On the subway from the Vatican, I witnessed the moment an American tourist discovered his wallet was missing. It must have been taken by the gypsy kids who leapt out of the car just before the doors closed. I don't know why, after all the stories and warnings, people still carry wallets, thinking they can outwit the nimble-fingered thieves.

Fate was more kind to my hostel friend and I, and we soon arrived, belongings intact, at one of today's main attractions, the Flavian Amphitheater (better known as the Colosseum). We joined a free tour group, and allowed ourselves to be led around the massive stone structure by a young American guide.

These stones serve as the only surviving witnesses to the blood, sweat and dying cries of thousands in the name of entertainment.

She delivered a lot of information at a rapid pace..The stories she told painted a vivid account of the bloody and torturous events that occurred at this site (see the column on the right for sound file excerpts from her tour).

She paraphrased Mother Teresa, who said about this place "Don't look back at what the Romans did 2000 years ago...Look at ourselves today, how we treat the poor...and change that instead, because 2000 years from now someone is going to look back at us and call us Barbarians."

In its heyday, the floor of the Colosseum would be covered with wooden planks, obscuring these tunnels and rooms where slaves and animals would await near certain doom.

I soon learned that the major landmarks of Rome team with free tours, which are used as a sales tool to interest tourists in purchasing other, more extensive (and expensive) tours.

I'm glad I visited this place, but I felt no great pull to stay for long. So my friend and I set off on a short stroll to the original Fabulous Forum.

It's pretty when it graces a postcard, but the Colosseum was simply a means of placating the masses at the cost of human suffering--thus the concept for today's "reality" TV shows was born.

Next: Forum Lore