to is the 1930s excavation. Major works in that decade brought to light a good part of the hemicycle and the remains of the Arch of Titus, at the curved end. That is the archaeological area, and it is why the Circus is not simply a lawn.

It was built by using a valley rather than defeating one. The Circus Maximus occupies the floor of the Valle Murcia, the wide valley between the Palatine and the Aventine: a long, flat strip with rising ground on either side. The first arrangement of this valley to adapt it as a place for chariot racing dates to the era of the Tarquin kings, and at the early Circus the sloping ground afforded the possibility of turf seating tiers at an early date — the hills already provided the rake, and the first spectators sat on grass.

For centuries it was a prepared site, not a building. Roman tradition puts the earliest triumphal games here in the late Regal era, vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter for his victory over Pometia, and the venue grew with the demands made of it as Rome's ludi multiplied to 57 days of the year by the late Republic. But the masonry came late: it is only with Julius Caesar that a true circus in masonry was realised.

The first permanent construction solved a geometry problem. Permanent wooden starting stalls were built in 329 BCE, gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier. Staggering stalls so that twelve chariots on a curved approach all cover the same distance to the spine of the track is not a trivial piece of layout, and it was worked out in timber.

Some of what the Circus needed was temporary. In 167 BCE flute players, scenic artists and dancers performed on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks: the Circus was re-rigged for whatever was being staged rather than built once for one purpose. Other events demanded serious barriers — a venatio of 169 BCE employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants, with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier.

Caesar made it continuous. From around 50 BCE, his development extended the seating tiers to run almost the entire circuit of the track, barring the starting gates and a processional entrance at the semi-circular end. That is the outline a visitor walks today.

Then it burned, repeatedly, because much of it was wood. The wooden bleachers were damaged in a fire of 31 BCE, either during or after construction, and the damage was probably repaired by Augustus. A fire of 36 CE seems to have started in a basket-maker's workshop under the stands, on the Aventine side — the stands had workshops and shops built into them, which is both why the Circus was a commercial street and why it kept catching fire. In 64 CE, during Nero's reign, fire broke out at the semi-circular end, swept through the stands and shops, and destroyed much of the city.

Trajan rebuilt it almost from scratch, and that is what survives. Devastated repeatedly by fire, the Circus was rebuilt almost entirely under his principate, and most of the structures visible today belong to that phase. It found its definitive form, unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors — Pliny claims the works gained a further 5,000 seats. By then the central dividing barrier comprised a series of water basins, or else a single watercourse open in some places and bridged over in others: the track's spine rebuilt as moving water. The last great addition came in 357 CE, when Constantius II erected a gigantic obelisk here, now at the Lateran.

Then it was unbuilt, farmed, and industrialised. The Circus stayed in use until the first decades of the 6th century — the last known races were held by Totila in 549 — after which the stone went, as stone in Rome always went, into other buildings. The site became agricultural land, and from the 19th century it carried the Gazometro plant, warehouses, manufactories, artisan businesses and housing, until the early 1900s and the start of work on the passeggiata archeologica.

It was finally rebuilt as an archaeological site in the 1930s. Major excavation works in that decade brought to light a good part of the hemicycle and the remains of the Arch of Titus. The area was then ceded to the National Fascist Party, which used it for its events because of its high symbolic value, and the great exhibitions of 1937–40 were staged in the space of the circus. In the immediate post-war years it returned to being a green space, with the ancient structures substantially abandoned — which is the condition, weathered rather than curated, in which you find them now.

Is it free? The park is: Turismo Roma lists the Circus Maximus as always open, with no ticket for the grass. The archaeological area inside it is not — the Sovrintendenza says it has capped entry and strongly recommends buying a ticket in advance, online or on 060608.

How much does the archaeological area cost? No price is published, by either the Sovrintendenza or Turismo Roma. Ask on 060608 when you book. Be sceptical of any figure a guidebook gives you.

How big was it? 621 metres long by 118 wide, holding over 150,000 spectators — roughly three times the Colosseum, and the largest entertainment building of antiquity. The Sovrintendenza gives the dimensions as about 600 by 140, so treat them as approximate. Races typically ran seven laps.

Is there anything left to see? Yes, more than the lawn suggests. Most of the structures visible today belong to Trajan's near-total rebuilding, and 1930s excavations brought to light a good part of the hemicycle and the remains of the Arch of Titus. That is the ticketed archaeological area at the curved end — worth booking.

What is the Circo Maximo Experience? An innovative valorisation project using augmented and virtual reality, which Turismo Roma lists as running from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026. No price is published and the experience's own website did not resolve when checked on 1 October 2026.

What happened here? Ludi — public games connected to Roman religious festivals, sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people and the gods. By the late Republic they filled 57 days of the year. The greater ludi opened with the pompa circensis, a flamboyant parade much like the triumphal procession. The valley also hosted triumphal celebrations, processions and public executions.

What were the racing colours? The quadrigae belonged to stables distinguished by colour — green, blue, red and white — and spectators divided across the terraces by the colour of their own favourites, cheering with chants and mottoes composed for the occasion. The charioteers became figures idolised by the people of Rome.

Were there really elephants? A hunt in 169 BCE employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants, with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier.

Where did the emperor sit? The pulvinar — a shrine or temple raised high above the trackside seats, built on monumental scale. Sometimes, while games were in progress, Augustus watched from there, alongside the gods.

Was there an obelisk? Two. Augustus brought one from Heliopolis at enormous expense and set it midway along the dividing barrier; Constantius II brought a gigantic second one in 357 CE, now at the Lateran.

When did it stop being used? It remained in use until the first decades of the 6th century, with the last known races held by Totila in 549. The valley was then farmed, and from the 19th century it carried the Gazometro plant, warehouses and workshops until the archaeological works of the early 1900s.

How long does it take? About an hour for the valley and the archaeological area. Pair it with the Palatine above or the Forum Boarium at the western end.