A once-hidden passageway inside Rome’s Colosseum, known as the Commodus Passage — named after the notorious emperor immortalised in the film Gladiator — opened to the public for the first time this week.
The newly accessible corridor, known as the “Commodus Passage”, allowed Roman emperors to move unseen between the imperial palaces on the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum arena. From there, they could take their seats to watch gladiator battles and other spectacles without mingling with the crowds.
Archaeologist Barbara Nazzaro, who led the restoration, described the opening as a rare chance to experience the arena through imperial eyes. “This passage is now open to the public for the first time. Visitors can appreciate what it was like to be an emperor,” she told Reuters.
To create the passage, workers cut through the Colosseum’s foundations between the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD, slightly after the amphitheatre’s inauguration in 80 AD. Historians linked it to Commodus, who ruled from 180 to 192 AD, after accounts described him surviving an assassination attempt in a secret underground corridor.
Originally lined with marble, the passage’s walls were later plastered and decorated with landscape scenes. Stuccowork on the vaulted ceiling depicted mythological themes, while niches near the entrance featured reliefs of arena spectacles — including bear fights and acrobats. Although humidity has damaged much of the decoration, some traces remain visible. A virtual reconstruction video helps visitors imagine the corridor’s ancient splendour.
Restoring the Colosseum
The Colosseum itself remains one of the world’s most iconic monuments. Completed under Emperor Titus, it could hold up to 50,000 spectators who came to watch gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, and public executions. Beneath its vast arena lay a complex network of tunnels, cages, and lifts used to stage elaborate performances, an engineering marvel of its time.
In recent years, restoration projects have sought to revive lesser-known sections of the amphitheatre, including the underground hypogeum and the arena floor. The opening of the Commodus Passage marks the latest step in revealing the hidden world behind Rome’s greatest monument to spectacle and power.
