Amid what Rome has lost over the millennia is the so-called Meta Sudans, a monumental fountain located between the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum. Today there are very few remains that are barely visible, but in reality those very small testimonies indicate a point that, in ancient sources, had a great importance in the urban planning of Rome.

According to archaeological sources (such as a coin from the age of Flavia of 80 a.D.), it is certain that this gigantic fountain existed starting from the first century, therefore two thousand years ago. The origin of the name is very curious! The word Meta derives from its conical shape which reminded the structures which stood at the two sides of the central portion of the Roman circuses, during the charriot races. While Sudans came from the sense of humor of the ancient Romans. The fountain, in fact, was probably 17 meters high, and on the top it had a large bronze globe full of small holes, from which the water came out. The small and faint rivulets reached the basin, giving the impression that the fountain was... sweating! Moreover, just to make it clear how many legends there are around ancient Rome and an iconic place like that, it is said that in the waters of this fountain the gladiators, after their efforts, used to rinse and cool off.

Finally, it must be said how the fountain was a real point of reference, since it was positioned exactly in the point where 4 regiones met (the regiones can be considered  the ancestors of the modern municipalities, and were institutionalized by Augustus). The relationship with the first emperor of Rome does not end here, since it is true that under Titus there was a probable monumentalization of the hydraulic work, it is equally probable that something existed before the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, as perhaps already Augustus himself commissioned a fountain in a strategic point like this. It is a real pity, however, that after centuries of neglect and neglect, the Meta Sudans has come down to us, as you can see in the black and white photo, and that in 1933 it was definitively demolished during the Fascist period. to make way for the renewed Via dei Trionfi, a street that was used to symbolize the renewed vigor of a Rome that had to return to the greatness under the regime. Today, therefore, there remains only a few very small substructures on the ground, traces that only give the idea that there was a conical-shaped architecture that once embellished the area around the Colosseum.