Visitors to the Colosseum will be able to walk in the footsteps of emperors as the Roman landmark opens a once-secret passageway that the rulers used to enter the arena without mixing with the masses.

It was rediscovered in the 1810s and named the Commodus Passage after Emperor Commodus, the vindictive and incompetent 2nd-century C.E. emperor made famous by Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000). Commodus was passionate about gladiatorial combat (he imagined he was the god Hercules), and history tells that someone tried to end his reign prematurely when he was passing through the corridor—his advisors would succeed in 192 C.E. by getting a champion wrestler to strangle him.

Bust of Emperor Commodus from the who ruled from 180 C.E. to 192 C.E. Photo: Getty Images.

The passageway, which will open to the public on October 27, is S-shaped and was added after the Colosseum was completed in 80 C.E. It was cut through the arena’s southern foundations sometime between the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century. It connected the Emperor’s platform, known as the pulvinar, to the monument’s exterior, though its precise destination remains unclear.

The Colosseum Archaeological Park carried out a renovation of the corridor between October 2024 and September 2025, a project that involved structural conservation, restoring decorative elements, and installing a walkway for visitors.

The walls were originally marble-clad. Photo: Simona Murrone / Colosseum Archaeological Park.

“The opening of the Passage of Commodus is of extraordinary significance,” the Colosseum Archaeological Park said in a statement. “For the first time, a place with a fascinating history, architecture, and art that was designed for the exclusive use of the emperor is accessible.”

The passageway was originally marble-clad and the walls still show traces of the metal clamps that supported the slabs. This was later covered over with plaster walls that were painted with landscape scenes. Stuccowork on the vault ceiling displayed moments from the myth of Dionysus and Ariadne in which the god of wine fell in love with the Cretan princess after Theseus abandoned her on the island of Naxos.

Detail of the stucco in the Commodus Passage at the Colosseum. Photo: Simona Murrone / Colosseum Archaeological Park.

In the niches at the entrance to the passageway there were painted scenes that the emperor might encounter in the Colosseum, including boar hunts, bear fights, and acrobatic performances. The damp conditions of the passageway have caused the decorations to deteriorate significantly and hampered conservation efforts. To compensate, researchers have created a virtual reconstruction of the Commodus Passage.

The entrance to the Commodus Passage. Photo: Simona Murrone / Colosseum Archaeological Park.

Along with structural and decorative work, the project also installed a new light system that aims to mimic the natural light that once entered the passageway through small openings in the vault. In 2026, the Colosseum Archaeological Park will continue its work by exploring the section of the passageway that leads out of the Colosseum.

In 2021, the Colosseum invested in an $18 million project to build a retractable 32,300-square-foot wooden floor that would replicate the one that existed at the site up until the 19th century.