Villa Borghese & Northern Rome - Rome - page 563

MAP GOOGLE MAP
(Viale del Foro Italico; Piazzale della Farnesina) At the foot of Monte Mario , the Foro Italico is a
grandiose Fascist-era sports complex, centred on the Stadio Olimpico ( Click here ), Rome's
70,000-seat football stadium. Most people pass through en route to the football, but if
you're interested in Fascist architecture, it's worth a look.
Designed by the architect Enrico Del Debbio, it remains much as it was originally con-
ceived. A 17m-high marble obelisk , inscribed with the words 'Mussolini Dux', stands at
the beginning of a broad avenue leading down to the Stadio dei Marmi MAP GOOGLE MAP ,
a running track surrounded by 60 marble nudes and the Stadio Olimpico.

EXPLORA - MUSEO DEI BAMBINI DI ROMA
MAP GOOGLE MAP

MUSEUM

( 06 361 37 76; www.mdbr.it ; Via Flaminia 82; adult/child 1-3yr €7/3; entrance 10am, noon, 3pm, 5pm Tue-
Sun; Flaminio) Rome's only dedicated kids' museum, Explora is aimed at the under-12s.
It's set up as a miniature town where children can play at being grown-ups and with
everything from a supermarket to a fire engine, it's a hands-on, feet-on, full-on experience
that your nippers will love. Outside there's also a free play park open to all.
Booking is advisable on weekdays and essential at weekends.

THE BATTLE OF THE MILVIAN BRIDGE

Constantine's defeat of Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312 is one of the most celeb-
rated victories in Roman history.
The battle came as the culmination of a complex seven-year power struggle for control of the Western Roman
Empire. Constantine and his vastly outnumbered army approached Rome from the north along Via Flaminia,
meeting Maxentius' forces on the northern bank of the Tiber. Fighting was short and bloody, leaving Maxentius
dead, his army in tatters and the path to Rome and empire unopposed.
But while this is historically significant, the real reason for the battle's mythical status is the Christian legend
that surrounds it. According to the Roman historian Lactantius, Constantine dreamt a message telling him to paint
a Christian symbol on his troops' shields. A second historian, Eusebius, provides a more dramatic account, re-
counting how on the eve of the battle Constantine saw a cross in the sky, accompanied by the words, 'In this sign,
conquer.' Whatever the case, the reality is that Constantine won a resounding victory and in so doing set the seeds
for the spread of Christianity in the Roman world.

Salario

MUSEO D'ARTE CONTEMPORANEA