IT has the unmistakable bowl-like structure of a modern football stadium – but this dramatic stone showground is 2,000 years old.

The ingredients are all there – the "cheap seats" for the less well-off fan, the family sections for wealthier visitors, and the VIP "boxes" for celebrities.

All give an amazing view of the arena where life and death battles were fought – but where the spectator could also see for the first time weird and wonderful creatures brought from the edge of the known world.

The Flavian Amphitheatre – better known as the Coliseum – is today still the most awe-inspiring site in the historic and dramatic city of Rome.

It was built in stages from 70AD by emperors with the family name Flavius. They wanted to curry favour with a population appalled at the antics of previous emperor Nero, who grabbed swathes of public land for himself.

The emperors' spirit of trying to win back the approval of Rome continued with an amazing act of generosity. Everyone in the city, even slaves, was given a ticket to the Coliseum – their own permanent seat.

Of course, after surviving earthquakes, stone-robbers, and the ravages of the weather and Roman traffic over the centuries, the Coliseum demands imagination to visualise it in its heyday. But it is still possible to picture the huge bowl full of fanatical spectators demanding to be entertained.

It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and more than a million wild animals died in the Coliseum games.

But for the Romans, the Coliseum also took on the mantle of theatre, zoo, museum, and even an encyclopedia of the empire. It staged mock sea and land battles, animal hunts and dramas based on mythology.

Today, the galleries of archeological exhibits in the cool stone passageways of the Coliseum's walls show how advanced it was for its day. Engineers constructed an elaborate system of lifts and pulleys to allow props such a palm trees to lift up through the arena's wooden floor during dramatic performances.

And the overriding impression you get today of the Coliseum is not of a one-time palace of torture and torment, but a forerunner of today's giant stadia, where the blood bayed for is metaphorical, but where there is the same greed for an adrenaline rush, or demand for dramatic and colourful spectacle.

Of course, the archeological drama of the Coliseum is just one of many spectacular sights in today's Rome, from the crowds thronging the wide-open spaces of St Peter's Square, to the hushed, reverential interiors of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, or the brash white marble of the Victor Emmanuel II monument.

Don't expect to be alone at tourist hotspots such as the Trevi Fountain. Get up early and visit in the cool light of dawn to avoid the crowds.

Anywhere in the city, if you're feeling overcome by the throngs, there is a welcoming cafe, restaurant or bar no more than a few steps away, all, it seems, with friendly staff who have a good grasp of at least basic English.

But the bustling streets are well worth negotiating with patience to see 2,000 years of art, history and culture spring into view before your eyes.

We stayed at Keycamp's Camping Village Fabulous, 10 miles outside the city, and about the same distance from Ciampino airport, a Ryanair destination from East Midlands Airport.

Our accommodation on the site, situated in a cool pine wood, was a luxury three-bedroomed cabin, complete with air con and wooden decking.

Elsewhere in the village, today's Romans escaping the heat of the city have a different way of doing things.

Families bring their caravans at the start of the season, then extend their living space under the fragrant pines by setting up a bewildering array of tents, gazebos and awnings. They put down green matting as flooring over the pine needles, and have their kitchens and TVs outside, using the caravans only for sleeping.

The village has a well-kept washroom block, big open-air swimming pool and shop, bar and restaurant complex. Try the perfectly agreeable Italian red wine from the shop at just one-and-a-half Euros a bottle.

Guides at the site information block give advice on public transport in perfect English. A week-long travel pass for 16 Euros is good value, and you can use it to catch a regular bus outside the site for a 15-minute ride to the metro terminal, then it's 20 minutes to the heart of the city.