The Commodus Passage, the name given to the corridor through which Roman emperors gained unseen access to the Imperial box in the Colosseum, has been opened to the public for the first time after a major restoration that restored its glistening marble walls.

    It is named after the evil 'gladiator emperor' and successor of Marcus Aurelius who is memorably portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix opposite Russell Crowe as Maximus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator.

    Commodus may not have murdered his father Marcus Aurelius as shown in the film but was, according to Tacitus, himself murdered by his personal gladiator and slave Narcissus after incurring the displeasure of most of Rome.
    The restoration has fully restored the ancient surfaces: marble-clad walls, where traces of the metal clamps that supported the slabs can still be seen, later replaced by plaster painted with landscapes; the stucco decorations on the vault, featuring mythological scenes from the myth of Dionysus and Ariadne, and on the niches at the entrance to the route, depicting scenes from the arena spectacles, are also featured.
    The opening of the Passage of Commodus is a major new restoration milestone for the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
    As Park Director Alfonsina Russo and MIC Museums General Director Massimo Osanna noted, it also achieves a dual objective in terms of accessibility to the monument: both in terms of architectural barriers, which, thanks to the use of National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funds, have been removed with the aid of a retractable staircase, and in terms of breaking down cognitive barriers with the creation of a tactile map for reading the stucco images and the production of a video reconstructing the iconography of the decorative elements.
    The opening of the passage will also allow for diversified public access to the monument: "These are small groups of eight people, a bit like the panoramic elevator, who will be allowed to access the gallery itself," Russo explained.
    With funding from the Colosseum Archaeological Park, "we restored all the vaults, even reconstructed a portion, recreating the play of light" that reflects the chiaroscuro created by the air vents that illuminated and ventilated the corridor.
    "We restored the section inside the monument, then the underground corridor continued outside, but no one knows where it led. There are several hypotheses.
    "The first is that it led to the imperial palaces, meaning that the emperor and the imperial family entered the monument from the imperial palaces, unseen by the public.
    "The other hypothesis is that it led to the ludus magnus, the gladiators' training ground and gymnasiums." About thirty meters of the passageway have currently been opened, but a second restoration project is expected to begin by the beginning of the new year, involving the section of the tunnel that extends beyond the perimeter of the Colosseum.
    The public will be able to observe the restoration of the painted plaster, marble, and stucco work almost live, looking through the glass door at the end of the tour.
    This will be a unique opportunity to combine the experience of reliving the emperors' exclusive path during the arena spectacles with the opportunity to share in the care, protection, and conservation efforts led by the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
    But the Passage of Commodus, Osanna also noted, "will not only be a place open to all thanks to innovative devices that break down architectural barriers.
    "Above all, it will be a place that breaks down cognitive barriers, which is a bit of a problem with our archaeological sites: they often don't speak, they often don't tell their stories.
    "Here, however, thanks to a clever use of digital technology, you can see what the passage was like and what decorations have now been lost, with a beautiful reconstruction.
    "This is the purpose of the NRRP: to restore cultural sites to everyone and make them belong to everyone."
   

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