Historical Site
Circus of Nero / Vatican Hill
SUR-kus of NEE-roh · Modern Vatican City / Rome, Italy · 41.9022° N, 12.4539° E
Built by Caligula and expanded by Nero in the gardens on the Vatican Hill, this circus was the site of Rome's first state-sponsored, mass persecution of Christians. After the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, the historian Tacitus records that Nero, to deflect blame from himself, had Christians arrested and executed here in brutal spectacles (Annals 15.44). Tradition holds that the Apostle Peter was martyred, reportedly crucified upside down, on or near this site around AD 64-67.
Archaeology
Tacitus's account of the persecution is considered strong, near-contemporary historical evidence, but no archaeological remains of the circus's superstructure survive above ground today — it lay in the area now occupied by St. Peter's Square and the southern flank of the basilica. The Egyptian granite obelisk that stood in the circus's spina survives and was relocated by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 to the center of St. Peter's Square.
On a modern map
Further reading
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