how did the roman emperor come to be known as the anti-christ and the beast of the revelation. it all started here the circus maximus at the foot of the palatine hill the green oval of the ancient racetrack has survived to this day he marrows time an audience of possibly two hundred fifty thousand could pack into the stadium to share the emperor's delight in chariot race and. the circus maximus was the biggest entertainment complex in the ancient world. it was also the origin of the spark that ignited the great fire of rock. it's the evening of july nineteenth and the year sixty four the summer heat is stifling and the shops clustered around the circus maximus. there are hundreds of bars shops and stalls almost all of them constructed from wood with open fires burning everywhere the blaze breaks out under the racecourses wooden bleachers at