What Emperor Hadrian Lost: A Walk Through Ancient Rome

Rome's ancient heart beats beneath its modern streets, waiting to reveal secrets from its imperial past. On this immersive walking tour, you'll explore the eternal city through the eyes of Antinous, the deified young lover of Emperor Hadrian who sacrificed himself so his beloved could achieve greatness. As your spectral guide shares his personal story, you'll discover how one of Rome's Five Good Emperors transformed the ancient capital with magnificent monuments that still stand today.

You'll begin at the imposing Castel Sant'Angelo, originally commissioned by Emperor Hadrian as his mausoleum. Walking through the bustling streets of central Rome, you'll weave through charming piazzas and narrow medieval alleys while learning about Hadrian's remarkable architectural legacy. Along the way, you'll discover hidden historical layers, from ancient Roman ground levels revealed beneath modern buildings to the surviving colonnade of Hadrian's Temple.

The journey continues to the magnificent Pantheon, with its perfect dome and oculus, rebuilt by Hadrian yet humbly dedicated to its original benefactor. You'll stroll along Via del Corso, Rome's longest and most historic street, where ancient Roman soldiers once marched to conquest and 15th-century horse races thrilled crowds during Carnival. The tour ends at the grand Piazza Venezia, where excavations for the metro line recently uncovered remains of Hadrian's Athenaeum—a school for literary and scientific studies that represents just one more way this visionary emperor left his mark on the eternal city.

On this 75-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Marvel at the Pantheon's engineering genius, featuring the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome that has stood for nearly 2,000 years
• Discover Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in bustling Piazza Navona, built atop Emperor Domitian's ancient stadium
• Pause at Sant'Eustachio il caffè, established in 1938 and considered one of Rome's finest coffee houses
• Explore the Temple of Hadrian's surviving colonnade, with its wall perforated by holes where iron pegs once held gleaming marble
• Experience Via del Corso, the historic thoroughfare that has witnessed everything from triumphant Roman legions to carnival horse races
• See where modern excavations have revealed Hadrian's Athenaeum, a center for intellectual pursuits named after Athens
• Unravel the poignant love story between Emperor Hadrian and Antinous, whose deification after death sparked a religious cult

Join this unique historical journey through ancient Rome and discover how the love and loss experienced by one of Rome's greatest emperors continues to shape the city we see today.