This is how the Colosseum in Rome is renovated 1:19
(CNN) -
In the days of ancient Rome, being in the Colosseum without a ticket meant you were going to face wild beasts and other gladiators.
But in 2021, it means that you are simply a tourist who wants to have a beer in one of the most famous places in the world, and who is willing to break the law to do so.
This week, Italian police detained two American tourists who had planned to enter the Colosseum at dusk.
Tourists had climbed the high railings to enter and had climbed the ancient steps to the second level of the building, the original form of entrance for spectators, before deciding that the famous arches that point towards the surrounding city would be the place. perfect for a beer.
Unfortunately for the men, their panoramic views of Ancient Rome were interrupted when passersby noticed their presence and called the police.
The couple were arrested on the street that leads to the city center, while returning from their night of drinking.
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A spokesman for the Rome Carabinieri Corps told CNN: "During the early hours of Monday, some people noticed that two young men were drinking beer in the Colosseum, facing outside on the second level."
"They alerted a patrol that was in the vicinity, which stopped the two young men on Via dei Fori Imperiali."
They were each fined 800 euros (US $ 900).
They are not the first tourists to misbehave in the Italian capital.
In August, an American and an English woman were fined 900 euros for frolicking in a famous fountain.
Vandalism at the Colosseum is a relatively common occurrence, carrying a possible jail sentence in addition to a fine.
In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined 20,000 euros (US $ 22,600) for carving the letter "K" on the walls of the Colosseum.
In 2019, after a German student engraved her initials on the 2,000-year-old walls, then-Mayor Virginia Raggi wrote to the city's foreign ambassadors, begging them to encourage "civic behavior" from her visitors.
Earlier this year, two American tourists were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a plainclothes policeman during a failed drug-buying business on a vacation night.
- Nicola Ruotolo contributed to this report.
Rome