ROME, 20 April 2025 – Rome, the Eternal City, marks its 2,778th birthday tomorrow (21st April) with a colourful celebration of its legendary founding, complete with gladiator fights, trench-digging rituals and costumed parades. Known as Natale di Roma, the annual event is rooted in the ancient myth of Romulus, who is said to have founded the city in 753 BC.
This year’s festivities fall during the Easter holiday weekend, adding an extra layer of celebration to Easter Monday, or Pasquetta, a national public holiday in Italy.
The main events of the three-day festival (19–21 April) take place in the Circus Maximus, a location steeped in Roman history and now home to spectacular re-enactments and dramatic displays. The celebrations are led by the Gruppo Storico Romano, a historical society founded by Sergio Iacomoni. What began as a small gathering at the Colosseum over 30 years ago has evolved into a major event supported by institutions including the European Parliament, Italy’s culture ministry, the Lazio region and the city of Rome.
Gladiator tournament
On Easter Sunday, visitors to the Circus Maximus will witness a gladiator tournament at 10.30, accompanied by live music performed by the Italian Army Band and the Orchestra Filarmonica Città di Roma.
One of the festival’s most evocative moments takes place on Monday afternoon at 15.30, when participants perform the tracciato del solco, or trench-digging ritual. This rite symbolises the founding of ancient Roman towns, when the founders dug a sacred trench (mundus) and filled with offerings to win the gods’ favour.
Other traditional ceremonies include the Palilia, an agricultural rite held in honour of the goddess Pales, patron of flocks and herds. Vestal virgins once distributed sacred ashes and blood, leapt over flames, and performed blessings to ensure the health of livestock and the land.
Rome’s ancient love of sport is also celebrated with a match of Harpastum, an ancient Roman ball game considered an early forerunner to rugby.
Parade Through the Ages
The festival’s centrepiece is the grand parade on Monday 21 April at 11.00, with around 1,500 people dressed as Roman legionaries, senators, priests, vestals and barbarian tribes. The costumed participants march from the Circus Maximus past the Colosseum and back again, creating a living tapestry of Rome’s legendary past. Many of the performers travel from across Europe each year, covering their own costs to be part of the spectacle.
Also read: 10 most popular sites in Rome
A Legendary Beginning
Rome’s origin story is mythical. According to legend, twin brothers Romulus and Remus, raised by a she-wolf, quarrelled over where to found a new city. Romulus slew Remus and began marking out the boundaries of Rome on 21 April 753 BC. That trench-digging act is present in today’s tracciato del solco ritual.
The founders may be myth, but the city went on to shape the world. From the Republic to the Empire, from aqueducts to amphitheatres, and from Roman law to the Latin language, Rome’s influence is undeniable.
Full details of this year’s programme will be available on the Natali di Roma website.
