Most people connect the name of Fiumicino with Rome international airport, but Fiumicino is also a bustling fishing port and was once the site of Romes most important harbour at the mouth of the Tiber river.

A twelve-year long excavation campaign by the British School of Rome, Cambridge University and the University of Southampton, directed by Professor Simon Keay, has revealed the hitherto unknown presence of a vast amphitheatre (42 m long by 38 m wide) dating from the 3 rd century AD, within the precincts of the ruins of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Trajan, who built the hexagonal-shaped port that once stood in the area.

An inscription found on the site with the name of the director of the port authority  presumed to be the donator   has allowed experts to date the amphitheatre to the year 247 AD.