(CNN) – In the days of ancient Rome, entering the Colosseum without a ticket would have meant you were pitted against wild beasts and fellow gladiators.
But in 2021, that means you’re just a tourist who wants to sip a beer at one of the world’s most famous landmarks, and is happy to break the law to do so.
This week, Italian police caught two American tourists who took it upon themselves to sneak into the Colosseum after dark.
They climbed high railings to get in, and climbed ancient stairs to the second level of the building—the original way of entry for visitors—before deciding that the famous arches that pointed outward toward the surrounding city Would be the perfect place for a beer.
Unfortunately for the men, their panoramic views of ancient Rome were interrupted when passersby saw them and called the police.
The pair were picked up, walking down the street leading to the city center back from their drinking session.
A spokesman for Rome’s Carabinieri police force told CNN: “Early on Monday morning some people saw two young men drinking beer in the Colosseum, facing outside on the second level.
“They alerted a police car nearby, which stopped the two youths on the Via dei Fori Imperiali.”
Both were fined €800 ($900).
He is not the first tourist to be mistreated in the Italian capital. In August, an American man and an English woman were fined €900 for pleading in a famous fountain.
Colosseum sabotage is a relatively regular occurrence, with potential jail terms as well as fines. In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined €20,000 ($22,600) for engraving the letter “K” in the walls of the Colosseum.
Earlier this year, two American tourists were sentenced to life in prison for killing a plainclothes policeman while on a night’s vacation during a failed drug deal.
Nicola Rutolo contributed to this report
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