Christianity in the Ancient Rome Private Tour

Excellent guide and very knowledgeable of his home, Rome. It was my first time in Rome, my partner's 12th time and we both saw things we had never seen and likely wouldn't have on our own. Fantastic introduction to Rome filled with profound insight. Great way to see the city as well as we covered a very large area by car. And to top it off, we were brought to maybe the best Gelataria in the city!!!

This was one of the best tours we’ve ever done. Our guide, John, was both personable and knowledgeable. We saw and learned so much and are grateful to him for his service. (Please note that the visit was a mother daughter trip, both adults, but that was not an option for selecting the type of visit.)

Our guide, John, was great, and let us personalize what we would like to see. We were only in Rome for 24 hours so he made sure to take us to any important spots we had missed, even if they were not a part of the original tour. On an extremely hot day, I can't think of a better way to see Rome than in an air conditioned, private van (getting out as we wanted.) As may be expected, this tour did have a Catholic emphasis.

Our tour guide was John. We communicated by text and moved our pickup time to 9am without any trouble. (Nice being picked up at your hotel). Huge comfortable/nice vehicle. He tailored our day to what we were most interested in (seeing exact location of where apostle Peter and Paul were crucified/beheaded, etc.) He would take us to unique locations that other tourists weren't always visiting b/c they didn't know the history... but John DID and he blew our minds away with all of his knowledge. He wouldn't own up to being a historian, but as Bible School professors/ministers, we felt he was amazing! He took us to a local/private restaurant for lunch that we all LOVED! We were never rushed and actually encouraged to see more even when our time was up because he was such a nice guy. We are already recommending this tour to dear friends. I normally don't leave reviews, but this one was worth the time.

We have been on many European vacations with various tour guides. MAX set a new excellence standard of tour guides. We started at our hotel and were whisked back in time to experience the life of Peter and Paul in chains while in Rome. We spent over 7 hours learning of the core of Christian beginnnings and ended with a trip to the Cattacombs to experience the persecution of the church and early Christians. The prior reviews of Max’s expertise were unstated. He personality and knowledge satisfied our curiosity and quest for history in a manner that we had never experienced before on any of our prior vacations/trips. Highly recommended....

We were extremely pleased with the personalized and detailed day. Our guide, Max, was very prepared and gave us so much history as we moved from place to place. We highly recommend this tour.

You know about St Peter's Basilica, but did you know St Paul was also executed and buried in Rome? Many who visit the eternal city may never visit Paul's Basilica, and if you're a historian or student of the Bible, you won't want to miss this tour!

My wife said it was the best tour she has ever taken and our guide was the best. I would recommend this tour to anyone that goes to Rome. I would say to ask for our guide but I cannot remember his name.

I have always had a passion for reading and learning about religious history and what it teaches us about human nature. When I read about this tour and its focus on looking at early Christianity from a historical perspective, I was cautiously excited. Having been on the tour of the Vatican and taken other tours of religious sites in Rome, I find they focus way to much on reciting church doctrine and fail to give an accurate picture of early Christianity. This tour, by comparison, was led by an anthropologist and historian that is well-read and can help you better understand the context of what was going on in Rome during the early beginnings of Christianity and the conditions that led to the success of Christianity despite fluctuating tolerance and persecution from the Roman emperors at the time. Luca, my tour guide, helped separate historical facts from unprovable church legends. During the tour, you will visit multiple sites that teach about early Christianity including the Roman Forum and Mamertine Prison, Aventine Hill, the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, the Christian Catacombs of St. Callixtus, the Appian Way, and St. Johns Ouside the Walls. Before visiting each location, you will get a briefing on each location and the context of the location to early Christianity which helps you put the official tours at each location into perspective since the guide cannot lead you at some of the locations due to local laws. In the end, I found the tour very enjoyable and my tour guide Luca was extremely smart about the topic. My one caution is that if you are looking for him to stricly align with your particular Christian church's teachings, this is probably the wrong tour for you. If you want to learn about the historical context of the rise of Christianity though, you will love it.

Guide was amazing. He really knew both art and history. We had a wonderful day.