The sound of lutes and cymbals from a faraway time accompanies the first steps of the visitor walking toward the second order of the Colosseum to enjoy its extraordinary view, looking out on the Arch of Constaintine, the columns of the Temple of Venus, and Rome. The history of this monument, told by archaeologists, art historians, and architects intertwines with the video installations featuring testimonies about the Colosseum by emblematic figures such as Martial, Cassius Dio, Saint Augustine, and Artemidorus. Their narrations are activated as visitors walk by.

You descend into the heart of the monument to discover the technical devices that made it possible to lift people and animals from the vaults to the arena. As in a shadowplay, the shadows of those who used to populate this space appear on the ancient walls: savage beasts, exotic animals, and gladiators. On the arena level, the shadows of servants work on the curtains moved by the evening breeze, holding torches in their hands as they wait for the audience to come up for the last part of their visit.

Once the viewers are in the arena where so many shows and gory battles took place, the curtain opens on The Gladiator’s Dream. Three great awnings house the projections that stage the night before the Games. In a fantastic, deeply human way, they tell what might have appeared in the mind of a fighter in the hours before he took up his weapons to challenge fate – the same fate shared by Carpophorus, Diodorus and Demetrius, famous gladiators whose great enterprises are told by ancient sources, who also recall the ancient Romans’ mad enthusiasm from the crowded surrounding terraces.